Cross Vermont, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island off my list.
Now I just need to find my way to Alaska, Louisiana, Maine, New Mexico, and Washington.
I visited Nevada last weekend, so that leaves me only eight more states to go before I’ve been to them all:
States remaining: Alaska, Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington.
Posted in Personal | No Comments »
As of Saturday, Bob Barr is now the official Libertarian party nominee for President of the United States. Some conservatives, dissatisfied with John McCain as the GOP’s standard bearer, seem to think that here is a candidate ripe to receive the protest votes of thousands of movement conservatives dissatisfied with the direction that McCain is taking our party.
I wasn’t shocked that the libertarian party picked Barr - they are desperate for a candidate who more than a tiny fraction of the country has actually heard of. He’s a compelling speaker and will gain publicity for the party. But I’m surprised at how willing they are to ignore much of Barr’s history in doing so.
Certainly, it seems ironic that the man who was once congress’s greatest champion of the “War on Drugs” is now the leader of a fringe party devoted to opposing it. A man who rails against overspending in Washington himself voted for No Child Left Behind, which libertarians hate. A man who was one of the main movers and shakers in the impeachment trial of President Clinton, which most libertarians opposed. A man who voted for the Patriot Act, but has now spent the last five years speaking out against it.
The bottom line is that when he was in congress, Barr was a loyal Republican footsoldier, not a movement conservative or libertarian who just happened to have an R next to his name.
His criticism of big government Republicanism, and then his movement toward the libertarian party and his rejection of Republicans altogether only occurred after Republicans rejected him - tossing him out of his congressional district in a 2002 primary, and failing to support an attempted return to congress the following year.
When Bob Barr was in congress, when he had the opportunity to stand up for the principles he now claims to champion, he didn’t. He is not the principled leader he claims to be. And conservatives and libertarians alike looking to cast a protest vote should look past him.
Crossposted at TheNextRight.com
Posted in Politics | 1 Comment »
Fred Thompson has a fantastic op-ed in the Wall Street Journal today:
- Congress cannot repeal the laws of economics. There are no short-term fixes without longer term consequences.
- In a free and dynamic country with social mobility, there will be great opportunity but also economic disparity, especially if the country has liberal immigration policies and a high divorce rate.
- An education system cannot overcome the breakdown of the family, and the social fabric that surrounds children daily.
- Free markets, not an expanding and more powerful government, are the solution to today’s problems. Many of these problems, such as health-care costs, energy dependency and the subprime mortgage crisis, were caused in large part by government policies.
Posted in Politics | No Comments »
The novel Prince Caspian is probably the least exciting and least eventful of the seven books in the Chronicles of Narnia. The novel is very slow paced, and it does not include massive battles or exciting adventures into the unknown as the other books in the series do.
Right from the beginning the film seeks to change that. Rather then an extended background story on Prince Caspian, we meet him on the night he flees his uncle’s castle. Whole swaths of plot are added to the text to make more exciting journeys, heated battles, and terse exchanges.
In doing so, the film’s makers totally miss the point of the book. Each of the books in Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia explore different themes. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is about the grand struggle between good and evil. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is about the limits of human understanding of the world, and our desire to test them. The Horse and His Boy is about fate, destiny, and the idea that there is a higher power watching over our lives.
Prince Caspian is a book about faith, and a book about doubt. The bulk of the story is the four children traveling through Narnia after being pulled back into the world a thousand years after they left it. They struggle to understand how Aslan has let everything happen, and they fail to follow the path he has laid for them in returning. A point in which Lucy sees Aslan but is convinced by the others to walk away from him and down a different path is crucial. This scene is shown in the film, but not given the significance that it has in the novel.
Caspian doubts too. He and his followers blow the horn seeking aide, but when the aide fails to come, he and his followers doubt the horn’s power, or the existence of Aslan.
The pivotal scene when the modern characters finally meet Caspian involves his doubt, and the attempt of some of his followers to tempt him into looking for help from another power, the White Witch. But the Witch is never shown, her followers never call her back. They merely tempt Caspian with it, and the hag, werewolf, and dark dwarf are all quickly killed.
The film addresses this theme somewhat, but bungles the message by focusing too much on adding action and not enough on the internal struggles of the characters. Sideplots involving a possible romance between Susan and Caspian and a struggle between Caspian and Peter for who is in command distract from the main thrust of the story.
The film does some things quite well. Reepicheep the mouse was exactly as I envisioned him, and the duel between Peter and Miraz was brilliant. Trumpkin the dwarf was fairly well done, but his own quite strident lack of faith in Aslan was only touched on briefly.
Overall, the film was a disappointment. After watching the Dark of Rising last year any adaptation of a good children’s fantasy will seem good, but compared to the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian fell short.
