VP Madness

A couple of events throughout this week have generated even more discussion about who will be John McCains running mate. Firstly, this weekend, John McCain is hosting three potential running mates at his house in Arizona; Mitt Romney, Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida, and Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana.

I have made a promise to myself that I would never vote for Mitt Romney in any way. I simply believe that the man has no personal conviction, and that he is personally governed by what other people think of him, instead of what he believes is right. On top of that, Romney would be a terrible running mate. In a race against a diversified democratic coalition, Mitt Romney is the epitome of a wealthy white man. A McCain / Romney ticket would not be appealing to voters at all. John McCain is white enough for any ticket.

I don’t know much about Charlie Crist, but I do know that he’s not a terribly great social conservative. Like Romney, Gov. Crist has changed his mind on the right for unborn babies to live several times. I also know that he is extremely popular in Florida, but politicians who are too popular scare me sometimes. Popularity usually boils down to the fact that you don’t have enough courage to do something that might not be popular.

Like I’ve said before, Gov. Bobby Jindal is a very impressive and talented guy, but I think a vice presidency under John McCain would waste his talents. Honestly I’m kind of afraid that if he accepts the VP nomination, then he might turn out like Dan Quayle. I like Gov. Jindal too much for me to sit idlely by as McCain ruins his political future.

The second little peice that has generated VP discussion is the VP tourney at CQ politics, which Mike Huckabee won yesterday. The finals were between Mike Huckabee and Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska.

Even though Gov. Huckabee “won” the tournament, I really don’t want him to be McCain’s running mate. I voted for Mike Huckabee to become president, not vice president. If I had known that Gov. Huckabee would be willing to settle for the number two spot, than I’m not sure if I would have supported him at all. As of right now, my loyalty in 2012 lies with Mike Huckabee. If he became vice president, then by the time he would run to succeed McCain, we would be coming off of 12 years of Republican rule, and he would surely lose to almost anybody. If Mike Huckabee becomes vice president, then his political future would be over.

The only smart choice as a running mate for McCain is Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska. She represents a new wave of Republicans. We need someone to change the GOP’s much outdated national image, and Gov. Palin would do that. She is a strong conservative reformer, and we need her in Washington.

“The Liberal Lion”

I’m not going to pretend that I like Ted Kennedy, in fact, there have been times that I have absolutely despised the man.  Throughout his career, he has undermined every issue that I stand for as a conservative.  However, In the light of his brain tumor diagnosis, I find myself having a certain amount of respect for him.  Even though Sen. Kennedy has been in the Senate since 1962, he has never sat on his coattails.  Too many politicians today just don’t really do anything.  I watch C-SPAN everyday, and truthfully, there are only a few effective legislators on Capitol Hill, and unfortunately, most of them are democrats.  I estimate that Sen. Kennedy currently does more work than anyone in the Senate.  He yells, He screams, He promotes, but he truly does work for causes that he believes in.  All legislators should respect Sen. Kennedy, and learn from him.  He truly has been exceptionally effective for the liberal cause.  Conservatives in the Senate could learn a thing or two from Sen. Kennedy, on how to not be mediocre. Maybe conservatives could use someone like Ted Kennedy.  A “conservative lion” perhaps?

I hope that Sen. Kennedy recovers speedily and will return to the Senate.  Because, after all, nothing unites conservatives like having Ted Kennedy to rally against. 

Why I Endorsed John McCain

 I have overestimated the judgement of many of my fellow conservatives.  Since early March, I have been amazed at the number of conservatives that I come in contact with that are simply unable to vote for John McCain.  It could be a good thing that conservatives are actually sticking to their principles, but I doubt that is actually happening.  Instead, I have come to the realization that many conservatives are simply Rush Limbaugh’s puppets.  Why will Rush not endorse John McCain? I don’t remember Rush throwing a fit about Bob Dole, or George W. Bush, for that matter. 

 

The truth is that John McCain is no more liberal than any Republican nominee since 1984.  In fact, it could be argued that John McCain is the MOST conservative nominee that we’ve had since 1984.  I endorsed John McCain only a couple of weeks after Mike Huckabee dropped out.  I will not apologize for choosing what is right for America.  I’ve always said that I personally like John McCain, and I even said at one point that McCain would be my third preference.  (After Gov. Huckabee and Fred Thompson.)

If you happen to be reading this, and you haven’t made up yor mind about Sen. McCain, then I implore you to actually think for yourself, and to not let the conservative spin media dictate to you how to vote.  I have plenty of reasons to vote FOR Sen. McCain, and not against the Democratic nominee.

1. John McCain is an honorable man.

I’m sure that everyone knows of Sen. McCain’s courageous service as a POW in Vietnam, but that is not the only reason that he is honorable.  I’m confident that John McCain is one of the few politicians that I know of that actually has honorable intentions all of the time.  You can see this even in his faults, such as campaign finance reform.  Although it was unessecary and unconstitutional, John McCain actually supported this as a way to rid corruption of electoral politics.

2. John McCain Won’t Raise Taxes.

Not once in his 25 year career on Capitol Hill has John McCain voted for a tax increase. You can only judge a man on where he has been, and John McCain has not ever approved of a tax hike.

3. John McCain Is Pro-Life.

Even though he may not be very vocal about it, John McCain is the only serious candidate left that is pro-life.  Sen. McCain is not known to change his mind, so I don’t expect him to give an inch to people that want to undermine the rights of the unborn.

4.John McCain Will Fight Wastefull Spending.

