Back in the early 90's, I started writing a novel. It was called "The Cauldron." It was about diving into a volcano.
Today, it came up in a conversation with a friend of mine. I never did finish writing it. I didn't know the ending. But I think I do now.
Usually, the only way through something is to just keep on driving. It might require getting angry at the problem, stopping to throw the rocks and debris that litter the road out of the way, swearing at the top of your lungs, or buying a new vehicle after you total the first one and the second one and the third one - but you just keep at it.
"Try to learn to breathe deeply, really to taste food when you eat, and when you sleep really to sleep. Try as much as possible to be wholly alive, with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell and when you get angry, get good and angry. Try to be alive. You will be dead soon enough." - William Saroyan
It's pretty easy to think that the next series of Republican tickets could be:
Romney/Ryan Ryan/Rubio Rubio/Cruz
It's a deep bench. Anything's possible. But that is a solid lineup, well-connected to the grassroots, wedded to founding principles, and strategically savvy.
Who You Are is Defined by What You Do When No One is Watching
I got behind Mitt in 2008. I then actively worked against him in the 2012 primary. He wasn't my first choice... but the primary's over, and he's the nominee.
The video above is the story told by the parents of a teenager who died. Mitt, a father of five and very busy, befriended the boy and helped him finish his life well.
Few men would do that. Some wouldn't even do that for their own family. But Mitt did it, and he didn't do it for show. He did it because he could and because it's woven into his character.
Sometimes, the only resource of our life that we have to give is time. I've said before that love is spelled "T-I-M-E." Our days are precious. When a man chooses to give of his time in assistance to a stranger, not looking to reap anything from it, it says much about him, and those moments define him far louder than the lies told about him.
I'm driving my van last night to the grocery store, and I see a man walking his bicycle. It's laden with plastic bags, hung from every extending aspect of the bike. I noticed that his tire was flat, so I pull over and walk toward him. He's maybe in his mid 20's, tall and lanky, baseball cap barely sitting still on his fro, and a strong smell permeates the air around him.
"You need a ride somewhere?" "Yes. I would like that." "Where am I taking you?" "Wal-mart, please. I need a new inner tube."
So I load the bike onto the rack on the back of the van, and we both get into the vehicle.
He asks me, "What do you do for a living?" "I'm a programmer." "You work for Microsoft?" "No. If I did, I'd have a lot more money." "You know, if I had money, I would invest in gold and silver. The dollar is collapsing." "A lot of people agree with you." "I like silver better." "Why's that?" "You can eat silver. It's healthy for you." "Okay..." "I'm a nutrition consultant. I want to go to California to be a homeopath. Or Canada." "I've been to Canada. I like it there." "Is it cold?" "It's not much different than Minnesota." "I think I'll go to California. I don't like wearing a lot of clothes."
A guy named Bob Vander Plaats runs for governor in Iowa in 2010, making opposition to gay marriage his central issue. He loses the Republican primary. Get that? His strong social conservatism can't win in Iowa in a Republican primary.
Todd Akin's strong social conservatism likewise is a loser in Iowa's neighboring state, Missouri. He's now down against McCaskill, 39% to her 48%. He was ahead prior to being all idiot on TV.
This election is about one thing, and it ain't rape and it ain't abortion and it ain't birth control.
It's about the economy, stupid.
Nonetheless, as Allahpundit on HotAir has coined it, the Democrat convention is becoming Abortion-palooza.
Democrats said that they will feature Cecile Richards, president of the Planned Parent Action Fund, Nancy Keenan, president of the NARAL Pro-Choice America and Sandra Fluke, the Georgetown University student whose plea for federal birth control funding drew the ire - and a subsequent apology - from Rush Limbaugh.
What's more, the Democrats are expanding their list of women ready to assail the GOP on women's issue, adding Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski and actress Eva Longoria to the list that already includes Sen. John Kerry and Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren.
It didn't work for Vander Plaats in a Republican primary. It hasn't worked for Akin in general election.
The reason it didn't work for those candidates is that social conservatism wasn't the burning issue in the election. The economy was. Ignoring the Big Issue to focus on something else only serves to make you look out of touch and distracted.
What won't be front and center at the Democrat convention: the economy. Putting strident anti-social conservatism forward is a loser for the same reason that it lost for Vander Plaats and loses for Akin: it's not the central issue on the mind of everyone, not matter how fierce your marketing is.
I ask you - what's more imperative in your mind: abortion stemming from rape, or $4 gas at the pump?
Social conservatism, whatever you think of it, is a sideshow to the main event: the economy. I'm okay if the Democrats want to make that the central theme of their convention and election - because it's a loser.
What's more, social conservatives would be well-served to understand how Akin has hurt their cause more than any event I can think of in this short century.
Meanwhile, the rest of us will focus on how to best provide for our families. That's what matters most.
