I'll think about that tomorrow?

With the beginning of a new year, I always like to review the past year so I can (hopefully) not fall into the same pitfalls or problems that were experienced during those last 12 months. Today, I am reflecting on the Scarlett O'Hara theory!

One of my favorite sayings from Gone With the Wind is at the very end when Scarlett says she'll think about that tomorrow, just as Rhett finally get frustrated and leaves her. She cries a tear without ever recognizing that most of the problems she has experienced, including her husband leaving her, have been because she was focused on a person (Ashley) who had mesmerized her.

Scarlett's attitude is one example of what voters did in 2008. They focused on a person, instead of their principles, listening to a man with a soothing voice as they became mesmerized by his voice tone and looks. Then the majority of the voters failed to judge either man by their core beliefs, seeing an eloquent speaker, who had little substance, versus an older man who struggled to explain his views. Just as Ashley continued to tell Scarlett that he loved his wife, she only heard what she wanted to hear! And the average voter on November 4, 2008 based their vote on what they thought they heard from each candidate.

In the movie, the scenes unfold through technicolor and inspiring music, which even today can give you goose bumps. If you watch the movie, you can't help but want Scarlett to finally see the light before Rhett walks away. And we all hope, against hope, that he will turn back to her and grasp her in her arms. We're all a sucker for a good ending! But the movie really ends on a sad note... Scarlett is left alone! I have even read the sequal book Scarlett in hopes that finally she would find happiness... which doesn't happen!

In the same way, I hope against hope that America will see the light about our next president. That the media will finally tell the truth and we (Americans) will have a happy ending. With the media's help, the average voter fell for their candidate, some swooning as if the Messiah had come! I must give his campaign credit for using music, Hollywood style graphics and sets, body language, and more to sell him to the uneducated voter. But blaming the media will only get us the same result as Scarlett had - left behind with a tear in our eye!

Ultimately, America will pay the price, literally, for electing a man who told us that he was a socialist and promised a chicken in every pot as well as an answer for every problem. Our children, grandchildren, and next generations will pay the high price. Our nation cannot print the money fast enough to pay for the debt being incurred today through promises, bailouts, stimulus packages, etc. So, what do we do?

Our decision TODAY is to decide what we will do TOMORROW. Will we just close the door, wipe our tears away, and go about as if nothing happened? Or, will we learn a lesson so we don't fall into the pit again!

What I learned is that I must work harder to educate voters about the true conservative values of America. Values based on our US Constitution, not our feelings, our wallets, or our fears. It will take Americans returning to the values and vision of our Founding Fathers for America to survive. Unlike Scarlett, I have learned from what happened yesterday so that we don't make the same mistakes tomorrow.

Republicans are at the crossroads, we will either keep trying to do the same thing, but maybe a different way, and we'll get the same results. If the elections of 2006 and 2008 teach us anything, it should be that PRINCIPLES really do matter! We can have tons of money in our campaigns, but if we don't have our core beliefs, we will never win. Moving to the center and trying to outspend the democrats with tax dollars, will never win. We only win when we govern by conservative principles AND base all our decisions on these core principles.

Tomorrow will be here soon, and if we are to survive, we must return to our constitutional basis. My prayer is that Republicans will return to our constitutional principles... and that America wakes up tomorrow, and the next day. The Scarlett O'Hara theory only works in the movies!

Cheryl Williams
Vice Chair
Oklahoma Republican Party