The national debt of this country is astounding, and the only way that we as a nation can begin to be financially stable is if we elect a president that won’t let our elected officials spend us into oblivion.  You won’t  be able to find a politician more commited to cutting unnessecary spending than John McCain, and that is a fact.

5. John McCain’s Record On Education Is Clean.

These last eight years have been a disater when it comes to public education.  We need a president that believes that parents know more about their children than educational bueracrats do.  John McCain supports giving parents choices about where their children will be educated.

6. John McCain Will Promote Privatized Health Care Solutions.

Out of all of the candidates left, John McCain offers the best platform on Health Care Reform.  Sen. McCain wants to make sure everyone has affordable health care, but that they also have quality health care.  In other words, if you don’t want the government to tell you what doctor to visit, I’d vote for John McCain.

7. (Finally) John McCain Won’t Give In To Terrorists.

As his former captors at the Hanoi Hilton could tell you, no one screws with John McCain.  In perspective, in dealing with terrorists, John McCain is most like Ronald Reagan.  Simply, he is not an appeaser.  If we elect Barack Obama as president, our relations and interests in the Middle East will be drasticaly undermined for years to come.  Remember Jimmy Carter?  Exactly.

Check Out John McCain’s newly redesigned website. http://www.johnmccain.com/

Bobby Jindal In 2012?

A lot of people seem to think that Louisiana’s Governor, Bobby Jindal, would be the best option as John McCain’s vice-president. I’m going to have to disagree with this, but it isn’t because I don’t like Gov. Jindal. Advocates of a potential vice-president Jindal are right to be excited about this guy, he’s articulate, intelligent, and he represents change, but I think that associating Gov. Jindal with an old fogey’s campaign like McCain’s will surely hurt his political future.

Instead of advocating Jindal for vice president, those who are truly excited about this guy should try and help him where he’s at. He’s only 36, and he already has a good bit of experience. In 1995, at the ripe old age of 24, Jindal was appointed Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. During his tenure at that position, Louisiana’s Medicare program went from bankruptcy to having a surplus of 220 million dollars. He has also already been a Congressman for three years, and he was elected Governor of Louisiana just last year. Instead of nominating Gov. Jindal for vice president, I think that it would be better to give him the keynote address at the Republican National Convention this summer in Minneapolis, so he can introduce himself on a national level, much like Barack Obama did at the DNC back in 2004 .

If Gov. Jindal continues doing as well in Louisiana as he is doing right now, and he doesn’t change any of his conservative positions, we could be seeing this guy as a future presidential candidate. It doesn’t really matter if he runs in 2012, or 2016, either way, he still will be younger than Barack Obama is now, and he seems pretty fresh, doesn’t he?

Lessons In Libertarianism (Why I Won’t Vote For Bob Barr)

I find It amusing that Bob Barr, my former Congressman, is running for president as a Libertarian. I lived in Bob Barr’s district from 1996-2001. Even though I was eleven years old when I met him, he didn’t make much of an impression on me. How would you like it if your first impression of a politician looked as creepy as Bob Barr did in the 1990’s?

Anyway, a lot of conservatives seem to think that it would better to vote for Bob Barr than John McCain. I agree with Nic Shaykos when I say that it is not a good idea to pull the lever for Congressman Barr. As Nic already noted, Congressman Barr is a member and represenative of the ACLU. You know, the organization that is behind taking “Under God” out of the Pledge Of Allegiance? With apologies, I will pose the same question that Nic asked, how can a conservative belong to the ACLU?

The bottom line is that Bob Barr is a bad choice for President. I compare voting for him as similar to voting for former house majority leader, Tom Delay. Sure, Bob Barr understands conservatism just as well as any career politician can, which in short, is for all the wrong reasons.

More than that however, my opinion is that the basic beliefs of the Libertarian Party a founded on a deeply flawed ideology. Libertarians act on the assumption that man is responsible enough to govern themselves completely, and without government intervention. However, doesn’t absolute power corrupt absolutely? Before anyone misunderstands me, I believe that men are fallen, and evil at heart, and should be held responsible for their actions. Government should be refined to the most basic level, which is the core belief of federalism, which is a true doctrine that conservatives in government should live by. Libertarians missed that step. Fderalism was good enough for Thomas Jefferson in 1800, good enough for Barry Goldwater in 1964, and good enough for Ronald Reagan in 1980, so it should be good enough for conservatives in 2008.

The First Of Her Kind?

I’m very excited about the 2008 Congressional elections. So far, I’ve found a handfull of candidates that are exciting, from Andy Harris here in Maryland, to Luke Puckett over there in Indiana, but recently I’ve become aware of an oppurtunity that is far too good for conservatives to pass up.

Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing Dr. Deborah Honeycutt. Dr. Honeycutt is running for Congress for the second time in the 13th Congressional district of Georgia. Her opponent is a liberal incumbent Democrat named David Scott. So far as I can tell, Dr. Honeycutt seems to be running a “Michael Steele” type campaign which is centered on issues that effect small businesses. This is fitting, because if she were to be elected, Dr. Honeycutt would be the first African American woman who is a Republican to serve in Congress. This is , frankly, a historic oppurtunity for conservatives to change the image of the GOP, we can’t miss this!

In a nutshell, Dr. Honeycutt is a solid conservative who would be great for Congress. She is strong on family issues, and she is more than strong on fiscal issues. If anyone reading is financially able to support a candidate, please consider supporting Dr. Honeycutt’s campaign in Georgia!

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