Posted on 10/17/2005 12:53:10 PM PDT by Keyes2000mt
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Over the past few weeks I've discussed the prospects of 14 potential presidential candidates. Now its my turn to say who I believe should be chosen to lead our nation in 2008.
The next president of the United States needs to be unquestionably pro-life and for the sanctity of the family. He also must fight the war on terror including securing of our border. We also need a President who understands the importance of fiscal responsibility and limited government. This is perhaps the most neglected part of the Conservative agenda these days. We need a President who doesn't think veto is "some Italian guy."
As I examine the potential candidates for 2008. One man's leadership, character, and record make him stand out from the rest: Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana. Pence's record on every issue is solid, right down the line Conservative. He's pro-life, pro-family, he received a 100% rating from the Federation of American Immigration Reform. In other words, he's a reliable vote for conservative values.
However, being a vote is not enough. There are several good reliable "votes" in Congress. What sets Pence apart is his leadership. Pence is chairman of the Conservative House Republican Study Committee and led the charge for Operation Offset, which would offset spending for Hurricane relief with spending cuts. Though he was roundly criticized by House leaders at the time, due to his leadership and efforts at the grassroots, the House leadership and the Bush Administration have now proposed rescission bills to cut spending.
In 1996, the most laughable line in Bill Clinton's State of the Union Address was, "The era of big government is over." In the years following, the budget soared as Congress raided the public treasury to secure its own re-election. In the midst of a mad-race to a ten trillion dollar debt, Pence reminds the country of the great principles of limited government. It's a message that's not popular. It certainly doesn't win friends with the House Republican leadership, the White House, or the mainstream press, but it is one that must prevail if freedom is to survive. It is not possible to remain a free prosperous people with unlimited debt and unchecked growth in the size and scope of the federal government.
Pence can unite Conservatives in common cause. He's prepared to address the serious issues that face our country from immigration to the decline of the family, and the rights of the unborn. He stands ready to undo the disastrous abomination that was McCain-Feingold. He does not believe that we are on the road to inevitable decline, but with optimism and faith, he presents a clear vision for America's future.
Today, we need that optimism. As I look at the candidates that seem to excite so many, I see an emptiness. I see them as men who will lead us forward into the abyss, at best giving lip service to great conservative principles, but never applying them. I see the road that the establishment candidates will lead us down: one of accommodation and/or cowardice to the cultural left, disastrous fiscal irresponsibility, and a refusal to secure our nation's borders and guarantee our sovereignty. I fear that in my old age, I'll be that man who will tell his grandchildren what it was like to live when men were free.
We will not defeat Hillary Clinton in 2008 with political calculus, but with hope, optimism, and a bold vision for our country's future. Pence can provide that for our nation, and that will defeat the lies, deception, and corruption of the Clinton machine.
Now doubtless, there will be those who disagree with my pick of Congressman Pence. The main point that will be cited is the fact that he is a member of the House of Representatives. No sitting Congressman has been elected President since 1880.
While this is true, it doesn't establish that Pence should not be nominated for President, only that its been a while since a House member's won. I would than these rules are not applied to our friends in the political establishment. For example, Condi Rice (who has said she's not running) is still frequently promoted as a Presidential Candidate despite the fact that no Secretary of State has been elected President in 150 years. Rudy Giuliani is promoted despite the fact we have never elected a President whose only elected office had been at the Municipal level.
The main problem Congressmen have faced is embodied in the campaigns of Dennis Kucinich, Bob Dornan, and Jim Traficant. All three members ran despite the fact that there was little demand for their candidacy and other candidates were carrying their message. The campaigns were basically vanity efforts.
Pence would run as a well-connected member of Congress from his position at the RSC, and there can be a real demand for his candidacy. In addition, unlike the other three, Pence comes with a record of helping Conservatives win. Local Republicans credit his efforts in helping Republicans retake the Indiana House in 2004. In addition, Pence while having courage, dignity, and integrity isn't mean-spirited or uncivil. He's a stand up guy who after his first two unsuccessful runs for Congress in 1988 and 1990 wrote, "Confessions of a Negative Campaigner." His faith doesn't just shape what he believes, but how he conducts himself in relating to others.
All in all, he's a good man and would make a great president. However, the ball is in our court. A presidential campaign is a huge sacrifice for anyone. Our current campaign cycle requires a successful candidate to begin his campaign in the first four months of 2007 and end it in November, 2008. We're talking about a huge chunk of someone's life, time spent away from family delivering speech after speech, shaking hand after hand. Its an intense, exhausting experience.
