Republicans | MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy

The Next Right

I’ve complained in the past about how ineffectual the right side of the blogosphere is; it’s part of the reason I grumble about how I “hate blogging,” in fact. Oh, yeah, we had Rathergate and the Reuters Fauxtography scandal, and a couple other things that hit critical mass, but that’s just a handful of things in the last four years or so. It’s nothing compared to the things the Nutroots gets done, and I’m not even talking about the enormous amounts of money they can raise compared to us.

The difference: While we talk about how they are negative–and they are–they’re also working FOR something. We’re just generally carping from the cheap seats, playing at punditry and media criticism. They’re getting the nutroots agenda heard on Capitol Hill regularly, and they even were able to take down a Senator who was once a Vice-Presidential candidate (Lieberman) in a primary. There’s no way Ned Lamont could have beaten Joe Lieberman in the primary without the Nutroots. And now, the conservative blogosphere is top-heavy with people who are largely lukewarm (or worse) toward our Presidential candidate, and more against the idea of a President Barack Obama. Well, it’s pretty much our own fault as a collective whole.

Enter The Next Right.

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The Next Right is a new project started by Patrick Ruffini, Jon Henke, and Soren Dayton, designed to foster political activism using technology like blogs and other Web 2.0 structures. Patrick Ruffini introduces it here:

If you’re looking for pure-play opinion and link bait on sundry topics from Ann Coulter to Jimmy Carter/Hamas, you won’t find it here. What you will find is in-depth (often unabashedly technical) writing about the election, the polls, the strategy, and the issues. Our analysis will track truth and stay true to the numbers. But it will self-consciously serve a greater purpose — educating YOU to be your own political strategist and start doing something — whether that’s blogging about your local Congressional race or Democratic corruption in your state, organizing fundraising drives, and maybe even managing races or running for office yourself. Only a revival of civic engagement at the grassroots level will create a conservative future we want: one that is pork-free and robust in the defense of our country and its values. We can’t call a switchboard and wait for Washington to fix the mess. We have to do it ourselves, from the ground up, in every state.
[...]
We don’t think this alone will solve the activism gap. Anyone who tells you that they alone have the answer is fooling you. This is not “the Daily Kos of the right.” What we’re hoping to do is create momentum and an intellectual framework for action — because action ultimately starts with narratives and ideas. We want grassroots conservatives and libertarians to start believing that they can make a difference again — a sense all too many have lost. Only you – and not some well-funded 527 — can bring the movement into the future. Only when grassroots conservative have a direct stake in the future of the party are we effective. The Next Right is about creating a vision for a 21st century Republican Party and conservative movement.

We need this. Desperately. Go read more about the how and whys of The Next Right, and sign up to be notified when it’s open for business. TAKE BACK CONTROL OF YOUR GOVERNMENT.

THIS MEANS YOU.

Think I was kidding about Paultards hijacking the Convention? See Nevada.

Thankfully, the Paultard push to take over the North Carolina delegation failed. But listen up: these people DO NOT CARE about the will of the voters. They’re already creating havoc, this time in Nevada.

After a super-majority of Ron Paul supporters captured control of the Republican state convention Saturday, state party officials abruptly canceled the event without electing delegates to the national convention.

Early in the day, state delegates supporting Paul’s continued pursuit of the Republican nomination voted through a rules change that forced the state party to abandon its preset ballot of potential national convention delegates and open up the race to the rest of the state delegates.

The vote followed a rousing speech by Paul of Texas, who said his presidential campaign will continue as long as he has support.

But as the convention continued into the evening, chairman Bob Beers said the party’s contract for the hall at the Peppermill Resort Casino had expired and the event would be rescheduled.

“Due to a rules change that left us on an overtime basis, we will recess the convention until a date that we are going to announce next week,” Beers told a shocked crowd, which stood silent for a few seconds before erupting in boos.

As Beers was escorted out of the building, a short-lived effort to rescue the convention was launched by party activist Mike Weber. Although several hundred Paul supporters stayed, they weren’t strong enough to make a quorum to continue the convention.

Throughout the confusion, hecklers battled for the attention of delegates who supported U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

Look, I appreciate the Paultards’ organizational ability - I wish “we” were better at it ourselves. But this is ridiculous - Ron Paul was on the ballot and the VOTERS DECIDED. John McCain is the choice of the majority of Republicans, and that is the party for which we have chosen a nominee. Not The Ron Paul Party.

Paul, who came in second in the Nevada caucuses, actively worked to ensure his supporters attended both the county and state conventions.

His contingent came to the state convention prepared for battle. They had a row of printers to print ballots for their supporters to the national convention. They set up a communications network using text messages to cell phones to make sure everyone voted correctly on motions that would benefit their effort. And they scoured the rules for opportunities to level the playing field.

“On the one side you have a candidate with principles, on the other side you have Tammany Hall,” said Kelly Edinger, a Reno Paul supporter. “I’m in it for Ron Paul. I still believe he can win.“

Do you really want crazed, delusional hooligans raising hell at the convention?

