As A Senate Candidate…Keyes Will Force Debate On The Real Issues

The Wanderer ^ | August 19, 2004 | By THOMAS F. ROESER

[WOSG]

And if the 1% rabid 'Bush isnt good enough for us' folks were to get their way - President Al Gore would not have responded to 9/11 as Bush did, would not have taken the fight to the enemy, would not have cut taxes to restore the post-bubble economy.

WE cannot AFFORD to be complacent about how bad Kerry and his gang could be on both national security AND values issues AND his willingness to be a radical tax-hiking tax-and-spend President.

And the list of Bush conservative accomplishments is too long not to notice.


I was so sure that we were going to see change on the domestic front having control of 2 branches of government."

As long a there are 41+ Democrats in the Senate, we dont fully control the legislative branch. dont forget that!!

Every single example of more spending v less spending - the Democrats are on the tax-and-spend-more side ... oh, except when it come to supporting the troops in war.

worrying about the budget when we are in a war is imho misplaced.

Bush has fixed many regulatory problems and other problems along the way. He's fixed law enforcement and homeland security, is transforming the military and has transformed
education accountability.

Can we do more, much more? You bet. we ave proposals by Bush admin to make tax cuts permanent and to permanently CAP SPENDING. Stop growing the Government! Bush proposed that in January ... And before you get bent out of shape about spending in the last 4 years, consider the new challenges in the war on terror and the fact that with more military spending and with 'no child left behind' Bush was keeping promises he made in 2000. Although Clinton left our military in weaker state than it should have been, 'balancing' the budget by mainly cutting army divisions, we managed to persevere with the military and restore our capability and win two wars.

it's real simple on tax-and-spend:
Kerry wants to cut the deficit in half - by increasing taxes
Bush wants to cut the deficit in half - by restraining spending

Which is better?

[WOSG]

I'm from Texas ... Bush has endorsed plenty of super-strong conservatives over the years.

[WOSG]

lol ... the media is falling for the Keyes trap!! Look, any publicity is good right now for Keyes, the more the media covers his 'controversial' notions, the more he becomes known as the conservative alternative. Keyes' needs the highest profile possible and he knows how to get it.

"Real politicians learn how to take the press questions and give them the answer they want, rather "

* yawn * press will print that kind of bland evasiveness on page 41, ignored news, end of story.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Obama is a member of the United Church of Christ.

Supporters of Commando Calumet Keyes feel they need to lie to win.

[Dave S]

Supporters of Commando Calumet Keyes feel they need to lie to win.

Dont you mean Osama Bin Keyes?

[BufordP]

1%? Don't use hyperbole to make your point.

Yes, if Gore had won the 2000 election it would have been a disaster. He would have served as an example to the rest of the country that we should NEVER elect a bleeding heart enviro-wacko liberal to the Whitehouse ever again and we would be coasting to a Republican presidential victory right now no matter who we put up. Instead, Bush is neck and neck in the polls with a leftwing lying Vietnam hero wannabe because he's pissed off a lot more than the "rabid" 1% you claim.

BTW, the war and 41+ Dems in the Senate causing trouble is no excuse for all of Bush's domestic largesse, endorsing moderate/liberal candidates, signing unconstitutional legislation, lack of serious border control, making it hard for pilots to carry weapons, working with Kennedy to draft "No Child Left Behind", and on and on...

The things you cite as Bush accomplishments would have been accomplished by any TRUE conservative. A TRUE conservative would have at least wielded the veto pen some of the time.

If Bush wins, I hope we see the things you predict. I won't hold my breath. And in 4 years I hope I never hear the phrase "compassionate conservative" again.

[N3WBI3]

If Obama was just a 'choice' guy that would be true, but his silence on killing those who survive an abortion make him vulnerable there..

[N3WBI3]

Yup better to back a winner than back a conservative right??

[WOSG]

"He would have served as an example to the rest of the country that we should NEVER elect a bleeding heart enviro-wacko liberal to the Whitehouse ever again"

Didnt Clinton serve as enough of a reminder?

Do you really think Gore would be heading for defeat today?

How do you know? He might have gotten the lamestream media to cover his crimes and aid the demonization of the remaining Conservatives out there..

"and we would be coasting to a Republican presidential victory right now no matter who we put up."

Yeah, so why didnt we win in 1996????

You seem to misunderestimate what we (including Bush) are up against.

"The things you cite as Bush accomplishments would have been accomplished by any TRUE conservative. "

which is my point. I'm not saying he's a pure bred conservative, but he has done MANY GOOD THINGS. Even just signing the partial birth abortion ban, and standing up against kyoto and ICC is worth re-election. That is just 3 out of 100 pro-conservative things he's done.

the fact that he is 80% good and done 20% things that are frustrating to conservatives shouldnt blind you to how GOOD we've got it with him. ... let me ask you - X

From how I count, GWBush is the SECOND-BEST PRESIDENT of my lifetime:

Reagan
George W Bush
G H W Bush
Gerald Ford
Nixon
Clinton
LBJ
Carter

that's my order ... and I fully expect kerry to be QUITE WORSE THAN EVEN THE LYING CLINTON WAS, perhaps as bad as Carter. HOW OFTEN DO YOU EXPECT TO GET A PRESIDENT ALMOST AS GOOD AS REAGAN?

The choice between 2nd best and 2nd worst ... is it really that hard to pull the lever for Bush?

[WOSG]

Bush has backed some very good, very Conservative candidates.

