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.