Unless a candidates believes that he can win or that his campaign can bring up serious issues that other candidates will adopt, he would have to be insane to run for the Presidency. If we want Pence to run and to win, we must make it clear that if he will stand up for America, we'll stand with him. Those of us who are not currently involved in your local Republican Party, should run for precinct captain, squirrel away what money you can, save $5 or $10 every paycheck and put it aside for the upcoming Presidential campaign. America will stand or fall, not on what Mike Pence says or does, but on what Americans are willing to do to keep freedom alive.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Adam Graham was Montana State Coordinator for the Alan Keyes campaign in 2000, and in 2004 was a candidate for the Republican nomination for the Idaho State House. He and his wife live in Garden City, Idaho. Graham writes about U.S. and Idaho politics on his blog at http://adamsweb.us/blog. You can subscribe to his nightly podcast at http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/blgH
Ping.
ping!
Hey Gip, got to read this thread!!!!
In all fairness Mike Pence can serve this nation better by being in Congress.. Congress is the branch of Government that passess the bills, make laws etc...
Thanks.
I'll be watching this guy.
Right now, I am utterly disgusted with the Republican Party.
The litany of abuses is long, but I always kept my powder dry and said "The Supreme Court is what matters". Now it's crunch time, and my fears of what the Republican Party is have been confirmed. I don't believe in cronyism. But the Republican Party stands for that: that's just what happened. I don't believe in attack machine hatchet-jobs on opponents, but that's what the Republicans have become (Democrats were already there), and now the hatchets are turned against folks like me. I don't believe in backing down from the right moral stances when you have the power to fight, but that's precisely what the Republican President, Congress, Governor of Florida, and Legislature in Florida did in the Schiavo case. I don't believe in open borders and unlimited illegal immigration. I don't believe that it is constitutional to fight foreign wars without a formal declaration of war by the Congress of the US - nothing less - just like it says in the Constitution. I don't believe in pork barrel projects and exploding deficit spending. I don't believe that capital gains, dividends and estate taxes should be cut so that they are lower than wage taxes. I don't believe in fighting a war of attrition with insufficient resources and without closing the borders.
So, there's Mike Pence there. Where does he stand on all of these issues? Where DID he stand? The way I look at it, I have compromised with the Republicans on all of them, but the Republicans haven't compromised on the really big ticket items to their core base: those huge tax cuts that benefit everything but wages were passed. The border is open. And Harriet Miers will probably be sitting on the Supreme Court.
What will Mike Pense do differently?
HOW?
Veto pen (when used)...
but vetos can be overridden..
So far Pence looks good based on what I've read, though he could tank if he ends up being too much like Keyes (thankfully no signs so far of any 'nutty' factor for Pence.) Still an uphill battle, but a Giuliani-Pence ticket is a real possibility.
Indeed, but the President has the bully pulpit (should he choose to wisely use it), and a congressman does not.
http://acuf.org/issues/issue34/050415pol.asp
http://www.acuratings.org/singlerecord.asp?RepID=228&RatingsYear=2004
ACU rating
Representative Mike Pence (R)
Indiana, District 2
2004 Score - 100
Previous Year's Score - 96
Lifetime Score - 99
Years of Service - 4
He'd be lucky to get the same percentage as Keyes. Most have never heard of him.
I'd rather see a Sanford/Pence ticket. Now that ticket would kick @$$!!!!
Not by 1 man. A president's power is FAR greater than a congressmans'.
Mike Pence in 2008!!!!!
A Midwesterner.
That is good.
American Presidential elections are now determined in the Midwest, because the other four regions are all solidly one party or the other.
He's much more charismatic and down-to-earth than Keyes (and I like Dr. Keyes, don't get me wrong) and is more likable on a large scale.
He's more like Reagan than anyone in government today.
He's got time.
The following sound was often heard in Democratic circles in October of 1973:
"Who the heck is Jimmy Carter?"
We all know what happened three short years later.
Rush even mentioned him today!
Rush mentioned Pence??
Just keeps getting better and better!!
I'd be all smiles if a high-profile guy like Rush came out and endorsed Pence for Prez.
A great article by Adam Graham.Everything he says rings true. The most important point,IMHO,is that it is up to us,the American people,to get Mike Pence elected President.
Mike Pence has and will continue to do his part,the rest is up to us. Pence is right, conservatism IS at a Crossroads,just like 64 and 76,we must not flinch.Perfect article Adam!
ROFL ....
Just what we need, a lawyer/talk radio president.
Rush has mentioned Pence at least every other day for the last two weeks. Pence will be the interview in the next Limbaugh letter.
Mike Pence is my kind of candidate, a real conservative.
You still haven't been paying attention.How sad! If Geoff Davis and Chocola endorse Pence, then will you get on board??
Cool. I haven't been able to listen much except for short spurts on my lunch break.
Do you think a Rush endorsement (if he gave one-he's seemed rather skittish on making endorsements in the past for a particular candidate) would help?