If you care about this, get active. If not, be prepared for the National Convention to be overrun with anarchists. We have our nominee and that isn’t going to change, but they will do everything they can to hijack, subvert, and disrupt the formal nomination process at the convention. Keep your eye on your state’s delegation, because things could get stupid really fast.

Patrick Ruffini knows what can happen.

But by far the biggest impact delegates can have is through floor demonstrations. In some ways, their reactions to the speeches set the tone for the convention, amplifying messages from the stage. Remember how Pat Buchanan enraptured the floor at the 1992 convention but lost the country? Or how the Texas delegates turned their backs on gay Republican Congressman Jim Kolbe in 2000? Now, imagine, Paul loyalists get 20-30% of the seats on the floor in St. Paul, controlling delegations like Missouri, with a significant presence in Minnesota, with closest promixity to the stage. Can the speakers safely voice a pro-victory message in Iraq without a significant amount of boos and catcalls? How will this look on television? And don’t forget, national conventions are also heaven for reporters trolling for off-message quotes from delegates.

It’s our own fault, y’all.

I can’t fault them, can you? Dodging on loyalty oaths aside, all they are doing is Grassroots Organizing 101. Even the social conservatives who traditionally filled this role have punted, drifting into lifestyle-based forms of self-identification. What is remarkable is that this is being pulled off by an historically smaller and smaller base of people using the Internet. All because the regular Republican organization across the country is demoralized, demobilized, and eviscerated.

Read the whole thing. Get off your butts and take back the party. Quit complaining about how it’s too “RINO” if you aren’t willing to do something. If you don’t take back the GOP, real RINOs will.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again until it sinks in: when you disengage and do nothing, you GET nothing. That goes for your level of support for John McCain, too - if you do nothing but hold your nose and vote, how on earth are you ever going to have your voices heard? People have complained for years about the influence of the “Religious Right” on the party (whether you agree with that or not), but they’re organized and at least until now, have reliably made their views relevant by donating, organizing, and activism - at a level disproportionate to their numbers. And now we have the paleolibertarian truthiness wing of conservatism speaking up. If they were to get behind McCain, they’d have a voice in a McCain administration too (of course, they won’t get behind him, because just like RP, they’re ineffectual absolutists). We of the “Silent Majority” can afford to be silent no more, not in the age of the internet and instant communications.

Pinging Nice Deb and This Ain’t Hell so they get this update to their posts.

stein hoist Thanks to my friend Ralph, for the tip on the news from Nevada.

Paultards trying to subvert the National Convention for their guy

I saw this at Digg (where else?) last week, but ignored it after burying it. It seems, though, that Paultards are quite serious about hijacking the Republican Convention. If you don’t want to see the “plan” at the Paultards’ blogs, read it here. Snip:

*The Strategy:*

The strategy therefore must be to get as many Ron Paul delegates selected to represent their states at the National Convention.

That means our delegates need to stay low-key.

Resolutions are a dead giveaway, especially when they are fought over things like opposition to the war, or abolishing the Federal Reserve and the IRS, all signature issues of Ron Paul.

So, the best plan is to shut up, move along, do what you have to do to get selected, sign the pledge to “support” McCain (it doesn’t say you promise not to abstain!) and just get in short of outright lying, of course.

If there are any ethical concerns about this supposed “stealth tactic,” think about what ethical concerns you may have if you allow McCain to become president by your inaction. [Continue reading...]

Ethics? We don’t need no stinkin’ ethics! It’s REVOLUTION! Forget about the sheeple’s votes, this is a coup!
/vomiting

At least one person is fighting back. Heather Johnson of Moms4Mitt.com:

I am a Mitt fan and have a blog for his support. But I have also pledged on my blog my support for McCain as a our GOP nominee. I am trying to do my part in stopping these Ron Paul fans from overtaking the convention with their agenda nonsense and just get McCain officially nominated.

Heather is trying to just GET to the convention, but she needs help (financially) getting there. If you can drop a few shekels her way, you’ll be doing your part to shut up these asshat Paultards. Make no mistake, they are extremely well-organized (online activity and caucus results should tell you that much) and you can be sure they’ll make their presence known at the National Convention. Unless you want to see the GOP have an even more f’d up convention than it looks like the Dems will have, the Paultard kiddies must be stopped.

Ron Paul has even given tacit support to this idea (or that’s how it’ll be read by his fanatic supporters), while leaving his options open for a third party run:

“I’ll be very cautious about what I do,” he said, noting his effort to encourage his supporters to get involved with their local Republican committee.

And you know Ron Paul–he’s a stickler for the last letter of the Constitution. If it can be interpreted to allow this “loophole” that can get him nominated–or at the very least, create chaos–it’s A-OK. He’ll say this is exactly what the Constitution was designed for. (Nevermind the votes for the candidates–the votes for delegates matter more? LOL.)

Please help Heather out - I absolutely vouch for her honesty and ethics 100%. She needs help getting to the Convention, and we need to put the final nail in the Paultard coffin of crazy once and for all.

