Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Polipundit and the sins of John McCain

PoliPundit.com published the top 8 sins of J0hn McCain and I thought they are worth reproducing here:

Lest we Forget

1. They say God put Republicans on earth to cut taxes. But John McCain was one of only two Republicans to vote against the Bush tax cuts.

2. McCain was the biggest supporter, and co-sponsor, of McCain-Feingold, the greatest assault on free speech in at least three decades.

3. McCain backs all kinds of anti-gun legislation.

4. McCain attempted to give terrorists at Gitmo various “rights.”

5. McCain supports various intrusive government regulations to stop “global warming.”

6. McCain insulted various Christian leaders during the 2000 campaign.

7. McCain called the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth “dishonest and dishonorable” because they dared question what John Kerry had done in Vietnam.

8. McCain championed, sponsored, and repeatedly attempted to ram through a bill to amnesty 20 million illegal aliens, and import tens of millions of poor, low-skilled, under-educated, non-English-speaking Third Worlders.

If Mitt Romney is a “full-spectrum conservative,” McCain is a full-spectrum anti-conservative.

If McCain is selected as the Republican party’s nominee, I will not be able to vote for him, any more than I could vote for Hillary Clinton. I will leave my vote blank at the top of the ticket, or find a third party candidate to support.

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Who is John McCain?

This is John McCain's description of himself from his website:

John McCain is an experienced conservative leader in the tradition of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Ronald Reagan. He is a common sense conservative who believes in a strong national defense, a smaller, more accountable government, economic growth and opportunity, the dignity of life and traditional values.

Boy, that sure sounds good. It's not really true, but let's not let facts get in the way of a good politician. What is a "common sense conservative" -- is this like the issue of Bush's "compassionate conservatism"? Isn't conservatism by its very nature compassionate? Why do we need to define it like that? Isn't conservatism by its very nature common sense? (well, common sense among thinking people).

Anyway, things I CAN like about McCain:

  • He seems to have been consistently pro-life, from what I understand.
  • He thinks tax cuts should be paired with spending cuts.
  • He gets the backing of people who think protecting our country from Islamic fascists is their top priority.

What I CAN'T like:

  • Proud of teaming with Kennedy.
  • Proud of teaming with Feingold (to ROB us of free speech rights).
  • He slammed us Christian conservatives and makes no effort to reach out with an olive branch (maybe he'll make Huckabee his Veep? I kinda doubt it...I think he'll pick the Florida gov).
  • He was endorsed by the New York Times, who certainly does NOT have the best interests of the Republican party at heart.

Sigh. Whatever do we do? As a Christian and political junkie, I'm bummed. I love election years, love presidential campaigns, and just want to get jazzed about our nominee. Now I'm hearing the pundits say that McCain is likely 75% of the way toward the nominee. I am still holding out hope for Huckabee or Romney.

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State of the Race

Bemoaning...where oh where did my Republican Party go?

It really started slipping away with our own Sam Brownback endorsing John McCain. No, it started when our elected Republicans began acting like Democrats, but in the actual race for the presidency it started with Sam throwing his own personal convictions into the toilet to support a Senate colleague who brought us McCain/Feingold and McCain/Kennedy and McCain/Lierberman.

Now REAL Republicans, the conservatives in South Carolina and Florida, picked McCain too! You are getting in bed with someone who will be very disappointing to you people! I'd vote for him over Hillary...maybe. My big issue is the Supreme Court, and McCain is too enthralled with pleasing the media and his liberal friends to nominate anyone who will keep the Constitution intact.

With McCain at the top of our ticket, that's when us true-blue conservatives are going to have to make a choice between some third party candidate, holding our nose to vote for McCain (which won't gain us much in the way of court nominees and personal liberties), or letting the Dems have it so they can wreck their havoc for a couple years and we'll be positioned for a come-back in 2 years with Congress.

Do Republicans not remember 1996 when we nominated a cranky old moderate Republican war veteran to go up against a Clinton? Hmmm...what was his name? Oh yeah! Bob Dole!

