As we analyze the results of this midterm election, it is important to remember a few key incidents that highlighted the distinctions between the two parties, and specifically pointed to blatant hypocrisies by one.

For two years, the Democrats continued to beat that old dog of a stolen Presidential campaign, even though every single, heavily monitored, recount, showed that George W. Bush did indeed win, in spite of the games played with the absentee ballots.

The assumption was that every Floridian believed the Democrat spin and was just as outraged as Al Gore, who implored people all over the country to “remember where they were when the race was stolen from him.”

Well, now the playing field has been leveled with a legitimate hand of voter fraud dealt to the Republicans in New Jersey.

They can now, forever, trump the bogus claim of an election being stolen, with the historic proof that a Senate seat was not only stolen, but the Supreme Court drove the getaway car.

And while the Democrats beat the drum of a failed economy, the stock market kept rising. But the lock-step unions assisted in giving the appearance of a sagging economy by staging work stops across the country to allow a visual for the Dems to point to when placing the blame of unemployment at the door of the Republicans.

And speaking of that . . . the claim by the Dems that special interest groups were the force behind the Republicans, was lost on the populace who had witnessed millions and millions of dollars pouring into their states from national special interest groups like NARAL, labor unions, environment groups, anti-gun and anti defense groups, etc.

They got no traction on the corporate scandal claim because the head of their party, Terry McAuliffe looked like the poster boy for insider trading with his $100,000 investment in Global Crossing suddenly re-merging as an $18 million dollar profit.

No one begrudged him the profit, although it was hard for the average American squaring their favorite decorator maven, Martha Stewart sitting behind bars while a man who seemingly committed the same crime, is running around calling all Republicans crooks and in the pocket of large corporations.

The hypocrisies just kept piling up in the race and the American people diligently held their noses, picking through the false accusations to find the morsels of truth.

It was very difficult to weigh the accusation against the Republicans of dishonoring the fallen Senator Wellstone by even suggesting that whomever the Democrats chose to take his place should debate Norm Coleman.

The Dems stood in aghast at this highly irregular, and very insulting suggestion while they proceeded to gleefully dance on his grave, giddy with the prospects that now, they might actually have a shot at the seat.

The most interesting aspect of this celebration of death was that it allowed the country to see the party without makeup, without spin-doctors, handlers and typical media sycophantry.

Even the media were temporarily appalled. It was an unglossed view of the leadership of the Democrat party, which has co-opted a party that had traditionally been known for compassion.

But even that mantra has been wearing thin through the years as the country has witnessed the billionaires in Hollywood, and corporate America almost solely finance a party that parades the “little guy” out during an election, and when they are a useful statistic for increased spending.

They serve as a useful prop in an agenda that does not include improving the plight of the working class because it would shift the power base from being categorized as depending upon government handouts to realizing that the opportunities for personal growth are the true solutions to moving from dependency to self-determination.

Another issue that quietly rallied people to the polls to pull the lever for the Republicans was the blind assumption that all women are pro-abortion, thus pro-Democrat. With over 40 million abortions since 1972, that means there are almost that many women who have been touched, personally by the government’s indifference and politicization of a very heart-rending and intimate decision.

When rich white men stand up demanding a show of support for women by proudly espousing a women’s “right to choose,” he is saying a number of things.

He is saying he is in the pocket of a special interest group that has convinced him that this is not an emotional issue and that his callous attitude hits at the hearts of over 40 million women when he dismisses it as a given that all women should feel like he, a man, does on this issue.

There is no compassion in a blanket statement by a man who says, “I support a woman’s right to choose.” What he is saying, is I support the right of men to continue having free sex with any woman he wants without consequences of that union.

At least that is how millions of women, Democrat and Republican, hear it.

So this issue is beginning to backfire on the Democrats, especially as pro-life people are summarily silenced and dismissed by them. So much for tolerance.

The American people are witnessing a bulge in the pockets of Democrats special interest groups, forcing them to tolerate and even embrace all types of divergent lifestyles, beliefs, proclivities and perversions, while they are marginalized and ridiculed if they quietly present a list of beliefs and ideologies they would like to have honored by the left.