Ron Paul Revolution = OVER

Super Tuesday (Thank God it’s over)

Okay, I’m not gonna gloat about McCain winning big last night. Unlike some people, I’m not into insulting supporters of other candidates (except Paulbots). I’m of course happy, but I’ll keep a lid on it.

I thought it was funny as hell that the media pundits were all acting shocked that the South went to Huckabee. I wasn’t surprised a bit. I wish McCain had been able to pull it off, but Huckabee’s a strong force down here, for several reasons. First of all, he’s “one of us.” He speaks our language, and I don’t mean the religious stuff (although that’s some of it). Did you hear him mention “Roll Tide” and “Rocky Top” and the Bulldogs? That’s in Southern blood. But more importantly, Southerners are independent. Rebels, if you will, and they/we hate the media elites telling us how to vote. I think the media and blog jihad on Huckabee strengthened Southern resolve. Keep bashing Huck, and it repels Southerners. Hell, if it weren’t for some of his ideas and his lack of foreign policy credentials, I might have been tempted to vote for him just to poke the elites in the eye. But the issues do matter to me, and I couldn’t reconcile a lot of his with mine. Besides, McCain needed every vote down here and unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for Alabama. Congratulations to Mike Huckabee and the Huckabee supporters–y’all had a really good show last night, and your networking efforts have been amazing.

Well, Mitt Romney had a bad night, although I have to admit I’m not really surprised things ended up the way they did. Is anyone? (I mean other than Hugh Hewitt.) I thought California would be closer than it was. He of course won some states, more than Huckabee did, but didn’t meet expectations. We’ll see if Mitt and Huck stick around for the long haul. Honestly, I hope they don’t because I’m ready for this part of the election to be over. (Sorry. Just my opinion.)

So from here…there are a lot of Fredheads like me who have picked a candidate, and some who still haven’t. It strikes me as very strange that just a few weeks ago, we Fredheads were all on the same page, but after he dropped out, we went to war. Well, really, a one-sided war. Whatever. I do hope that the Romney supporters who were Fredheads can remember that, instead of saying (as I’ve heard over the last couple of weeks) that ex-Fredhead McCain supporters are somehow looking to destroy the conservative movement or that we’re not “real conservatives.” We all want the same things in the end; it’s just a question of how we get there. I DO think John McCain can bring about a resurgence in the Republican Party and in the conservative movement, as he brings independents on board. They won’t be invading the GOP, they’ll be joining. That’s how Reagan did it, after all. But I’ll write more about that later.

The big picture: Of the total votes cast, a lot more were cast for Democratic candidates than Republican candidates. We have to get our people voting, and we need independent voters. I know Super Tuesday just ended and that there are still nine months until the general election, but we’ve got work to do. There are people who say they will not vote in November. My job is to make you want to vote for John McCain in November (with the presumption being that he will be the nominee), and if you give us–meaning those like me–a chance, I know we can.

Republican voters like McCain

Conservative media and blogs may not think conservative and/or Republican voters like McCain, but that’s because they never step outside the echo chambers that tell them McCain is a “liberal just like Hillary.” Or maybe they’re just dishonest. Or both.

The Conservative Elite™ just doesn’t get it.

Via Marc Ambinder, poll from Pew.

Ann Coulter is an Idiot, Part Duh

Ann Coulter would “vote for the devil” over John McCain.

Ann Coulter is still supporting Hillary Clinton, but (sort of) says Republicans should vote for Romney.

Ann Coulter, until very recently, had nothing good to say about Mitt Romney. Or any other candidate–including Fred Thompson–besides Duncan Hunter.

You have a choice: the unhinged Ann Coulter/Hillary Clinton wing of the conservative movement, or the John McCain/Steve Forbes/Ted Olson/Tom Coburn/Norman Schwarzkopf/et al. wing.

I cannot believe people still listen to this bint. Is this the poster child for conservatism that you want? When, once and for all, are other conservatives going to reject this embarrassment to our side? Isn’t it time to give our own Ted Ralls and Cindy Sheehans the boot?

Oh wait, this is funny. From Coultard’s archives of “Quotations from Chairman Ann”–

At least Carter was only endorsed by Castro August 21, 2007, 2:53 AM

Shocker: Former Madam Is A ‘Big Fan Of Hillary’

Ahem.

And there’s this gem (also from “Chairman ~~Mao’s~~ Ann’s Quotations archive):

Ridiculous Romney Cites Book By Scientologist L. Ron Hubbard May 2, 2007, 1:07 PM
This is not helping Mormons seem normal . . .

MITT ROMNEY, L. RON HUBBARD FAN

What’s next? Winking at Islamic fundamentalists for being the last Americans to give up polygamy?

Oh, and this, too:

Gov. Mitt Romney will never recover from his acquiescence to the Massachusetts Supreme Court’s miraculous discovery of a right to gay marriage.

Pervez Musharraf is better than Mitt Romney! Ann Coulter said so!

If Republicans end up with a divided convention between Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani, I say we pick Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

I see…a dictator who is nominally friendly to American interests (”he may be a dictator, but he’s our dictator,” as the saying goes). Sounds just like Ann Coulter to me.

