Posted on 12/31/2007 8:45:41 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
The campaigns are in the final stretch. The Iowa Caucus and the New Hampshire Primary are but days away. In just over a month, the presidential nominees for both major parties will be effectively set, and a nine-month contest for the leadership of our nation and the power to choose between starkly different directions for our republic will ensue.
The Democrat nominee will advocate higher taxes and more government involvement in Americans’ everyday lives. The Republican nominee should advocate lower taxes with greater fiscal accountability, limited government intrusion, and tough law enforcement. Any of the Democrat candidates can advocate their party’s agenda; only Fred Thompson is equipped to carry the Republican banner.
Our government has become a money-hungry behemoth, annually devouring a greater share of taxpayers’ incomes through either direct spending or borrowing against future revenues. It is very adept at collecting taxes and almost completely inept at accounting for its use of those dollars.
In 2001, Senator Fred Thompson, then head of the Senate Government Affairs Committee, published Government at the Brink, a report that detailed flagrant examples of fraud, waste, and abuse in governmental agencies. No other GOP candidate has Thompson’s insight into government accountability. If we are to tame the greedy beast we call a government, that insight is an imperative in the White House.
“Limited government” encompasses the essence of traditional conservatism. The drafters of our Constitution were very specific in limiting the power of the federal government. Over two centuries of legislation and litigation, the limitation has been reversed; today, federal policy trumps state and local preferences. Far-reaching changes to our culture stem from judicial rulings, issued by judges who have lifetime tenure and no accountability to American voters. Our only hope to reverse this trend is to elect a committed conservative -- one who will appoint constructionist judges and restrict the regulatory powers of executive branch agencies -- to lead our nation.
A man documents his values through his actions, not his words. If those actions have been consistent, you can predict how he will respond in most any situation. If his words do not match his record of actions, look beyond the words. Of the remaining Republican candidates, only Fred Thompson and Duncan Hunter can claim to be conservatives based on their records. Despite his appeal to evangelicals, Governor Huckabee’s performance in office did not establish his conservative credentials. Senator McCain’s record speaks of his willingness to compromise, which is exactly what led us to the place we are now. Governor Romney has yet to demonstrate conservatism, and Mayor Giuliani hasn’t tried. Congressman Paul’s record is conservative, but he is promoting a platform that he lacks the credibility to deliver.
The next eight years could be pivotal for our nation. The US dollar is at historic lows compared to world currencies. We are borrowing record amounts to prop up our economy. Social Security and Medicare costs will soon exceed our ability to meet demand through current payroll taxes. Our trade deficit will continue to grow because of the weak dollar and trade agreements that penalize American products and make it profitable to export jobs.
In November, we will choose between two candidates. We already know what the Democrat’s plan will be: tax more, spend more, and hope for the best. I hope that Republican primary voters will have the foresight to place a candidate atop their ticket with the knowledge of how to fix what’s broken and the commitment to conservative principles to make the fix -- Fred Thompson!
I'd argue that figure is even smaller than that.
I haven't decided. We vote in 6 days.
One or two issues?
Huckabee - slap a pro-life and pro-gun on Hillary and there you go.
Romney - He doesn’t even have those two over Hillary (record, mind you, not rhetoric.)
There is no one else even close.
When John Howard lost (high interest rates) to the "Nerdy" Kevin "Greenie" Rudd in Australia's elections, it was a quiet time of passage and most Aussies just headed to the beach.
Let’s all get excited about Fred Thompson..
Fred Thompson on Debates ( video): "It was getting boring without me."
One needs a "catalysis" to "generate excitement".
This race is no more exciting then before, when Fred was playing the undecided card and toying with the idea of running. These Republican candidates better kick in with some kind of adrenaline enhancers, if they want to pull ahead of the pack.
In fact a little touch of "what Ron Paul has" in a more lucid dose, should be a Viagra quality they should be going for. Four hours of continuous excitement would sure be welcomed at this point (2008).
No favorite as yet.
Color me bored.
