Reminder: Super Tuesday
This is just a reminder to go vote (for Huckabee) today. You know you want to vote (for Huckabee). Go check out Huckabee's site if you are still undecided.
Also, if you live in St. Charles County (District 16), consider Mark Parkinson for state representative. I actually had the chance to meet Mr. Parkinson as he campaigned door-to-door and was really impressed with his thoughtful answers.
Sorry to Go All Political
If you aren't into politics, or at least are tired of my little campaign for the best candidate on the field, Mike Huckabee (sorry, I couldn't resist), I promise to talk about something else later tonight. Bear with me on one more post tonight as I analyze the CNN debate tonight.
UPDATE:Think Huckabee is irrelevant? Check out this quote concerning tonight's debate from Bill Schneider of CNN. The Huckabee campaign is alive, well and energized. Help me raise $100 for the Huckabee campaign by giving a Buck for Huck here.
Who won? Perhaps Ron Paul, but certainly Huckabee came close as well. Both Congressman Paul and Gov. Huckabee are presenting exactly the kind of thoughtful, issue focused remarks people need to hear. Sadly, CNN's Anderson Cooper ignored the two of them most of the time — leading to a lot less interesting debate primarily between Romney and McCain. Quite frankly, I think Romney took the night from McCain after a poor start — of the two, McCain came out looking like a spiteful, dirty campaigner and Romney like the guy trying to defend his own, good record. Given Romney's record of negative campaigning, that's ironic, but McCain brought it on himself. I hope people saw the exchange tonight, saw Huckabee's continuing wistful, lighthearted humor and Rep. Paul's continuing out-of-the-box thinking and maybe will decide to vote for someone other than the two dirty campaigners.
I hope, when they do, they will vote for Gov. Huckabee, a candidate that actually has a chance of winning matched with his helpful, forward-looking vision. If not, sure, tip a vote into Ron Paul's box and at least show the GOP that we like hearing about issues.
Remember, Huckabee has the best pro-life, pro-family record. He will eliminate our messed up tax system. He will bring to Washington a positive message of hope and change. He is a true compassionate conservative, not just one that wears a label claiming that title. Let's get Huckabee over the top.
Help Huckabee
First off, I forgot to mention, but last night, we at Open for Business published our endorsement article for the presidency. It may or may not be what you expect, check it out here.
I've just seen the latest Rasmussen poll and Gov. Huckabee is still leading McCain in Missouri, and Missouri is not the only state where there is hope. Why not contribute to the Huckabee campaign right now? Here's a convenient link. Why not sign up and become a Huckabee Ranger while you are at it?
Even if McCain gets the most delegates, it is important that Huckabee gets as many as possible. If we can help Gov. Huckabee get as many delegates as possible, we will empower him to push for the exciting plans of change he has been talking about. He may still be able to nab the nomination, but what if he does not? Well, more delegates help to push Huckabee towards running mate status as a worst case scenario. A McCain-Huckabee ticket would be incredibly powerful. But, first things first. We need to get Gov. Huckabee as many votes as possible.
Mike Huckabee represents a clear vision for the Republican Party. It is time to get the Grand Old Party back on track. It is time to remind people that we are the party of small government. We are the party that respects life. We are the party that respects people. We are the party that respects liberty. In times of economic trouble, no party is better suited to the job at hand than the party that will apply sensible, conservative solutions. We need to offer those conservative solutions. If the Republicans do not, who will? Certainly not the Democrats.
Just to admit it, on the Democratic side, I'm favoring Sen. Clinton. If we must have a Democrat, I'll take for more years of the Clinton administration. But, the problem is that she isn't offering the solutions the country needs any more than the other Democratic candidates. The time is right for a real conservative (something President Bush, sadly, has not been). Huckabee has conservative values, but he also knows how to engage issues important to Democrats — this will help him in the general election again Clinton, Obama or Edwards. Sen. McCain has this same quality, yes, but Gov. Huckabee has a stronger conservative base that will allow him to do so without causing the core of the Republican party to feel disenfranchised, a risk I feel is very real with McCain.
I like Mike! I hope you do too.
Let's Rally for Mike
Well, it's time to campaign. In my estimation, Gov. Huckabee is the best man for the job of President of the United States. He has a clear conservative record. He has the dignity and respect the office deserves. He has a plan to move forward with innovative ideas that will change the status quo. Friends, this election is a chance to have someone different who will bring real change unlike anything we've seen in the last three administrations. I like Mike. We need to help Mike by supporting him in states like Missouri where he has a shot. This campaign has come so far, and yet the tide seems to be turning against the good governor. He needs vocal support and he needs it now. It is not too late — look at how he made a meteoric rise this past fall — let's help him rise once more.
Join his campaign. Fly his banner on your site. And, most of all, show up on February 5 and vote.
New Vocab of the Day
One of the fun things about listening to politicians is hearing their foibles in speaking. Everyone reading this knows about Bushisms, unless I am misunderestimating my audience. Tonight two new, catchy words were added to our great language during the Grand Old Party presidential debate.
Losed This sounds like a word that a poet would come up with out of desperation of maintaining a meter or rhyme. Giuliani presented us with this gem as a replacement for “lost.” It does roll off the tongue nicely.
Actuarily This is the fancy-schmancy Massachusetts variant of what we lowly Midwesterners would call “actually.” It adds a statistically impressive background of an actuary or, perhaps, the adverb “actuarially” to the plain, uninteresting word focused on the truth. Why not mix the third type of lie with the truth? It's the ultimate combo.
