John McCain is a good and decent man. He has served his country with honor for his entire professional life. McCain’s concession speech struck a conciliatory tone that was fitting for the moment. John McCain is a graceful loser. Conservatives must learn from this if we want to regain power in two years. Next time, we must pick winners.

Politics is a blood sport. As this election proved, there are no rules, save one: Win. Win on the power of your positions. Win on the superiority of your principles. Win by pointing out the flaws in your opponent. Win by motivating your base. Win by raising more money. Win in the marketplace of ideas and in the message in the media. Above all else, win damn it!

John McCain was not my candidate of choice. I have said repeatedly, he was the lesser of two evils. He was better than the alternative, so I supported him. Perhaps the most frustrating thing of this year’s election is that I wanted my candidate to win more than he did. McCain handicapped himself from day one, because doing what was necessary to win offended his delicate sensibilities.

The roots of McCain’s defeat lie in the McCain-Finegold campaign finance reform law. In 2002, McCain attempted to “get money out of politics” by drastically infringing on the rights of individuals and corporations to vote with their wallet. During this year’s election cycle, McCain pledged to take “public financing” for his campaign, restricting him to federal spending limits. In doing so, he conceded the money advantage to his opponent. This decision was one of many that would doom his campaign.

McCain also failed to capitalize on Obama’s weaknesses out of his sense of honor and fairness. McCain was handed a gift-horse when the issues surrounding Obama’s 20-year minister Jeremiah Wright became known. McCain should have blanketed the airwaves with ads explaining Obama’s relationship to Wright, and the flaws in Obama’s character that relationship reveals. Obama had no experience to run on. His campaign was all about personality and character. By not exploiting Obama’s weaknesses, McCain handed the election to the Democrats.

Obama, by contrast understands bare-knuckle no-holds-barred politics. Obama understood that the foundation of any campaign is money. Although he originally promised to take public financing and abide by federal spending caps, he broke this promise and removed all limits on his campaign. Obama’s fund raising machine broke federal election laws by accepting donations from foreign nationals. Obama’s team removed technical restrictions on their website so that they could accept untraceable donations from pre-paid cash cards. Obama embraced don’t ask, don’t tell for the source of its funds. When the FEC investigates, they will identify numerous infractions. Obama will eventually be forced to refund money, but he had the use of that money when he needed it. Not very honorable, but very, VERY smart.

Now that the election is over, Obama has tapped Rahm Emanuel to be his chief of staff. Emanuel, like Obama is a product of the Daley political machine in Chicago. Emanuel is a hard core partisan fighter who helped engineer Clinton’s victory in 1992, and then served in the Clinton White House until 1998. Emanuel then ran for the House in 2002, and helped engineer the Democrat successes in 2006 and 2008. Anyone who expected Obama to act as a centrist or to “reach across the aisle” to get things done should wake up. The hard-left power troika Obama-Emanuel-Pelosi is going to push hard and fast on their liberal/socialist goals.

Conservatives need to learn from this election, and start fighting today. The 2010 election has begun. We need to start raising money today. We need to develop our message today. We need to find candidates we can support, and get them busy. We need to get to know our Senators and gear up for Filibuster-Fest… the best ticket in town. This is not the time to be bi-partisan. This is not the time to reach across the aisle. As Ayn Rand once wrote, “In any compromise between good and evil, it is only evil that can profit.”

The socialist agenda being proposed by the Democrats is evil Now is not the time to compromise. NOW IS THE TIME TO FIGHT. We must never again sacrifice our principles on the altar of political expediency. McCain has shown us where that path leads. It leads to defeat.