Gosh, but she makes conservatism sound so appealing. Not.

Good luck convincing people to vote for Romney with people like Ann Coulter doing the talking for you. I’m a conservative, but that shrew and her shrieking “conservative” media brethren do not speak for me.

I’ll stick to the adults, thanks.

UPDATE: More about the hysteria from Soccer Dad, with a word from Commander Kang.

UPDATE, 2/4/07: Bill Kristol nails it.

American politics tends to be unkind to movements that dwell in anger and relish their unhappiness. In the era from Franklin D. Roosevelt to John F. Kennedy, liberals tended to be happy warriors — and that helped their cause. The original civil rights movement succeeded in part because it worked hard to transcend a justifiable bitterness. Liberalism faltered when it became endlessly aggrieved and visibly churlish.
[...]
They [angry conservatives --ed.] can choose to stand aside from history while having a temper tantrum. But they should consider that the American people might then choose not to invite them back into a position of responsibility for quite a while to come.

In case you missed it–Conservative lawyers for McCain

I saw the news about Ted Olson at the Contentions blog last night, along with the news that Miguel Estrada, Steven Calabresi, and Charles Fried have endorsed John McCain.

What a buncha libs!!!1!1
/eyeroll

Here’s Ted Olson:

Take that, Mark Levin. You aren’t fit to shine any of those mens’ shoes, and neither are the other children on the playground.

Since people are building a strawman in homage to John McCain, regarding how they think he’ll appoint liberal judges to the bench, I’ll offer these quotes. Snagged from the comments at the Volokh Conspiracy:

New York Times, October 6, 1987.

“One should remember that, if our courts are free to go beyond the terms of our cherished Constitution to create new constitutional mandates that some might find acceptable, the Supreme Court in later years could use that free-roaming power to create mandates we don’t like. Neither course is sound. The only sound course for the courts is to apply the law as it’s written, not create it as they might wish it to be.

“Again the issue is not whether Bork is anti-abortion or anti-privacy. The question is this: Is Robert Bork unfit for the Supreme Court because he believes this decision [Roe v. Wade] is logically and constitutionally flawed? I think not.

“Of course we must protect minorities and even majorities from societal discrimination. But this doesn’t mean that, because he’s criticized the methodology the Court’s used, he’s any less committed to full and fair enforcement of the equal protection clause. All it means is that he’s a smart and outspoken enough legal scholar to point out some of the very real problems with the Court’s legal reasoning.”

Los Angeles Times, July 25, 1990.

Republican Sens. Phil Gramm of Texas and Don Nickles of Oklahoma each gave tentative endorsements to Souter. But Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona expressed frustration that the President had nominated a low-profile judge, apparently to avoid the kind of blood bath triggered by the nomination of Bork.

“Any first-year law student would tell you his chance of an eventual appointment to the Supreme Court is directly related to the paucity of writing or speaking on controversial issues,” McCain said acidly. “It gives us a largely unknown quantity in appointments to the bench.”

1.23.2008 9:14pm

QED.

Is Conservatism Dying or Dead?

Lately the meme among the conservative media has been “John McCain will kill conservatism.” I find that assertion ironic. Consider this (go read it!), for example, and tell me: who’s really destroying conservatism, by bringing discredit to conservatives?

Ann Coulter hasn’t just jumped the shark, she’s orbited it. That alone is enough to make conservatism look like a freaking joke.

But it’s not just her–have a look at the comments in the Hot Air post. At least Allah seems to get it, although he’s never been a Coulter fan anyway:

The ne plus ultra of conservatives crapping away Iraq in a fit of spite at Maverick: “I think she would be stronger on the war on terrorism.” Madness.

AMEN. And while Ann Coulter and her allies have been comfortably at their computers banging out their screeds and busy with self-promotion when they aren’t sitting at home watching American Idol, men and women have been risking their lives every single day overseas. What has Coulter or any of us had to sacrifice during the war? Nothing–while our military men and women risk everything, thousands paying the ultimate price. They deserve better. Supposedly pro-war “conservatives” like Coulter and her allies who would rather elect the defeatists? Not so much. Some clueless boob wrote the other day (I can’t remember where, sorry!) that he’ll “survive” a Clinton or Obama presidency. Well, duh. Of course these selfish creatures will “survive.” But I guess it doesn’t matter if others don’t survive, if you’re a selfish, small-minded, immature coward.

Allah also asks, “Civil war within the Hot Air family? I fear the worst, my friends.” Eh, not just within the Hot Air family, I’m afraid–there’s apparently a civil war within the conservative family, or at least one has been declared on everyone who doesn’t fall in line with the conservative media groupthink. Because, you know, the rest of us are just pretending to be conservative. Coulter, Malkin, Levin, Rush, Hannity, Hewitt, the Corner (save for Jonah Goldberg), Rick Santorum and the others with McCain Derangement Syndrome are the real Deciders, and they’ve apparently decided “true” conservatism is shrill, intolerant of differences of opinion, amoral, unhinged, hypocritical, hyper-emotional, selfish, laughably dishonest, full of contempt for “compassion,” and all the other perjoratives heaped upon conservatives by the Left. And these are the “voices” of conservatism to the public–and ironically, the same people who write books about the Left being insane.

