Posted on 02/06/2009 1:54:43 PM PST by Zakeet
Picture the scene: a dignified Ted Kennedy stands beside President Barack Obama on a brisk, late winter day in the Rose Garden.
Mr. Obama laments the events that caused him to withdraw the nomination of his anointed healthcare-reform czar, former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle, as Health and Human Services Secretary. Reaching back to the lofty rhetoric of his campaign, he implores his audience to look past his own lapse in judgment and seize the opportunity to implement sweeping national reform that puts health insurance within reach for the millions already uninsured – and the millions more whose coverage is jeopardized by the nation's economic crisis.
Then Senator Kennedy ambles to the microphone. He thanks Obama for his attention to what has been a more than 40-year personal crusade. He reemphasizes that now is the time to rise above partisan politics and address this central policy issue of our time.
"I've seen such an approach work," Kennedy declares, "in my own home state, where in just two years we've seen 500,000 people who were uninsured gain access to quality healthcare as a result of an agreement among Republicans, Democrats, hospitals, insurers, and the voters. They came together because they understood this issue was too important to remain bogged down in politics any longer. Now I am here to introduce my partner in that process; a man whose life experience spans the heights of the public, private and nonprofit sectors; a man whose commitment to the goal of seeing every American receive quality, affordable healthcare is every bit as strong as my own; the man who I believe can work with the president, the Congress and the entire healthcare system to reach this goal; my friend, my former governor, Mitt Romney."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
The clueless dope in the White House.
Yep—we’ve had the discussion before, and I stand by my assertion. Right to life? His USSC appointments would have led to a rapid overthrow of Rv.W and more. I regret the lack of strategic thinking that many conservatives displayed last year. On a personal note, thanks for keeping it civil unlike some of the others here.
Ah, I’m with you.
Many Freepers left or were banned for arguing that very misconception.
Just as Specter or Snowe are not conservatives, so Rudy is not.
You are either fooling yourself and in denial, or your definition of “conservative” is incorrect.
He’s never going to be President, and will never run again. More than likely he’ll run for Governor of NY next year. But I’ll add if you think he could’ve won the election over the False Messiah, you’re crazy. No credible poll showed him winning any state that McCain didn’t carry (in other words, he wouldn’t have carried a SINGLE state in the Northeast, let alone made any inroads elsewhere, and probably would’ve lost even more states).
A liberal Republican, and fairly open one at that, would’ve been a monumental and visceral turnoff to the Conservative base nationwide. He could’ve made promises galore and it wouldn’t have mattered. A pro-abort Catholic, pro illegals squish, thrice-married ? Yeah, that’d be about as popular with the GOP base as Jesse Helms in Harlem.
Rudy is much more conservative than Snowe and Specter.
Romney can go hide under a rock as far as I’m concerned!
I'm totally with you on this one. I used to have a regard for him but he's totally blown it, from my prospective.
Obama’s other appointments can include Huckabee in charge of opening up the fence to permit illegal immigration - and Palin in charge of Tax Czarina for taxing Big Oil.
That settles it then
You're delusional.
He may run for Governor, or even Senate—I think we’d both be happy with him in one of those roles. Pro-Abort? See my pervious comment. Pro illegal? Not so clear; certainly, he would have slowed illegal flow on national security grounds. Thrice married? So what. Reagan was married twice. And I’m not so sure that he won’t run for the top job again.
So you acknowledge that he's as conservative as Ted Kennedy!
No.
I have at least an iota of respect for Rudy in turning NYC around and drastically cutting the crime rate, but on everything else, it just ain’t cutting it. He’d have to make a 180 on most of the positions he’s taken, and it would’ve come off as totally opportunistic. Even if we took him at his word and he appointed a slew of Conservative judges, overthrowing Roe wouldn’t change the equation, for example, in NY state. If Roe were overturned tomorrow, you’d likely have state after state and probably Congress, too, enact liberal abortion laws.
Frankly, at this point, might be better for him to make a return to NYC. His liberal successor, Bloomberg, is already screwing up his record with reigning in the crime rate.
So are you suggesting that Kennedy is more conservative than those two?
“If Roe were overturned tomorrow, you’d likely have state after state and probably Congress, too, enact liberal abortion laws.”
Isn’t that the whole point, to push the decision back to the states?
Anyone that could be elected Mayor of that human sewer has to be a liberal!
“So are you suggesting that Kennedy is more conservative than those two?”
No, they are equals.
Duncan Hunter is a conservative.
Bobby Jindal is a conservative.
Rush Limbaugh is a conservative.
Rudy Guiliani is a gun grabbing, pro abortion supporting , nylon wearing liberal.
I think he’s made a gentleman’s agreement, he goes for Governor (he prefers an executive capacity job, he would’ve been miserable as a Senator) and Peter King goes for the Senate. If he wins, we shall see how Conservative he will be in Albany, but I find it highly doubtful he will be. We’ll see if he appoints (or endorses) Conservative judges up there.
On the marriage thing, twice is one thing, thrice is another. Public can forgive twice, not three times (and in Reagan’s case, his first wife, Jane Wyman, divorced him, he didn’t want to divorce her, and that also counts positively towards him). It’s partly why Rush and Newt will never be able to win office (especially the Presidency).
Well, that’s what Fred Thompson was pushing for, to have it go back to the states. Roe should be overturned, but not simply to make this a pro-life country, but because it was a BAD and unconstitutional decision.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.