Of course, Bush has been so good for the republican party in Texas that those conservatives have mostly won.

John Cornyn won his senate race, and the whole state-wide slate of 29 candidates is Republican.

Compared with the RINOs in other states they are pretty conservative, yes.

[WOSG]

Last point, barely touched on:

Let's grant your point that Bush is a bigger spender than you or I would like. He is trying to pander

That still leaves two huge issues:
- Global war on terror
- Values, marriage, pro-life, etc.

Kerry wins = media and activist judges takes it as green light for gay marriage. We will be impotent to stop it,
and kerry will appoint 4 justices who will, like the Mass supreme court, do for America what that court did for massachusetts.

there is no way a constitutional amendment will pass, because 40 Democrat senators are in hock to gay rights community.

what holds for gay marriage holds for abortion as well.
Kerry win means both will be called 'constitutional rights' by a left-wing Supreme Court.

GAME OVER.

If you want to save marriage, you have to save the courts from the liberal activists. The only way to do that is to make sure Bush wins.

Bush has been very solid on his judicial nominations.

[BufordP]

You're doing a great job pointing out the 40% (you say 80%) that I agree he's done right. (Let's not quibble about percentages.) And he's second best in a long line of Bozos (excluding Reagan). But if the American Conservative Union rated Presidents, Bush would rate far worse then a lot of the current crop of Representatives and Senators.

As much as we like to point out the Democrats are NOT voting for Kerry as much as they are voting AGAINST Bush, true conservatives are resigned to do the same - vote against Kerry. Many here at the FreeRepublic are gung-ho Bush for no other reason then he's all we got. I understand that and I don't begrudge them...or you.

This doesn't mean I don't want to see Bush re-elected. I just can't get excited about it. At the very least I hope it's an excruciatingly tight race where Bush comes out looking like Joe Frazier after the first Ali/Frazier fight. How else are we going to force politicians to experience consequences for their transgressions? I'll do my part by sitting this one out.

During the Presidential debates I'll be thinking about you when I hear both Kerry AND Bush argue about who'll spend more on this, that, and the other federal program.

---

You may have the last word. I'm done.

[WOSG]

"But if the American Conservative Union rated Presidents, Bush would rate far worse then a lot of the current crop of Representatives and Senators. "

And if this were a primary fight, that might be relevent, but the real apples to apples comparison I said is with President v President... There are plenty of great Consrvative leaders (eg DeLay) that are simply unelectable. Now, the irony is that Kerry is a FAR LEFT as we have people to the RIGHT, and yet this FAR LEFTIST may win!!! Do you know why? A MAJORITY of voters dont even think he is liberal!!

do you dispute my rating GWB as the second-best President to Reagan? Ahead of his Dad? (who btw is not a bozo).

GW Bush has had the most significant tax cuts since 1981 under Reagan, something GHW Bush 41 never did. And Bush has made controversial and *correct* calls on social issues that are miles ahead of any previous President, especially vs Clinton.

"Many here at the FreeRepublic are gung-ho Bush for no other reason then he's all we got."

I am gung-ho on Bush not just for the tax cuts, but because Bush has done the right thing on the war on terror - liberating Afghanistan and Iraq, going after the terrorists where they are, so the fight is on their turf, no ours, taking out 2/3rds of Al Qaeda and removing 2 odious regimes.

I am gung-ho about replacing liberal activist judges with conservative juges who practice judicial restraint.

And I am gung-ho about a president who wants to make the pro-growth tax cuts permanent, and who will certainly be less of a tax-and-spender as his opponent.

There are plenty of positive reasons to be excited and pleased with Bush. There are certainly issues to lobby him and the administration on when he is re-elected. I know they will listen. I know that Kerry and his band of brother socialists will not.


http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/05/20040513-8.html

[WOSG]

"During the Presidential debates I'll be thinking about you when I hear both Kerry AND Bush argue about who'll spend more on this, that, and the other federal program."

Last word comment, to clarify my points:
1. Most of budget policy is set in Congress anyway
2. Kerry is worse than Bush on this issue (Kerry's ACU rating is near 0%)
3. Even if we granted a "tie" between Bush and Kerry on this spending issue (I dont but for the sake of argument), the fact remains: There is lot more at stake this election than how big the federal budget is on certain programs.

In fact there is more at stake - our nation's security and the success in Iraq and the war on terror; the future of the courts; the future of marriage and protection of the unborn; pro-growth vs anti-growth tax policies - than in any election in recent times.

If you're vote were to determine whether Bush or Kerry were to be President, would you or any informed Conservative really having *any doubt* who is better?

[Aquinasfan]

But even given that Keyes may well lose, due to his late start, why does his campaign engender enthusiasm? Because the candidacy gives the nation’s most articulate defender of life a platform that can work a change on the character of the GOP in Illinois and the nation — and that’s not an exaggeration.

Here the Lincoln-Douglas debates are a stirring example. Abraham Lincoln was by no means the firebrand for abolitionism that Keyes is for life, but in debating Sen. Stephen A. Douglas he stirred the nation’s conscience. Lincoln lost the U.S. Senate election, but went on to national reputation and glory.

In Illinois — it is fair to say — the cause of life now has its greatest opportunity ever to become a front-centered issue.

This is what the campaign is all about.

Let the debates begin. Soon!

[Forgiven_Sinner]

Amen! Do you know when the Osama-Keyes debate is? I'd like to watch/hear it.