Courage of Conviction

Check out this news story below.  I’m willing to bet to that this happens in more places than Texas - like PA for example.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG6X-xtVask.  Enjoy!

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)
American civil rights leader

It’s been awhile since I did any political commentary - so here goes:

Here are my thoughts about the state of the Presidential primaries.  First off, I can now confirm that I am out of touch with the rest of the Republican Party, which is why I’m glad I became an Independent after the 2006 election.  Why do I say this?  Over 60% of the South Carolina votes went to McCain and Huckabee.  So here we have a situation in which Republicans, allegedly the party of small government, are supporting one candidate who will use government to take away your First Amendment rights and another candidate which will tax you for “bad behavior,” as defined by his religion.  Since when did the Republican party start standing for any of that. 

Second thought - there is a real possiblity that we could have two candidates who will have trouble getting support of their own party members.  On the D side - Hillary Clinton.  I personally know several Democrats who not only won’t vote for her, but would change their party registration if she is the nominee.  It ranges in reason from not wanting Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton, to just not liking her because she’s arrogant.  On the Republican side - John McCain.  I know plenty of Republicans who just won’t vote for the guy for plenty of reasons. 

So what happens?  Voters can either decide to vote for the lesser of two evils, or they can vote for someone they like - third party, write-in a name, etc., but know that who they vote for will not win.  The last presidential race that I can remember that seems like a similar situation was in 1996 - Dole vs. Clinton.  I didn’t vote for either - I did a write-in.  I’m not crazy about the “it was Dole’s turn” argument.  Want to blame me for the second four years of Clinton - fine by me, but it’s the candidate’s job to win over voters, not my job to just fall in line like a lemming and vote for a Republican, because the candidate has an R after their name.   I know the argument of not making the perfect the enemy of the good.  But gee - given a choice between one candidate who will mandate your health and who knows what and another candidate who will mandate your speech and education, I’m having a hard time seeing any good.

Today on The Keystone Report, host Matthew Best welcomed Dr. Paul Kengor back to the show to talk about his latest book, The Judge: William P. Clark Ronald Reagan’s Top Hand..  Dr. Kengor is a professor of Political Science at Grove City College in Grove City, PA.  He is the executive director of the Center for Vision & Values, a Grove City College think tank/policy center.  He’s also a fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.  Dr. Kengor is the author of numerous books, most recently publishing The Judge: William P. Clark Ronald Reagan’s Top Hand. During the interview, Dr. Kengor shares his insights into the man who many called the most influential person that helped defeat Soviet Communism outside of Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II.  You’ll also hear what made William Clark unique among Reagan’s advisors and thus made him so effective and well liked from both sides of the political spectrum.

To listen to this podcast click here.

Everyone’s talking about the Caucus results, and so will I.  First off, why is this tiny state given so much weight in the primary process?  Same goes for New Hampshire.  We have the oddest election system I can think of where two tiny states have such a major role in determining who the nominations are for the rest of the country.

Let’s start with the Democrats.  Obama won big.  As everyone said, change won last night - on both sides.  Obama has been underestimated since the beginning by so many people.  I think he has a good chance.  He’s likeable, speaks from his heart, and is authentically a change agent.  If he does happen to become the Democrat nominee, (which is still no where close to being resolved yet) my prediction is that he will win in the fall.  One positive of that would be the political death of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.  Americans have moved passed racial differences, it’s time for the conversation to change. 

Edwards got a boost last night beating Hillary.  He still has to do well in New Hampshire to stay alive. 

Hillary is still very much alive and could still sustain a third place finish in New Hampshire.  She’ll have to start winning some states after that though to stay viable.

On the Republican side - God help us if Mike Huckabee wins the nomination.  I don’t think that’s likely.  Huckabee appeals to one group - Evangelical socially conservative Christians.   That’s not going to take you to the White House by itself.  Once we get past New Hampshire, we’ll start to see some real results on the Republican side.  In one sense I glad that Pennsylvania doesn’t have a primary until April, because there is so much wrong with so many of the Republican candidates. 

One last comment - I was amused by the coverage of the results last night.  I watched both ABCnews and Charlie Rose.  The contempt that Huckabee raises among the elite media is amusing to watch.  Not the same treatment of Obama or any of the D’s who they clearly saw as “real” candidates.