Meanwhile, their sycophants on the internet parrot everything they say or write, dropping links to the MDS rants as though it’s proof John McCain is a “liberal,” often peppering their comments with frankly bigoted appellations like “Juan La Raza McAmnesty,” just as they called Bush “Jorge Arbusto.” (Yeah! They’re just like those dirty Mexicans!!1!)

Hey, that makes conservatism pretty appealing to the undecided, don’t ya think?

I’m not saying at all that you have to vote for John McCain in the primaries (although I hope people do)–I know everyone has his or her preference and that’s what the primaries are about. But this ridiculous demonization of McCain and those who are voting for him (as I did on Wednesday) is more harmful to the “conservative movement” than John McCain will ever be. As I wrote at Red State a couple weeks ago:

Even though McCain isn’t the ideal conservative and is wrong, even unacceptably so, on some things by our standards, he’s right on many more. (And as Reagan famously said, the person who agrees with me 80% of the time is not my enemy.) If he can bring in swing voters, he’s effectively moved the center rightward. He’s not polarizing among the general public, he knows how to speak to independents and centrists, and could very well change public opinion on certain issues, just as he had that effect with regard to the Rumsfeld strategy in the war. And it worked. We may not like his illegal immigration strategy, but it’s better than anything we’ll get with Hillobama and a Democratic Congress, and frankly, it’s not so different from what we’d get from most of the other GOP contenders, rhetoric aside. President McCain would absolutely have a more conservative solution to the illegal immigration problem than any Democrat.

Another point, which was raised in the comments of BlackRepub’s diary about black conservatives and the big tent, was that Hispanic voters are effectively gone for probably the next generation, after the last year. This is unfortunately very likely true, at least for those who would otherwise have been swing voters.
[...]
I can’t say I blame Hispanic swing voters for not wanting to vote Republican this time around. Not after the loud verbal beatings they’ve been taking as a group over the last couple of years, which on the internets (although not at RS) has been peppered with wildly offensive ethnic slurs and other perjorative rhetoric. Surely we’ve all seen it–it’s even been seen at some of the bigger blogs. I’m not Hispanic, but even I was ashamed to be identified as a conservative at times like that.

But John McCain can bring them back.

We have an opportunity to GROW the conservative movement by attracting new people to our tent. Will they be as conservative as Ann Coulter? Probably not, and I’d say that’s not a bad thing. They won’t be “infiltrating,” as I’ve seen some stupidly say, they’ll be joining. As for me, I welcome independent and disaffected Democrats into the big tent. I may not agree with them on some things, but if they’re casting votes as I am, I’ll get more of what I want. So will the MDS cranks, for that matter. Isn’t it better to have people NOT voting for Democrats with their “progressive” (oxymoron!) ideals?

So thanks, ~~conservative~~ MDS media, for nothing. You can now go pose for your group picture that goes up on the poster the Left waves around as an example of what the Right is about. They might have to make it a panoramic shot to fit y’all in among Larry Craig, Mark Foley, Ted Haggert, Duke Cunningham, Jack Abramoff, Tom Delay, Ted “Bridge to Nowhere” Stevens, and yes, Rick Santorum as well. Thanks, y’all!

Hey, don’t you want to be a conservative too?

A final, but important note, before someone says, “you’re a RINO” or whatever. I am a conservative. I am pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, fiercely patriotic, for a strong military, a national security hawk, for the Patriot Act and the war (including keeping Gitmo operational), for less gubmint intrusion in business, for low (flat!) taxes and less spending, against judicial activism, for law and order (which includes immigration enforcement, but not just for the southern border!), and I believe in “traditional” Judeo-Christian values, to include being vehemently anti-racist and having compassion for those less fortunate. I also believe in pragmatism and in “drawing more flies with honey than vinegar.” I’m not going to say “that’s what conservatism is”–I don’t pretentiously claim to be the arbiter of such things, as some do–but one would frankly be stupid if he or she were to actually think the rhetoric of the MDSers is an effective way to bring others to the Right.

I am a conservative, and I support John McCain.

UPDATE: The Anchoress:

Nothing else matters but that they don’t believe the same things “we” believe (whoever “we” are, Conservative or Liberal). Because they don’t believe the same things “we” believe, they are bad, undesirable people and we shun them and will not have them in our midst.

It’s downright unAmerican, if you ask me.

To the Woodshed, RINOs!

Excuse me while I join the Anchoress in escorting Reaganites In Name Only (oops! I mean angry conservatives! or did I?) to the woodshed. I’ll be the one holding a whip, just itching to use it.

It seems the standard GOP voter - and apparently Rush Limbaugh - wants to disinter Ronald Reagan from his noble tomb and hoist him onto the campaign trail because he is their saint and savior, and if they can’t vote for someone exactly like him “Ronaldus Magnus” well, they’re going to sit out this all-important election.