And the constant claim by the Democrats that the Republicans are controlled by the religious right, what ever that is, fell short of their intended affect when Americans saw a party so hungry for power that they aligned themselves with every far left, socialist group and cause in the country.

There are environmentalists from both parties, but when the environment is more important that the farmer who grows our food . . .that is extreme.

There are animal rights people and then there are those who believe animals should be given the same constitutional rights as people, yet they have no problem killing a viable human baby in the womb.

This strikes most Americans as a tad bit hypocritical and yes, quite extreme. They claim to hate assault weapons and all things ballistic, yet actor, Alec Baldwin can go ballistic on national TV, screaming that we should drag Congressman Henry Hyde from his house and kill him and his whole family and he is applauded. OK, he didn’t say shoot them, but it certainly wasn’t a display of the kind of touchy feeling compassion the left would like to be known for . . . and counts on being known for.

And probably one of the biggest reasons the Republicans prevailed over the Democrats was the issue of taxes. Almost every bill, across the nation, calling for a rise in taxes, was soundly defeated.

In spite of the constant claim by the Dems that only the top one percent of the people received a tax rebate, millions of Americans at home, remembered where they were when they deposited that check, knowing they, by no means were in that “rich” category the Democrats kept trying to put them in.

And as every American is forced to balance their own check book and manage their own affairs, they no longer buy the argument that taxes are the answer to fiscal problems, they reply that perhaps a cut in spending would be more in line with the way most of us live our lives.

So a serious analysis of the election needs to be done by both parties and lessons learned all around. When people see positive, hopeful leadership, they respond. When they see candidates who believe in something beyond popularity and regardless of power, they are inclined to vote for integrity and substance over political blather and partisanship.

So what are we going to see from both parties in the next two years as they both posture to either regain or take over the Congress and the White House?

Watch the Democrats pull out the old “it’s the economy stupid” page from their ancient handbook and do what they can to make the economy “seem” worse than it is.

They will resort to class warfare, pitting the wealthy Barbara Streisand’s of the world against their maids and the people who clean their houses.

They will play the race card and point to Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, and Clarence Thomas as examples of how the Republicans never include African-Americans in positions of power.

They will point to corporate greed while counting on their contributions to their party and candidates and turning tiny investments into bonanzas while claiming to be the party of the poor and downtrodden.

They will talk about tolerance and compassion while trashing Christians, pro-lifers, gun owners, and even homeschoolers. They will continue to insist that they know best how to run your kid’s lives and if you disagree they will tar you as a right wing fanatic.

And the Republicans, hopefully will write a new playbook that begins with the word “courage.”

They need to finally exhibit courage in the face of the onslaught of dirty tricks and power plays and draw the line in the political sand and say, enough is enough.

They need to put their banner clearly in the ground to show people what they truly stand for to provide a welcome contrast to the divisiveness and class warfare that motivates the Democrats.

They need to be inclusive but not moderate their beliefs. They need to be consistent in their message but flexible and open to new ideas.

They need to just show leadership and cajones and understand that politics is a full contact sport.

They need to stop being shocked and amazed by the Democrat dirty tricks and understand that the Clintons will not slink away quietly into the sunset and will stop at nothing until they “control” the country again.

And the Democrats have a choice to wrench that self-appointed power from them, or allow them to continue to co-opt a party, redesigning it with an unmistakable socialist agenda.

And the voters . . .bless the voters who have graduated from the “push-over” class, and are now able to deftly and courageously tip toe through the minefield of politics, and spot hypocrisy, double standards and inconsistencies in mid-stride.

They are the future of a democracy that would be hijacked by a party that has nothing but disdain for anyone who does not follow lockstep in line with their ideologies, and displays total intolerance of real diversity.

But voters have shown they are not so easily duped or categorized and they let their voices be heard on November 5, 2002.

And these voters are the future of America . . . not the politicians.