Posted on 02/08/2008 2:46:25 AM PST by 668 - Neighbor of the Beast
Bradley Smith, former commissioner of the Federal Election Commission and the leading legal scholar on campaign finance issues, experienced the McCain treatment firsthand. Because Smith opposed limits on political speech, he was denounced as "corrupt" by the senator... The two did accidentally meet outside a hearing room in 2004 when they were both scheduled to testify before the Senate rules committee. At first, McCain grasped Smith's outstretched hand (Smith was in a wheelchair, recovering from surgery), but when he recognized his campaign finance opponent, he snatched his hand back, snarling, "I'm not going to shake your hand. You're a bully. You have no regard for the Constitution. You're corrupt."
(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...
Hear! Hear!
Quite the good post. Thanks.
“Smith, a soft-spoken scholar, ardent patriot and lifelong conservative Republican, cannot, as a matter of honor, pull the lever for McCain.”
Smith, on principle, cannot vote for McCain because he authored McCain Feingold. Understood. I do not question his integrity. But I would like to followup. Question for Smith and for Mona: Did you vote in 2004 for the man who SIGNED McCain Feingold? GEORGE W. BUSH.
If so, pardon me while I ignore your advice to cast my vote against McCain on this issue.
There are quirks in McCain’s personality, like this self-righteousness, his hair-trigger temper, etc., that really concern me. I don’t understand his thought processes. Going to Kerry to offer to be his VP candidate was squirrely. His conserva-liberal schizo-platform is beyond my understanding. Having said all that, I agree with Romney’s decision.
Let’s suppose Romney had mounted the steep incline to the Repub nomination. He had another uphill climb against the Dems. How much did he want to pay for this whole thing out of his own pocket? Especially for those kind of chances. His points at CPAC were extremely valid. The best Repub candidate to proffer those issues is McCain. I REALLY hate to say that. The realities we face stink, but I think Romney made the right decision, for himself, and for his country. We a couple years until mid-terms to figure ourselves out as conservatives and re-group. We need to re-visit Reagan and Newt’s Contract with America and see if we can’t recapture a winning posture and communication.
Excellent point. I believe Rush will talk on this aspect of campaigning once the GE ramps up.
His lack of enthusiasm affected the primaries, yes?
“it would be among my highest priorities to secure our borders first”
So, first...fire Hernandez from your campaign!
What part of "Congress shall make..." do you not understand?
Talk shows are NOT your forum, but the host's. Screeners are then to keep most the idiots off.
Do you have chronic problems getting past the screeners?
I’ve gone from Hunter, to Thompson, to Romney, and I’ll get
behind McCain eventually . . . I’m just waiting for Richard
Simmons to get into the Octagon and whip Stephen Bonnar.
(rimshot)
That is exactly why Rush is making a parody out of sending money to Hillary.
Diane Sawyer bought the whole bit...
Hey, yeah, silly me!
I thought Republicans would try to actually advance a Republican agenda. What was I thinking?
HA! I went through the same evolution of candidates, and now that Romney is pulling back, I’m preparing to get behind the nominee, which appears to be McCain.
good luck with that
All of their records suck, but there isn't a dime's worth of difference between the three of them.
As I said before, if McCain's your man, that's your choice. I don't like him and won't support him. On the ballot in November, I will write in "None of the Above" for president and cast my vote for principled conservatives in the House and Senate who will defeat the proposals of whichever liberal gets into the WH.
Somebody's new word.
Fits; (Someone who practices)
"Sudden impairment of neurological function..(or)..fits of extreme anger - rage"
I like it.
Which now begs the question:
Just exactly what is a Republican agenda?
Or, to make it easier on you; what should be the Republican agenda for the next year?
Next five years?
Next ten years?
There is no way in hell that McCain is going to win this election.
The pubby party has conceded - officially and with some effort. I don't know why they're eager to lose. It is too soon to be able to speculate with any sound basis because we are all so fragmented that we'd waste another year fighting over the 'real' reason.
