Michael Steele

Michael Steele is "running" to be the Chairman of the Republican National Committee. To say we need new, bold, strong leadership is understating it. We have quite a fight ahead of us to keep as much of Obama's & the Democrat Congress' negative agenda from enactment, as well as position ourselves for the 2010 elections.

I have been an advocate for a strong reclamation of limited government & fiscally responsible conservatism, & from Martha Zoller's recent article in Human Events, Steele seems to get it.

Some Steele quotes from the article:

“We have over the course of the last seven or eight years ticked off a lot of people in this county. Not because we’re conservatives…but because we failed to speak to those issues -- because we failed to lead on these issues.”

He's speaking to the leaders of the Republicans in the Senate, House, & White House - & he's dead on correct.

“Over the past decade or so, conservatives seem to have lost their way. The disparity between our rhetoric and our actions has grown to the point that our credibility has snapped. People just don’t believe us.”

“We’ve become our own worst enemy,” said Steele. “We in fact as much as anyone else have become the party of big government. We lost our principles our credibility, we dishonored our nation. Frankly, we behaved like Democrats.”

Again, right on target. Republican leaders, far too many, abandoned limited government & fiscally responsible conservatism.

“Our best hope for a brighter future is in the empowerment of individuals and families; not in constraints imposed by a bloated bureaucracy. It is still morning in America because America is morning. My mother told me that. She knew that the freedoms may not reach her doorstep, but she had faith that it would reach mine…Don’t make excuses for what we believe in -- that time is over, let’s get busy.”

Very true, it's the time to get to work. Let our leaders & representatives know in polite but crystal clear terms that it's time to reclaim limited government & fiscally responsible conservatism. As I say, it not only wins elections but also allows positive policies to be put into action for OUR country.

Obama's Attack on Talk Radio - Localism

Jim Boulet, Jr.'s article in the American Thinker discusses the concept of localism as a means for attacking & watering down talk radio. It's no secret that, especially since 1994, Democrats have wanted to silence voices like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, & Laura Ingraham. Instead of blaming their own policies for the Republican takeover of the congress in 1994, they blame Limbaugh. The Fairness Doctrine is getting most of the attention, however Boulet lays out a very cogent message regarding another avenue of attack on free speech via "Alinsky jujitsu."

Needless to say, for those of us who believe the 1st amendment still means something, this is a wrong idea & non-starter. We must fight any implementation of the Fairness Doctrine, Localism, or any attempt to shut down free speech in our country.

WaPo's Top 10 Republicans - & my additions

The Washington Post came out with their top 10 Republicans to watch. They've got a pretty decent list - they, though, leave out Sarah Palin & Mike Huckabee. Here is their top 10 in ascending order:

Steve Poinzer, possible Republican candidate for California Governor
Haley Barbour, current GOP Governor of Mississippi
Jon Huntsman Jr., current congressman from Utah
Eric Cantor, current congressman from Virginia
Mark Sanford, current governor of South Carolina
Bob McDonnel, current Virginia Attorney General
Mitch Daniels, current Indiana Governor
Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts governor & presidential candidate
John Thune, current South Dakota Senator
Bobby Jindal, current governor of Louisiana

Call me a "homer," however I would add Marsha Blackburn to this list. She is a solid conservative congressman & on the policy committee. I would also add Bill Frist, who may choose to run for Governor of Tennessee.

I believe the WaPo & the rest of the media hope Sarah Palin will just go back to Alaska & not be heard from again. I don't think they'll get their wish. Huckabee is a conundrum for me, he's a great social conservative however I think he's more of a "big government" guy. He may find success on his Fox News show too much to leave.

Fred is Right - Time to Look Ahead

Fred Thompson has a great piece on Townhall.com, focusing on the future. The time for licking wounds among conservatives & Republicans is over, it's time to get back to work for the next 2 years & beyond.

...But our gratitude for life and liberty should also serve as a reminder that what we were working so hard to achieve these past few years still very much hangs in the balance. And it is up to each of us to continue that fight. Our participation as citizens of the United States does not end once we’ve pulled the lever in the voting booth. That ballot is just the beginning...

