Posted on 08/16/2011 3:16:39 PM PDT by Quicksilver
The lesson of 2008 was that when we are divided we lose. Any of the 2008 GOP candidates were vastly preferable to Obamanation, especially given that Pelosi and Reid controlled Congress. When liberals have unchecked power an epic amount of damage can be (and was) done. It was (and still is) imperative that Obama be defeated. You never win by losing.
My most preferred 2008 candidate was Fred Thompson. Sadly, for whatever reasons, Fred never got traction. It was clear to me that it would come down to either Romney or McCain; I felt that Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee had very little chance, though Huckabee did better than I thought he would. McCain was the Washington GOP establishment candidate and I knew that he had little chance of defeating Obama. Far, far from ideal, but nonetheless the better of the two that could challenge Obama, I supported Romney for the GOP nomination. With help from the media and Mike Huckabee, McCain won the nomination.
I then supported McCain for president. After he picked Sarah Palin for his running mate I had hope that it would be enough to defeat Obama. Alas, John McCain found a way to lose despite Sarah's best effort to unite conservatives.
I'm really excited about 2012. We have a wonderful field of declared conservative candidates (and more declarations to come, I hope). Ironically, Romney is the establishment candidate this time. I don't think he will be the nominee. I believe that the nomination is up for grabs; however, for now, I think Rick Perry is most likely the one that will win it (if others get in, especially Sarah, that will certainly change the dynamics).
There is a long ways to go before it becomes clear who it will be, and we most definitely should thoroughly vet them all, not just the ones we personally dislike; if we don't, they will.
The bottom line for me is Defeat Obama. If we unite behind our nominee, whoever she or he may be, we will win. Again, you never win by losing. If we don't beat Obama there's a good chance that we will lose ground in the House and Senate. We cannot afford unchecked liberal power.
What a sight it will be to see a stage full of viable conservatives debating each other!
Let the campaign begin!
I wasn’t talking about Perry in particular, and I haven’t done enough research to decide on him. I will vote on election day. If I’m alive, I’ll be there in person; if I die before then, I can count on my local Dem activists to vote for me although not as I would vote. My intention is to vote in every race for the most conservative candidate - except that if the GOP nominee for the White House will put a stamp of approval on Obama’s actions then I’d rather have the real Obama for another four disastrous years. At least with a second Obama term, there’s a better chance of eventually repealing his destructive legislation (the massive debt will cripple the next generation or so, but at least it’ll only be one or two generations that will suffer, and it might not be permanent).
Please vote, no matter what. We need you to vote for a real American for the House and the Senate. I don't care if you write in Palin rather than pull the lever for Mitt Romney, if the worst happens, but at least vote in the rest of the races.
So... the reason why you poke at me is because I’m militantly anti-Slick Willard, the guy who made McCain look like Reagan ?You do tend to be a bit rabid at times when it comes to Mitt Romney. I admire your passion, though. In 2008 I was much more fearful of an Obama presidency than a Romney presidency; I don't think that Romney would have gone on a multi-trillion dollar spending spree, nor would RomneyCare II have been anywhere near as atrocious as ObamaCare, nor would Romney's judicial appointments have been blatant radicals. If we lose SCOTUS it's pretty much over.
I make no apologies for going after individuals whose actions and goals bring damage to the Conservative cause. I have a singular distaste for candidates who lie to my face without an ounce of shame. Maybe calling them RINO isn’t the right term, perhaps CINO (Conservative in name only) or DIABLO (Democrat in all but label only) is more apt. I grew up chin deep around corrupt Democrats who would lie, lie and lie some more. I EXPECT that of them, and my contempt remains bedrock. But I expect from Republicans one basic thing... honesty.
I didn’t approve of Giuliani’s candidacy for President, but at least he wasn’t lying about changing positions at every turn (and at least had a positive accomplishment to his repertoire in resolving the horrific crime rate that had plagued the city for 3 decades).
When you have a candidate who inspires rank dishonesty in their supporters (paid or otherwise) and dares to call themself a “Republican” or “Conservative”, I’m going to get mad as hell and go the extra mile to make sure they’re discredited and crash and burn. Just in the past week alone watching the supporters of Rick Perry rewrite history (to the point that Al Gore himself was made over into a RIGHT-winger when Perry served as his campaign manager in TX) is a perfect example of a reason to vociferously oppose his candidacy.
One thing I like and expect of Conservatism is straight-forwardness, honesty and a basic recognition of reality. When a candidate and their supporters have to toss all that out the window to justify themselves, they’ve not only lost the right to call themselves Conservatives, but have completely lost the moral and ethical high ground that we MUST possess to take the field against the Democrat opposition. If both nominees are dirty, deceitful and corrupted, we’ve lost the war.
That’s why you’ve got to try to be sure. Since I have the time and tend to review tons of news articles, I’ll tend to remember what was fact vs. fiction (or distortion). Of course, some will argue that if the MSM said it, it means it’s a total falsehood. However, I glance at it to see if it contains a kernel of truth or if it can be blown off. Plus, add to that the ton of rumors that are spread.
I think Palin probably set the all-time record for lies and misrepresentations made about her and her family. I would literally reach the point that if an article stated that Palin claimed the sky was blue, I’d do a fact check to make sure. I remember one media photograph was circulated mocking her for bringing a hairstylist/make-up artist to an event when it turned out it was one of her daughters assisting her. That’s the kind of deranged garbage you have to keep an eye out for.