Posted in Personal | No Comments »
These days, following the conclusion of the Thompson campaign, I now work in political polling. I look at numbers all day. And one thing I can say is that while the GOP brand is in terrible shape, John McCain is in a good position. Voters like and respect him, and he’s a very strong candidate for us in a tough year.
But McCain is still the Republican nominee, and for him to win, he’s going to have to succeed in changing the way that Americans look at the Republican party. Right now, most Independent voters still view the GOP as the party that lost the 2006 elections, and associate Republicans with corruption, deficits, out-of-control earmarks, and a still-unpopular war.
On the war, McCain has been stellar. Without his vocal support, the surge may never have happened. And the courage he has shown by unequivocally tying his campaign to a turnaround in Iraq has been amazing to watch, as its such a rarity in modern presidential politics.
McCain has the narrative he needs on the war. He fought Bush and Rumsfeld on their pre-2007 strategy, succeeded in pushing the surge, and now we’ve seen success follow. Polls show that Americans are starting to come around, and it will be much harder for Barack Obama (who will almost certainly be the Democratic nominee) to argue that the war has been a failure this fall then it was in October of 2006.
On domestic issues, however, McCain has problems in that while he has been one of the ‘good guys’ on earmark reform and spending cuts, its hard to argue that he has put his party back on track. Corruption scandals are still dragging down the GOP, as members of Congress continue to be investigated and indicted. People still see the GOP as the party that came to Washington in 1994 saying they were going to enact reforms and then not following through.
McCain’s general election strategy must include a plan to succeed in re-branding the GOP as the party of reform, and by demonstrating his independence from the Bush administration on both domestic issues and the war.
The first way to accomplish this is with his vice presidential pick. Dozens of names of potential candidates have been floated in recent weeks. But very few of the contenders will assist McCain in remaking the GOP brand as a thoughtful, conservative, and reform-minded party.
Early thoughts that he might pick Mike Huckabee to solidify social conservatives seem to have fizzled. McCain’s strong numbers among conservatives seem to indicate that he doesn’t need to select a running mate to “solidify the base” as was initially believed. The general consensus among most conservatives seems to be that we are fortunate to have McCain as our nominee since 1) he’s continued to run as moderately conservative since winning the nomination and 2) he actually has a shot at winning. But while McCain doesn’t necessarily need to choose someone very conservative, he certainly shouldn’t choose anyone more politically liberal than himself.
Of some of the top contenders, Mitt Romney brings almost nothing to the ticket besides his business experience, and his constant switching of positions and scorched earth primary tactics has left many with a bad taste. Adding Condoleezza Rice would tie McCain very closely to the Bush administration. Charlie Crist is fairly liberal, and has only been Governor for a year.
Activists pushing young, reform-minded Governors such as Bobby Jindal and Sarah Palin are on the right track. Both present challenges to the image of Republicans as corrupt Washington insiders. But neither has been in office very long, and both have much work left to do in rooting out corruption in their home states before seeking higher office.
Other suggestions have been truly awful. Its hard to imagine a choice worse than Christie Todd Whitman, who has made her name since stepping down as EPA Administrator in attacking other Republicans at every opportunity. Yet her name been floated. Tom Ridge has been less vocal in his opposition to most core Republican principles, yet his voting record in congress and performance as Governor was very far to the left of the vast majority of the GOP, including McCain.
Of course, its easy to point out flaws in those being mentioned. And there is no perfect candidate. The best candidates mentioned so far, in my opinion, are Frank Keating, Mike Pence, Marsha Blackburn, and John Kasich. But there are certainly others who would add strength to the ticket, possibly some whose names aren’t even being seriously discussed.
McCain has months to make his choice, and then introduce (or reintroduce) that individual to the public.
And then the Democratic convention will come, and the dynamics of the race will change. The fractured party will reunite, voters will remember that despite their respect for John McCain, they would, following eight years of Republican rule, prefer a Democrat to succeed Bush.
This will be difficult to overcome. Fortunately, the Republican convention is later than the Democrats - not until September, only nine weeks before the election. There, McCain will formally accept the Republican nomination, and will have his greatest opportunity to show voters that the Republican party of 2008 is not the party they’ve grown to dislike over the last several years.
Some will likely argue that this should be accomplished by emphasizing the party’s “moderate” members. This was the case made by many about the 2004 convention, in which there wasn’t a conservative to be found among the convention’s major speakers, and the narrative that the speakers “didn’t accurately represent the party” dominated cable news each night of the convention.
But looking more closely, there was a broader message underpinning the entire 2004 convention. And it was simple: you can disagree with the Republicans on every other issue, but we’re right on foreign policy, the Democrats are wrong, and thus you need to vote to reelect the President.