But if the time I spent traveling around America the past 18 months has given me anything, it is hope. And it if has confirmed anything for me, it is this: America remains the greatest country in the history of the world, and our citizens who care about our nation’s founding values—freedom, free markets, respect for life and the rule of law—will not stop defending these values as much as some of our fellow citizens and leaders might wish they would...

We are going to have to use every tool we have—grassroots organizations, think tanks, magazines, talk radio, the Internet—while building new institutions to blunt the efforts of a left-wing establishment that appears willing to use uncertainty to impose an agenda that would never see the light of day in normal times...

We have the formula—a conservative formula—that has worked before and will surely work again. It is grounded in our first principles. It’s time we moved past the recriminations and seven stages of grief. It’s time to look ahead, to stay united and to defend the values that we know must endure if our nation is to do the same...

Fred is right, we do have the winning formula that even the Democrats recognize - that's why so many Democrats have ran to the right of their Republican opponents, many successfully. Now that the Democrats will have all the responsiblity & blame to go along with credit, these Democrats who ran right can be held accountable. We simply have to get to work & use the tools available, especially the internet. Information can be worldwide in a matter of seconds, & a call to action can be as well. It's time to go on the offensive positively with something to be for, not just against.

Bill Kristol Gets It!

Bill Kristol's recent editorial in the NYT is very good. I'll post the most salient excerpt here:

Republicans and conservatives today face a similar challenge to that of 1976. A hawkish foreign policy, social conservatism and middle-American populism aren’t the problems. Those elements, as embodied on the Republican ticket by John McCain and Sarah Palin, produced a respectable 46 percent of the national vote — in the midst of an economic meltdown, with the Bush administration flailing and House Republicans rebelling and the Republican ticket lacking any coherent economic message.

The lack of economic message is a direct result of too many of the Republican leaders eschewing limited government fiscally responsible conservatism. They went "Washington" & paid for it by losing the majority in 2006 & further losses to a feckless Democrat-led congress in 2008. Reclaiming the mantle of limited government fiscally responsible conservatism will be key to not only reclaiming power but also putting in place good policy for our country.

On Abortion & Restoring the Conservative Republican Party - Bold Colors, not Pale Pastels

Far too many of the pale pastel crowd want Republicans & conservatives to shut up about abortion. As I believe abortion is wrong, I believe "shutting up" about it to be wrong also.

Many people say they're pro-choice just so that the pro-abortion crowd will not shout them down. I believe that the right to life plank should always remain in the Republican platform. People want strong leaders with strong morals, & this plank has served the conservatives & Republicans well.

Going back to my soapbox, what the Republican party needs are conservative leaders who can reclaim the mantle of limited government fiscally responsible conservatism. THIS is what has been missing, & has cost the Republicans in 06 & 08. It is horrible that Obama won the tax cut argument in this election - though he will not make good on his promise. We need leadership to emerge that will fix the stool & have all three legs - strong conservative moral & social views, strong national defense, & limited government fiscally responsible conservatism. This is the way we will not only win elections, but make a positive impact on our country for ourselves & future generations.

Work for what you believe in

More lessons from the election.

First, and absolutely foremost, we can not allow anyone like John McCain to ever be our candidate ever again. Republicans win when they act like Republicans, not when they do some 'reaching across the aisle' nonsense. Oh, John McCain was popular with Democrats? How wonderful for him. When Democrats got a choice between voting for a Democrat and voting for their favorite Republican who sometimes acted like a Democrat, they chose the Democrat...

Senator McCain is a true American Hero & was a better choice than Obama. However, he was not the right candidate. He did not differentiate himself enough from Obama on key issues, with the financial crisis & bailout bill being the big "surprise" of the election. We needed a candidate who would have stood up against the bailout, the global warming cap & trade garbage, & illegal immigration - that candidate would have won.

Second, the world is not ending. It's also not magically better. Liberals are dumb, let them believe that Obama is going to bring some mythical change and hope to their lives. Good on them, they fall for this kind of thing often, it's more than a little sad...

In Biden's infamous "Obama will be tested" speech, he said Obama would make "unpopular decisions. I take this to mean that his supporters won't have their mortgages paid & they may be unhappy that he doesn't do everything all at once.

This leads me to number three: don't be like them. You know what I mean. Liberals acted like animals for the past 8 years and there's this feeling among Republicans that we must make the Obama presidency hellish on a day-to-day basis...

