Yes, Colin, there really is a strong Conservative base!

My eyebrows went up when I read about Colin Powell endorsing Barack Obama just weeks before the election. Way up. But I figured that he was voting along race lines and that was probably to be expected. But this interview made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and join my eyebrows. Powell claims that the Republican party lost the election because it didn't listen or appeal to special groups within the American population. That, in order to win any election, Republicans must make more liberal changes to appeal to these smaller groups...wait, that sounds like a Democrat to me! And to quote Rush Limbaugh (who was rudely marginalized by Powell in this interview), "Ronald Reagan would be spinning in his grave!"

I think this is a classic case of mistaken, misunderstood data. Powell is under the impression that America is on the move toward a more liberal society, and that the Republican party has to make corresponding changes or risk being voted into oblivion. But he has not even begun to hear enough from us. He isn't taking into consideration that there is a HUGE group of Americans who support traditional family values - oppose abortion, gay marriage, illegal immigration, and Big Government, who support the right to own and bear arms, support Capitalism, in short, promote conservativism - who have not been very outspoken in past. Most of us have been too busy raising upstanding children and working to support them without turning to government welfare. The time has come to speak up, friends, a lot louder than ever before. We need to remind Washington that we are out here, stimulating the economy, talking to our friends and co-workers, and voting! Traditionally, the Republican party has represented conservative values...and I would hate to see it continue liberalizing itself just to appeal to what the politicians mistakenly think is popular. What party would represent us then?