Wednesday, November 4, 2009 Morning

It’s morning in America again. This is Mike Huckabee, from Arlington, Virginia, where I’m on the road for my new book, “A Simple Christmas,” and to meet listeners of “The Huckabee Report.” Tomorrow, I’ll be at bookstores in Lancaster, Harrisburg and Allentown, Pennsylvania. If you’re in one of those cities, I hope you’ll come out and say hi. To find out when and where I’ll be in your hometown, or to order “A Simple Christmas” direct from Amazon, just drop by MikeHuckabee.com.

Well, I knew when I arrived in Virginia, there was something unusual in the air, and I don’t mean the exhaust from my book tour bus. Yesterday, Virginia officially turned red again, putting Republican Bob McDonnell into the governor’s office in a 20-point landslide, and sweeping other Republicans into office all down the ballot. And as results came in from other races, it became obvious that the GOP’s obituaries had been premature.

But it’s not so much the vote tallies that will reverberate in Washington as the exit polls. They show an almost complete reversal of every trend that swept Democrats into power in 2008. Republicans who were dispirited a year ago are now fired up. Without Obama’s glamour, many of those new Democratic voters found more exciting things to do. And the biggest news of all, the self-described Independents who gave Obama his clear margin of victory, one year later broke about 2 to 1 for the GOP. In all the states, voters said their #1 concern wasn’t health care or CO2, it was the economy, and they don’t like what the liberals are doing about it. Over the past year, voters learned a hard lesson. When you’re promised “change,” don’t just ask what it’s a change from. Ask what it’s a change TO.

Okay, the people have spoken, loud and clear. Now, the question is, how will Washington respond? Will Democrats start listening to voters’ concerns, and reign in the spending, deficits and government expansion? Or will they see this as their last chance to cram everything on their wish list down the public’s throats before they go out in a blazing Viking funeral next November? It may be too soon to tell, but it sure will be interesting to watch.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Finally, in a landmark ruling in Great Britain, a judge found that an employee was unfairly dismissed because of his outspoken beliefs in apocalyptic global warming. It’s the first time that extreme environmentalism has been put under the same protection as religious belief. It’s not the first time it’s been called a religion, but this makes it official.