The day after an election is a day to take stock of lessons voters have sent those elected, those who lost, and those who plan even now for the next election.

Republicans, Democrats, and Conservatives, have been taken to the woodshed. In the 23rd Congressional District, Democrat Bill Owens won the seat, but his party lost the election. Incomplete results show the combined Republican/Conservative vote total of some 63,000+ would have beaten the 60,000+ the Democrat received, despite Obama’s machine throwing piles of stimulus funds and Vice President Joe Biden at district voters.

Republicans got drubbed because they dared believe a Republican in Name Only (RINO) candidate like Dede Scozzafava was the direction the party needed to win and that she would not cause a groundswell of opposition. Conservatives lost because as a third party they tried to overtake major parties — something third parties since Theodore Roosevelt aren’t very successful at. All three should come out of the election chastened.

The real political split in this country is between those who want to tell others what to do, and those who want to be left alone. Right now, all parties at the national level want to tell Americans what to do. Democrats want to command your light bulbs, your cars, your business, and your health care. Republicans and Conservatives want to command your bedroom, your doctor, and your reproduction. Each party scares the hell out of the others and campaigns become parodies of themselves.

Meanwhile, the political class at the national level, as represented by their commercials, deserves every bit of scorn you can muster, from now until you can hound them from power. They don’t respect you. Their "facts" misrepresent reality as they attempt to steal your vote clawing their way to power.

Moving forward, ask yourselves if bigger government represents reform or a greater problem. Ask yourselves if you want economic competition to take place in the secret halls of Congress or transparently in the market place. Ask yourselves if government should "solve" problems or enable those in need to solve them for themselves.

Looking at problems that way, it becomes clear that Democrats, Republicans, and Conservatives have a lot to learn from this election.