Wednesday, November 08, 2006

All's Well on the Conservative Front

Voters took the GOP to the woodshed—no doubt about it.

That said, I don’t see these election results as a conservative defeat, but as a Republican defeat.

As my friend Don Luskin wrote:

“The bright note is this election was not fought in the arena of economic ideas, and doesn't constitute a referendum on pro-growth policy.”

Luskin’s right. There are some very promising pro-growth trends forming underneath the surface, courtesy of conservative Blue Dog Dems who won a whole bunch of seats last night.

These guys look a lot more like Republicans and a lot less than the Waxmans, Conyers, and Rangels of the world.

These Blue Dog Dems are pro-business. And they understand the proven benefits and success of Bush’s 2003 tax cuts. They understand incentives and believe in the pro-growth formula.

There will likely be some steps toward budgetary restraint. Good chance we’ll also see smaller government, less regulation, SarBox reform.

This is a plus.

Republicans may have lost—but the conservative ascendancy is still alive and well.