Pay close attention. Stay strong. This is where leadership begins and whiny, pretty-boy showmanship ends.

The “last ditch” plan offered by Senator Mitch McConnell should be but a temporary distraction. The worst he can be accused of is bad coordination by throwing the plan on the table without warning. He might have served us all better had he held his cards a bit closer and a little longer. However, McConnell is calling attention to the debt-ceiling situation as it stands, calling a spade a spade, as it were, and cutting through the smoke and mirrors game that the President and his media minions keep dangling before us in their puerile contempt towards voter intelligence.

In what appears to be his “tag, you’re it” challenge to the President, McConnell gave a succinct explanation on the Senate floor this morning, stating forcefully that Republicans will “not be reduced to being the tax collectors for this Obama economy.” (See the video, here, but fast forward to the one minute point). McConnell continues, “We will not be seduced into calling a bad deal a good deal” and then, in true “stern father” fashion, instructs the President that his game of scaring senior citizens and toying with the full faith and credit of the United States is game of his own creation. It’s as though he’s saying, “Son, if that’s the hill you want to die on, well then, we’ll be sure to give you a proper burial.”

Before jumping on McConnell for this bold move (which I do not yet endorse, by the way) I suggest that conservatives look around the country first, for the real story: conservatism is winning big all across our land. Just as significant, liberalism is losing. Now is not the time for party purists to get in a snit over style or posturing. Now is the time to cheer on our team and recognize both the power and limitations of our position.

First, look at the victories. In Minnesota, Governor Dayton just ended the state government shutdown by agreeing to the Republican legislature’s insistence on no new taxes. This is hardly 1995. Americans can see through the typical liberal tactic of pandering to their special interests with crocodile tears and fear mongering.

In North Carolina, Democrat Governor Beverly Perdue was slapped down with six, count ’em SIX, veto overrides by the state senate. The bills that Governor Perdue vetoed were bills that neutered the teacher unions from using the state to collect dues, relaxed red tape against businesses and reformed medical malpractice legislation (tort reform). The Republican led senate managed to garner some Democrat support in their veto overrides.

Next, let’s not forget that Georgia was the first in the nation to pass a Health Care Compact, an aggressive push back against Obama Care that gives states the authority to manage federal health care dollars for their own citizens, defying punitive federal mandates.

Then there’s Governor Scott Walker’s victory in Wisconsin in the budget showdown against government unions and Governor Chris Christie’s manhandling of the most overtaxed state in the union, New Jersey. Conservative victories abound all across America right now. This is not the time to fear bold moves nor to punish our leaders for their good faith efforts, as long as the goal is to advance our position, whether it’s by forcing our opponents to back down or allowing them to hang themselves.

More good news is that the American public sides with conservatives on most every issue, most recently on the issue of raising the debt limit. 69% of Americans oppose raising the debt limit (the conservative position) and yet the President continues to insist that not only should the debt limit be raised for more spending, but that taxes should be raised as well in order for him to continue the mad trajectory that the Democrats have had us on since they took over the role of spending in 2006. That’s another thing: we must keep reminding them that, in terms of budgeting and spending, the Democrats have been in charge since 2006, not 2008.

To get a real picture of how conservatism is winning and liberalism is losing, compare the two extreme states on either end of the ideological spectrum: Texas and California. Texas, with it’s three term conservative Governor Rick Perry, is the only state with an economy large enough to compare to California, which has been raped and pillaged by liberal tax and spend policies under the hand of successive liberal Governors, including RINO Governor Schwarzenegger. While Texas has enjoyed growth and job creation, businesses continue to abandon California and leave it to drown in it’s own mud of corruption between government unions, environmental fads, regulatory red tape, illegal immigration chaos and high taxes.

Might I suggest to my fellow conservatives that you call our leaders and cheer them on in what will surely be known as the great stare down of 2011?

To understand just how badly liberalism is losing, take a look at who is the most recent target of their wrath: that nice young man, Rep. Eric Cantor! What was his crime? Why do top Dems want to oust Cantor from the talks? Because he dared to engage in tough negotiations.  They are positively livid that the Majority Leader had the audacity to engage in tough negotiations! (Shhhh, the emperor has no clothes).

We’ve seen this thin skinned response before from the Great One. Remember the Texas journalist who interviewed President Obama and dared to ask him why he thought Texans didn’t like him? Wasn’t it just yesterday that Press Secretary Jay Carney instructed the press corps not to “shout out” questions to the President? I guess it just upsets him so not to know ahead of time what will be asked.

As I was writing this, Gallup released a poll confirming my point that we are winning and liberalism is losing.  In a hypothetical 2012 match-up, President Obama lags behind an unnamed GOP challenger by eight points. Stay the course, friends.

Let’s move from a position of strength and press this administration for what we know is right. Let the chips fall where they may. 2012 is coming.

###

[photo credit: flickr]