Glenn Beck sure captured the mood of many Americans in his keynote speech at the CPAC convention tonight. Playing on the theme introduced by Ronald Reagan, Beck tempered some of his usual pessimism with – if not optimism – at least hopeful realism.

“It is still morning in America,” Beck said. “It just happens to be kind of a head-pounding, hung-over, vomiting for four hours kind of morning in America. And it’s shaping up to be kind of a nasty day, but it is still morning in America… We are going to go through some tough times, and we are going to be tired as we set things straight…It is a hard road, I know, I have walked it myself. It is a hard road. But we will make it. And at night, we will be beat tired. We will be so tired… But when we put our head down on our pillow to go to sleep again that night, we can be happy because we know tomorrow it will again be morning in America.”

I don’t watch Beck all that often. Mostly because I’m still at work when his show airs, but also because his style is too over the top for my taste. But I have to admit that I watched every minute of this speech. It was actually an engaging and practically mesmerizing oration. His interpretation of Emma Lazarus’ poem engraved on the Statue of Liberty was absolutely brilliant and his underlying message was spot-on.

America’s best days are behind us only if we choose to let them be. It’s time to recognize that the party had better be over before we OD on the good times financed by OPM.