Posted on 06/14/2011 4:20:58 PM PDT by parksstp
Okay Folks, Enough is Enough!
I have enjoyed participating in this forum for a long time because I enjoy supporting the conservative values people like JimRob, the Tea Party, and other decent Americans hold dear to. It's obvious we are in the fight of our lives for the long-term survival of this country. 2012 is clearly a major turning poing that could very well decide whether or not America survives.
Because of this importance, it is paramount we select the right candidate, the true conservative that will stand with us on all the conservative specturms (social, economic, domestic, and foreign policy). We absolutely cannot settle for another RINO or Democrat-lite candidate.
Many people here have been passionate in support of "their" candidate. Others have expressed gloom and doom with no hope of survival. Still others have taken the "my candidate or nothing" road. I want to address these.
Michelle Bachmann, Herman Cain, Sarah Palin, Rick Santorum (listed alphabetically). All of these individuals have strong conservative credentials, and based on what I know, I would feel comfortable and empowered with supporting any of them in a general election against Obama. Nobody is ever perfect, but these four individuals have shown time and time again that they have the character and the heart to direct the country in the "right" direction.
That being said, I have become alarmed and disheartened at the amount of attacks generated against these folks by posters on this board claiming to be conservative. I have seen Michele Bachmann absolutely brutalized for one reason or another, being labeled a "phony, stalking-horse, RINO, inexperienced, unintelligent". I have also seen Herman Cain get hammered as an "Establishment guy, Anti-2nd Amendment, TARP loving RINO". And some people just can't let the whole Santorum/Spector thing rest. It's like many posters for whatever reason want to turn reality on its head.
I know a lot of people on this board like and support Bachmann, Cain, and Santorum. Personally, I really like Michele and her debate performance last night strengthened my opinion of her. As I said before, I could easily support any of them.
I think many of the Palin supporters feel the same way too (that is, if she decided not to jump in, they could support one of the three above without much reservations). And many of us supporting one of the three candidates listed above, could possibly move to the Palin camp if she got in without any problems.
However, there appears to be a strong minority of the Palin supporters on this forum that are trying hard to deliberately suck the life out of any other conservative candidate who might actually be just as able to carry the conservative banner in the 2012 election. The notion of these folks is that Palin is the only "true conservative" who can do no wrong and that any other candidate claiming to be a conservative in this race is simply a "wolf in sheeps clothing", and that we should simply wait for her entry into the race so that she can be rightfully "annoited". After all, they say, once she enters, the debates against the other conservatives will be useless because she is already obviously the winner!
As someone that believes in conservative values and independent thought, I reject this notion and take great offense to the attacks these people have thrown on Bachmann, Cain, and Santorum.
I like Sarah Palin a lot. I love how she has learned to torture the media and turn the game on them. It's clear she is the most charasmatic of all the conservative indiviudals listed. Beleive me, it would be awesome watching her win on Election Night just to see the reaction of the liberal media (I predict Olbermann would hang himself). She's more than capable to be President.
But Sarah Palin isn't the only conservative. And contrary to some people here, she isn't an object to be worshipped. This type of infatuation always leads to disappointment, because NO candidate is perfect.
I like Michelle Bachmann. And I like Herman Cain too. And if either of these individuals ever made it to the WH at the top of a ticket, then I believe are country would be in good shape.
So I'm asking nicely to please, stop the attacks on the other conservatives in this race. These people are not rivals, they're allies. Let them each state their case to the American people, then take a step back, and make a good, rationale, objective decision.
P.S. By "Conservative Candidates" I do not mean Romney or other RINOS (those folks are fair game)
Mark Levin spent the first hour of his show tonight urging that the candidates need to press Romney to justify his conservative cred.
I tend to agree. The conservatives need to be crystal clear that Romney has a record and stated positions that are NOT conservative, Reagan's 11th commandment notwithstanding.
>>Sad, huh? <<
Yep. We all bemoan it but I guess we may as well get used to it.
Amen.
I know it can be tough to hear, but that’s why I love and am adddicted to this site.
When I want to hear about a candidate on the issues, in all the unvarnished truth, this is the site.