Excuse me, but Ronald Reagan would have had no patience for the likes of you.

Attention, fellow former Fredheads–you who say you’re a Reagan conservative, but refuse to learn the art of politics and teamwork in the pursuit of achieving big-picture common goals: If you plan on sitting out the elections, or, God forbid, voting Democrat to “teach a lesson” or whatever, you are not a Reagan conservative. You are not a real Fredhead, either. Neither of these men would do such a thing.

Don’t believe me? Don’t just take my word for it, although I know this to be an absolute truth–here’s another thing the Anchoress mentions:

Ronald Reagan above all was a pragmatist and a realist. He understood something that some voters seem to have forgotten:

“When I began entering into the give and take of legislative bargaining in Sacramento, a lot of the most radical conservatives who had supported me during the election didn’t like it. “Compromise” was a dirty word to them and they wouldn’t face the fact that we couldn’t get all of what we wanted today. They wanted all or nothing and they wanted it all at once. If you don’t get it all, some said, don’t take anything. I’d learned while negotiating union contracts that you seldom got everything you asked for. And I agreed with FDR, who said in 1933: ‘I have no expectations of making a hit every time I come to bat. What I seek is the highest possible batting average.’ If you got seventy-five or eighty percent of what you were asking for, I say, you take it and fight for the rest later, and that’s what I told these radical conservatives who never got used to it.“
– Ronald Reagan, An American Life

Oh, how soon those dragging around Reagan’s corpse forget.

I find it literally jaw-dropping when I read someone invoking the name of Ronald Reagan, while in the same sentence (!) petulantly announcing that none of the candidates are conservative enough and that voting this year is simply not an option. Or even more amusingly, announcing that Candidate X has “betrayed” conservatives or “stabbed us in the back,” while betraying conservatism themselves. Huh??? Epic FAIL.

I’ll allow the Anchoress to finish. (Read the comments, too.) God bless her for saving me from a head explosion.

And thank you, Wuzzadem, for making me laugh as you always do. After the last couple of days, I needed it. :)

links for 2008-01-20

Race 4 2008 Early Morning Essential Reads

All the post-SC and post-NV commentary

(tags: politics election 2008 candidates)
Cal Thomas - January 18th 2008 Commentary

Cal Thomas: “If conservatives can’t unite behind a single candidate instead of demanding political purity, we are going to get Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama with all of the problems they will cause.”

(tags: politics election 2008 conservatives GOP)
Bill Kristol: Waiting for Reagan

Zombie Reagan wouldn’t be endlessly carping about the current candidates; why are you? Did you forget that Reagan voted for Republicans who were less than “perfect” himself?

(tags: election 2008 politics candidates GOP conservatives Reagan)
Mona Charen: Can Conservatives Still Win Elections?

“A fascinating new book, Comeback, by former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum, offers what may seem to some a startling answer: Drop Reagan. He is no longer relevant to the challenges we face as a party or a nation. He was perfect for his time. But

(tags: politics conservatives elections Reagan books GOP)
How the White House may be won — in the West

On Super Tuesday, Feb. 5, when 22 states will hold primaries or caucuses, a third of them will be in the West, including the big enchilada, California.

(tags: politics election 2008 primary campaigns Democrats Republicans)
Remarks by John McCain on South Carolina Primary Victory

Text of his South Carolina victory speech, with video.

(tags: McCain election 2008 primary politics)
SurveyUSA - Election Polls

Current election polling data, including head-to-head general election POTUS preferences

(tags: politics 2008 polls candidates primary presidential election)
Online newspapers of the USA listed by each state

Pretty self explanatory, isn’t it? Links to all newspapers with an online presence.

(tags: news newspapers internet)
MyrtleBeachOnline.com | 01/20/2008 | McCain win no surprise to locals

Local reactions to the election

(tags: politics 2008 election primary McCain candidates GOP)
McCain avoids 2000 repeat, takes South Carolina

Reactions from locals in Spartanburg, SC

(tags: politics 2008 election primary candidates GOP)
(Las Vegas) ReviewJournal.com - Romney’s legwork in state pays off

“Landslide” is not a strong enough word for Mitt Romney’s victory in Nevada’s Republican caucuses Saturday.

(tags: politics 2008 election candidates primary GOP)
(Las Vegas) ReviewJournal.com - SKY-HIGH TURNOUT: Clinton hails win in the West

“Candidate also tops Obama at controversial Strip precincts,” while Silky Pony got a whopping 4%. Stick a fork in him, he’s done.

(tags: politics 2008 election primary Democrats Clinton)
Romney Parses Role of Religion at the Polls - The Caucus

Mitt Romney was asked by the Caucus if he had any reflections about the role of religion in the presidential campaign on a day that its influence was so striking in Nevada and South Carolina.

(tags: politics 2008 election primary Romney Republicans GOP religion)

South Carolina goes to John McCain

Just caught it on teevee, and here’s the story:

John McCain took the early lead in the South Carolina primary Saturday, and never lost it.

