332-206

The AP has officially called Florida for Obama. So that is the fnal electoral college count. Obama won the sunshine state by just 74,000 votes and a final tally of 50% to 49.1%. And essentially that"s the story here - Obama sqeezed out every close state he needed to, and a few he didn't need. Look, we can go on and on about how close the popular vote was at 60.2 million to 63.2 million (that includes Florida), but when you take 8 of the 11 swing states, end up in the 300's electorally, and outpace your opponent's popular total by seven figures, by all rights you can claim a "mandate." I sure as hell would. And what's more scary is the blue that covers the two coasts on the electoral map is inching closer and closer in, sqeezing heartland and southern red.

Let's face it boys, either he succeeded in fundementally changing our country or he was simply smart enough to recognize it had already changed. Half of Americans want garuntees in life. And if the GOP thinks the lesson here is to "out garuntee" the Left via amnesty or state benefits, then they'll become a regional Party, at best. The only possibility is to offer a clear, bold alternative. And we have an ace in the hole - our math works, their's does not. We need only someone with the guts to say it, WITH PARTY BACKING. Look, the Romney-Ryan ticket won the popular vote among ages 40 and over, and particularly showed well in the 65 plus group. I think that shows a willingness to consider a Ryan-esque plan to make these entitlements solvent by incorporating the private sector as part of the rememedy. But the fact that we know it as the "Ryan budget" is exactly the problem in my estimation. The Party has to have the guts to say to the nation via an actual plan, what it portends to believe ideologically. Two or three bright Tea Party types  left out in the cold to defend their individual plan is not enough. It should be a Party plank. You want to rebrand the GOP so that a majority of Americans will trust you with leadership? Be known as the Party with measurable and specific alternatives.

Unfortunately I have no faith whatsoever that the GOP will embrace my message. Which means the nation will only turn to Tea Party-like solutions (or just plain common sense) after we have a nationwide fiscal calamity on par with Great Depression numbers. And as we all agreed on the phone, that now seems inevitable at some point in the not too distant future. And as a patriot I am heart broken that my nation must endure such misery before it makes a course correction. 

Batton down the hatches gents... something wicked this way comes. And that's not conspiracy theory talk, that's just math.