So you lost the election: Now what?

Darth Obama secured a second term last night, ensuring the entire world will be cloaked in darkness. The next four years hold nothing but plagues of locusts and famine riots. Before next year is out your dollar will be worthless and the only currency will be lead pills shot at very high rates of speed. This all thanks to the unwashed, uninformed masses who don't understand what they just did.

But take heart, my fellow conservatives! As dire as these predictions are, there is the tiniest, most miniscule fraction of a possibility that this isn't true. Maybe, just maybe, the other half of America isn't full of hopelessly clueless morons. So before you go on Facebook and cry out to the world that all hope for America is lost, remember these things:

1. You know who else is melodramatic? Teenage girls. Resist the urge, friends. We lost. That does not necessarily mean America is doomed. It just means we've had a setback. We survived Lincoln, FDR, and Carter; perhaps we can get through this too. I'm not saying Obama is a good thing (Anybody else remember when he kicked in the door of GM, took the place over, and fired the CEO? Anybody? Guess it's not a big deal). Obama is very, very bad. But, it's not an instant death sentence.
2. Legislation originates in Congress. We still hold the majority in the House, though it looks like the lead is lessened. We don't control the Senate, but then again we didn't before, and we still have enough to filibuster the hell out of some stuff if we like. Better still, the House is the side that controls the purse, so there's the chance we can stop some of this massive bleeding.
3. Enough rope to hang. It is much harder to sell that liberal policies just need more time after 8 years of dominant power than it is after just 4. Sure, they'll still be crying the refrain "Huge government interference would've worked too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!" in four years, but the numbers will speak for themselves
4. It's not them, it's us. The reason we lost this election on practically every front is not because voters are stupid. It isn't because of the masses on welfare, or because people are greedy and lazy...well, at least it isn't simply because of that (/sarc). The reason we lost is that the majority of Americans didn't want what we were selling.

Number four is the most important point to remember. It isn't that they wanted something different than we do. In the end, I think the vast majority of Americans want the same thing: Some freedom, a job, a house, some cash, and the ability to spend it how they like. The problem is they didn't see our solutions as addressing those problems.

We fix this by figuring what attracted them to the other side, then demonstrating concisely why our side does the same thing, just better. The other side offered healthcare, they offered cleaner air, they offered a safety net from the government and more jobs. How we counter that is by showing that you get all those same things, better, cheaper, and more efficiently if you don't turn to the government.

You want healthcare? Grow the economy. You want cleaner air? Grow the economy. You want a smaller tax burden, a bigger TV, and less poverty? Grow the economy! Economic growth is the fastest engine to get to wherever you want to go. Get that message into the hearts and minds of those around you, and perhaps things get better.