Yes, it can be rough at times, but I always leave here better informed. I just chalk it all up to our passions.
Thread hijack attempt duly noted.
Learn the rules here and obey them. We are not to drag arguments from other threads into the discussion.
Why the eagerness to chase folks away? Please explain it to me.
and for the record. most of the palin supporters are not attacking the the other candidates. they are pointing out where those other candidates stand on the issues.
Just leave Obama alone!!!!
>>Grow a thicker skin, you do not get to state an opinion unchallenged on an open, conservative, political website. <<
So long as you post back to me as you have in this very thread, it is pointless.
You don’t challenge the opinion, you attack the opiner. My original upthread bullet list post is only partially sarcastic — it is more factual than many of us would like.
While Bachmann, Santorum and Cain (and Palin if she gets in the race) are pretty close to being pure conservatives, can they appeal to enough independent and/or moderate voters... enough of them to win the election?
No matter how anyone feels about any of the 7 candidates who debated last night, any one of them would be far better than Obama, and we all know that if Obama wins re-election, this country is screwed.
On that final day, when it comes down to someone vs Obama, I will vote for someone. Until then, may the best conservative win.
The Republican primary is going to be a general election between establishment progressives, primarily Romney, and Tea Party conservatives, Cain, Palin, Michele Bachmann.... If we give it to a big government, progressive like Romney, Democrats will have won no matter the outcome of the general election. The bigger the dog and pony show gets, the better things get for Romney. I hope a few of the hopefuls put the best interest of the nation ahead of their presidential fantasies.
The point is that folks who are not hopping up and down
and cheering for someone are not the enemy.
Taking shots at them does not help sway them to your side.
Got that right.
It's hard for me to imagine anything less interesting than a discussion forum in which everyone was in 100.00% agreement on every issue.
Although it would require fewer freepathons...with only one post needed for each thread, the storage requirements would go way down.
Thank you for pointing that out. It needed to be said.
A fellow FReeper was kind enough to point this out when I posted that image in another thread:
"Very few conservatives consider Time a credible publication. Might as well be the cover of Mother Jones or Soviet Life. You gotta let go of those ‘70s assumptions."
Although I deeply appreciate the concern and the thought, I think that Sarah Palin's victory over the usurper come November 2012 will be even sweeter when the lamestream media (Time, New York Times, Washington Post, The Nation and yes, Mother Jones, Soviet Life and the even the Daily Worker) awake to realize that there's a new sheriff in town. American Exceptionalism will be restored during the administration of President Palin.
As much as I eagerly anticipate a crushing blow to O'Bambi by soon-to-be President Palin, I'll also confess to schadenfraude when the lamestreamers have to eat their hateful words of the past several years and proclaim in a big, bold typeface:
Yeah, the whining and bellyaching that goes on is pretty bad.
Starting with the poster of this thread.
And those who have sided with him about them being the only ones that can criticize.
Sorry, it's all a bunch of sour grapes, this thread needs a wahmublance picture:
‘Michele Bachmann says Sarah Palin should wait till her children are grown up before she runs for the presidency - and implies that the former Alaska governor should have held off on any kind of White House campaign while she still had children in the house.
In a video from last week’s Faith and Freedom Conference, Bachmann tells conservative Christian activist Ralph Reed, “”We’ve raised a lot of children, five biological children, 23 foster kids,” Bachmann says. “This fall our youngest two will go off to college, so we’re coming to the conclusion now of 29 years of parenting, and I think that’s one life lesson that you learn. That sometimes you have patience and wait to do certain things in your life.”
“Video: Michele Bachmann Says Sarah Palin is a Selfish Mom”
http://www.opposingviews.com/i/video-michele-bachmann-says-sarah-palin-is-a-selfish-mom
“Backstabbing Bachmann goes after Palin’s motherhood.” http://bit.ly/jFUYzb
Exactly. What I fear is a rerun of 2008 when so much hope was pinned on Fred Thompson and when he fizzled out, conservatives were left bereft.
Right now, we have some real conservatives who have actually ANNOUNCED their candidacy.
The circular firing squads will get us nothing except RINO ascendency. Again.
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