They think McCain is the only one who can beat Hillary? You're so afraid of Hillary that you will dump your own conservative passions and nominate McCain? Didn't the Dems do that last time with Kerry? They thought HE was Mr. Electable, but there wasn't a great deal of passion on the part of the base...the passion was with Howard Dean.

If you choose McCain, who will not engender any passion on the part of the base, we're doomed...even if he wins. There's no way to win with McCain at the top of the ticket. If he loses, we lose. If he wins, he'll wreck the Republican party even more and we'll lose big...perhaps permanently.

Get serious people!

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On Thursday, Phillip Cosby of National Coalition for the Protection of Families has a lunch meeting in Topeka with about ten Kansas House and Senate legislators to discuss bills and strategies on how to better help parents and protect our communities from the damaging effects of the highly sexualized messages of the culture. Romans Chapter 13: 1-7 outlines that public safety is “job one” for civil authorities. Pray for Phillip to have a fruitful meeting with these courageous legislators.

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Monday, January 28, 2008

Democrats feel "relevant"

The Democrats say they are feeling "relevant" this year. When I read that headline, I thought they must have had some heavy hitters come to town, or at least have plans to perhaps see the candidates themselves show up in the state! Considering how Kansas normally gets completely ignored by the candidates (unless they happen to be Kansans like Bob Dole or Sam Brownback), that would be a real coup!

Here are the list of heavy hitters who were pimping for their candidates at the Democrat bean feed (I'll bite my tongue on that one):

For Obama: Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn.
For Clinton: Carmen Alldritt, director of vehicles for the Kansas Department of Revenue-Division of Motor Vehicles
For Edwards: Ronald McVeigh, a longtime Democrat from Olathe

Relevant indeed! Wow. They really sent in the Big Dogs!

A sidebar to the article indicated that Obama would be in Kansas for Kansas Day. They're going to have a townhall meeting before the Democrat Caucus on Feb 5.

That's better, I guess, than last time when John Edwards (then the veep candidate) came training through for a whistle stop in Lawrence in the middle of the night, but was late for a more important state so didn't stop and left his supporters standing there at the train station watching his train buzz by.

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Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Rallying for Life...and against it.

There were rallies at the statehouse yesterday...for those supporting life issues and those who are AGAINST life. Wow...how do you get out of bed and motivate yourself to go and rally FOR killing babies? How does that become your passion?

As the by-product of a rendezvous among college students in a dorm room who was subsequently adopted by a very nice family, I'm quite glad my bio-mom chose life. Sure, she could have aborted me before birth or suffocated me with a pillow immediately after--both with the same result--and I wouldn't be around to appreciate the decision she made. But as a proud former-fetus, I enjoy the life and breath that God gives me and am thankful for each day that I have been blessed to live because of the difficult decision my mother had to make.

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"In God We Trust" license plates

A legislator from Colby is pushing for an "In God We Trust" license plate for Kansans, like the ones promoting KU or KSU. With the way some people drive, it would be a good idea to be reminded in whom we place our trust!

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Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Local Meetup for Huckabee

Here is a link to the local Meetup.com group for Mike Huckabee:

http://mikehuckabee.meetup.com/322/.

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Friday, January 18, 2008

Wallbuilders' voter guide

The 2008 election campaign is reaching the pinnacle of activity in this first stage of the presidential contest. A few states have already held their primaries, but about 85 percent have yet to make their selection, and over half will do so in the next three weeks.

To help cut through the noise and the haze of the campaigns, WallBuilders has prepared a Presidential Voters' Guide that reviews seven positions held by the major candidates.

You can click here to download a copy of the Voter Guide to print for church bulletins or to distribute to your friends, family, and associates.

The next six weeks will largely determine which candidates will continue on toward November and which will go home. Make sure your voice is heard in that selection! Vote in the primary in your state! – and consider forwarding the Voters' Guide to your friends.

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Making a Demand for Huckabee and Romney to Come to Kansas!

Kevin Surbaugh, kevinsview.com, has started a viral campaign using Eventful.com to draw major presidential candidates to visit Topeka.