Enjoy our new, larger language in your conversations tomorrow. It's sure to impress the politically (if not the linguistically) savvy amongst your friends.
What an Interesting Day in Politics
Wow, what a day. Most notably, in politics, what do you suppose happened with Missouri's Gov. Blunt? A young, promising politician (whom I assumed had a presidential bid in the future), with a strong poltical family (his dad is Congress's minority whip) and a huge campaign war chest suddenly drops plans to run for a second term in an election year? Something smells rotten in Denmark.
And then there is Fred Thompson. Who will he endorse? Will anyone care? Can anything stop McCain?
And who will Rush Limbaugh vote for if McCain gets the nod? He's said in such a case he may not vote Republican this year. Surely he won't vote for the Dems, will he?
What a day…
Making the Choice
Early on, I became fascinated with Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) since he is a libertarian Republican, one of our best bets of seeing libertarian philosophy on the national stage. That his campaign has some traction (unlike, say, Kucinich's on the Dem side) is an added bonus. But, while I'd like to give him the thumbs up, I cannot. First and foremost, is the Ron Paul newsletter controversy. It seems he allowed a newsletter to be published with his name on it for decades that spewed racist garbage. That's putting it kindly. Now, he claims he was unaware of what was being published, but accepts “moral responsibility” for that wrong. That's nice, but assuming the claim is true, what does that say about his attentiveness as a presidential hopeful? If it is a lie, then that is even worse: he is lying and is apparently a white supremacist. Sadly, I cannot see a route to deal with this issue that doesn't make me feel obliged to reject Paul as a candidate, much as I wish it were otherwise.
Three other candidate fit in my overall political spectrum: Thompson, Romney and Huckabee. Thompson I'm not really considering, because he seems to be lacking in the enthusiasm to win and the polls echo that. Romney and Huckabee are so close to me on issues that they make suitable options, but also confusing options because neither is vastly better on issues. I like that Romney was able to be elected in a Democratic state, and I think religion could actually work to his advantage as a member of a “minority.” However, I'm dubious either can be elected. Particularly Huckabee, though, as an ordained pastor. That said, I feel that given his more reliable stance on social issues and his down-to-earth, midwestern character, Huckabee is the best choice for the job. As I review his policies, I like many of them, such as the FairTax plan. What does give me pause is his positions on Homeland Security and foreign wars, but Ron Paul is the only one talking the talk I want to hear on that, and I've already explained why I can't vote for him. And, I do disagree with Paul on the idea of an immediate withdrawal from Iraq — that's irresponsible.
So, Huckabee is not someone I can pick without some reservations, but overall I feel good about him as a candidate. I like most of his position statements quite a bit. I'd like to see him get the nomination and I'd like to see him in the White House. Barring that, I'll take Romney. If a Democrat wins, who do I want? Well, I'll leave that for another day.
It Feels Good...
…to be in the midst of analyzing Campaign '08. I've not been this excited about politics in at least a year. I need to keep my inner political junkie under control, but a little fun every so often never hurts. And what a start! Who knows what will happen at this point.
Well, I don't, but I am going to make “official” my endorsements for President in both major parties tomorrow. Aren't you excited? The person to guess my pick on both sides correctly gets 25 asisaid points.
Gone Fish'in, Go Read Elsewhere
Ok, I'm not really out fishing at midnight (and I'm not going fishing tomorrow either, in fact, I don't like fishing). But, I am drawing a blank on something to post. So instead, let me point you to my latest column on Open for Business.
Archbishop Raymond Burke is not the type of man you would label as a conciliator. Since he came to St. Louis a few years ago, he has inflamed via his vocal opposition of politicians who support abortion, his suppression of a parish that ignored his orders and now his resignation from a charity board after it brought Sheryl Crow, a supporter of embryonic stem cell research, to play at a benefit concert. The common wisdom says he must be wrong, but is he really?
Feel free to let me know what you think either over on OFB or here.
Let Me Pat Myself on the Back
Ok, I don't normally do this, but I happened to run into an old blog post of mine, and just had to revel in it for a moment — well, sort of, I would have preferred being wrong, for the most part.
“For those, like me, of the Right, we have a serious problem. As the
saying goes, if these are our friends, we hardly need enemies. I
predict a Democratic landslide in 2006, unless we get our collective
acts together.”
As I wrote on a mailing list today, as a free market kind of guy, I'm not excited about the Republicans at the moment — they are now the “big government party,” and though I don't trust the Dems talk of smaller government (since it doesn't fit with their overall agenda), I think the fact that people like me, as members of the base, are unexcited was damaging. Moreover, the wishy-washiness of the Republicans on issues like cloning, etc., hasn't given social conservatives like myself much reason to be terribly excited about the GOP either. So, I think the Republicans ended up going for some illusory “moderates” that do not actually exist, or at least do not exist in large enough quantities to win an election, while leaving behind the bases that propelled them into power in '94, and helped for the big wins ten years later in '04. This was worsened by the close association of the GOP with the USA PATRIOT Act, despite the fact that people from both parties stupidly supported this bill. Why the GOP pushed to reup it is beyond me in as much as they actually wanted to win in the election a few weeks ago. Really, the election was all about the stupidity of forgetting what people elected you to do and not even doing a good job lying about it.
