Rudolf Giuliani can only win the Republican nomination if social conservative leaders remain divided and enough other candidates stay in the contest. He wins a plurality in polling among 8 candidates, but he will never win a majority among 2 or 3. Giuliani wants…Giuliani needs to have a lot of other candidates in the race. He relies on a profile of media celebrity and division of the great part of the vote that is not his. Plainly, social conservatives don’t want Giuliani to be the nominee. And, I am one that you can count on not to participate in The Republican Party’s abandonment of
Mitt Romney has invested a considerable fortune into the campaign already, and he will invest more, more quickly even than he will tack on his issues positions, including a fierce attack on anyone other than himself whom social conservatives unite behind. So, if they unite behind someone else, they’d better be certain that person has enough money to defend himself against those inevitable attacks. I don’t believe social conservatives want to see a Romney nomination, either.
Fred Thompson is a lawyer and a lobbyist. He is not a dim man. But, he is not in possession of a clear blueprint of what is moral and proper for American government. If he lacks passion it’s because he lacks the clarity of conviction to drive assert it. He is unpredictable because he has no clear philosophy. Like McCain, he was a big booster for the so-called “campaign finance reform that has made a hash of The Republican campaign, today. Thompson and McCain meant well. They just didn’t have a clear picture of what had to be defended. Thompson and Romney are the vague conservatives that are embraced not out of conviction and passion, but out of a spirit of fear.
2 Timothy 1:7 (New King James Version)
7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
John McCain is out of money and in the wilderness in
I’ll mention Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo. They are good men who haven’t a broad enough focus or an appealing enough style. Sam Brownback finally ended his campaign. They will, too and, for the sake of essential American principle and the integrity of The Republican nominee, the sooner, the better.
Ron Paul isn’t going anywhere and neither is his 5-10% of followers…forward or backward.
Mike Huckabee is closing on Mitt Romney in
4 comments:
Thompson might have a lot of problems, but a lack of conviction is not one of them. I admire the guy because he is willing to take a stand. I might not vote for him, but I admire his respect for the basic principles of conservatism, as written by Barry Goldwater in Conscience of a Conservative.
I don't know who I'm going to vote for, but Huckabee has to be consistent in his views. Thompson, Giuliani, and McCain all have a basic set of principles that guide them, based on their philosophy of conservatism.
I might back Huckabee, but he has to show me that he's more than just a preacher. When he was governor of my state, he was all over the place. Socially conservative, but fiscally moderate. That combination adds up to disaster... another Bush.
An excellent column for "A Stranger in a Foreign Land." Being an American in America, I look at things a little differently. Huckabee is atuned to "the legitimate concerns" of many/most/some Americans. Gee, Larry, who decides which concerns are "legitimate" and which aren't? I hope it isn't your spiritual mentor Dr. Larry White, who despises America and compares it to the Third Reich. I don't imagine Mike Huckabee will be putting Dr. White and his disgusting message to the forefront. The problem with the evangelical vote is that is that 30% of it goes to the Democrats (probably dismissed by some as not "legitimate" voters). Of the people who vote Republican in a national election, one-third are evangelicals are and two-thirds don't describe themselves that way. If McCain drops out -- and he runs THIRD in the poll despite predictions of his demise, most of his votes will go to Giuliani.
Overall, your description of people who disagree with you (on abortion, on immigration, and on many other things) are illegitimate shows you haven't come to terms -- after many years here -- with the country you inhabit.
The Zogby Poll, which suggests that half the American likely voters (a big chunk of whom do not in fact fact) will not vote for Mrs. Clinton is in conflict with every other poll. Zogby, like the blind pig seeking an acorn, occasionally finds one but he's usually off the mark.
steve maloney
Jerry West:
First, I loved you with The Los Angeles Lakers. But, as for your comment about a consistent set of principles, I can't discern what that would be: Giuliani doesn't understand the essence of a fundamental respect for human life to the maintenence of a civil society. I like that he just says what he thinks about that instead of flopping back and forth like Romney has on so many issues. But his record doesn't subsrantiate what he saying about appointing "strict constructionists, now. And he's either saying that a "strict constructionist doesn't recognize the fundamental value of the sanctityu of human life (which is just historically ridiculous) or he's saying that he'll appoint strict constructionists, even though he isn't one. Neat trick that would be...
McCain and Thompson may very well mean well. But they don't UNDERSTAND the First Amendment. How can someone protect and defend The Constitution who doesn't understand it?
I think I know whatyou're saying about Mike Huckabee, though I don't agree with it. There is a distinct diffetrence between what is legitimate and productive for state vs. federal government, and Mike Huckabee understands the 10th Amendment very well and quotes it often.
And take it from a constitutionalist who thinks that Bush is philosophically vacuous, Mike Huckabee is NO GEORGE W. BUSH!
Mephen Staloney (by the way, I misquoted McCain, reversing his, "I'd rather lose a campaign than a war), you have a strange mind, so that once a switch gets thrown, there's no switching it back. I have told you that I know and respect Larry White, but he's never been a personal (he COULD be...he's not) friend or anything like a mentor. Frankly, I'm disappointed that you think I'm unable to think for myself. I've trafficked in theology, politics, and philosophy, I know plenty of people and I've read a lot of thinkers. And, I have no mentor or, to paraphrase the American founders, "I have no mentor but Jesus!"
PoliticaLly, I'm an island. I'm not aware of a single person who says exactly what I'm thinking.
McCain has some magic up his sleeve if he's going to get out of single digits in Iowa, and if he doesn't win New Hampshire or have a strong 2nd, he's toast. I think he'll be joining Giuliani beforehand in discounting the importance of the Iowa Caucuses. As things are trending, Thompson may be doing that, too.
I'm only a hair away from predicting an Iowa Caucus win for Huckabee. I am restrained by a certainty that, seeing him in coming, Romney will attack him fiercely. Huckabee's raising money faster, these days, but we have to find a way to get him BIG BUCKS to defend himself from the strafing that Romney will lay on him.
For once, you're relatively on target: I have blamed the Christian community for not lining up to support women with crisis pregnancies. I said that Christians who are not prepared to put their persons and resources on the line to help in the situation, should just shut up.
But yes, I have not come to terms with a society that is in any way passive about the social abandonment of the integrity and love-worthiness of ANY human life in ANY condition, nor have I any intention to "come to terms" with that. Why don't you tell me what behavior/disposition that YOU have no intention of "coming to terms" with?
Anyway, feeling like that, your awkward smears about "hate" and "intolerance" (of people) make a burr in the saddle seem like a kiss on the behind.
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