It was going to be a tough election anyway - Republicans are outnumbered and needed someone who could attract disaffected Dems...Yes, someone reminiscent of Reagan. Maybe the party simply decided no one was up to the task in a year when no conservatives need apply.
McCain might pull one or a dozen unhappy centrists but he'll drop too many right of center republicans, too many veterans sick of his posturing, and too many hard over partisans angry at the way he scammed the process.
Not to mention those also distrustful of the implications of a (presumed) Vice President Huckabee.
Learn to live with it somehow - but don't be planning on taking over Congress as a counter to Clinton's Second Reich.
(How soon will Chelsea be 35, after 16 years related to the president she'll officially have more "experience" than Hillary has today!)
As I said before, if McCain's your man, that's your choice. I don't like him and won't support him. On the ballot in November, I will write in "None of the Above" for president...
Then don't complain when the other party's socialist gets elected.
Don't complain when your tax rate goes up 10 to 15 percent to pay for "single-payer health care" (universal health care), the AMT revenue replacement, the revenue losses represented by the Bush tax cuts of 2001 & 2003
Don't complain when we declare the war against the Islamofascists to be over, we draw down the military in favor of a "peace dividend", then invite the terrorists to "negotiate" with us by offering concessions.
Don't complain when the government says homeschooling is no longer an option.
Don't complain when your income is redistributed to someone who doesn't want to work, because, after all, you are "more fortunate", as though you somehow woke up one day, having won the lottery to secure the successful career you now enjoy.
Don't complain when your guns are declared to be a hazard to public safety, and are taken from you.
Don't complain when a tax is levied on you based on your perceived "carbon footprint" and a United Nations directive.
Don't complain when your 12-year old daughter is found to have had an abortion without your knowledge, all kept secret from you because your school counselor says it would violate your daughter's privacy.
Don't complain when your Boy Scout troop is dissolved because they're out of money after being sued by the government based on their discrimination against homosexuals.
Don't complain when the Iranians pursue an ever-increasing game of brinkmanship with our forces in the mideast, calling our bluff to establish themselves as the mideast's regional power broker.
Don't be surprised when the Chinese take Taiwan with scarcely an outcry from the US government, which won't be in a position to do anything about it.
Don't be surprised when your favorite talk radio programs are gone, because the President refused to veto a new version of the "Fairness Doctrine".
Don't be surprised when our economy is required to shrink by the United Nations, after we sign an agreement to reduce our "carbon footprint" even though "developing nations" China and India will not face these restrictions.
Don't be surprised when a nuclear weapon explodes in Boston Harbor, in a plot not discovered by our NSA, CIA, or FBI because the Patriot Act was rescinded and travel restrictions on terrorists were lifted.
I could go on, but I'd rather that you and others of your persuasion would just grow up and realize what's at stake in this presidential election.
I’m writing in Fred Thompson.
Oberon: “I thought Republicans would try to actually advance a Republican agenda. What was I thinking?”
Don’t be so hard on yourself, Oberon. I thought the same thing. I figured with the house, senate, and presidency in Republican hands, we would win. It was only later that I realized conservatives were still a minority, with the RINOs holding the key positions of power.
I want to see the RINO sellouts defeated but not at the cost of putting Democrats in the same positions. If we can’t beat the RINOs (McCain comes to mind), then it’s up to us to try to influence them. We can’t do that if we pick up our toys and go home.
Don’t forget: the amnesty folks had the presidency and a good part of congress but lost...TWICE. McCain, Bush, and the RINOs notwithstanding, they couldn’t make it happen! That’s cause for hope so long as we don’t give up.
Actually no. I've been on Rush's program a number of times.
In 2001, he requested moderates call his show to explain their positions. After explaining mine, he kept insisting that I was not a moderate, but indeed a conservative. Go figure.
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