Good advice. We must oppose the bad things, things which will hurt our country. We can oppose them in a rational manner & not be like the coarse thugs on the left. That differentiates us positively, we can discuss & debate, disagree in a civil manner.

Finally, Republicans as a party have a lot of work to do for the next four years...The next four years have to be about focus and honing our message...

We have the winning message, we simply need to get back to it. Core conservatism, individual freedom and economic opportunity for all.

However many years of the Obama presidency there are, we will have much work to do. We must not shirk from the struggle. Too much is at stake for us, our children, & those generations to come.

Time to Stop Digging

Marsha Blackburn has an excellent article at RealClearPolitics. Following are some excerpts:

The core lyric of my favorite country song is "When you're in a hole, stop diggin'." That also sums up the message voters have given Republicans.

Tuesday night, our party suffered a resounding electoral defeat. President-elect Obama and his congressional partners deserve our sincere congratulations on their victory. As the country catches its breath, the conservative movement must regroup and set upon a course to prevent November 4th from repeating itself in two years.

Traveling around the country in the closing days of this campaign I heard the same frustration from voters over and over. We in Washington are long on talk and promises, but short on action...

The time has come to return to our foundation; to the party of Lincoln that President-elect Obama rightly said was founded on the principles of self reliance, freedom, and national unity. Conservatives and Republicans must admit that our focus, message, and methods have erred. We grew content and reliant with Ronald Reagan's words, yet failed to exercise the energy required to preserve the freedom his revolution earned from one generation to the next.

Committed Republican leaders must reassert the relevance of our party to a generation of voters born after 1988. Rather than focus on "branding" our cause, let us simply pursue it. In that pursuit, we will rebuild trust and regain purpose...

Marsha eloquently puts it into focus. The "we" of whom she speaks is the Republican leadership in Congress & in the White House. It is high time that conservatives reassert control of the Republican party.

The most accurate polls of 2008

Thought it would be a good idea to save this for future reference. Here's the list:

1T. Rasmussen (11/1-3)**
1T. Pew (10/29-11/1)**
3. YouGov/Polimetrix (10/18-11/1)
4. Harris Interactive (10/20-27)
5. GWU (Lake/Tarrance) (11/2-3)*

6T. Diageo/Hotline (10/31-11/2)*
6T. ARG (10/25-27)*
8T. CNN (10/30-11/1)
8T. Ipsos/McClatchy (10/30-11/1)
10. DailyKos.com (D)/Research 2000 (11/1-3)

11. AP/Yahoo/KN (10/17-27)
12. Democracy Corps (D) (10/30-11/2)
13. FOX (11/1-2)
14. Economist/YouGov (10/25-27)
15. IBD/TIPP (11/1-3)

16. NBC/WSJ (11/1-2)
17. ABC/Post (10/30-11/2)
18. Marist College (11/3)
19. CBS (10/31-11/2)
20. Gallup (10/31-11/2)

21. Reuters/ C-SPAN/ Zogby (10/31-11/3)
22. CBS/Times (10/25-29)
23. Newsweek (10/22-23)

Thoughts on the election of 2008

Obama won, the Republicans took over the Tennessee state house as well as the senate. Congressional Democrats added members.

Republicans now control the TN state legislature because they ran as conservatives.

McCain made a mistake that probably cost him the election when he voted for the bailout bill. If he had taken a very conservative stance against it, he very well may have pulled this out.

Another mistake was relying on public financing. He should have gotten out of that as soon as Obama did. The money allowed Obama to drown out McCain.

The Republican party as a whole will need to change the way we play the game with early voting. The majority of votes cast will likely from here on out be early. The timing of the financial crisis shows that the elections will be won & lost in September & October - waiting for a final election day push will not cut it any more. I heard where those who made up their minds in the last days before 4 Nov. went for McCain by 6%. It was, however, too late to make up for early voting. The deal will need to be sealed in September & October, before early voting.

We conservative Republicans have work to do. We would have work to do if McCan was elected, however the game has changed with Obama. IMHO, I believe the Democrats in Congress will succumb to the temptation for over-reaching. We need to lay the groundwork now for the elections of 2010 & then, in 2012, nominate a strong, articulate, unabashed conservative. They are out there.