Why is it that after weeks of being beaten to death by talk radio, John McCain emerges as the probable leader for the Republicans in the 2008 election?
Because people would rather dance with the devil they know than the devil they don't. And America knows John McCain after all this time.
Plus, talk radio pushed Bush big time, and he wasn't exactly the conservative hero we wanted. We wondered, would Romney be any different? In answer: we honestly didn't know. He already has an reputation as a flip-flopper for some. That will only get louder in the general election. He's new on the big scene. He's ambiguous. We, as a nation, don't know that we can trust him because we don't know his true principles and see them in action consistently over time. For a first-time national candidate, his was a good showing. But he has to prove himself to us over time, I think, so that we know that we know him.
People opted for the man they knew better, warts and all. He showed that he wasn't afraid to get down and get ugly, if that's what it took to win. And ugly he got, in twisting Romney's record.
But he was known, and ultimately, that was more comfortable.
Obama started campaigning very early. I think before anyone else did. Frankly, he was right to do that. It allowed him to get acquainted with America, and vice versa. For that reason, he stands an even shot of beating Hillary now to the nomination. He's been very consistent in his message, making it easy for us to know that we know him.
Giuliani ignored those of us in the cheap seats, and when he turned away from us, he turned us off.
Fred? He's the right philosopher, but a poor large enterprise manager.
Today, McCain is the very probable nominee for the Republicans.
There's a lot of angst on the conservative blogs today. And while I'm not listening to it, but I'm sure that there's a lot angst in talk radio too.
No candidate is perfect. One is strong on the war, but weak on border security. One is strong on the economy, but doesn't think smaller states are worth the trouble. One is deep in money and organization, but not deep in conservative philosophy. One's got the philosophy, but didn't leave his room to tell it to us.
Out of 300 million people and in this immediate-satisfaction culture, is it wrong to expect a great candidate to step forward?
"Great" is subjective.
A reminder: congress enacts laws. The president executes the laws. The president cannot write legislation.
Which says that it's all about our local candidates.
If you want change, you have to influence change where you can have impact. And all politics, as they say, is local. You have to start there.
If conservatives are fed up, the hard and correct answer is to get damn involved and vocal locally.
A few days ago, I postulated that McCain will likely be the nominee for the Republicans. And I said that I would feel better about voting for him than letting Hillary into office.
After watching McCain the past few days, I spoke too soon. McCain's insistence that he would sign his immigration legislation into law, his employ of Juan "Mexico First" Hernandez, and his outright lie about Romney show me again that there is no way I can vote for the guy. I'd rather see the Democrats show us how not to lead the country, as Pelosi and Reid have amply demonstrated, than have the blame shifted to a Republican.
Our American president has to have an attitude of "America First," not Mexico first, as McCain-Kennedy would do. And while I completely expect politicians to juxtapose their own positions to that of their opponents, lying about an opponent's record is not "straight talk." It's misrepresentation, and coming from the guy who co-authored McCain-Feingold to "clean up" campaign speech, McCain is too obnoxious in his piety to earn my vote.
"Today I have withdrawn my candidacy for President of the United States. I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort. Jeri and I will always be grateful for the encouragement and friendship of so many wonderful people." - Fred Thompson
He's not endorsing. Smart move. And I have even more respect for the guy in his willingness to care for his mom, who is ill.
"Throughout this campaign, Fred Thompson brought a laudable focus to the challenges confronting our country and the solutions necessary to meet them," Romney said in a statement. "He stood for strong conservative ideas and believed strongly in the need to keep our conservative coalition together."
Without a doubt, Thompson's legacy in this campaign will be his strong conservative and constitutional voice, and his damming of any momentum Huckabee might have gotten by rightly disagreeing with Huckabee's positions and statements.
Most of the commentary I've read through the campaign leads me to believe that Fred's exit will only spill over into votes for Romney. Go Mitt!
I listened to the South Carolina returns come in last night as I drove back with Tamara from Kansas City. Good news aplenty, and some bad news.
The good news - even great news - is that the Mike Huckabee took a loss last night, and that's probably the end of his campaign. He couldn't belt it out in the Bible Belt, and if he can't win there... well, that's about it. And thank God.
The bad news is that John McCain has the big mo' at the moment. He's sure to get the Huckster's supporters after Pastor Mike bows out in the next few weeks and endorses him. And I'm pretty sure that Fred Thompson will endorse his senate buddy. Which leaves Mitt standing alone, chugging it out on his own. Those key endorsements will make it tough for Mitt to win, and in all likelihood, McCain will be the nominee.
