The below reader contribution was written by Luke Akal.

America’s Democratic party has recently gained the 60th seat in the Senate (second house of Congress). This came with the election of Al Franken from the state of Minnesota. Although Franken is a former comedian, this is really no joke for the conservative Republican party which can now no longer act as a filibuster to legislation the Democrats want to pass – plus, there’s no more George Bush around to veto measures taken by Congress. So two of America’s three branches of civil government are controlled by liberals – both houses of Congress plus the presidency. The Supreme Court is still in the balance with four conservatives, four liberals and one justice who is generally king-maker.

One would imagine that anything from the liberals would now pass through the Senate with ease, like Obama’s health care reform and cap-and-trade legislation. But that’s not the case: the Democrats are known for not always sticking together, and there are about four ‘blue dog’ Democrats in the Senate (moderates) and of course Independent Democrat Joe Lieberman sometimes sides with the Republicans, as was seen by his endorsement of Sen. McCain last year.

On the other side of the aisle, the Republicans are in desperate need of new, strong leadership that will see them take new territory in the 2010 Congressional elections…and of course the GOP will be thinking about national elections in 2012 too.

So who can the GOP trust to steer the party in the right direction? Definite favourites include Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney. Palin continues to make headlines, most recently due to her resignation as Alaska governor -  something most critics agree is a move towards running for election in 2012. New polls show that Palin’s popularity has grown greatly – 43% of Americans say they would be likely to vote her in 2012 – and most Americans (53%) think the media has not been fair and objective towards her. Palin could definitely be a contender for taking the reins of the GOP: her approval rating was 83% as governor of Alaska and, contrary to what we hear from the liberal media, Palin has plenty of experience as a councilor, mayor and governor (that’s more experience than Barack Obama prior to his election as president!).

Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney are also potential Republican leaders. Huckabee has an excellent track-record as governor of Arkansas and Romney’s business experience and expertise on economic issues might be seen by many as just what America needs during this recession.

Another encouraging sign for U.S. conservatives is that a recent Gallup polls shows that more Americans now label themselves as conservatives than before – 41% to be exact. Only 21% call themselves liberals. Even America’s most liberal state (California) voted against the liberal agenda of legalizing gay ‘marriage’. Could all this be a result of Obama’s far left policies and the type of legislation he is pushing? Maybe Americans are getting a wake up call and returning to their conservative values…

Luke Akal is  today’s guest blogger. He is 18, homeschooled and currently completing four Cambridge AS Levels and one IGCSE Level as part of his matric. Luke is a born again Christian, and his faith plays a huge role in his life. It really determines who he is. He has a passion for politics, something he hopes to study after school and take up as a career. Luke is a member of the ACDP and volunteer for the party in his area. His current political ideology is best defined as conservative. He generally takes a right-of-centre stance on most issues (economically, socially etc.).

Senate Democrats spent their first full day holding 60 votes just as they have spent the previous 2 1/2 years without such a supermajority: scrambling to find Republican support for their key initiatives in order to choke off potential filibusters.

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Hours after he was seated, Sen. Al Franken, D-MN, let it be known that he would be sign on as a co-sponsor to the Employee Free Choice Act, the labor-backed provision that would allow unions to more easily organize, as his first legislative activity.

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