Who's Conservative? The Cases of Heather Wilson, Rudy Giuliani, & Sarah Palin

STRATEGIC THOUGHT: Alaska's presidential caucuses will be held on Feb. 5, 2008 (Super Tuesday). As part of the Draft Palin for VP strategy, it's important that Alaska Republicans cast their presidential ballots for their favorite daughter, Gov. Sarah Heath Palin. ALL Republican presidential candidates (still in the race) should defer to the Governor and refrain from seeking caucus votes in Alaska. The symbolic caucus show of support would have the practical effect of showing Alaska's backing for Sarah's being on the ticket as the vice-presidential candidate. When she is named vice-presidential nominee, her Alaska votes would then go to the presidential nominee.


This weekend, I'll write more about "Cobb" (Michael Cobb Bowen), the Black conservative activist and his fine blog. Either this weekend or soon thereafter I'll write about the Gay Patriot blog and the two individuals who write there.

Today, however, I'm going to reprint a response I made to Larry about a column he wrote on his blog. He's a Huckabee supporter who's considering whether to support Sarah Palin for V-P. Larry and I differ about what it means to be a conservative in the context of American politics. Larry blogs at: http://larryperrault.blogspot.com/.

He believes people like George W. Bush, John McCain, and Rudy Giuliani are not "conservative" enough to merit the support of philosophical conservatives. I disagree. The key comments below deal with Heather Wilson, a congresswoman from Albuquerque, NM -- and one of my political "projects" (somebody I support unconditionally).

Even though the Democratic "base" -- or a good chunk of it -- is deluded about certain matters (such as GWB's supposed "complicity" in 9/11), the Democrats tend to be more realistic about politics than Republicans. Apparently, nine-out-of-10 Democrats are "satisfied" with their choices for President, all of whom are staunch liberals.

The major Republican candidates for President -- Giuliani, Huckabee, McCain, and Romney -- are all more or less conservative. (Note: Because Ron Paul, Tommy Thompson, Tom Tancredo, and Duncan Hunter have miniscule support, even in their home states, I'm removing their sites from my blogroll. I am not including Fred Thompson, because he appears to be having second thoughts about declaring for the presidency. )

A Mayor of New York (or a Governor of Minnesota, or a Governor of Alaska, or a Governor of Massachusetts) CANNOT be conservative in the same way as, say, a Governor of Georgia, Arkansas, or Oklahoma.

Mike Huckabee has been criticized for a supposed "liberal" tendency in supporting major road-building in Arkansas, which desperately needed roads. Sarah Palin has been criticized for following the direction of the Alaska Supreme Court and her attorney-general in regard to the provision of same-sex benefits for gay state employees.

Let's be realistic: if candidates don't get elected -- and Reagan knew this -- their "principles" tend to be little more than academic exercises. For example, one Republican woman I hope you and your blog visitors will look into is Heather Wilson, a congresswoman from the Albuquerque area. She's a graduate of the Air Force Academy, the first female veteran ever elected to Congress.

The district she represents is 43% Hispanic and "tends" Democratic. Every two years, the Democrats pour money into the district in attempts to defeat Heather (see the http://opensecrets.org link for financial details). She is very pro-life and against amnesty (in the dictionary sense of the word).

The candidates running against Heather are ALWAYS liberal Hispanics -- a male in 2004 and a female in 2006 . The Club for Growth extremists would not support Heather because she's not quite "conservative" enough for them. However, if Heather ran as a female version of Tom Tancredo or Ron Paul, she'd be soundly defeated, and the district would probably be in the hands of the Democrats until you and I reached the age of 110.

One reason Heather wins is that she's a great communicator. Her last male opponent (2004?) was opposed to capital punishment. She ran an ad that said, "Democrat Romero opposes the death penality for child molesters who kill their victims." And down Senor Romero went.

If you can't get things across in a sentence or two or three (at most), don't bother.

Overall, when we ask if a federal official is "conservative," we also need to ask, "Compared to what? (or whom)?" Note: The Wikipedia article on Heather is an exercise in liberal bias, although most of the isolated "facts" are correct. Overall, she's a remarkable woman and would be a better President than most of the people who've held that office.

As time goes on, more and more candidates are going to face the situation Heather does, with a heavy Hispanic component in their districts. In a little more than a generation, nearly half the people in the U.S. will be legal residents of Hispanic descent -- something the Tom Tancredos of the world won't tell you.

Even now, candidates can't win districts with a strong minority flavor if they start sounding like Wm. F. Buckley, Jr. (who's one of my heroes). Many years ago, Mr. Buckley ran for Mayor of New York. He got 13% of the vote.