I know a lot of people here wish Fred was the only choice given to the voters, and that only his supporters were given the choice to vote. :-)
I wonder what will happen if Fred can’t get traction, and ends up endorsing John McCain.
BS, Fred would crush the beast or any dem....easy. All the others, RINO's Mitt, Huck, McCain, Rudy, would be crushed by the beast, they have way too much baggage and negatives.
If Fred was the easy kill, then why aren't the MSM and the dems pushing for his nomination eh? If he was the easy kill they would be doing every thing they could to get him the GOP nod. The fact is, they KNOW he would be very tough to beat and so they are doing everything they can to try and stop him early on.
True!
If God desires, he can intervene without us begging him to do so.
He is the only candidate from the current set that I would vote for, though I’m concerned about his approach to this race. He needs to kick it up a notch or three.
So you are really just a republican in name only, unwilling to support the republican candidate unless it happens to be your candidate.
BTW, EVERY person in the country, democrat and republican and independent and socialist, votes for the party’s nominee if it happens to be the person they support.
To be a republican in more than just name, you have to be willing to support the republican nominees even when they aren’t the ones you wanted.
Because if every republican took your point of view, we’d never elect ANYBODY.
BTW, your candidate will be working his butt off for the actual republican nominee, so you’ll really be stabbing him in the back by turning your back on the party he has joined and supports, and dragging him into your action by using his name.
Actually, Rachel, if this happens, the other candidates, except Hunter and Keyes, will still be “sucky and crap”. This is not about “my guy against yours”. For the life of me, I do not comprehend how a single conservative could support any of these other RINO’s. Hasn’t Pres. Bush sent you the message enough times that conservatives are fools to be dusted off and displayed every four years. What in the records of any of the Rudy McRombee “moderates” makes you confident that we will not again be stabbed in the back at every turn? Internationalism, open borders, high taxes, NEA support and leftist judges, for a start. This crew nauseates me, and will continue to churn my stomach even against a clearly more dangerous foe in November. Best, Bob
Fred Thompson could be elected President. Heck, Duncan Hunter could be elected President.
You are absolutely right, conservatives are a minority. But a majority of the people are just looking for someone to lead them, and a strong conservative who can sell conservative values could win election. I’ve seen strongly conservative candidates win elections by wide margins in places where you’d expect people not to buy the message.
Reagan won because he had a solid message and could sell it. I hoped Thompson could do that as well, but frankly he seems to spend too much time proving he’s not an actor, and not enough time selling himself and his message.
But he could fix that, and if he connected with the electorate, his conservative message could win.
Meanwhile, Romney has shown he can communicate the conservative message, and if it wasn’t for a lot of self-serving conservatives attacking him for what they think he used to be, would already have sunk Giuliani, Huckabee, and McCain.
Just made another contribution.
When the top 5 people are all under 20%, it seems clear both that each candidate has a dedicated base of support that isn’t ready to switch, and there’s a good group of people not ready to make a commitment.
McCain/Thompson. Together Again
Romney has a much better record on both pro-life issues and gun issues than any of the democratic candidates, and most of the republican candidates.
In fact, with Romney his record is actually much BETTER on the issues than some of his rhetoric.
If the worst happenns and there is no conservative candidate that I will write in the name of a conservative candidate. Whether Fred wins or not, will not change the fact that Rudy, Romney, McCain and the Huckster are flaming libs on way too many issues to get the vote of any actual conservative.
So, in response to your question what would I do in the situation you describe. I like many others would say, the RINOs are still RINOs and won’t get my vote under any circumstances.
Maybe they gave up because they decided there was no way he could get the nomination :-)
Pray that Fred finds favor in the eyes of Americans, and the people in Iowa, NH, SC, so on and so on.
Pray that GOD would send Fred much needed financial resources.
Pray for GOD to intervene for the sake of our country.
Pray that God will open up people's eyes to the one man who both knows what is right AND has the convictions and lack of personal ambition to do it, whether or not it is "popular."
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