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Another Historic American Election

Guest post by: Michael Hume

Article Overview: It seems like there's no story line that hasn't been done (to death) about today's U.S. election. But one that I've heard nothing about is that of parallels between this election and that of 150 years ago.

Another Historic American Election

Watch Out For Little Secessions Between Now And January It seems like there's no story line that hasn't been done (to death) about today's U.S. election. But one that I've heard nothing about is that of parallels between this election and that of 150 years ago.

In 1860, Abraham Lincoln won the presidency on the ticket of the brand-new Republican Party. Though his platform did not include plans to abolish the evil practice of slavery, his views on the matter were clear enough to prompt all of the southern states to remove his name from the ballot. He won anyway. His election polarized the country, exposing the barely-hidden fault line that divided the nation between those determined to preserve a slavery-free Union and those committed to the states' rights to decide such issues themselves.

Between Lincoln's November election and his March inauguration, the states that would eventually form the Confederacy seceded. The bloodiest war in American history was waged for the next four years to bring the South back into the Union.

If early returns and statistical polling are accurate, the Republican party is going to regain control of the House of Representatives today. The Democrats' edge in the Senate will become razor-thin, and many states' governor's mansions and state houses will flip from Democrat "blue" to G.O.P. "red" before it's over. Most see this as an angry reaction to an overreaching liberal agenda from Mr. Obama's administration and the Congress, which has been controlled by the Democrats since 2006. The Tea Party movement will reach its goal today, by all accounts, and major opposition to the tax-and-spend liberal agenda will finally become possible.

Like the states' rights crowd a century-and-a-half ago, today's progressives are likely to see this election as a major threat - possibly even the death-knell of their dream of a socialist state in America. Let's hope it is. Meanwhile, it isn't hard to see that the federal government is again at odds (though hopefully not to the same degree as in 1860) with the states. The fact that dozens of states are suing the feds over the constitutionality of the Obamacare socialized-medicine legislation... and the fact that the U.S. Justice Department is suing Arizona over its illegal-immigration law (even though the state's law mirrors the feds' own legislation)... is all the proof needed.

There are many serious problems facing us today, and the country is again deeply divided not only on how it should tackle them, but literally what sort of nation it should be. One of the key issues to watch in the coming weeks will be tax reform. Entrepreneurs, and those wishing to start a business, are hoping the federal government will come to its senses and make the 2001 and 2003 cuts permanent for all Americans (including the job-creating investment class maligned by the left as "The Wealthy"). Constitutionalists are hoping the tide of socialism can be turned back, and the nation brought back to the free-market principles that has led a global economy to prosperity since about the time of Lincoln himself. And average Americans are hoping the government will get off their backs on a full slate of issues, most notably the health care issue (most people have not forgotten that Obamacare was rammed through on questionable grounds and that their very right to quality medical care is threatened by it).

Add it up, and there's a lot of hope for change out there - but not the sort of "hope and change" the Democrats sold us on only two years ago.

It's been Stupid Season in the run-up to the election. Now, in the Dangerous Season between election and inauguration, like 150 years ago, the losers are likely to see what they can get away with. Those of you celebrating conservative victories tonight should be happy, but don't party too long. Don't relax. We need to keep the Tea Party pressure on this government and show that this isn't a popularity contest. It's the very future of our nation, and we mean business.

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Article Tags: government takeover, health wealth and happiness, inspirational leadership, personal responsibility



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