With 82 percent of precincts reporting, McCain had 33 percent and Huckabee, 29 percent. Fred Thompson had 16 percent, Mitt Romney had 15 percent. Ron Paul was polling at 4 percent and Rudy Giuliani at 2 percent. Duncan Hunter, fairing poorly in both Nevada and South Carolina on Saturday, was returning to San Diego and planned to drop out, FOX News learned.

At this point, I’m hating it for Fred–he may stay in it for Super Tuesday, but I think he’s done. If he couldn’t do better than this in South Carolina…well, you know. :sigh:

Meanwhile, the McCain campaign celebrates.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican John McCain called his victory in South Carolina’s presidential primary on Saturday evidence that his campaign “can carry right through” Florida into the giant round of caucuses and primaries on Feb. 5. “I know it’s not easy,” he told The Associated Press, “and we’ve got a long way to go.”

South Carolina was where McCain’s presidential prospects died eight years ago, and he savored the victory this time.

“It just took us awhile, that’s all,” he said in the interview. “Eight years is not a long time.”

This time, he said, “It sure was nice to have a lot of our old friends be happier that we won.”

Asked if he was now the front-runner for the GOP nomination, McCain demurred.

“I don’t know,” he said, “we like to run from behind.”

Still, he expressed optimism going forward.

“I’m very confident that we’ll win in Florida,” he said.

“We showed that the first-in-the-South primary is a very important victory, and it gives us a very important progress that we can carry right through Florida and February 5th,” he said.

McCain said he planned to stress pocketbook and national security issues going forward.

“People care about our nation’s security and they’re worried about our economy,” McCain said. “I’m going to be talking to them about those issues and how I’m best qualified to lead the nation.”

A few thoughts:

Looking around the blogosphere, I’ve seen people going for the “stupid voters” thing again, as they did after Iowa. Those people ought to be ashamed of themselves, and frankly smacked upside their narrow-minded heads.

Whatever. They can tell that to the military who are voting for McCain. Maybe they aren’t as wound up about illegal immigration or whatever as others are. So they’re stupid now. Got it.

Apparently some people don’t realize it, but the military is NOT as monolithically conservative as people on the blogosphere are. Mostly, they’re defense hawks and pretty socially moderate/agnostic. I suppose it’s news to the civilian world that people in the military really do care about the war too. The fact that they’d vote for McCain is absolutely no surprise to me, and after having served for 11 years, I assure you, it’s not due to their being “stupid.” In fact, I’d say a lot of them know more about the issues and real life than even the geniuses in the blogosphere (and especially the media) do.

Some seem to think people are voting for CMDR John McCain, POW. Those people would, of course, be wrong. In fact, I’d say that some (not all, but many, based on the things I’ve read) of those attacking McCain haven’t even bothered to do any real, honest investigation of the issues. Well, I think it’s time to do just that, starting now.

Congratulations to John McCain, and to Mitt Romney for his resounding win in Nevada. Well done!

A brokered convention? Let’s hope not.

God, I hope not. In the Washington Post’s The Trail blog, the possibility is considered.

Yes, yes, we know. Every four years, the political class, including wise-acre journalists, gets all caught up in breathless speculation about the prospect of a brokered convention. After all, no presidential nomination has required more than a single ballot since 1952 and the prospect of actual drama seems like such a refreshing thought at conventions that in recent times have been sucked dry of any suspense whatsoever. And then every four years, the notion evaporates as modern political reality takes hold again.
…
The talk has only escalated as Iowa and New Hampshire voters weighed in. “None of our candidates seem to be able to break through,” former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum said on Fox News last week as voting began in the Granite State. “And if you look at the candidates, all have serious problems. I think, it’s my prediction, I think we’re headed for a brokered convention. I don’t think we’re going to get a nominee.” Former House speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) even postulated that a contested convention could be a useful thing for a Republican Party trying to find its way after President Bush. “I just think there’s nothing unhealthy about the Republican Party having a serious discussion,” he said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” “We are at the end of the George W. Bush era. We are at the end of the Reagan era. We’re at a point in time where we’re about to start redefining … the nature of the Republican Party in response to what the country needs.”

The conventional wisdom, of course, is that a brokered convention is good news for political journalists and junkies but bad news for a party. While the opposition rallies around a single leader in the spring, your party is divided and wasting resources with internal fighting all the way until the end of summer.

Well, why the hell do you think Kos wanted Romney to win Michigan? (For the record, I doubt they had much effect on the outcome–I think Romney would have won without the idiotarian help.)

