Proud at the Primary

As a North Carolinian, my voice will finally be heard. Its been a long time since the Presidential race began... too long in fact, but today the race finally came to North Carolina. North Carolina doesn't have an open primary, if your voter registration lists a party affiliation, you can only vote in that party's primary. Since I didn't switch my affiliation last month, I couldn't vote against Barack Obama today... but I got to vote my conscience nonetheless.

Ideally I could have voted for Fred Thompson today, but North Carolina doesn't let you write in a candidate, your only option is "No Preference". Well, that wouldn't be accurate, because I do have a preference, and voting "No Preference" would be as much of a lie as voting for John McCain, something I can't do as long as another conservative is in the field even though I'll have to do it this fall. I should have known what my other options were, but honestly other than knowing McCain and Ron Paul would be on the ballot (and Fred would not) I had no idea what other Republican candidates would be listed. So I was presently surprised, almost gleeful when I saw Alan Keyes' name next to a bubble on my sheet. And with the circle of a pen, I was more proud of this vote than any other primary vote I've ever cast. I didn't have to hold my nose and vote for the lessor of evils like I will in the Fall. Alan Keyes is a true Conservative who believes in our Constitution as it was written not as some liberal judge interprets it, and he's a Christian whose not afraid of the values and Christian foundation in which our country was founded. Mike Huckabee (another option on my ballot) hits one of those three points, Ron Paul might hit two, I couldn't even tell you how many John McCain gets in that test, but Alan Keyes gets all three.

My vote won't change anything, John McCain will still win the state and the nomination... but I hope there are a number of other Conservatives out there today who took a stand and made a statement. There was a Conservative on the ballot today and I was proud to have voted for him.

I find it ironic that as I type this the news media is talking about the state getting to vote for an African American candidate today. Of course they are talking about Obama, but there is another African American candidate on the ballot in North Carolina, one who actually stands for something and would be good for this country. That man is Alan Keyes, and whether he gets 100 votes or 10,000 today, I hope John McCain counts every one of them. Those votes could have gone to McCain, but instead we voted our beliefs and our conscience.

Write-In Fred.

If Romney drops out of the race, or it becomes painfully obvious that McCain is a lock, it will become even more important to Write-In Fred Dalton Thompson if your state's primary is coming up. Almost half of the country has voted, but there is another half to go. If the Republican Party is leaving its Conservative voice behind, then we must take it back. We must stand tall and reclaim the high ground. We must be steadfast in the face of a party moving to the left and a Democratic Party moving towards socialism. If ever there was a time for a Conservative Revolution, it is now, before its too late.

Sign the pledge at WriteInFRED.com.


UPDATE: Romney is out. DON'T GIVE UP. DON'T STAY HOME. If your primary is coming up, Write-In Fred for President. When November rolls around, even if you can't/won't vote for McCain, make sure you vote for true conservatives running for other offices.

The power of half.

Today, virtually half of the nation has the chance to do something for the country. Half of our country is called on to be patriots. Half of our citizens have the option of sacrificing a brief moment of their time and perform their civic duty for the greater good. Its Super Tuesday, and if you are in one of 24 states, today it is your right, duty, and it should be your honor to vote (24 states have primaries today with 43 primaries in total - 21 republican primaries and 22 democratic primaries).

Those who are so fortunate will be a part of something great. For today its not every vote that counts, its every vote in a little less than half of the country that matters. And that half will likely decide who our presidential candidates will be. It may not be over after tonight, but it will be a lot closer. Half of the populous gets to be heard while only a few already have been. The rest of us may not even matter. I won't. In North Carolina our primary isn't until May 6th... by then this contest will likely have come to a close. I hope not, but history is not in my favor.

And those in that half that care about our country and the purpose of its founding... those that value smaller government, lower taxes, personal responsibility and free will... those that think we are in a monumental fight against Islamic extremism and terrorists who seek to destroy our next breath... those of you who want to protect our borders, our sovereignty, and our honor.... I beg of you to vote for a true Conservative in this race. We have to take our country back before we lose ourselves to socialism and global greed. We have to take our nation back before our sovereign rights and Constitutional guarantees are gone forever.

