Remember The Common Goal: Beat Obama

I had the pleasure of getting together with good friends today and, of course, we discussed politics. One of my good friends is a self-proclaimed constitutionalist and ardent Ron Paul supporter. As we chatted, it became evident we had a lot in common: love of country, gratitude of freedom, belief in the inspired nature of the Constitution, desire for war to cease, and so on.

Now, my friend and I disagree on a few things as well. He thinks Ron Paul is the best man for the job and Paul's foreign policy stance makes me nervous. I want a president who will be an ardent supporter of pro-life and marriage principles as well as the know how to reverse this economy.

In the end, though, we agree that we cannot have another 4 years with Obama in office. Not only that, but the man or woman elected to office needs to promote conservative values. So, my dear friend, Darrin, we might not agree on who is the man (or woman) for the job, but I think what we do agree on is much greater.

Who's Looking Good In Iowa

The candidates are hitting it hard in Iowa with the caucus being just a few days away. Rick Santorum has made the most news, coming from behind the pack and rubbing elbows with Iowan residents. He traded his jacket for a sweater vest, is eating hot wings, and looking more and more like a common man. Newt Gingrich got a little emotional when discussing his mom and her mental health but has taken a hit in the polls over the past few weeks. Whether it's due to negative ads or voters just getting more and more interested in other candidates, Gingrich's popularity is falling. Romney has pulled no punches bringing in his family for the final stretch. His numbers have held and even increased as people are seeing a more human side of a candidate that has been mocked for his stiffness.

The big news over the past week has been Michele Bachmann losing her state chairman for Ron Paul, who appears to be gaining ground as well. At this point, Bachmann will barely cross the finish line on Tuesday and at that point will have to make some tough choices. It's been an interesting process. Check back on Tuesday for an analysis of the caucus!

Mitt Romney's Fiscal Plan

From Mitt Romney's Facebook page:

"Mitt Romney

My test is — is a program so critical that it’s worth borrowing money from China to pay for it?"

LOVE IT!! That's a test the Repub candidates would ask and Obama never even considers.

Kelly Clarkson Attacked For Supporting Ron Paul

Kelly Clarkson gets flack for supporting Ron Paul but why exactly is this news? I am not surprised that Kelly Clarkson supports Ron Paul...she is more conservative and a country girl at heart. But anytime a Hollywood-type person shows their conservative colors, they are attacked. So while I am not a Ron Paul supporter myself, I am proud of Kelly Clarkson for putting her conservative views out there.

Iowa and Ron Paul: Decision Time

Ron Paul supporters in Iowa have an interesting opportunity this Tuesday. Ron Paul has had enormous support with an enthusiastic group of followers, but we are approaching a point where the rubber meets the road, so to speak. I am very interested to see if Ron Paul actually receives the votes to support the polls. These are the possibilities as I see them:

- Ron Paul comes in 2nd, as the polls suggest.

- We see that the polls were inflated and the voter turnout isn't as high.

- Voters decide Ron Paul cannot win and vote for someone else

From a purely psychological perspective, I am incredibly interested what happens in Iowa this Tuesday.

Gingrich Says He Won't Support Ron Paul

"(CNN) - Newt Gingrich said Tuesday he wouldn't vote for Ron Paul if the Texas congressman won the 2012 GOP nomination.Speaking to CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Gingrich slammed Paul as out of line with mainstream Republican viewpoints, including his stance on Israel, Iran, and September 11."I think Ron Paul's views are totally outside the mainstream of virtually every decent American," Gingrich said on CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer."Gingrich continued: "He's got to come up with some very straight answers to get somebody to take him seriously. Would I be willing to listen to him? Sure. I think the choice of Ron Paul or Barack Obama would be a very bad choice for America."When asked if he would be able to vote for Paul if his rival won the 2012 GOP nomination, Gingrich said unequivocally "No.""I think it's very difficult to see how you would engage in dealing with Ron Paul as a nominee," Gingrich said. "Given the newsletters, which he has not yet disowned. He would have to go a long way to explain himself and I think it would be very difficult to see today, Ron Paul as the Republican nominee."" (Click for source.)

I think we are seeing Gingrich's gloves coming off.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!! What a wonderful opportunity to remember the eternal Hope, our Savior Jesus Christ. So take today to step back and remember the reason for the season. Smile. Uplift and serve others. And have a merry Christmas!

To watch free videos on the life of Christ, click here.