But the point is correct: the longer this drags out, the faster the candidates’ campaign war chests drain. Well, except Romney’s, of course, but I’m not yet confident that he can win in November anyway. And let’s face it–Hillary and Obama have massive war chests. Our guys? We’ve got a lot of catching up to do, and we won’t catch up until we have a nominee, if we do at all. Remember, Bush had a huge pile of money going in to the primaries in 2000. This time around, we’re scraping around to get money for ad buys in each state because the big donors are waiting for a sure thing. I mean, if you’re looking to wisely invest big bucks, which one do you bet on? Thompson, who hasn’t even come close to a primary win (yet)? McCain, who has only won New Hampshire and has issues with many conservatives, but as of now is the only candidate who polls a win against the Democrats? Huckabee, who’s only won Iowa but has a dedicated base? Romney, with his “two golds and two silvers” but whose support looks soft? Or Giuliani, whose campaign looks dead but promises to come to life in Florida? A year ago, I figured Giuliani would be the nominee. Hell, two years ago, I figured George Allen would be the nominee. Who knows? Michigan didn’t decide anything, and apparently, neither will South Carolina.

I don’t want a brokered convention–at all. Nor do I think there will actually be one. Sure, it’d be fun to watch, but I want to WIN. Badly. I just wonder if other Republicans want to win as badly as I do–or more to the point, as badly as the Democrats do.

What this year’s primary season is showing, though, is the huge diversity of views in this country; the issues important to Michigan voters, for example, are not the issues important to Iowa or New Hampshire voters. And as we’ll see in South Carolina, Florida, and on “Super Tuesday,” those states’ issues will be different as well. Whichever candidate can best represent the issues of all regions should rightfully be the nominee. This is why I think Fred Thompson made a mistake getting in to the process late–he didn’t have the early months for his views–approved of by most conservatives–to become well-known. This is also why I have doubts about John McCain, Rudy Giuliani, and especially Mike Huckabee: they all have things that are objectionable to most Republican voters to varying degrees. But so does Mitt Romney, and I have doubts about Romney’s electability in November. I personally can live with the disagreements I have with each of them, some more than others, but can and will other Republican voters?

How badly DO Republicans want to win? And are those like me the only ones who think a Democratic presidency in 2008 would be a disaster, not “good for the GOP” as some conservatives say (wrongly, IMHO)? Why are we demanding perfect candidates now when we never did before? I say that it’s because we’re more informed about the candidates’ voting records and things they’ve said, thanks to the 24-hour news cycle and the internet (especially with blogs and YouTube). No longer are we stuck with the spin machines and sound bites; we can do our own research and either confirm our biases or find things that are “unacceptable. I’d say that even if Ronald Reagan were running in 2008, there would be people who would find things “unacceptable” as well. Remember, Reagan was once a Democrat, and a union president (the SAG) at that! (Oh noes, a flip-flop!)

Again, I don’t think we’ll have a brokered convention, but if voters insist on perfection and we end up with no candidate having enough delegates, it could happen–and this won’t be a brokered convention like those that existed decades ago, not with 24-hour news and the internet. We also won’t end up with a “perfect candidate,” either. If it happens, I assure you, we will not win in November.

(Note: I left out L. Ron Paul Hubbard and sadly, Duncan Hunter, because they’re irrelevant to the discussion, obviously.)

Fred Thompson Rocks the Debate

The focus group loved him. Ron Paul? Not so much. LOL.

I’m still trying to find video from the Luntz group rating RP “the lowest in any debate ever” when he was shrieking like Adam Gadahn about Iran. ;-)

Lots of links to praise of Fred Thompson’s performance in the debate at The Fred File here and here. Video of key moments are here. While you’re there, make a donation!

Fred Thompson also got an important endorsement today from Human Events. If there’s any doubt about who the consistent conservative is, this ought to settle it.

We begin by recalling the profound words of Ronald Reagan at the Conservative Political Action Conference Feb. 15, 1975: “A political party cannot be all things to all people. It must represent certain fundamental beliefs which must not be compromised to political expediency or simply to swell its numbers.” We believed that then, and we believe it now. The issue for us — and for the conservative community — boils down to which of the candidates is most representative of the fundamental conservative principles we believe in. The answer is Fred Thompson.
…
We make this endorsement on the basis of much research, having interviewed Sen. Thompson and some of his opponents, as well as examining what they have all said and done. We conclude that Thompson is a solid conservative whose judgment is grounded in our principles.

Read the rest here.

Read about Fred Thompson and why you should support him.

Fred Thompson’s biography

Fred’s principles

His policy papers:

Border Security and Immigration Reform

Improving our Military

Tax Relief and Economic Growth

Social Security Reform

Reducing Government Spending

Israel

Education

Values

FDTV where you can watch campaign videos

Fred’s YouTube channel

Here are other places to talk about Fred:

FredHeads.com

Draft Fred Thompson

South Carolina Republican Debate

Live-blog! You can add your comments in the box at the bottom and vote in polls if/when I post them. You can, of course, comment as usual in the blog comments if you prefer–it might keep things a little more coherent if there aren’t a zillion people commenting, but I won’t complain either way!

As I said earlier, there will be a few of us live-blogging it together, so this might get wild at times! :)

Tonight’s South Carolina GOP Debate

Some of us in Cotillion are going to try to do this at multiple blogs (but it will definitely be here, at the very least), so I’ll update this post to let y’all know where else this live-blog will be posted. You’ll be able to see the same thing and comment at any of the sites hosting it. :)

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