I can't tell you who to vote for, but if you agree with the above than I can tell you who doesn't deserve your vote. John McCain certainly does not. Mike Huckabee does not. Ron Paul does not. Obviously Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama do not.

That leaves only two choices:

1. Vote against John McCain and cast your ballot for Mitt Romney
   
   
2. Write-in Fred Thompson and send a message to the party and the American people that we want to return to our Federalist foundation and take our country back.

Ideally, I'd like to vote the later, but fearing a John McCain Republican nominee as much as any Conservative should.... if I were to vote I would probably vote Romney. Romney is the closest thing to a Conservative left in the race. He has the business and economic credentials to set our fiscal policy on the right track and he's also closer to being the citizen servant that our founders envisioned running for office. He's not a career politician who has spent decades attacking conservative ideals and he's not beholden to special interests or politicians across the aisle.

He's no Fred Thompson... but he's no John McCain either. And for that reason alone, he is worthy of your vote.

Conservatives, Its Time to Speak Up,

Mark Levin has written a wonderful piece about John McCain and why Conservatives need to speak up now. Below is an excerpt, read the whole thing here.

There are other reasons to speak out now, and loudly, against a McCain candidacy — before it is too late for the movement and the party. Do we conservatives believe in the Constitution or not? Do we believe in as much open political speech as possible or not? The McCain supporters rightly point out that free speech has never been a pure principle. But wild swings of change, aimed at empowering the federal government (or more particularly, incumbent politicians) against citizen activism prior to an election, is exceedingly imprudent. And prudence is a hallmark of conservative thought, or at least used to be. McCain-Feingold is without question the greatest assault on free political speech since Buckley v. Valeo, and is far more draconian. And, once again, McCain’s rhetoric as its leading advocate was dishonest. He repeatedly used the word “corruption” to describe those “forces” who aligned against his effort. As with Rumsfeld, he targeted a member of the Federal Election Commission, Bradley Smith, for disdain and worse. McCain filed a brief in the Supreme Court with several Democrats against the Wisconsin Right to Life organization challenging its right to run informative ads prior to an election. Wisconsin Right to Life won. Ironically, as best I can tell, this is the most aggressive action he has taken in all his years in Washington on the right-to-life issue, which probably explains why the vast majority of these groups have endorsed other candidates. The point is that McCain’s easy disregard of first principles, in this case political speech, runs deep with many conservatives and is not easily downplayed. (And the fact that President Bush signed the bill is no justification.)

Much has been written about the three legs of the conservative movement and how Mike Huckabee’s campaign has resonated with the family-values folks. Well, he doesn’t appear to have won over a majority of those voters. But I’ll leave that for another day. Much has been written about the national-security leg of the movement, including by VDH (albeit with its selective attention to aspects of the McCain record). But not enough attention is given to the economic leg, which has much to be concerned about in McCain. Some define McCain’s as a spending hawk for his efforts in ending earmarks and opposition to certain spending programs. But the McCain record is much more than that. As mentioned earlier, the McCain-Kennedy amnesty bill was among the most irresponsible and reckless budgetary and economic legislative efforts of all time. Moreover, McCain has repeatedly demanded that federal power be used to tame perfectly legitimate private enterprises, from energy and pharmaceutical companies, to media companies and anything else he considers “corrupt” or “the enemy” or what have you. And as I first noted here, McCain’s claim during recent debates that he opposed the 2001/2003 Bush tax cuts because Congress refused to cut spending is highly misleading. Time and again McCain resorted to class warfare propaganda, asserting that he opposed the tax cuts because they “favored the rich.” He has embraced the same approach in the McCain-Kennedy-Edwards bill, a phony “patients’ bill of rights” that would essentially empower further the trial bar to sue insurance companies and other businesses involved in the provision of health care, including employers. And his “re-importation” of drugs position, which he claims will reduce the cost of prescriptions in our country, comes straight from Hillary Clinton’s heath-care task force. He would drive much needed research and development from those American companies that are inventing and producing most of the world’s life-saving and life-extending drugs.

