The Nation's Principles

Two years ago, I knew John Kerry was going to run for president. Two years ago, he took the podium after easily winning reelection to the Senate and gave a scathing speech, complete with what was immediately Kerry’s tagline, “you don’t go to war because you want to; you go to war because you have to.” Not even Kerry’s measured delivery of that line has changed in two years.

And for two years, even as the polls gave Kerry tremendous leads, the Harvard Republican Club (HRC) has remained fully confident that it would be George W. Bush who emerged victorious on Nov. 2.

Perhaps that’s why I don’t grasp the sense of shock that hit our campus last Tuesday, or the letdown on Wednesday, when Kerry graciously accepted the inevitable. As the Democratic Party increasingly finds its hatred of the President replaced with uncertainty and disbelief, I imagine they will turn to themselves and ask “how this could happen,” and, “what should we do now?”

This thinking undoubtedly originated with the fact that George W. Bush was the undisputed victor. Unlike in 2000, the Democrats cannot convince themselves that their policies were the best ones for America and that a few hanging chads prevented them from seizing the reins of government. They cannot claim that the election was stolen. On Nov. 2, Democrats believed they were right, and that America would agree. Then, as polling stations closed, and news stations reported the facts, it became obvious that the dream of a Democrat in the White House would have to wait at least four more years.

It was the opinion of 60 million people that the Republican vision for America should prevail. Our nation watched a grueling campaign, weighed the issues and went to the polls in record numbers. They told the world they had faith in our president, they told our president to continue fighting the good fight, and most of all, they told the Democrats they were wrong in their assumptions about America.

The people believe this president is doing a good job, they believe in the ideals this president and his party set forth over the course of the campaign. The election was decided on the issues. Not even Kerry advocating protectionism could scare up enough votes to overcome the truth, the conviction, and the ideals of our president.

I suppose it is somewhat counter-intuitive, then, to suggest that the Republican Party faces a crossroads of tremendous importance—that this, the hour of our greatest victory could become the hour of our greatest challenge.

Nonetheless, it is true. The president returns to the Oval Office with a job to complete in Iraq, an economy still on the rebound, a budget in deficit, a failing social security system, healthcare concerns and much more. The election is behind us, and there is a job to be done.

Yet even these obvious challenges are not the greatest threat to continued Republican dominance—if there is a lesson to be learned from Sept. 11, it is surely that the challenges we face cannot overcome our desire to resolve them.

I look forward to the next four years, and more especially the next two years, when cloture will be only five votes away, and the once successful filibusters will be a thing of the past. Finally, a new Supreme Court will be able to begin an era of judicial responsibility.

We will bring down the specter of big government, allow people to achieve greater benefits through social security, work for school choice, fund faith based initiatives, and make the tax cuts that improve our economy permanent.

Finally, we will endure the War on Terror, and spread democracy to the oppressed peoples of the world. The world will find itself more safe and secure in four years time through the steady and perhaps even aggressive leadership of our president.

I have faith that President Bush has the strength and the fortitude to see our nation through these times, and in time it will be the Republicans who benefit from the challenges of the next four years.

In acknowledging the success of the president, however, Republicans must not become complacent. The Democrats have been defeated, and with this reality comes the realization that success in the future will not be derived from stubborn adherence to a failing vision. The Democrats must adopt new policies and present new justifications if they ever hope to present a legitimate challenge to Republicanism.

If the Republicans are to maintain their power, they too must engage in this sort of introspection. We must ensure that our policies always align themselves with our principles, and that our principles never align themselves with our policies. The ideals set forth by the Republican Party have allowed us to win a nation’s approval, and those ideals will lead us to a better tomorrow.

I have no doubt that this is what my party will do. Republicanism, with every passing hour of the Bush Administration, is proving the truth of its promises. Our victory on Tuesday night has given us the opportunity to secure our principles to the center of American political thought, and the knowledge that the legacy of our president will surely outlast four more years.

James Paquette ’06, a government concentrator living in Winthrop House, is the Policy and Writing Chair of the Harvard Republican Club.