There’s a saying that the Chinese have the same word for “crisis” as they do for “opportunity.” That being said, the Republican Party is now facing a defining crisitunity. Yes, they got “thumped” in Congress as well as downright slaughtered in the Buckeye State, but the opportunity comes in recognizing why it was they lost. The “six year itch” played a role, and so did the Iraq war. The series of events and scandals in Washington and Columbus so unfortunate Lemony Snicket wouldn’t touch them certainly didn’t help matters. The most important reason the Republicans were ousted earlier this month was not because of their conservatism but because they strayed from it.

For my second cliché, politicians are known to dance with the ones who brought them to the party or face the consequences. It wasn’t all that long ago (twelve to sixteen years, in fact) that the Ohio Republican Party and the Republican National Committee stood for something. Fed up with Democratic domination in the state and in Congress for a generation, Republicans put together a simple set of principles so voters knew where they stood, how they differed from the Democrats, and what they’d accomplish if entrusted with power. The most obvious example of this was the Contract With America which allowed Republicans to sweep to power in 1994. Newt Gingrich and the Republicans campaigned on change- real, actual change, not simple rejection of the other party- in Washington and across the country. They campaigned on fiscal responsibility, limited government, curbed bureaucracy, tort reform, economic growth, Social Security restructuring, streamlining the welfare state, strengthening national security, and upholding American values. Sound familiar?

Contrast the Gingrich Revolution with the party you saw on November 7. Deficits and government spending have grown at record levels. Bureaucracy has remained at best as cluttered as it was twelve years ago. Tort reform and Social Security reform remain unaccomplished goals even through six years of united Republican government. And yes, that government has expanded beyond Lyndon Baines Johnson’s wildest dreams. Earmarks and pet pork barrel projects usually reserved for the Senior Senator from West Virginia have climbed in to the thousands. Perhaps most distressing of all, Republicans have wavered and faltered even on values issues. Can anyone tell me what Republicans were able to accomplish on immigration, stem cell research, marriage, or abortion? Apparently it wasn’t enough for Republicans to be divisive on social issues. Now they’ve become incoherent as well.

There is, of course, a better way. A way back to victory. Of course, like everything else in politics, it won’t be easy. Unless they’re are willing to become the minority party for yet another decade, and unless they’re ready to salute Madame President in two years, Republicans as a whole must return to ideas-based conservatism. Americans voted for ideas in 1994 that would transform their country and rid Washington of the waste and corruption that had plagued it for forty years. Republicans represented a positive agenda for change and innovation and made a strong case to the American people that conservatism could help them too. It is imperative but not impossible for Republicans in Ohio and across the nation to return to the roots of their revolution twelve years ago. The alternative is yet another generation on the sidelines of political power. Truly that would be a crisis.

Hello, I wish to register a complaint! Never mind that you’re closed for lunch, but I wish to register a complaint against this state to which I moved not four years ago.

“Oh yes, the Buckeye State. What’s wrong with it?”

I’ll tell you what’s wrong with it, my lad. It’s dead, that’s what’s wrong with it!

“Oh no, it’s just resting.”

Look matey, I know a dead state when I see one, and I’m living in one right now!

“No, no, it’s just resting! Remarkable state, Ohio. Beautiful foliage!”

The foliage doesn’t enter in to it. It’s stone dead. And if it’s resting, how about I wake it up? HELLO OHIO! FORTY-SEVENTH IN JOB CREATION! THIRD HIGHEST TAX . . .

“There! We just elected a new Governor, it’s Turning Around right now!”

No it’s not, we just got more of the same from our worst Governor in recent history. HELLO OHIO!! TESTING! TESTING! DECIMATED PRIVATE SECTOR! THOUSANDS OF JOBS LOST! UNEMPLOYABLE COLLEGE GRADUATES!! Now that’s what I call a dead state.

“No, no . . . it’s stunned! Ohio stuns easily! We’ve been in and out of recessions before, and all we need is an auto plant or two. In fact, Ohio’s just pining for the Fords!”

Pining for the Fords? What kind of talk is that? The auto plant we lost out on to Indiana wouldn’t have done anything to save our economy. We just decided to raise the minimum wage every year forever, which will destroy small businesses and price college kids like you and I out of the job market. And now that every statewide office is controlled by the Democrats, we could have a government shutdown on our hands. Now listen, I took the liberty of examining the last time we had gridlock in this state, and I found that the only reason the General Assembly passed budgets on time to keep the government running is because all the clocks had been papered over.

“Well of course they were papered over! And don’t you worry! We’re going to invest in education, help out our small businesses, provide tax relief for working families, and then watch out! Voom! Ohio will be booming again!”

Voom? Matey, this state wouldn’t voom if you put four million volts through it! It’s bleeding demised! It’s not pining, it’s passed on! This state is no more! It has ceased to be! It’s expired and gone on to meet its maker! Bereft of life, Ohio rests in peace! If you hadn’t papered over the clocks you’d be draping it with a flag! THIS IS AN EX-STATE!