However, I’ll tell you where you make a mistake. When it comes to election time (especially true of Republicans, and even some Democrats), they all manage to turn into these dynamic, Conservative leaders when they open their mouth. I tend to dismiss all of that out of hand. I don’t even bother with watching GOP debates because it becomes the theater of the absurd. No, indeed, what is most important is to watch their record and their early stances. You’ll often find that miraculously, their current rhetoric doesn’t match their record at all. An open borders Governor turns into Tom Tancredo. A pro-abortion Governor turns into Randall Terry. The audacity of the flipfloppery is breathtaking.
Then you hear the supporters saying, “Oh, well, he HAD to take that stance in order to get elected in the state of North Wazoo.” With that one thing, it tells you right off the bat that they’re simply a rank opportunist. They’ll tell the crowd what they want to hear to get a vote. Real leaders take a stand, popular or unpopular, and stick to it. It’s one reason I wish we could draft someone like Paul LePage of Maine. He is who he says and what he is. He doesn’t con the crowd or “shape his views” to fit a constituency du jour. You take him as he is or vote for someone else. Honesty. We badly need that today. I think Reagan was our last straight-out honest President.
In a way, I feel badly for some of the Perry supporters. As I told one last night, I think it’s more that they WANT to believe in his rhetoric and stances, but when you get right down to it, he’s just doing it for show. Even though I’m far from Alaska, I knew about Sarah Palin a decade ago and could see her potential to go far with her refreshing honesty. Sadly today, being honest and telling the truth is viscerally offensive for too many, especially the elites. To speak it, as Orwell stated, has become a revolutionary act.
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Karl Rove says he and consultant David Weeks persuaded Rick Perry to switch parties and run for state agriculture commissioner.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry draws mention in GOP consultant Karl Rove’s autobiography with attention focused on Perry’s win for lieutenant governor in 1998 and Rove’s role in his pivotal earlier switch from the Democratic to Republican party while he was a third-term member of the Texas House.
Rove writes: “Rick Perry had planned to retire from the legislature until his best friend, David Weeks, and I talked him into switching parties and running for the GOP nomination for agriculture commissioner.”
Well put. Governor Gardasil will be toast once the other GOP contenders start going after his liberal record.
If you ask me the field is weak and crappy, full of lets call them “moderates”, milquetoasts, and people you couldn’t imagine winning. All the best possible candidates are freshman Governors who aren’t running this time.
Looks like only 3 have a chance at winning the nomination, Myth, Perry, and Bachmann. Only one is strong conservative. I’ve all but officially endorsed Bachmann at this point.
Obama is circling the drain. Let’s not waste this opportunity by installing another “moderate” President.
I disagree. I think we have the most conservative field I’ve seen. Typically, if we are lucky, we have one conservative candidate. I want all of the conservatives to do well and be competitive. That will make our next election cycle stronger than this one.
I’ll go one by one
Bachmann - Conservative, at least as electable as Perry is
Cain - Conservative (but unfortunately not running a very good race, can’t see him rising to the top, I’ll keep watching)
Perry - Like him less everyday. Another GW Bush.
Myth Romneycare - Bad
Obama’s Ambassador to Red China Hunstman - Even Worse, so ironic he’s from the most conservative state.
Paul - Mostly a good libertarian conservative with a few very kooky notions. Has no chance anyway, a niche candidate
Johnson - A libertarian for open borders/abortion/gay marraige/drug legalization , a non-starter for most Republicans
Roemer - Conservative I guess, but unknown without a doughnuts chance on Michael Moore’s kitchen counter of crawling out of the very low single digits let alone winning the nod
Gingrich - Often goes off the reservation, and talk about baggage city.
Santorum - Conservative, but was easily bullied into supporting Specter in 2004 and was gobsmacked in the 2006 election. Guys who get crushed don’t go on to be elected President. Not taking off.
McCotter - Meh, ok I guess but some problems with him. And he’s barley more of a blip than Roemer.
Then there’s the nobodies who’ll just mention for fun you may have not heard of these guys
Fred Karger - Fruit
Andy Martin - Grade-A Crackpot
Jimmy McMillan - Nice facial hair! Not a conservative but I’d take him over Huntsman and Romney! ;d
And the dearly-departed:
Pawlenty - Meh, I’d have been okay with him, he was high on my list in this bunch but he milqtoasted his way out of the race.
I’d hardly call that a very conservative or strong field. Half of them I wouldn’t (urinate) on if they were on fire.
Is it “better” than fields past? 2008? I guess 2000? Hard to say. 1996? Phil Gramm, Forbes, Dole, I’d rather have had that field.
Ping to post 32
I mean ping to post 33. (and ping to you too Phil)
After a long drought a little rain is a flood. We shall see.
If only they could swim. ;-)
After a long drought a little rain is a flood. We shall see.Yes, we may have to provide life jackets. :)
If only they could swim. ;-)
Well thought out!
I still stand by my tagline. :)
If it reaches the point where voting for the GOP nominee violates my conscience, I simply won’t. Given that I live in Tennessee and now that we’ve moved from a Democrat-lean state to a heavily GOP one, it doesn’t particularly matter as my vote won’t make a difference.
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