Bachmann, Huntsman and Santorum Will Not Appear On Virginia Ballot

I think this means it is time for these 3 to drop out.  I am a huge fan of Santorum, I like Bachmann (can't stand Huntsman), but if you don't have the ground strength to apply before a deadline, you don't have a healthy enough campaign to go all the way.  Admittedly, Virginia's got tougher rules than other states requiring over 10k signatures with at least 400 from each of the Congressional districts.  Still, this is a race for President, so you have to have a structure in each state:

Three Republican presidential contenders will not be appearing on Virginia's primary ballot, after missing today's 5 p.m. petition-filing deadline, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports.

Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum all missed the deadline and will not be in the running on March 6 for the commonwealth's 50 delegates.

Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and Rep. Ron Paul will all be appearing on the ballot.

Virginia is one of only a handful of states to have nonpartisan voter registration, meaning anyone—including those who support President Obama—is welcome to vote in the state's Republican primary.

Occupy Protesters Put Police In Danger

I have started many intros to this story and nothing seems to describe the anger, frustration, and disgust I feel for the actions described in this article.

"Computer hackers are avenging the Occupy movement by exposing the personal information of police officers who evicted protesters and threatening family-values advocates who led a boycott of an American Muslim television show."

There are brave men and women who make daily sacrifices for the citizens of this country. Police officers protect and serve us, often against very dangerous people, and releasing their information puts the officers, their spouses, parents, siblings, and children at risk. 

Ron Paul and His Supporters Cannot Take Criticism

Given the debate on Thursday and Ron Paul's performance, I decided to be honest about my point of view that Ron Paul really cannot be the nominee and in fact has some large liabilities. I posted this in an article on Examiner.com. I first pointed out some primary strengths, namely his desire to significantly shrink the size of the federal government and his unyielding support of civil liberties.  But then I also pointed out what I see as large concerns to any consideration of his nomination.  I did not mince words.  His foreign policy positions are naive and dangerous.  His demeanor is not presidential.  He often comes across as whiny and says things in a way that make me wince at the idea of him sitting down with world leaders (imagine him talking to Putin).  And, I pointed out that many of his followers are ill-mannered often terribly behaved.  I admittedly did not mince words on this point:

"One way to know the measure of a politician is to look at his supporters.  While I believe that there are good, thoughtful people in this country who support Paul, there are also many who act like every event is the Super Bowl and their team is losing, so they have to react by yelling, booing, screaming, and calling people names.  As I have been to multiple events where Paul has spoken, I have yet to attend one where the Paul supporters behave like adults. And their behavior online is no better as they berate anyone who dares to question the positions of their beloved leader.   They seem to have the same kind of toddler temperament that Paul himself sometimes has. 

If I knew nothing else about Paul or his views, the behavior of his supporters would be sufficient for me to have very major concerns about this man who would be president."

And, the Ron Paul supporters did not disappoint.  As of right now, there have been 20 responses to the article, all but 1 by angry Paul supporters.  In these comments, I was called uneducated, bias, immature, punitive, narrow-minded, awful, mean-spirited, and a Nazi.

So, thank you Paul supporters, you proved my point exactly.

For those of you who support Ron Paul, you would do your candidate a favor to not fly off the deep end when criticized.  I know that all candidates have a strong core group that would defend them to any degree, but there is something more visceral with the responses that come from you.  You are unable to admit that your candidate has weaknesses.  It would do a lot more to bring someone like me around by admitting that there are some concerns about him, but that you still find him to be the best potential nominee and then explain why.  Instead, you are becoming a caricature of yourselves with the consistancy at which you direct anger and name-calling at anyone who disagrees with you.  And, when someone points out this behavior (which is hard not to observe), you direct all of that angry energy at the person making the observation.  This doesn't help you and it certainly doesn't promote your candidate.

Michele Bachmann Takes On Ron Paul And Wins

Michele Bachmann challenged Ron Paul on his views on Iran, stating that the IAEA (International Atomic Energy  Agency) had recently released a report stating that Iran had the potential to have a nuclear weapon in months. Ron Paul flatly denied this indicating that Bachmann had drawn this conclusion on her own. The summary from IAEA states (from their website):