Larry, you're critical of Rudy Giuliani, another one of my heroes. In the context of New York City, Giuliani was very conservative, one reason the Far-Left in that city hates him. He cut the murder rate in half. He ran the sex merchants out of Manhattan. He took a bankrupt city and restored it to financial health. He has said he will appoint "strict constructionist" judges (read: Roberts and Alito types). There's every evidence he would listen to an election-determing conservative running-mate, someone like Sarah Heath Palin.

Granted, the head of the Southern Baptist Convention has said he won't vote for Rudy. On the other hand, he has said he understands fully why many of his fellow evangelicals disagree with him. Specifically, he says they believe Giuliani is the only candidate tough enough to beat Hillary Clinton.

No, Rudy is not Mike Huckabee. But at the same time, Arkansas isn't New York. Without considering the context, we can't get any sort of handle on political reality.

At the present time, I'm directing all my efforts to ensuring that Sarah Palin is on the GOP ticket. I'm not indifferent to which candidate heads the ticket, but I'm prepared to support the Republican nominee. For obvious reasons, I strongly oppose the election of either Senator Clinton, or Senator Obama, or former Senator Edwards.

Stephen R. Maloney
Ambridge, PA

In the comments section, Larry P. raises the Wonkette/Mayor Sam comments about Sarah Palin being "hot." Here's my responses:

I have been working on the Palin effort for about two months, and the first time I ever mentioned that she was attractive was on the radio last Saturday -- http://politicalpistachio.blogspot.com/ -- which is available on archive until tomorrow (I think). I find the whole "Wonkette"/Mayor Sam thing to be humorous actually, but hey, like Black activist "Cobb," I'm "old-school." To me, "hot" usually means crank up the air-conditioner.

We are in a new era, and I seem to know as much about YouTube as I do about the Swahili language. I watch the cable new channels, and they seem to have a lot about Paris -- not the town in the France but the celebrity in Hollywood. However, if Sarah being "hot," whatever that means precisely, helps her campaign, well, great. (Rush Limbaugh called my friend Diana Irey -- see her on her web site -- http://irey.com/ -- a "babe." She said her teenaged children howled with laughter!)

One thing that really appeals to me is that Sarah has a Mike Huckabee quality -- she takes on mega-challenges (like defeating an incumbent Republican and a Democrat former governor). Earlier, at a young age, she ran for Lt. Gov. and finished second because she couldn't raise enough money. Her victory in 2006 marked only the 14th time in American history that an incumbent governor -- Republican or Democrat -- has been defeated in a primary.

She's totally different from the traditional Republican approach, which tends toward grumpy older guys (can I mention Dick Cheney?). She's the anti-Hillary in more than just appearance. She has FOUR kids (3 girls), all of whom seem very normal. Plus, I hear, she's "hot." :-)

The Fred Barnes article, "The Most Popular Governor," which is on my blogroll captures Sarah perfectly. She has a mystical/religious sense of her role in God's universe, but her feet are planted solidly on Planet Earth. She's an evangelical Christian who's also an accomplished professional. Wow, what a combination!

Stephen R. Maloney

Name Recognition: The Name of the Game for Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin

Question: So what's it like contacting hundreds of people as you seek support for Sarah for V-P on the Republican ticket?

Me: It's something like being a door-to-door Bible salesman in a neighborhood full of agnostics. However, agnostics need the Bible also -- it's just that they don't know what they, well, don't know. To know who Sarah is what's she accomplished is the beginning of a revelation about her political potential.

Question: What's the tipping point in getting people to sign up to support Sarah?

Me: If they read the Fred Barnes article on her in The Weekly Sandard -- "The Most Popular Governor" -- it will get them very interested. The Most Popular Governor (on blogroll).

Then, if they read the Wikipedia article on Sarah (on blogroll) and visit http://palinforvp.blogspot.com/ (on blogroll), a light will go on, and they'll get very excited about this spendid woman's candidacy.

______________

To continue (briefly) yesterday's theme about money and politics: early this a.m. on CBS News, Jeff Greenfield, who has his moments (but not enough of them), presented a story about second-tier candidates. He featured Mike Huckabee.

Mike's a Republican, but he has some "Arkansas populist" elements -- just as Sarah Palin has some "Alaska populist" qualities. Specifically, Mike said conservatives needed to be much more concerned about two things: (1) preserving the environment; (2) preventing the corporate greed that results in the loss of American jobs. He's dead right on both counts. The points are important, but they may cause some conservative eyes to glaze over.

