The American Thinker has an article by Jonathan D. Strong about what Republicans should do now.

It has been a tough week for President, perhaps one of the most difficult of his Presidency apart from 9-11 and the Iraq War. However, like a true conservative and red blooded American its time to cowboy up, dust off, and get back to business. Liberals often mope around feeling sorry for themselves, but conservatives take responsibility and make things happen.

Winston Churchill said, “The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” Conservatives have a history of optimism and foreword thinking. No one embodied this more than Ronald Reagan and it is time to follow in his footsteps by making the best of a difficult situation. President Bush is now faced with the opportunity to refocus his administration, take stock of what he has accomplished thus far, and pursue what he hopes to still accomplish in the remaining 3 years of his presidency.

Second terms are always filled with tremendous difficulty for Presidents.

Presidents Wilson, Truman, Eisenhower, Reagan, and Clinton all had far more difficult second terms in comparison to their first four years. Sometimes the difficulty is the result of increased scrutiny by the press and the public, other times it is a result of laziness, apathy, pride, carelessness and a lack of focus. The President and all conservatives should keep in mind that throughout the whole Plame affair, the indictment of Mr. Libby was not the original reason for the investigation. There is no evidence right now that Rove, Libby, or anyone else deliberately outed Valerie Wilson to get back at Joe Wilson. The special prosecutor made that quite clear in his press conference last week. That in itself if a victory for the administration.

Read more.

The article concludes:

Conservatives must stand with the President now. Despite his shortcomings, President Bush has achieved much in his Presidency and this is no time to abandon him as he faces further antagonism from the Democrats. If conservatives hope to see a conservative Supreme Court Justice be confirmed, they must stand with President Bush shoulder to shoulder.

Time to cowboy up, there’s 3 years to go.

Jonathan D. Strong, Esq. publishes The Strong Conservative.