K. Summary
52. While the Agency continues to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material at the nuclear
facilities and LOFs declared by Iran under its Safeguards Agreement, as Iran is not providing the
necessary cooperation, including by not implementing its Additional Protocol, the Agency is unable to
provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran, and
therefore to conclude that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities.
42
53. The Agency has serious concerns regarding possible military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear
programme. After assessing carefully and critically the extensive information available to it, the Agency
finds the information to be, overall, credible. The information indicates that Iran has carried out activities
relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device. The information also indicates that prior to the
end of 2003, these activities took place under a structured programme, and that some activities may still be
ongoing.
54. Given the concerns identified above, Iran is requested to engage  substantively with the Agency
without delay for the purpose of providing clarifications regarding possible military dimensions to Iran’s
nuclear programme as identified in the Annex to this report.
55. The Agency is working with Iran with a view to resolving the discrepancy identified during the
recent PIV at JHL.
56. The Director General urges Iran, as required in the binding resolutions of the Board of Governors and
mandatory Security Council resolutions, to take steps towards the full implementation of its Safeguards
Agreement and its other obligations, including: implementation of the provisions of its Additional
Protocol; implementation of the modified Code 3.1 of the Subsidiary Arrangements General Part to its
Safeguards Agreement; suspension of enrichment related activities; suspension of heavy water related
activities; and, as referred to above, addressing the Agency’s serious concerns about possible military
dimensions to Iran’s nuclear programme, in order to establish international confidence in the exclusively
peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme.
57. The Director General will continue to report as appropriate.

While it does not state that a nuclear weapon will be developed in months, it does appear to indicate that Iran:
- has the materials and knowledge to develop a nuclear weapon
- is not abiding by the safeguards
- is being guarded in the information it's providing.

Because of this, Iran can be an imminent threat in the near future. Rick Santorum came to a similar conclusion. Now, Ron Paul took this discussion and appeared to exaggerate his opponent's view point and put words in her mouth inferring she would attack 1.2 billion people and have 8000 soldiers give their lives. Bachmann never said that or that we must go to war. What she did say is that it was necessary to recognize the threat Iran poses, take it seriously, and not withdraw sanctions that Paul suggested.

In this debate, and this specific instance, Ron Paul showed a tactic he often takes: he exaggerates the argument of the opponent to the point of it being ridiculous and then he calls it ridiculous. Ron Paul has many strengths and should be able to stand on his views without creating a catastrophic point of view. Tonight Ron Paul stated, "I don't like the demagoguing, the distortion, and taking things out of context." Amen, Paul.

Fox News Republican Iowa Debate

What a night! This debate was one of the best thus far. Each candidate received tough questions and distinct differences between the candidates were drawn. See below for the recap:

Newt Gingrich - In past debates, Gingrich was on the side of the stage and would pipe in periodically with pithy, somewhat humorous comments and would look very laid back. This time he was center stage, took a lot of hits, and is still standing. His nerves showed a little this time around, though. All in all, strong showing.

Mitt Romney - For the first time in a debate setting, Mitt articulated changes in his opinions and the strategy behind the his choices in the past. He should have done this months ago. Romney took it up a notch this debate. Solid answer on his view of marriage being between and man and a woman.

Ron Paul - Proved once again why he is not electable. He gets fired up, yells, and seemingly blew questions out of proportion to support his more extreme views. His argument with Bachmann made Bachmann look strong. He also has a way of laughing as he insults others, which makes him look bad. Ron Paul would be a good advisor to have on hand but he is not the next POTUS. While his supporters are touting he was the winner of this debate, he did not answer the questions he was given and he illustrated once again that he will not be able to win against Obama.  

Michele Bachmann - Bachmann went in fighting tonight. Not only did she go after Obama but she went toe to toe with Gingrich and Paul as well. She still shows flaws in not providing documentation for her opinions, but she is getting more and more solid each debate.

Rick Santorum - Santorum did a fantastic job of solidly stating his beliefs and being willing to disagree with other candidates without appearing argumentative. I question his facts regarding Governor Romney and his actions regarding the marriage laws in Massachusetts but overall good job.

Rick Perry - Had some really good answers but was not consistent in his responses.

Jon Huntsman - Huntsman has a way of speaking that appears condescending and unrelateable. He was consistent with that tonight.

All candidates did a better job of recognizing each other's strengths and giving credit when due. They are having to walk a difficult tightrope of gaining support while not dividing the party in a critical race and they did a good job of that this time around.

The loser of this debate was Obama. The candidates clearly illustrated his inability to lead as well and reminded us that any one of them would be better than Obama.

