Posted on 09/26/2004 1:54:16 PM PDT by JLS
Bill First 5/2 John McCain 7/2 Rudolph Guiliani 7/2 George Pataki 9/2 Chuck Hagel 6 Mitt Romney 6 Bill Owens 8 Tom Ridge 8 George Allen 12 Norm Coleman 12 Lindsey Graham 14 Sam Brownback 14 Arnold Schwarzenegger 66 Dick Cheney 66 Jeb Bush 66 Laura Bush 100
The thing is, Rush hasn't even been criticized for it. There was a thread the other day about Rush dating Daryn Kagan, and most posters had no problem with his multiple marriages, let alone dating a liberal so rabid she almost cried on-air after Algore lost in 2000.
While questions of leadership could be raised, given the divorce rate right now, I don't think the voters would care. And Rush would still have 22 million listeners.
If you don't like abortion, use your church as a vehicle to express your view.
It's like tilting at windmills to think Roe will ever be overturned. It won't.
So why is any Federal candidates opinion relavent?
Personally, I don't think Alan Keyes would ever have a chance at President. But, just to play devil's advocate, losing the Illinois Senate race isn't always a sign at presidential abilities . . . just look at Abraham Lincoln who lost the IL Senate race to Stephen Douglas 2 years before being elected president!
"However, Condi is just a policy adviser and academic. She has no management experience."
"Just" a policy advisor and academic? She is brilliant, articulate, poised and elegant, a model of grace under fire, and I'd love to see her run against that hag Hillary.
"Does anyone know what JC Watts has been up to?"
My question exactly.
The one thing that keeps me from agreeing with you is the GOP's leftward shift. IIRC, the pro-life bills being passed are originating in the House, and House Republicans have to yell at Senate Republicans just to get the bill considered. But given how some bills ARE being passed, I don't know if Rudy's abortion stance would even be an issue by 2008.
He's an entertainer, not the leader of the free world. I like Rush, and I don't care about his personal life. If he were running, I, along with millions of others, would.
Keyes has 17% of the Illinois vote in the latest poll.
Whatever you do, don't bet on Arnold.
Where is Condi?
I'm just making the point. Though personally, I don't see his marriages as a liability. I'd love to see President Limbaugh someday.
Most posters here are GOP because of their fundamentalist religious beliefs, which I could care less about.
Earth to posters : We have separation of church and state in the U.S.
Chris Cox, now you're talking.
No, that is incorrect. We have the "establishment clause." There will be no establishment of a state religion, nor any prohibition of the free expression of any religion.
Governor Mark Sanford, R-SC
Why? Well..
With-It Sanford
The free-market South Carolina governor.COLUMBIA, S.C. For someone who battles big government all day long, Mark Sanford is incredibly relaxed. After locking horns with lawmakers, the Palmetto State's Republican governor spent a recent evening sipping a Bud Light and chatting in a Polo shirt and khakis. As befits this 44-year-old who runs and swims daily, the Dave Matthews Band plays quietly on his sound system.
"We've saved 50 percent on headcount at the Governor's Mansion and 45 percent on operating expenses," Sanford says. Despite insisting that public frugality begin at home for him and South Carolina's First Family, Sanford and his staff know how to make their guests comfortable.
"We're like ducks in a pond," says Andy Marchant, the ante bellum mansion's executive chef, after serving southwestern Caesar salad and swordfish. "Above the water, it's calm and serene. Down below, we're paddling furiously."
Unlike so many Republican governors today, Sanford and his team take limited government seriously. While New York's George Pataki outspends Mario Cuomo, his liberal Democrat predecessor, and Nevada's Kenny Guinn initiates a 5 to 10 percent live-entertainment tax, Sanford promotes the Reaganite, market-friendly principles that distinguished him as a self-limited, three-term U.S. congressman. Sanford aggressively advocated Social Security choice and earned Straight As and the "Taxpayers' Best Friend" honor from the National Taxpayers Union.
Sanford complains that "South Carolina's cost of government is 130 percent of the national average" but crows about successfully restructuring state services and saving taxpayer dollars:
"We made the Department of Motor Vehicles part of the Cabinet," Sanford says. It's now "directly accountable to the governor rather than its own island of government. If it's not working, people tell me." With closer oversight and by offering Internet transactions instead of office visits, average DMV waiting times have fallen from 90 minutes to 15. Letting auto dealers issue new license plates also has helped cut DMV's budget 17 percent.
"One state agency rents vehicles to other agencies," Sanford marvels. "If you just went to Hertz, you could rent for less." The legislature agreed to save $33.78 million by selling 6,000 of the state's 20,000 cars.
Sanford's latest budget increased spending by just 1 percent, compared to the Republican legislature's 6.6 percent proposed hike.
Atop $53 million in assorted tax relief he secured this year, Sanford's $1 billion income-tax cut would slash rates from 7 to 4.75 percent (a 32-percent reduction). The Republican house passed it before Democrats filibustered it in the GOP Senate.
Facing a $155 million deficit this year, Sanford negotiated with legislators and won $139 million in debt repayment. Some allies urged Sanford to declare victory with 90 percent of a loaf. He refused, seeing any deficit as both unconstitutional and a precedent for future deficits. Like being three days pregnant, a splash of red ink is no big deal today. Over time, though, both likely grow into far more urgent situations.
Sanford issued 106 vetoes to close this $16 million gap. The house quickly overrode 105 vetoes. Sanford responded May 27 by walking into the statehouse rotunda with a squealing piglet under each arm. "Wait a minute," he asked in the Charleston Post and Courier. "There is plenty of money for 'pork' projects for individual members' districts, but no way to carve out any savings to pay off the deficit?"
While many legislators and pundits frowned, talk radio hosts loved it. Letters to local newspapers mainly approved. Despite or perhaps because of this, Sanford's approval numbers exceed 70 percent.
"Mark Sanford truly gets it," says Ed McMullen, President of Columbia's free-market South Carolina Policy Council. "He understands that limited government is an objective. He has succeeded in changing the debate."
"His plan to reduce marginal income tax rates by close to one third is one of the most aggressive income tax cut plans in the nation," says Stephen Slivinski, budget-studies director at Washington's libertarian Cato Institute. "Based on that alone, he deserves recognition as one of the best governors in the nation."
With the legislature adjourned, Sanford will spend 2004 building grassroots support for his program and asking voters to elect sympathetic lawmakers. Free-marketeers seeking someone to carry Ronald Reagan's banner in 2008 should keep their eyes on Columbia.
This fine governor should get a chance to do this in Washington.
Regards, Ivan
It's not the GOP that has to get it through their head it's you that have to get it through yours.
Pro aborts will never ever be able to win a National Republican Primary.
The GOP has never nomonated a pro abort and they will not for the forseeable future.
If you don't like the GOP than that's just too bad.
I guess, in the end, we'll just have to vote properly in the 2008 primaries. Override the political elite, like Reagan did in 1980.
Ridge or Owens.
We must win this one first though.
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