2008 will be different in that with the exception of McCain himself, few Republicans have any credibility on the war. Convention organizers should let McCain make the case for success in Iraq in his acceptance speech, and let the rest of the convention emphasize a different message: that Republicans have regained their old mantle as the party of reform.
There will be pressure, certainly, to give prime time speeches to McCain’s vanquished rivals for the GOP nomination. But neither Mitt Romney nor Mike Huckabee have a vested interest in McCain winning the presidency, as both are already angling for a run in 2012. Ron Paul should be kept as far away from the convention as possible. Fred Thompson should have a role at the convention, but not as a major speaker.
Instead, the major speeches should be delivered by the major agents of reform within the GOP: Bobby Jindal, Jeff Flake, Sarah Palin, Mike Pence. Governors and congressmen not tied to Republican scandals. Reformers who have credibility that the Republican party needs. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Tim Pawlenty should also be given primetime speeches, as the convention will be in Pawlenty’s home state, and McCain has signaled he will make a major push for California.
With this lineup, by the time McCain takes the stage the final night, voters will have heard Republican voices speak with real gravitas about change and reform. He will have shown that John McCain’s Republican party in 2008 is a “big tent” for moderates and conservatives alike, but what unites us is that we are now back on track in our pursuit of cleaner, smaller, and more efficient government.
I believe if McCain can use his VP selection and the convention to drive that message home, he will be the next President of the United States, and could even help Republicans win a number of very tough races downticket throughout the country.
Posted in Politics | 2 Comments »
I have wanted very badly to write something about William F. Buckley since he died just over a month ago. At some point, I will. But in the mean time, I should note that I was deeply moved by this essay by WFB’s son Christopher.
Posted in Personal | No Comments »
In the last week, after Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani fell in the early primaries, the conservative blogosphere has been in an uproar over John McCain as the probable GOP presidential nominee. Conservatives have been pushed to unite behind a candidate in order to defeat him. Claims that conservatives will “stay home” for the general election with McCain as the nominee have been rampant.
Now, I have serious misgivings about him as the Republican nominee, as do many conservatives. But we could do far worse. And as far as the conservative blogosphere getting involved en masse behind one candidate, its too little, too late. History will record that in this primary election conservatives failed to rally around the candidate that best represented their values, in favor of others who were flashier or more willing to play the media game that our nominating process has become.
Senator Fred Thompson is not perfect, but he ran the campaign that conservatives claimed they wanted. A campaign based around conservative core principles, limited government, returning our party to the ideals of 1994. And for whatever reason, voters rejected it.
And now I hear griping from various corners of the blogosphere about John McCain as our probable nominee. Complaints that our party will be demoralized with him at the helm, that conservatives will stay home, that we will continue to stray further from our principles.
They may be right, and they may be wrong. But more to the point: a lot of those doing the griping were the same people who spent the last year playing armchair quarterback on presidential campaign strategy, particularly with regards to the Thompson campaign. Our campaign had many flaws to be sure, but its loss of momentum and eventual demise was certainly aided by the constant harping on its management and strategy by right-of-center bloggers.
For a normal campaign, this might not have had a major impact. But for the Fred Thompson campaign, which was jump started largely by conservative bloggers’ early praise of his potential candidacy, it did serious damage. His campaign was launched with the unspoken promise that conservative bloggers would rally around it, and instead they began tearing him apart on the web from the moment he announced.
Conservatives wonder why our side of the blogosphere has so little success influencing elections when compared to the massive fundraising and organizational power of the lefty-netroots. The reason is this. Their side is full of activists, ours full of pundits. We had an opportunity to use our influence to push a great conservative candidate toward the nomination. And we blew it.
So for everyone complaining about McCain as the nominee, go back and check your blog archives and see how many posts you wrote about how the Thompson campaign was failing to live up to expectations, or how its fundraising numbers were too low or its media strategy unsound. And hopefully you’ll learn a lesson for the next time around.
With Senator Fred Thompson out of the presidential race, I prefer John McCain among the remaining Republican candidates. While I think he’s wrong on a whole host of issues, Senator McCain’s leadership on the Iraq war has been the type of steadfast courage that this country needs in a president. Also, from having worked against each of the Republican presidential campaigns, McCain’s has been the most ethical among them.
However, when I filled out my absentee ballot earlier this week, I voted for Fred and all his delegates. I chose my candidate, and I worked my heart out for him. And in November, if McCain is the nominee I’ll vote for him. But when I do I’ll be more than a bit sad thinking about what might have been. And hopefully, we’ll all have learned from our mistake when it next comes time to choose a President.
Posted in Blogosphere, Politics | No Comments »
