After the shellacking taken in this year’s presidential election, will we ever see another conservative president?

In the past, there has been great optimism about the strength of the “farm team” of courageous conservative leaders — men like Marco Rubio, Bobby Jindal, Paul Ryan, John Kasich, Rand Paul, Bob McDonnell, Scott Walker and Ted Cruz, and women like Nicky Haley, Susanna Martinez, Sarah Palin and Deb Fischer — whose ascendency gives dispirited conservatives hope for the salvation of the Republic in the years to come.

After this year’s election, it’s harder to believe that even the bold leadership of these officials and former officials will be enough.

If America is to continue as we have known it, some fundamental steps must be taken to reclaim the nation that once was a shining city on a hill.

Step 1: The borders. Republicans should stop pretending they have any chance of out- pandering Democrats on the issue of immigration. No further talks should be undertaken with liberals about “comprehensive immigration reform” until there is an enforceable system of border control between Mexico and the United States.

Step 2: Education. Abraham Lincoln famously said the philosophy of the classroom in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next. The generation that just re-elected the most radical president in the history of the country has proven that adage to be true. The time has come for conservatives to step up and run for state and local school boards, as well as university regent boards.

The only way we will bring social and fiscal sanity back to America is to counteract lies with truth.

Step 3: The news media. The rise of talk radio and the Fox News Channel has shown that Americans are hungry for voices other than the standard “progressive” claptrap that has emanated from the ivory towers of Manhattan and Washington, D.C., at least since Watergate.

The next time a major news media entity goes up for sale, billionaire conservatives should step forward and buy it — and then start reporting the truth.

Step 4: The culture. Over the years, we have seen some relief from the sewage that regularly flows out of our entertainment industry. Despite Mel Gibson’s tragic personal meltdown later on, his “Passion of the Christ” was one of the biggest hits to come out of Hollywood in decades.

We need more bold traditional conservatives with clout in Hollywood.

Step 5: Last, but far from least, America needs spiritual revival.

For the last one hundred years — beginning with Woodrow Wilson, continuing on steroids with FDR, and culminating with the election and re-election of Barack Obama — government has been our god.

Stating the antidote as plainly as possible, God must once again become our god. Does that mean that God wants a Republican president?

No, but I think He would be pleased with a humble leader who believes in liberty and who acknowledges that God, not government, is the answer to our problems.

— Doug Patton
via Cagle Newspaper Syndicate