He says:

Don't ignore Kansas, if you want to be president. Please, come to Topeka, the owner of KevinsView.com is undecided and needs that push from a candidate that doesn't ignore the great state of Kansas.
Spread the word! If nothing else, I'd like to see if this kind of viral online campaign can work. It would otherwise take a miracle to get a serious contender for the title to grace us with their presence. But you never know in this mixed up presidential race!

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Monday, January 07, 2008

Update from National Coalition for the Protection of Families

1. Surprise! Who would have thought it?... are we dreaming?...LAWRENCE KANSAS?. No not the Orange Bowl. GREAT NEWS! Lawrence Kansas city leaders stand firm and win a city Sexually Oriented Business (SOB) zoning case and the judge says the pornography shop must move. Strange days but good stuff.

Lawrence Story: http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2007/dec/28/naughty_nice_owner_plans_stay_business/

2. That leaves Topeka / Shawnee County as the only major community in Kansas that refuses to have any SOB zoning to protect the health and safety of their citizens. With the large number of strip clubs and porn shops Topeka has, what are they thinking? I am excited to announce a great event in Topeka next weekend. Kansas Family Issues Forum Friday and Saturday, January 11 and 12 Topeka's Ramada Inn (brochure attached) I plan on attending and I have been asked to speak a bit.

Top Ten Predictions for 2008

1. The Bible will still have all the answers.
2. Prayer will still work.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praise to God.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the Cross.
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost.

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Huckabee wins Iowa

Way to go Huck! Big win tonight in Iowa! The conventional wisdom has now become that he is a one trick pony, and now that he's moving on to less evangelical territory, his victories will be few and far between. I hope these "analysts" are mis-reading things. I'd like to think that a deep thinking person that relates to average people has stronger legs than just among the Baptists of the country.

That said, congrats to evangelicals in Iowa, and thanks for showing up. When Christians show up at the polls, we can make a big difference. Imagine how different our nation may look today if Christians would have gone to the polls in 2006.

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Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Tomorrow's Iowa Caucus

I've been thinking about tomorrow's first caucus and how having a few states like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina select the nominees for the rest of the country...or at least weed out candidates before they get to our state...seems a bit unfair. We are supposed to have equal say in who picks our leaders, and we do in the general election (for the most part), but absolutely not in the candidate selection process.

While Iowans are being hammered by phone calls, ads and personal appearances, Kansans will likely never see a single presidential candidate wooing us for our votes. Perhaps a midnight appearance at the Wichita or Kansas City airports.

I think it would be good to break it up into regional primaries, which would have the benefit of keeping candidates working states in a specific area for awhile, reducing their travel expenses and enabling locals throughout the region to see and hear from the candidates, and then the caravans move to the next region. There would be enough delegates in each region to enable someone who does poorly in the Midwest region to recover in the Northeast. The current scattershot approach of Iowa one week, New Hampshire the next, then South Carolina and then a bunch of states on one day means the vast majority of Americans will (a) not have much, if any, say in who their party's nominee is and (b) won't be exposed to them during the selection process other than the soundbites they pick up on the news.

The funny thing is that we seem to look for the next Reagan, which isn't out there, but if someone with his exact same personal and political background (that had seen its share of flopping on social issues) came along now, we would not call him Reaganesque because of the mythology and mystique we've created around Reagan. I don't know who I'd vote for yet, but I guess I don't have to decide. Iowans will pick for me!

And I still like to delude myself with the notion that Hillary is not electable. Aren't Americans tired of the Bush/Clinton/Bush/Clinton thing? Do they want that cackle and scandals for the next 4-8 years? Tell me it isn't so! I'm sure she's beatable. Probably the most beatable Democrat out there. I don't think she would wear well during the long duration of the national campaign. She can be as tempered and non-shrill as her advisers convince her to be, but then again someone told her she needed to burst out in spontaneous laughter during interviews. Regardless of how she behaves herself, Republicans will be sure to roll out commercials loaded with cackles and shrill political speeches she's given to remind people what they're really getting.

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