The good news is that McCain strongly supports our troops and wants to restrict spending in government. I can easily get behind those.
My chief beefs with McCain are that he pushed amnesty and limitations on political speech. If he continues to keep his big mo', he'll get hammered big time on these issues by Rush, Sean, and the blogosphere. He'll have to listen and give strong reassurances to the right if he wants to win in November, and I think he wants this badly enough that he'll do that, but... he loves to have the media love him. How will he play to these two opposing groups? Hard to say...
Good news: Hillary leads Barack in the Democrat delegate count. I want her to get the nomination. It will drive every conservative bonkers, the idea of Hillary and Bill back in the White House. That's a one-way ticket to record turnout. Go Hill!
Let's see how Florida turns out, and then Super Tuesday.
I don't know how many Christians have actually read the bible, but I'd say that the percentage that haven't is lower than the percentage that have. For those that have and take it to heart, I have to tell you, they wouldn't be Republicans or conservatives. In fact, the "Christian Right" is an oxymoron. I'll explain why...
It's always funny to me how political parties end up with conflicting groups within them.
The nanny-staters who want government to dictate so much of life hate government interference when it comes to the conception of a child.
The small government folks have within their ranks those that want government to dictate morés and protect the unborn.
I'm certainly not the first to say it, but those who want limited government should, principally, be consistent, shouldn't they?
If you read the New Testament, the letters to and accounts of the early post-resurrection church, limited government is not written there. What is written there are edicts to Christians to take care of one another, to share all things with each other as though they were common to everyone, to give out of your abundance to meet the needs of everyone. In other words, it's Christian Socialism. Biblically, there is no "Christian Right." Biblically, there is only the "Christian Left."
The bible, unlike conservatism, doesn't celebrate the achievement of the individual. Jesus and his apostles taught grace, the idea that you have no individual achievements for which you can take credit. It's only by the grace of God that you can do anything. There is no merit, if you're a Christian. Which is why football players drop to their knees when they reach the end zone and, post-game, we hear them give the credit to Jesus. Biblically, that's correct. That's what a good Christian would do.
Marxists and true Christians, in many ways, march to the same beat, it's just that one has God and Jesus at its center, and the other laughs at God and wants to take him out of every aspect of the government. Which is probably why they're not in the same political party.
But if we were to align things correctly, there would be the party of "Leave Me Be" and the party of "It Should Be," the latter wanting to foist its humanism/Christianity on the rest of the world.
I have no problem with the Christian church wanting to share things and give out of their abundance. I think that's fine. In fact, I completely agree that Christians should take the example of the early post-resurrection church and do just that. The reason I have no problem with it is that I don't read in the New Testament of Christians wanting to infiltrate government positions to force the rest of society into their view of the world. They shared their goods with each other and had all things held commonly within the church. But the phenomenon we're seeing now is Christian Socialism writ large. I don't remember a Christian candidate before who wanted to issue nanny-statism for the US, but Huckabee is the first, and the true believer crowd is going nuts for it. Yayy Jesus!
The party of "It Should Be:" Last night at the caucus, one woman stood up for Huckabee and announced that Huckabee is going to overturn Roe v. Wade (i.e., outlaw abortion). Her political ignorance is huge and alarming. First of all, it's not law, but a judicial decision. And even if it were law, presidents can't just throw out laws at will. Second, if it is overturned, it simply returns the decision of allowing abortion to the states. A second woman later stood up and said that her emotions around Huckabee's candidacy were ruling her decisions, and God was okay with that because God has emotions too. These women are swooning over Huckabee like he's the caretaker/leader they never knew. He's their closest semblance to a savior, and on a national stage. God, they love that man, don't you know.
It hit me this morning that Christian women are turned on like never before. By golly, if you don't go to church, I'm tellin' you now, church is a-coming to you in the form of Christian Socialism, and the devil is whoever the Democrats nominate - so girlfriend, you best get you and your man out to the voting booth on time. Jesus found himself a candidate, and his name is Mike.
I don't want socialism. In any form. And maybe it's our proximity to Minnesota, but Iowa voted for two socialists last night. I'm mighty concerned about that.
I listened to the South Carolina returns come in last night as I drove back with Tamara from Kansas City. Good news aplenty, and some bad news.