“Well . . . you want to move to California?”

Yeah, all right, sure.

Well folks, this is it. The last chance I have to save my country. One last desperate act to reach deep down in to your soul and make you think- possibly for the first time this year- about what you might be about to do. To give you some insight on what might happen if you decide tomorrow that you’re too angry or disaffected with one or both parties to show up. This is probably the most important midterm election of our lifetime. This election has the potential to affect every American, voting or not. It can possibly reshape our national priorities and policy objectives, and change the course of American politics for at least the next two years. And in this case, that’s not a good thing.

The House and Senate are up for grabs, and you happen to live in probably the most contested state in the nation right now. Democrats have their sights set on at least four members of Congress who have represented their districts well and have proudly stood up for what is right (hey, at least Bob Ney didn’t store thousands of dollars in his freezer). They’ve resorted to catfight tactics to shoot down Deborah Pryce, one of the most powerful and influential women in Washington. They’ve brought back a 79 year old one-term Congressman from the political graveyard to run against Pat Tiberi because Democrats didn’t have enough zombies in their caucus. They’re also making desperate grabs in Southern Ohio to hack off Steve Chabot and Jean Schmidt. Too bad they couldn’t run Paul Hackett again, who claimed in the infamous 2005 special election that George Bush was the most dangerous man in the world.

We are indeed blessed in that Ohioans get to choose who controls the Senate. The choice for United States Senator from Ohio should be clear. Senator Mike DeWine might not be perfect, he might not even agree with you on every issue (I know he doesn’t agree with me 100% of the time), but he’s right on the important ones. Mike DeWine wants to win the Iraq War. Sherrod Brown doesn’t. Mike DeWine supports the PATRIOT Act as a way to keep Ohioans and Americans safe from terrorist attacks. Sherrod Brown doesn’t. Mike DeWine supports tax cuts so that hard-working Americans can keep more of the money they earn. Sherrod Brown doesn’t. Mike DeWine supports traditional marriage and the right to life. Sherrod Brown doesn’t. ‘Nuff said.

Ohioans also have a choice as to who will represent their interests on the state level for the next four years. Again, the choice is clear. Love him or hate him, Ohioans know what Ken Blackwell believes in and what he stands for. They know he has a plan- a real plan- to change Ohio, to simplify the tax code, to cut wasteful government spending, to reform the decrepit education system, and to reinvigorate Ohio’s economy. There is one measly day before Election Day and I still don’t know what Ted Strickland stands for. The Columbus Dispatch has a guess in their ironic endorsement of him. While blasting Governor Taft-and-Spend for dragging Ohio down to the abyss, they endorsed Strickland because he would be most able to continue Taft’s policies! Ohioans are sick of “more of the same,” but that’s just what they’ll get if Ted Strickland is elected Governor. I’m giving very serious thought to leaving Ohio after graduation, and I fear I may take 100,000 of my closest friends with me before the decade is out.

That, of course, is not the worst of it. Democrats and the mainstream media have been barely able to contain their glee over tomorrow’s seemingly foregone conclusion. If their high-stepping and dancing have any basis in reality, conservatives like you and me ought to cower in fear. The words “Speaker Pelosi” should strike terror in our hearts. Would-be Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers has repeatedly said impeachment is his number one priority. If you thought this past Congress got nothing done, wait until the entire city is paralyzed by scandal after concocted scandal and impeachment fever. Say goodbye to President Bush’s tax cuts too, since all that is needed for them to expire is for Congressmen to do nothing. A flurry of antiwar resolutions will fly as radical leftists on the Hill, trying desperately to cling to their college days, cut our soldiers’ feet from under them. Just like their predecessors did 30 years ago. The tools the administration have been using to keep us safe from terrorist attacks for the past five years will also disappear in what might as well be called The Al Qaeda Bill of Rights. Say goodbye to judges who don’t hallucinate when they read the Constitution if the Senate goes Democrat as well. The witch hunt that claimed Tom DeLay will look like a picnic as conservatism itself is criminalized and the few Republicans left in Congress get hauled away in handcuffs.

OK, maybe I’m exaggerating a little. But do you really want to take that chance? Statements like these are possible only because Democrats have yet to tell us what they’ll do if they do, in fact, take over. We can only guess, based on everything they’ve ever said or done since they as a party went crazy after the 2000 presidential election. We all know there are problems facing our nation, so the question facing you is simple: who do you trust in your heart to fix them? Who do you trust to keep America safe from terrorism, to keep our taxes low and our values intact? Who do you trust to come up with ideas to save Ohio’s backward economy and fix our broken state-run monopoly union bosses dare call an education system? Who do you trust to confirm judges who don’t legislate from the bench and rule by judicial decree, Constitution be damned? Those are the questions you should ask yourself before pulling the lever (or deciding to sleep in on Tuesday), and those are the stakes facing our nation. As one campaign slogan once said, vote like your whole world depended on it!