Perennial socialist presidential candidate Norman Thomas predicted long ago that, “The American people will never knowingly adopt Socialism. But under the name of 'liberalism' they will adopt every fragment of the Socialist program, until one day America will be a Socialist nation, without knowing how it happened.”

Was November 4, 2008 the day that Thomas’ prediction came true? If conservative Republicans fail to stand up for liberty, it was.

The battle before us will not be easy, but it’s a battle we cannot afford to lose. We must be on guard at all times in the coming days of the Obama presidency, never losing sight of Democrat tactics.

Like the communists, Democrats, both in and out of the media, are brilliant propagandists and always accuse their opponents of what they themselves are guilty of.

For example, John McCain called Obama a socialist for stating that he wants to redistribute wealth. Democrats cited McCain’s not backing a flat tax or national sales tax as evidence that McCain implicitly backs the graduated income tax - a key element of the communist manifesto.

As another example, the current financial meltdown traces directly to President Carter’s insidious Community Reinvestment Act that made extending risky loans a mark of honor for bankers. McCain didn’t even bother to point the finger of blame where it belonged, and Democrats promptly blamed Republicans for the entire problem - and many Americans bought it!

McCain is a reflection of today’s Republican Party, which is America’s presumed defense against the authoritarian rule that Democrats long to consolidate. The Republican Party has failed miserably in that task. The Party has reverted to its Dewey/Rockefeller me-too politics that Barry Goldwater identified as “a dime-store new deal.” However, a dime is now equivalent to hundreds of billions of dollars.

Conservative Republicans must unite as quickly as possible to seize control of the Republican Party from precinct level to Washington DC. Big-government Republicans, led by President Bush, have helped make the 2006 and 2008 election disasters possible. It’s time for them to step aside and let limited-government, pro-capitalist, pro-national-defense conservatives resuscitate the Republican Party.