Note to supporters of MIKE HUCKABEE and other candidates, the best way to learn about Sarah Palin is to read some of the national articles praising her, all of them listed on my blogroll (Fred Barnes' "The Most Popular Governor" in The Weekly Standard, White House Correspondent Les Kinsolving in WorldNetDaily, Dimitri Vassilaros in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review), SJ Reidhead on BlogCritics, and Tom Koenniger in The Columbian). The Wikipedia article on Sarah (type in her name) is short but accurate. If you're interested in blog sites backing Sarah, look at: http://palinforvp.blogspot.com/, http://palintology.com/ (an Alaska site), http://outsideofthebox.townhall.com/, as well as pro-Huckabee sites such as http://onemom.wordpress.com/, http://opinionatedcatholic.blogspot.com/ and http://themaritimesentry.blogspot.com/. Please join us in our efforts to get the most electable woman on the GOP ticket. If you're interested, leave a comment or send me an e-mail at TalkTop65@aol.com.
A big welcome to the newest Palin Fan (and a strong supporter of Mike Huckabee), a guy named "Nuke" who does Nuke's News & Views at: http://conservablogs.com/nuke/
In my comments section for yesterday's column, you'll notice NY Catholic Mom saying that Sarah should hold her political fire until Mike Huckabee has served two terms and Sarah's kids "are grown." Three of the kids are pretty well grown by now, including a boy who will soon be 19. The following in blue is my response:
Dear Catholic Mom: Sarah seems to have done a wonderful job (along with her husband, Todd) with her kids to this point. From the polls, it looks likely (though not inevitable) that Hillary Rodham Clinton will be the next President of the U.S. The push to get Sarah on the ticket is an effort to forestall that from happening.
If Mike Huckabee or any Republican presidential candidate doesn't have an absolutely dynamite running mate, then the only time he will spend in the White House will be on a visitor's pass. Yesterday, a blogger for Huckabee noted that "It's time for Mike to take some risks." He said a mouthful.
People who believe Mrs. Clinton will be easy to beat are in denial, ignoring her tremendous financial and political resources, as well as her strong appeal to several large voting blocs. In generic polls (do you prefer a Republican or a Democrat for President?) the Democrat wins by 52-39%.
In her first Senate race in New York, Mrs. Clinton ran against a popular young congressman, Rick Lazio. Despite being called a carpetbagger and every other name in the book, she won 55 percent to 43 percent, which in New York qualifies as a landslide.
New York is a much more diverse state than most people think. It has a rich ethnic and racial blend. One surprise is that the state has a huge number of farms, and dozens of small and medium-sized cities, as well as many villages.
If Mrs. Clinton wins in 2008, her opponent in 2012 might very well be Gov. Sarah Palin. Poll data (I can provide if you'd like to see it) shows the Democrats doing very well among Catholic voters. That data has been generated by Rasmussen and Pew, two highly respected survey firms.
The Republican Party has also done poorly for nearly 30 years with women professionals (teachers, doctors, lawyers, businesswomen, nurses) for 30 years, and that gap is widening. The current thinking among most experts is that the Republican Party will get skunked in most important races, including the one for the Presidency.
It wouldn't benefit Mike to choose a male Caucasian (a Fred Thompson or Newt Gingrich) with very limited appeal to voters generally, as the Republican Party has done over and over and over again since the Eisenhower era. If the Republican Party has stars -- and Mike truly is one -- then it is time to present them to the voters.
Gov. Palin has more executive experience than Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards -- combined. That executive experience comes from two terms as Mayor of Alaska's fastest growing town (Wasilla) and as governor of a state that's crucial to America's energy future. She also serves as chairman of energy resources for the Republican Governors' Association.
In a Republican Party (see the material below on Sen. Craig) beset by corruption and sexual misconduct, Sarah Palin is a model of ethical behavior. In her tenure on the Alaska Oil and Gas Commission, she blew the whistle on ethical misconduct by the head of the state's Repubican Party and on Alaska's Attorney-General.
The Republican Party has only two women -- a shamefully low number -- who could run effectively on the national ticket. They are Congresswoman (and Air Force veteran) Heather Wilson of NM and Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska. I don't think the message we want to send to women interested in public service is that they had best ally themselves with the Democrats.
