VOLuntarilyConservative

I point to my posts in January of 2009 and applaud the D.C. Republicans for doing exactly what they should have done to bring about the fall of the Democratic Party - nothing. The Democrats were going to destroy themselves once they started pushing their socialist agenda, and the Republicans - having no real artillery to war with the Dems due to numbers in Congress - couldn't do much of anything to stop them. So they let the entire system implode on Obama, Pelosi, and Reid. Brilliant, and today will be the payoff for letting this occur at the hands of the Democrats. (Think that strategy was too simple? Tell respected liberal James Carville, who said in May 2009 that the Democrats would control all three branches of the federal government for 40 years.)

There are lots of numbers floating around as to how many House seats the GOP will pick up. The floor seems to be 45, with some folks going way out on a limb and setting the ceiling north of 87. Personally, I think it will be closer to the floor - around 60 or so - and that will be historic. I can't see the GOP taking the Senate, which is a shame. Nevada, Connecticut, Colorado, Alaska - I just don't see the GOP winning them all, and they need to if they want to reach the majority. There will be some nice wins, though, like Marco Rubio in Florida and sending Russ Feingold into early retirement in Wisconsin. I would love to see Linda McMahon pull out Connecticut more than just about any of the toss-ups, but the polls don't seem to be going her way.

But, as regular readers of VolCon (or, I suppose, former regular readers since work and fatherhood has dominated my life regularly and taken me away from blogging) know, I may enjoy the national trends, but it's my Tennessee that makes my heart beat. We are about to make Tennessee a conservative state for the rest of my lifetime. This is a vision held by many of us. We saw that the ideology of Tennessee's electorate didn't fit its representation as far back as the late 1990s. Yes, Don Sundquist was governor, but the Democrats held control of both chambers of the General Assembly and ran a close 5-4 in the Congressional delegation (which became a 5-4 Democratic advantage in 2002 when Lincoln Davis took Van Hilleary's spot in the 4th). So many of us started working incrementally with the goal of having Tennessee's General Assembly in Republican hands by November 2, 2010. At the end of the day, I believe we will have met that goal. And, with that victory, we can go about undoing the gerrymandered districts that Democrats have drawn over the years as a way of protecting their majority and their individual incumbency.

Yes, there are a few races that have my eye. I very much hope that Stacey Campfield wins in the 7th District Senate race. It very much appears that Randy Walker, the Democratic nominee facing Stacey, has violated federal law during his campaign. For all of Stacey's character and quirks, he has always fought for his house district, and I can't imagine that would be any different with his promotion to the Upper Chamber.

I also am curious to see how my good friend Jerome Cochran does against traitor/dolt Kent Williams up in Carter County. I certainly hope that Carter County's voters see that it would serve them better to have a proven legislator like Jerome as their representative in the House instead of a man without a party in Kent Williams. One way or the other, Carter Countians, Kent Williams will not be Speaker come January. I doubt he will be able to have any of his legislation passed out of committee by Republicans who he screwed over in 2009 or by Democrats who won't have the votes and owe him nothing.

While I haven't mentioned it, I can't understate how happy I am for my fellow Knox Countian, Bill Haslam, who will be Governor-Elect at the end of the night. Bill is easily one of the nicest guys I have ever known in politics, and I look forward to helping him in any way that I can as he goes about governing in what is going to be a tough time to govern (especially given how the man he is replacing has sold the problems of today down the line for payment tomorrow). If I know Bill at all, though, he is going to surround himself with smart, capable folks to tackle Tennessee's problems with capable solutions.

It's going to be a good night for conservatives, folks. Enjoy it. We've been quiet long enough.

MORE: Well, actually, Moore. As in, Nathan Moore and his picks in the Senate races. I agree with him, with the exceptions of Illinois and Nevada.