The War on Terror has come to symbolize the key difference between conservatives and liberals. Simplistically, conservatives are “pro-war” and liberals are “pro-withdrawal” even though this over-simplistic conclusion misses the true difference between the groups.

The real division between these liberals and conservatives stems from an understanding that real success in war, in life and in general requires sacrifice.

Conservatives generally understand that tough issues will require tough solutions. There are no quick fixes to big problems. Liberals tend to want the quick fix today and the rest they’ll deal with later. It’s like Scarlett O’Hara- “I can’t think about that right now. If I do, I’ll go crazy. I’ll think about that tomorrow.”

In the mean time, we really are engaged in a war with people who embrace an ideology that does not respect a territorial border. We are at war with an ideology that is creeping around the world, taking advantage of sleeping peaceniks. We are at war with an ideology that abhors freedom.

I don't know if it's possible to ever win the war on terror but 49% of Americans now think the U.S. and our allies are winning the war on terror. (Click here for article) Only 23% of people surveyed believe the terrorists are winning.

Why the change in perception? Has the surge really been the pivot point for the war?

While the surge has obviously had an impact on the war effort, people are also distracted by the elections, the economy, the weather... The media has clearly stopped reporting on the war in the same negative way they report on almost everything that could even remotely support any Bush position. Maybe the better way to state this: the media has finally begun to put their reporting on the war effort in a proper perspective. There have always been successes, we just didn't hear about them. We aren’t really hearing about them now either, we just aren’t hearing news about failures.

If the people who believe that the war on terror must be fought are right and if withdrawing from Iraq would send a message that terrorists have beaten the one country that has the power to hold back terrorism are right, then it would be tragic for the world if those people give up under pressure from those on the left who seem to believe that evil will just go away if we are wishful or hopeful enough.

We have had great success in capturing terrorists and some really evil people have lost their lives. Sadly, some very brave defenders of liberty have also lost their lives in this epic battle. We have made progress but we can never believe that those evil people will not be replaced by others who despise our way of life, who despise freedom.

We must remain diligent in our efforts to protect our country and innocent people from the wrath of those who would prefer America cease its efforts to protect and defend liberty.

On a broader scale, conservatives must remain loyal to principle first, party second. Conservatives must begin to talk openly about the principles at the core of their beliefs and counter the rhetoric that seeks to undermine efforts to strengthen the United States as our enemies around the globe hit the gym on a daily basis.

JFK asked Americans to ask not what the country could do for them but to instead ask what they could do for their country.

Liberals and conservatives should ask themselves what exactly they are doing for their country. Are they fighting social problems by ensuring children are being cared for by parents who can meet their needs? Are they working and contributing to the economy? Are they drug free? Are they able to speak English well enough to secure and keep a job? If they are taking from their neighbors through government programs, are they also giving back in a measurable way?

Americans need to stop looking for a quick fix and start honestly talking about the need for our citizens to sacrifice, voluntarily, for the country. The government can create incentives for people to make sacrifices for others but the government should not use its power to redistribute wealth to those who make poor choices that foster dependency.

The War on Terror is not what separates liberals from conservatives; it is what symbolizes the gulf of difference between them.

We live in a country in which many people don’t feel obliged to work to improve their lives or lifestyles and who think they are entitled to a job or housing or healthcare or transportation with no thought or concern about how these things are paid for.

We live in a country in which many people believe that leaving evil alone will encourage it to fade away.

Conservatives understand that these people are plainly and simply wrong. Things worth having must be earned. Things worth having must be protected.

Conservatives understand that the ideas stated so plainly in our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution must be fought for every day. Conservatives, and in fact all people, have a right and a duty to hold our government (i.e. the members of Congress, the Judiciary and the President) accountable. Elections are our opportunity.

Principles, not parties, are the root of what makes America the greatest country on earth. Conservatives have long understood that the Republican Party has more fully embraced the ideas put to paper at our country’s founding.

The Republican Party has drifted in recent years. Conservatives now must work together to ensure the Party begins rowing towards those principles with a fervor.

Our War on Terror is the terrorists’ War on Freedom. We will never defeat all of the people who oppose and fear freedom but we can, and must, continue to fight.

The War on Terror is vital to the security of our country and that of people around the world. Withdrawing from this fight is an abandonment of the people of Iraq, the people in the Middle East and the principles so many great Americans have fought and died for since the founding of the United States.

All Americans voting in November have a duty to those that have gone before us and those who are yet to come to ensure the leader we will be expected to follow is capable of actually leading us in the effort to protect and defend our country.

All the hope in the world, all the empty rhetoric, does not change the truths held to be self-evident for so many generations. All the hope in the world will not stop the evil growing in the belly of our enemy.

Hope is not a weapon in isolation- it is a tool that must be teamed with action. Conservatives understand the need to harness hope and use its energy in the battle to protect freedom.

This battle for freedom is now being fought in the Middle East.

This battle is the “War on Terror” and it is not a battle we can afford to lose.