Surveys demonstrate that 92% of Americans are ready to vote for a qualified woman for President. Gee, what woman might that be? Apparently, Republican women make up most of the 8% who are not ready to vote for a woman for the highest office. That is just plain sad, and hopefully candidates like Sarah will rectify the situation.
As you can see, a great deal of thought has preceded the many thousands of hours people have spent on Sarah's behalf. IT IS NOT A CASUAL SUGGESTION.
(Note: A good chunk of the statistics I cite are drawn from a figure who's young but has almost achieved sainthood in the conservative movement, Patrick Hynes. You can find the material in his article, "Identity Group Conservatism," at the following link: http://anklebitingpundits.com/content/index.php?p=2496)
steve maloney
MINNEAPOLIS (Aug. 28) - Idaho Sen. Larry Craig is a conservative Republican who has voted against gay marriage and opposes hate crimes legislation that would extend special protections to gay and lesbian crime victims.
Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, confirmed on Monday that he pleaded guilty earlier this month to a charge of disorderly conduct after he was arrested at an airport. In the wake of Craig's guilty plea on misdemeanor charges stemming from complaints of lewd conduct in a men's restroom at the Minneapolis airport, his political future is in question. The three-term senator, who has represented Idaho in Congress for more than a quarter-century, is up for re-election next year. He hasn't said if he will run for a fourth term in 2008 and was expected to announce his plans this fall. A spokesman, Sidney Smith, was uncertain late Monday if Craig's guilty plea would affect his re-election plans.
Steve says: Affect his re-election plans? What re-election plans? This pitiful guy is political dead meat. I am sick of people, especially those who masquerade as "conservative Republicans," engaging in sexual misconduct. It's disheartening to see Republicans (Rep. Mark Foley, Sen. David Vitter, and Randall Tobias (Hollywood-Madam-customer) appealing to the "Republican base" with demagoguery and pandering -- and then engaging in the basest of behavior. In dealing with the "base," their motto is let them eat rhetoric.
Sen. Larry Craig should resign, and should do it today. Sinful and disgusting behavior by such people is an arrow in the heart of our many decent candidates, including people like MIke Huckabee, Sarah Palin, Michael Steele, Heather Wilson, and Diana Lynn Irey. The "narrative" people like Craig construct is one that says Republican elected officials are corrupt hypocrites. The fact that there were problems with the way Craig conducted himself should not come as a major surprise (for decades there have been rumors that Craig is gay, although married). As William F. Buckley, Jr. said many years ago: "Self-control is the most exhilarating of pleasures." Too bad that people like Foley and Craig don't heed that admonition.
.jpg)
4 comments:
I hadn't really heard all too much of Palin before other than she is extremely ethical, but after reading more about her, she sounds like a very intriguing candidate.
-Caomhin
Thanks Caomhin. Obviously, I agree that she's very intriguing. I hope as time goes on that you and many others will join us in our efforts to move her toward the nation's highest offices. It's critical that we put our best foot -- and our best candidates -- right at the front of the class.
steve
Of course you have heard that Craig now denies the "lewd conduct" that he pleaded down to. And of course, this is not unexpected. If it were true that he offered a false plea, it seems like he made one whopper of a mistake.
What were the circumstances in which he feared that he couldn't beat the rap? I can't imagine any tyhat would be persuasive to me. I'd like to think that I would go to jail innocent, even if I thought false evidence was lined up against me. Still, Craig is not a young man and I'm unfamiliar with a history of suspicion. If he has an irresistible homosexual impulse, it is remarkable that he's held a marriage together for so long.
There have been rumors for years that Craig has engaged in homosexual relationships, but rumors are rumors. If someone pleads guilty to a misdemeanor, he or she can't really believe that it will "never get out." McGreevey, the Gov. of NJ, had homosexual relationhips for a long time, and his wife, who seems like a nice woman, apparently never knew. McGreevey had his wife with him at the press conference (for support?) and she looked totally shell-shocked. I think it's the pretense and the lies rather than the actual conduct that is sickening. When I worked in private industry some years ago, one of the worst gay-bashers ("Fire her. She's a dyke.") turned out to be gay himself. I worked closely in politics with one admittedly gay guy, and I regard him a great friend and a great conservative. He's the one who told me he, Barney, and Laura might be the least three in Bush's corner. As I said, I think it's time to forget about gay marriage/unions, whatever. There are more important matters on the nation's plate. Craig should resign and go take a course in how to be a decent human being.
Post a Comment