The mood of the country seems to ebb and flow over time.  At some points in our country's history liberals, progressives, or populists have had their time in the sun and have had their opportunity to change the country.  Some of those changes have been for the better (direct elections of Senators, health regulations in the food industry, etc.) and some changes have been for the worst - like what is happening right now in Washington and Springfield.

The Fifth Great Awakening is related more to conservative ideas than religion solely (religion was the driving force behind the first 4 Great Awakenings).  This Great Awakening is rooted in Reaganism and the ideas put forth by those participating in the Tea Parties.  Furthermore, this Great Awakening started outside of the political party system, but will end up changing at least one major party and maybe both major parties.  We can see the results of this Awakening in NY-23 with the emergence of Doug Hoffman in the lead going into today's election.  But let's not get get to far ahead in our story.  First, let's take a quick look at how conservatives have got to this point in recent American political history:

Granted, we can go back further in time to trace the beginnings of the Fifth Great Awakening, but we have to set a starting point and go forward from there.  I've picked the day TARP was signed as a starting point of the resurgent conservative grassroots groundswell.

October 3, 2008 - TARP is signed into law putting the American tax payer on the line for over $700 billion.  No plans as to where the money would come from or who ultimately was going to pay it back.  We know the answer the second part.  The "Compassionate Conservative" George Bush turns into the "Compassionate Caver".   

November 4, 2008 - Barak Obama is elected President.  We were warned about his far-left, if not socialist, leanings, but America spoke and elected him.  They wanted change, and they sure got change.  The change I believe people wanted was no George Bush, not the current track of spending and massive expansion of government.

February 19, 2009 - Rick Santelli on CNBC delivers a rant about the proposed bailouts, etc. and suggests that Americans hold another Tea Party in the spirit of the Boston Tea Party 1773.
  


April 15th, 2009 - The first grassroots organized Tea Parties across the nation.  Here in Effingham, Illinois, we drew about 500 when we were expecting about 150-200.  These parties were non-partisan as both parties were responsible for the mess our country was in.  However, these protests were also against what was proposed and against the actions already taken by the previous President, the current President, and Congress.

December 2008 through June 2009 - Auto industry bailout.  The government buys General Motors and sells Chrysler to Fiat.   Government ownership of banks and car companies?  Did we transport back to Eastern Europe circa 1950s?

September 12, 2009 - Tea Party Express draws tens, if not hundred of thousands to the steps of the Capital in Washington DC and like-minded Tea Parties were held all over the US.  We drew another 500 for our event in September.  Still non-partisan, but focused more on holding parties accountable and holding those already elected accountable for their actions over the last year.

October 30, 2009 - Nancy Pelosi releases HR 3962 aka "The Health Care Reform Bill".  Socialism is placed before the members of Congress as the mother of all government takeovers is proposed. 

November 1, 2009 - Republican candidate in NY-23, who dropped out of the race a few days earlier, endorses Democrat candidate Bill Owens instead of backing Doug Hoffman.  Another RINO is exposed for what they are.  The NRCC and other GOP leaders including Newt Gingrich have egg on their faces for ignoring the conservative and backing the liberal GOP candidate.  Not too mention the $900,000 spent in Scozzafava's favor was a painful reminder to the GOP leadership that they supported the wrong candidate. 

November 3, 2009 - Doug Hoffman leads in NY-23 by about 5 points.  NJ's governor race is close but most polls put Chris Christie up by 1 or 2.  In Virginia, McConnell is destroying Deeds by double digits in the polls. 

What does all this mean, especially if the Republicans/Conservatives win in all 3 races? 

1.  RINOs will not be tolerated by growing and vocal conservative base.  I hope this goes double here in Illinois with Mark Kirk, or as some of us like to call him - "He Who Shall Not Be Nominated".  I jhope this affects both parties and pushes the radical left back to the fringe.

2.  The GOP leadership wakes up and realizes that the conservative base of the party should not be ignored.  Hopefully, the GOP leadership will embrace the vary ideas that the Tea Parties have been screaming to high heaven about all this last year.  With candidates like Scozzafava and Kirk, the GOP leadership needs to recognize there is a reason why people distrust parties and believe that there is really no differences between the 2 major parties. 

3.  The Democrats will be put on notice that their spending and expansion of government will not be tolerated.  The Democrats will realize that their stranglehold on Congress is going to be short lived.  The "Blue Dog" Democrats will recognize that if they want to return to Congress they will have to abandon the radical left wing of their party. 

4.  There will be a massive swing away from Obama's and Pelosi/Reid's version of government and I truly believe that the GOP will come close to retaking the House and they will pick up more than expected seats in the Senate in 2010.  Of course, all of this is contingent on point #2.

5.  Ronald Reagan may have died, but his ideas are alive and well.  His ideals of how and what the GOP should represent are bubbling to the surface.  This resurgence has been led by the Tea Partiers.  They know what works, and most of them remember that Reagan ideas work.  They know that their rights are being limited each day by a more intrusive government.  They know that the government should not be this involved in business and their lives.  These are all ideas that Reagan had but both parties walked away from. 

Tell us what you think!

Will the major parties pay attention to the election results in NY-23, NJ, and Virginia YES NO TOO SOON TO TELL view results