Local radio talk show personality Jason Lewis spoke to a gathering of 70 or so Senate District 40 Republican activists and friends at Benchwarmer Bob's in Burnsville. According to Lewis, the people spoke at the last election and Republicans got what they had coming because of the following litany of failures:

• Compassionate conservatism moved the domestic agenda to the left, blurred the distinctions between the candidates (no bidding war with the liberals can be won), and demoralized the base.
• Republicans were seen as clinging to power, sometimes unethically, rather than adhering to principles.
• The Bush tax cuts were not made permanent in a robust economy.
• The estate tax was not abolished.
• The Alternative Minimum Tax was not abolished, or even reformed.
• There is no drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
• There is no presidential line-item veto.
• Welfare reform has not been continued.
• The Gang of Fourteen thwarted the effort to appoint conservative judges.

Add to these a perfect storm between the war in Iraq and the GOP scandals, and the election results are what would be expected. Voters are weary of an Iraq policy that continues to produce casualties, but Americans don't want to just cut and run because they're also bothered by the images of helicopters evacuating Saigon and the killing fields that followed.

The real disconnect was that voters no longer thought the GOP was the conservative party. The Democrats shrewdly fielded candidates to appeal to conservative voters, although these candidates are not really conservative.

Real conservatism triumphed in the election, when considering ballot initiatives:

• Traditional marriage initiatives won in 27 out of 28 states.
• A death penalty initiative passed in Wisconsin.
• Property rights initiatives passed in eight states.
• Michigan overwhelmingly approved an initiative for banning quotas and preferential treatment.
• Arizona voters easily passed an English-only initiative.

However, Republicans refuse to secure the border, have allowed the federal budget to reach $2.7 trillion, and had an appetite for earmarks. President Bush has vetoed only one bill.

"A party that calls itself conservative simply cannot grow government like this and survive."

Republicans need to say "No" to spending. There are plenty of things to say "Yes" to:

• Tax relief.
• Real health care reform that puts the consumer back in charge.
• Real road-building that doesn't divert so much money to light rail projects.

Don't ever let the party professionals pick the candidates.

Don't vote for candidates just because they can win.

The GOP is at a crossroads. Republicans can either join the Democrats and grow government, in which case the Reagan Revolution is dead, or they can offer voters a real choice.

"Politicians need to lead, too. They just don't need to follow what their consultants tell them. Leadership is not getting twelve Boy Scouts to go to Pizza Hut. Leadership is getting them to do their homework."

Jason Lewis and Ron Carey

Jason Lewis and Matt Day

Nancy Losier, Jason Lewis, and Jan Schneider

Jan Schneider, Jason Lewis, and Jean Van Gerpen