Obama's Socialist Agenda

Anyone who still doesn't think that Obama is socialist is extremely naive.  His speech a couple of days ago in Osawatomie, Kansas was the most clear articulation of his socialist agenda that he's given so far.  There is so much in this speech to react to, but here is a section that is especially misguided:

For the first time in history, the reform we passed puts in place a consumer watchdog who is charged with protecting everyday Americans from being taken advantage of by mortgage lenders, payday lenders or debt collectors. The man we nominated for the post, Richard Cordray, is a former Attorney General of Ohio who has the support of most Attorneys General, both Democrat and Republican, throughout the country.

But the Republicans in the Senate refuse to let him do his job. Why? Does anyone here think the problem that led to our financial crisis was too much oversight of mortgage lenders or debt collectors? Of course not. Every day we go without a consumer watchdog in place is another day when a student, or a senior citizen, or member of our Armed Forces could be tricked into a loan they can’t afford – something that happens all the time. 

So, Democrats spent years and years pushing mortgage companies to allow more people to buy homes in the name of fairness (insert Barney Frank) and then when these sub-prime mortgages could not be paid and the bubble burst, it was because people were tricked into buying homes?  Seriously? 

Obama lists the people who are tricked - student, senior citizen, or member of our Armed Forces.  Boy, that's a bad  commentary on our Armed Forces.  Does he think that Americans are idiots?  Yes, some people buy more than they can afford, but that is not because they are tricked, its because they are irresponsible.  And, if they default on their mortgage and get kicked out of their home, that's fair.  That's the consequence of taking out a large loan.  That teaches us to not buy homes we can't afford.  I understand bad luck happens to people and that is unfortunate, but if we take away consequence than we take away responsibility.  If you have a home, build up a savings for hard times.  If can't afford to do that, then don't buy the home yet.

Obama lives in a world where the more the government does, the better.  He has the audacity to say that America is the best economy in the world and scold the people who made it that way at the same time.  

How Tough Will Romney Get With Gingrich?

This should be fun to watch.  Gingrich, who has not always held opinions as conservative as the ones that he is expressing this election cycle, is still coming in to the right of Romney, at least recently.  So, as Romney is eyeing Gingrich's front-runner status, I wonder what angle he will take to discredit Gingrich.  It is true that given Gingrich's long history in politics, he has plenty of baggage, but Romney's positions are not exactly pristine conservative either.

From Yahoo.com:

 Mitt Romney's above-the-fray campaign style kept him atop the Republican presidential field for months, but it's raising concerns among his supporters now that Newt Gingrich has surged to challenge him.

Some Romney backers say their candidate must mix it up more aggressively, with Gingrich and with reporters, to prove he has the moxie to be the GOP challenger to President Barack Obama. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, particularly caused concerns with his prickly responses in a recent Fox News interview. He needs to show more toughness and willingness to field questions, party insiders say.

Romney has been getting a little more annoyed in recent days.  He has every right to be, he's been answering the same questions for years now.  But, thus is the game, so he needs to put his game face on and get through these interviews.

One of the primary factors for many of the GOP is who can go toe-to-toe against Obama.  At this point, Gingrich is proving himself to be superior in this area.  He has been attacking Obama every chance he gets.  And, his pursuing these Lincoln-Douglas type debates (which I thought was silly when I first heard of it) is proving to be a great way to help preview to everyone that he has the skills sit down with Obama and have such a debate.  In fact, many of us salivate getting to watch that interchange.

Romney does need to step it up and show that he's got the fire to bring down Obama.  I don't believe that running a negative campaign against Gingrich's positive (to his GOP rivals anyway) campaign is the best strategy, per se.  But, given Romney's history of negative ads against rivals, he will obviously go this way.

So, let's see it, Romney.  Right now his biggest problem isn't just that Gingrich is the front-runner, it is that so many people see Gingrich as a conservative that can win.  Romney keeps trying to present himself as such, but few believe him.

Is Romney Really A Flip-Flopper?

I have been critical of Romney's inconsistencies this election cycle vs. years past.  However, any real concern for this is, of course, blown out of proportion by his critics.  The DNC recently started running an ad about Romney which lambastes him as a flip-flopper.

See it here:



The problem is that the DNC is being very dishonest in this portrayal.  The Washington Post did a review of all the issues brought up in the ad and did a pretty good job of analyzing Romney's past positions.  Considering the left-leaning nature of the Washington Post, this was a very fair assessment.  Read the article here.  Basically, a few of the allegations are fair, but most are not.  For those really interested in understanding the whole truth about our potential nominee, this is a must-read article.