Pence/Blackwell '08??
Naa...let us have Blackwell for a few years in Ohio first!
He mentioned him last week a couple of times too. Cannot remember the context cause I was at work and had to zip in and out of the Rush thread. Something about how calls and letters to Congress were helping Mike Pence and Operation Offset. Something to the effect that we WERE having an impact.
Mike Pence is head and shoulders better than Allen, or Giuliani, or Rice, or Brownback, or Frist, or McPain...
pence is going to have a tough time in 08, these rockefeller hacks will do anything to stop a guy like him.
hopefully the conservative media can help to get his ideas/name out there.
even laura ingraham had an interview with him a week or two ago-- talking about operation offset. pure class all the way
Rush is interviewing him for next month's Limbaugh Letter.
Yea I think Rush will get on board,however it will be late.I am worried about Hannity and Levin both singing Allen's praises lately(and for no apparent reason that I can see)
That's right. We need Ken Blackwell here for atleast 4 years to clean up the mess left by Bob Shaft and his band of merry RINO's.
Obviously any member of Congress reaching for POTUS is a stretch.
But both Gephardt and Jack Kemp ran credible campaigns for the job, even while losing.
But neither of these guys speaks to his base the way that Pence will hopefully be able to. Kemp certainly tried...it's just that in 88 he ran against a sitting VP and a powerful senator who had been on the ticket previously. Even so, Kemp ran third. Not bad.
Pence, though, is smarter than Kemp and will be, I think, a better candidate.
The downside is that we really can't lose him in the House. Otherwise, we will have no one.
Maybe 2008 is not his year. And that's ok.
From 1966 until he was elected, a lot of people believed and indeed "knew" that RR would carry the ball for us some day. It was just a matter of time. I feel like we are sort of in that same position right now. His organization might require a bit of maturing, but the fact is that he is doing everything right for now...and one day, he will be our man on the ticket.
I plan to email Hannity about Pence.
Probably because Miers is several times more qualified to be a Supreme Court Justice than Pence is to be President.
Four articles tearing down good candidates from President just to set up a love piece for a three-term congressman? Good grief, the author's dumber than I first thought!
Pence will be as well-known within a year as Newt was in 1995. Except he will be more respected as he's more personable and has no skeletons in his closet, unlike Gingrich.
Apart from Reagan, we have had nothing but politicians and none of them were anything to write home about. It's not what you are, or were, that matters; it's what you think.
bump for later
Tearing down? I think he was just being honest.
McCain? Puuuullleaze!!!
Allen? He's OK, but he's got a serious case of beltway-itis and was fuzzy on abortion in the past. Not to mention he's made no real commitment to fiscal conservatism.
Frist? He's a non-starter for two reasons-one, he's about as likeable as a rusted out '78 Pinto. Secondly, the stem-cell thing.
Giuliani? A social liberal and fiscal moderate who is pro-WOT? So he's an Italian-American Joe Lieberman with an "R" next to his name. Doesn't mean I want him as President. And I LIKE Rudy, BTW, but not for President.
Brownback? Great on social issues, acceptable on fiscal ones. Just doesn't have the leadership or innovative approach I'd like to see.
Hayley Barbour? Possible, but he's too much of an insider, and would be way too soft on the borders.
The field gets pretty narrow pretty quickly if you ask me.
Mark Sanford would be OK, but he's not running. Probably too soft on illegals but would be excellent from a fiscal standpoint, and pretty good on social issues. Was once my first choice, I'd now move him to second IF he actually runs.
your foot is going deeper in your mouth daily.....
Mike Pence has done more for the conservative movement these past three months than all other candidates have done their entire careers.
I shall not mention what has apparently been going into your mouth, Gip.
Sorry to disappoint you, but Rush speaks mighty highly of George Allen as well.
But, of course you can't see that. You only see things through your Pence-Colored glasses.
Pence is a good man. His day may come. I don't think it's 2008.
But I do hope you two are monthly donors since you use so much space on FR promoting Pence.
I know. As I've said Allen is OK, but just OK. He's not the guy I'd get excited about.
What do you think we should do in '08 then?? And why he/she'd be better than Hillary, and why you think this person could beat her?
Oh, well, then I can think of a few thousand people I'd rather see run for President, most of whom have as much chance as Pence, but some of whom have a much better chance.
Who, like Hillary?
Don't feed the anti-Pence TROLL, Reagan could come back from the dead to endorse Pence and JohnnyZ would still hate him.
If Sanford doesn't run, who are conservatives left with?
Brownback and Allen?
If we have to have a Sen., why can't it be Tom Coburn?
Heh. That'd give the libs something to wet their pants about, that's for sure....
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