McCain’s position on the environment is every bit as radical as any of the most liberal Democrats in the Senate. He would empower the federal government to regulate and tax the private sector in ways that it has never before. He is convinced that man is responsible for global warming, such as it is, and consequently the federal government must act to control man. McCain has proposed everything from a massive database of carbon emitters, capping carbon emissions, trading carbon emissions, taxing carbon emissions, and so forth. Of course, like most big-government politicians, little concern is paid to the Constitution or economic outcomes, including forcing more smoke-stack industries and their jobs offshore.

The Results Are In: The GOP Race is Wide-Open

Fred Thompson's Campaign Manager, Bill Lacy, released this statement following the Michigan Primary. I'm glad he has the guts to articulate what many conservatives are feeling. We need to make the differences clear, if you pay attention only one man in this race is consistent with their ideals. Don't we need someone like that in Washington?

Bill Lacy's Statement:

Tonight’s results in Michigan make two things clear: First, the Republican campaign for President remains wide-open. Our party faithful are still looking for someone who meets all the qualifications they seek: A true consistent conservative with the experience to keep the country safe. Second, Mike Huckabee’s campaign to be John McCain’s Vice President has hit a snag. He has gone from the mid-thirties in Iowa to 11% in New Hampshire and now about 15% in Michigan.

On higher taxes and looser immigration, Huckabee has been done his best these past few weeks to mimic McCain. But this is nothing new. In fact, while John McCain was leading the Senate charge to grant amnesty for illegal immigrants, Mike Huckabee was one of the loudest cheerleaders. And at the same time McCain was voting against the Bush tax cuts, Huckabee was in Arkansas increasing taxes some 21 times.

As for Mitt Romney, he has been all over the map on virtually every issue important to conservative voters.

As the contest moves to South Carolina, look for Romney, McCain and Huckabee to face serious questions about their commitment to consistent conservative principles. Their records are in stark contrast to Fred Thompson, who remains the one true steadfast conservative in this race.

The bottom line is that tonight is a whole new ball game and tomorrow morning begins a brand new campaign where Republicans are looking for the clear conservative choice.

New Hampshire

Sports fans across the country stayed up to watch the LSU Tigers deny the Ohio State Buckeyes the national title (OSU also made it to the Championship game last year only to lose to Florida). While a large number of us were debating the BCS system and LSU's two losses this season... the political machine in New Hampshire was entering its fourth quarter. At midnight the first votes were cast, and this very important and historic primary officially began.

There are many assumptions of how today is going to turn out, but a couple things seem clear... Obama is likely to increase his shot at the Democratic nomination, while the Republican field continues to be wide open (contrary to media portrayals).

This whole dance is interesting if a bit disturbing.

Hillary teared up yesterday as she expressed her "heartfelt" desire to protect the country with her ideas of socialism. We always knew when Bill was being fake, he'd bite that bottom lip... but Hillary is a bit more varied. Sometimes she'll act like its her lone fight against the evil Republicans, sometimes she'll change her accent to placate an audience, and now she'll feign tears to get the vote. If the nomination doesn't work out at least we know she'll fit right in with her actor friends in Hollywood.

Watching Hillary doesn't stop being amusing there. She apparently lost her mantle as the heir-apparent, at least with the media who have been comparing Barack Obama with John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (insert audio track: I knew Jack Kennedy, Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine, You Sir are no Jack Kennedy) The Clinton Campaign hasn't taken that lightly and has began attacking against the crowning of OBama by the media and these larger than life comparisons.

