Lessons Learned from the 2008 Election

Lessons Learned from the 2008 Election: Why American values lost this one.

            The race for President was essentially over on February 5, 2008. 

Super Tuesday night, John McCain and Barack Obama became the choice of each party and the networks all juxtaposed the two nominees side by side on the screen giving their victory speeches. Obama was surrounded by thousands of fired up citizens as he smoothly worked the stage and delivered his powerful rhetoric. Next to him on the screen was McCain with ten politicians standing behind him as he squinted and struggled to read the teleprompter and muddle through yet another incoherent speech. The Democrats nominated the best communicator of our day, while the republicans nominated the worst communicator out of the republican field. The debates were an absolute rout, actually embarrassing for the republicans as Obama managed to serve up lies and deception on a silver platter with all the fancy fixings and McCain whiffed at softball after softball.

Should style and communication skills trump substance and positions on the issues? Of course not. But they do. It is not enough to have the right position or idea. If one cannot communicate that idea or position effectively, it goes nowhere. When the opposition lies and deceives, it is not enough to whine about the media not doing their job, you have to point out the deception and do battle effectively in the arena of ideas.

So lesson number one in this election is that we ignored the first part of God’s command for how we choose our leaders. He said in Exodus 18:21 for us to “choose out from among you able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness.” In the sound bite world we now live, a candidate that cannot communicate is not an able man (or woman!).

Lesson number two is simply that the American people only choose leftist leaders when those leaders deceive the people into believing they are something they are not. Florida and California voted to define marriage as one man and one woman and on the exact same ballot elected a man who is against doing so. Does anyone actually believe that Obama would have won if every single voter knew about his relationships with terrorists, felons, and Marxists? Or just how radical his pro-abortion positions are? That he supports socialist policies of redistributing the wealth? The only people aware of these positions were the ones watching Fox News because the rest of the media avoided these issues like the plague and the McCain campaign made the foolish decision of playing nice and ignoring most of these issues as well. So if a candidate is good at deception and the opposition is lousy at exposing it or unwilling to do so, the result is a foregone conclusion.

Lesson number three:  whoever works hardest and smartest has the advantage. Let’s face it, the Obama campaign ran circles around the opposition. They were more organized, more creative, worked harder, and simply executed their game plan better. Yes, they had more money because of Obama’s broken promises on campaign finance and because they accepted $200 Million in undisclosed internet contributions, but it was more what they did with the resources they had than the fact they had more resources with which to work. As Thomas Umstattd, a Patriot Academy graduate, told me this past summer, the democrats figured out the medium has changed to the internet and republicans have not…the same as in 1960 when television became the new medium. Once again, it cost us an election.

Lesson number four: traditional values Americans are too busy enjoying the fruits of labor from the last generation and too few are accepting their responsibility to participate actively in their government and do their duty. It is time to wake up. It is time for Pastors to be more vocal on the issues, as they were in California with Prop 8, and they must also be more vocal about connecting the dots between the issues and the candidates. We need spiritual leaders willing to speak the truth and we need to be hungry for that truth and act on that truth.

Lesson number five: when republicans act like democrats, we lose. When democrats talk like republicans, they win. We nominated a republican who prefers to talk about what he has in common with his opponent rather than point out the differences, which only confuses voters and opens the door for the opponent to define the differences. The last thing republicans need to do now is run to the middle believing that is where the voters are…wrong conclusion! We need to get back to the basic traditional American values that made the nation great and that win elections when articulated correctly by a candidate like Ronald Reagan. And we must make a pact with the people that we will govern by those values and not abandon them as conservatives did over the last few years.

We now have a clean slate and an opportunity to raise our standards. Let us look for conviction oriented conservatives who can articulate our values and who will stand by them. It is time to speak truth in love and not a time to dance around the major issues facing our nation. Certain issues should be non-negotiable and never trumped by style, race, or party…they are listed in our Nation’s birth certificate as “…unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” For a more detailed description of what issues fall under these rights, read my book Freedom’s Frame, which also discusses in detail what we can each do to preserve that frame. Or for a quick reminder of those values, watch one of the following videos from the next generation:

 

It is time to equip, inspire, and engage conservatives to get off the sidelines and into the game.  Sulking under the bleachers is not an option. If you care about this Country and the future your children will inherit, then step up. You do not have to have all the answers to get involved, just showing up is half the battle. If you are looking for a place to start, join us in training and equipping young people through Patriot Academy, or get involved with a local political party or “salt and light” organization in your church, or just simply have some friends and neighbors over to start talking about how to get involved. There will be plenty of opportunities in the coming months and we’ll do our best to keep you informed of ways to get involved when you listen to WallBuilders Live! on your local station or at www.wallbuilderslive.com

Take heart, there is a HUGE remnant of people in America that share your values and are disgusted by this election and anxious for our future. Pray for God to raise up leaders of conviction that fit the description he gave us…able, God-fearing, honest, selfless individuals who without hesitation will put the good of the nation above their own.

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