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.

Almost Made It

One goal I continually float before myself as a blogger is that of posting at least a post a day for a month. I've done it a number of times — and gone on even longer stretches — but not in recent times, thanks to the schedule of seminary. Well, I almost made it this month while I was off, but forgot completely about posting yesterday. Oh well. It is kind of a silly goal, I suppose, but I'm still disappointed to have missed it. The helpful part about such a goal is that it forces me to examine life, the universe and everything and come up with something to say by the end of each day. Without that pressure, I'm more inclined to put off writing and have less of an array of topics covered here. As such, I think I will try again in February.

What's Done and What's Not

Well, I doubt I am even going to come close to accomplishing everything I wanted to over Christmas break, but at least I'm starting to catch up with some of the major points. I've been working on some projects that needed to be done for church, cleaned up Open for Business a bit, merged some mailing lists I operate, spent time reading Shakespeare, enjoyed some “off time” playing games and taking pictures… in general, I have less regrets about what I've done over this six week period than I typically do as a vacation ends. I am regretful about a few things that have happened over break, alas, but not things I've gotten done.

I had hoped to write a quiz software program for a project I'll talk more about later, address the dusty Faithtree.com and catch up a bit more on reading, but, hey, one cannot get everything done, right?

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.

Ready. Set...

Well, today, I checked in to Covenant for the Spring semester. I do not actually start until next Tuesday, but as of today, all of my stuff is in order, and I have all of my books, save a few special ones for an independent study. I've enjoyed being off, and wouldn't necessarily complain if I had a few more weeks of downtime, but that said, it looks like an interesting and exciting semester ahead.

Here goes nothing…

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…

Hungry...

I am not sure why, but I am terribly hungry for steak fries. The problem is that I cannot think of any place in the area that serves steak fries! I'll have to get some next time I'm in St. Louis County, I guess.

Why an I telling you this? I'm not sure!

Just So I Can Say I Did

I do not think I've ever tried posting to my blog from my iPhone before. Now, I have. Wow, the possibilities are endless! But the night is not… So, good night.