Hillary watching isn't the only thing that is a bit interesting and unsettling as of late. Just consider the coverage of the GOP field. The media (Fox News included) seem to act like the race is almost over yet by every poll the only thing certain is that the field is wide open. Fred Thompson had a better showing than anticipated in Iowa yet he is completely dismissed. He also had delegates in Wyoming which some of the "front runners" did not... but where is the coverage of that? Huckabee is still high in almost every poll, yet his winning of the Iowa Caucus is treated as more of a fluke than a victory. Romney is fighting for his life... the media seem to get this right... but considering how no one has swooped in to take clear front-runner status... I don't believe his fight is over. McCain was all but counted out a few months back and now the media is trying to give the crown back to him. And Giuliani, virtually invisible as of late, is promising a strong showing in Florida and other Super-Tuesday states. Ladies and Gentlemen, the field is WIDE OPEN, don't let the media dictate otherwise. Polls, pundants, and the resulting groupthink should not dictate who the GOP nominee is. Policies, character and results should.

Ahhh... it should be an interesting day... this thing is only just beginning.

Thoughts on the Top 5

I've been struggling as of late with just who to support. It is a blessing to have such strong Republican prospects for the nomination... but with such an important election ahead (aren't they all), it is imperative that the decision of who to support isn't taken lightly. If the choice of the other side it Hillary or Obama, I will certainly vote for the Republican nominee, even if I have to hold my nose doing so. But the hope is that I don't have to hold my nose to do it... I'd like to hold my head up high and vote for someone whom I truly believe in. Thus, the decision of whom to support is still largely undecided... and time is running out.

Every time I lean towards Fred Thompson, I come up wanting more. I really, really like Thompson's message and thoughtfulness. We need someone who thinks and isn't just offering humorous quips or vicious one-liners. We need to get away from this entitlement society and strong, overbearing government. Our national government should protect our lives and liberty, but do little else. As much as Fred fits that bill, media reports keep pushing the thought the people are less than inspired after hearing Senator Thompson speak. Fred is right in all that he says... this is a crucial point in our history. In order to overcome this desperate hour, we need someone who is going to inspire us to continued greatness. That is where I fear Thompson falls short.

The obvious choice to fill the inspiration void should be Governor Huckabee. Every time I hear Huckabee I become a little more invigorated and energized. I like how the Governor explains most things and we agree on quite a bit. But every once in a while there is a glimpse of a man who might be disconnected from conservatism. Increased government regulation that prohibits customer choice of mortgage products is not conservative. And let's not even discuss the Governor's somewhat mythical ideas on illegal immigration... he doesn't seem to walk a fine line, but rather jump from one side to the other. That's fine... these are tough issues that require thought and deliberation... but they are also very important issues and I need to know we have some agreement, at least in principal. I think I know where Governor Huckabee is coming from when we disagree.

For me, after these two, there is everyone else. Giulini, McCain, Romney.

I was surprised to see Pat Robertson endorse Giuliani yesterday. I like the Mayor... but on social issues, gun rights, immigration, and so much else... we just don't see eye to eye, and that sentiment is certainly shared by many Conservatives and Christians alike. But does a Pat Robertson endorsement in 2007 really mean that much? Like the late Reverend Falwell, Pat Robertson isn't always treated fairly or honestly by the mainstream media, nor is he the Protestant version of the Pope as some leftists would have you believe. And just because Robertson picks the Mayor doesn't mean all of the other candidates' religious support will fade away. But if security and a nation in crisis is really the focus of the electorate, I wonder if Rudy isn't an appropriate choice?

John McCain is a hero. John McCain is a patriot. John McCain is someone who I would love to see as Vice President or more appropriately Secretary of Defense or State. But as much as I respect him, I don't want him to be President. He has certainly had his trouble with Conservatives and Christians in the past, and still seems to think Conservative Christians are just some far-right group whose support he begrudgingly needs comparable to MoveOn.org for the left. As far as I'm concerned, that's only a few steps away from Rosie O'Donnell comparing Christians to terrorists... and its miles away from the truth. Yes you need the Conservative Christian support to wage a successful Republican bid for the Presidency... but these are the same voices who this country was founded on... I don't think having their support is a necessary evil... its an honor.

Then there's Romney. I was absolutely enraged when the man who campaigned in Massachusetts by distancing himself from Republicans and Reagan decided to invoke his name and legacy so many times during last month's debate. While far from John Kerry, the Bush 2004 campaign showed how to successfully run against a flip-flopper... do we really need to hand the Democrats the winning strategy in 2008?