Why isn't Mike getting more "traction" and better results in the national polls? One reason is that he -- interestingly, like the well-heeled Mitt Romney -- is focusing on specific states, especially Iowa and South Carolina. The main reason for his low poll numbers, however, is that he's just not well-known. Granted, he's well-known on this site and among the Huckabee-Palin supporters. But he's not widely recognized beyond our small groups.

Senator Dick Lugar, one of the least charismatic figures in American politics, put it this way: before you start to do well in the polls, people have to know your name.

Human brains aren't infinitely elastic. They avoid getting overloaded by blocking out everything, including politicians' names, that don't seem essential. In other words, people's minds may have room for the names "Hillary and Barack," as well as "Rudy and Mitt (or Fred)," but they only grudgingly give up room for "Mike (Huckabee) and Bill (Richardson)."

Greenfield put it well. In order to raise money, you must have good name recognition. But in order to get name recognition, you have to raise (and spend) money. That paradox wouldn't be a problem for, say, "Mike" Bloomberg, who's worth billions. It is a major problem for Mike Huckabee, a man of modest means.

Many of us think Mike Huckabee probably would be a very good President. Sadly, we may not get a chance to find out. I don't say that to discourage some terrific people who are supporting this fine man. I'm just saying that political and financial realities can be cruel ones.

How does this relate to my favorite concern: the candidacy of Sarah Palin? Like Mike Huckabee, Sarah doesn't exactly have great name recognition. As the American people who the governor of Alaska is and perhaps 95% of them will draw a blank.

That's why it's hard going at times to recruit Palin supporters and volunteers. As she becomes better known, it will get somewhat easier. Raising money isn't a problem, because no one is trying to do so.

The best selling point we have is Sarah herself. She's an extremely attractive candidate, a person of great character, decency, and drive. When people take a good look at her, they soon realize that her candidacy makes perfect sense.

(Important Note: In my "trolling for Sarah" activity -- seeking supporters -- I get to see many -- many, many -- blogs, some of which are absolutely outstanding. Among them are Pink Flamingo (Cindy), Cobb, Gay Patriot, Strata, and Big Lizard, all of them linked on the blogroll. None of these bloggers is (yet) in the "4 Palin" camp, although Cindy seems to be leaning strongly in that direction. One of the sites -- Cobb's -- is the product of an important Black (moderate conservative) activist. Gay Patriot reflects the efforts of two gay (conservative) activists. Pink Flamingo is a blog that demonstrates how to build political coalitions. As time goes on, I want to increase awareness of blogs, especially those by "non-traditional" Republicans/conservatives, that deserve attention by everyone committed to re-establishing the Movement on a more sustainable basis. At some point today, I'll post a short piece on "Cobb," whose blog I urge you to visit. Any political coalition worthy of the name doesn't consist of people who agree on every issue.)

Following is some biographical information from "Cobb's" blog. I'll continue the discussion tomorrow regarding what his blog does:

"Michael David Cobb Bowen is the political & cultural blogger 'Cobb'. He writes from the perspective of a moderate conservative Republican representing the 'Old School' of African American culture and values. In his 15 year career of writing as a poet and essayist he has been called the Ralph Ellison [author of "The Invisible Man" and other works] of his generation.Bowen was raised in middle-class black Los Angeles the oldest of five children by Catholic and Episcopalian parents who worked civil service jobs and engaged in grass roots political activism. He attended Catholic schools and went on to pursue his degree in Computer Science after a distinguished high school career and a series of odd -- including union -- jobs. In college he was twice elected National Finance Officer of the National Society of Black Engineers. He went on to work for the Xerox Systems Group, Pilot Executive Software, Arbor Software and his own consultancies. He is currently a Data Architect for a major US consultancy specializing in Business Intelligence and Sarb[anes]-Ox[ley] compliant systems. He is a free-lance writer of note in internet circles. Never far from issues of race, politics and culture he has written extensively in public online spaces since 1993 from The Well to Cafe Utne where he was host of the Society Conference. He is the author of many controversial websites including Boohab's Factotum and the Race Man's Home Companion. Today, he is a Large Mammal and member of the Bear Flag League of conservative California bloggers. His current projects include Vision Circle, a black progressive group blog and XRepublic, a model for a virtual parliament. Most notably, he is the founder of The Conservative Brotherhood whose 15 blogging authors have become the de facto voice of the Black Conservatism online."


As a Palin Movement coordinator, I want to emphasize that we want the support of people like The Conservative Brotherhood. We want to win, and we realize that doing so means helping people like Cobb and others in the "Brotherhood" realize their aspirations.