The election of Barack Obama would be a catastrophe on the scale of the Great Flood and the Permian Extinction all rolled into one. His ascension to the presidency will mark an end to the American Experiment in self government, open the door for socialism, allow for the payment of reparations to former slaves, ensure the triumph of radical Islam (after turning the White House into a mosque), bring back the Fairness Doctrine, require everyone to become a homosexual, allow the United Nations to run our foreign policy, bring Ahmadinejad over for coffee and some of Michelle’s delicious snack cakes, and turn the United States into a vassal of Sweden.
And that’s not the worst of it.
An Obama victory would also force the Republican party to take a long, hard look at itself and work to discover where things went off the rails. The deadwood and deadheads who are currently in control of the party would be kicked upstairs in order to make room for a new generation of leadership; sobered by defeat, cognizant of the mistakes made in the past, eager to reform everything from the budget process to ethics, and most importantly, able to develop a plan to not only win back power but govern the country once victory is achieved.
A victory by McCain will derail that effort by several years if not, for all practical purposes, shelve it completely. What need is there for reform if we’re winning – even if victory takes the GOP farther away from answering fundamental questions regarding philosophy and identity? John McCain the reformer will find a brick wall if he tries fundamental party reform. Those currently in power are a big part of the problem and it is hardly realistic to believe they will simply fall on their swords and give way to others with new ideas and little baggage to make reform a reality.
If there is a difference in the psyche of the two parties, it is in the way each goes about the process of self examination. Republicans by and large eschew navel gazing, preferring to bull their way ahead with a minimum of self absorbed clutter to distract them. The way the party approached the 1994 elections is a good example. The “Contract with America” was part political testament, part side show, part exercise in turning ideology into governance. It was canny, corny, and brilliantly executed. And after it was realized, the GOP didn’t have a clue what to do with their success except hold on to power.
The Democrats on the other hand are so angst-ridden and emotive when looking at themselves, you half expect the entire party to be locked up and put on a suicide watch. It takes them a lot longer to figure out what went wrong (not liberal enough) and where they should be going (elect more liberals) but when they decide what to do it is for the long term.
Yes, an Obama victory would be bad for America. But if this country can survive a Jimmy Carter, a Herbert Hoover, and a George Bush, it can certainly survive an amateur and fakir like Obama. It will be his incompetence that probably saves us in the end. He has yet to prove himself a success at anything except getting elected. He was a failure as a community organizer, a failure as head of the Chicago Annenberg Project, a failure as a state senator, and a non-entity in the short time he has been a US senator.
With a record like that, how much do we really have to worry about?
I will grant those of you who are wiping spittle off your monitors at this point that an Obama presidency means a much more lefty oriented Supreme Court. We shall see. The GOP will still have the filibuster in the senate. A truly egregious choice could be sidetracked. But even bringing on moderately liberal justices will no doubt mean there will be decisions that will be odious to most conservatives. The key will be to make Obama a one term president while using the next several years to reform the party so that when the GOP is able to win back the House – probably not until 2014 at the earliest – there will not only be a plan for electoral victory but a blueprint for governing as well.
The alternative is for the GOP to continue to wander in the wilderness; directionless, moribund, and with the current leadership more interested in holding on to what they have than seeking to do the things necessary to bring about a resurrection. The party has virtually disappeared from the northeast, the mid-atlantic, and the upper midwest while being challenged in the upper south, border states, the mountain west, and even in the midwest.
There won’t be much of a party left unless Republicans have the courage to take a good long look at themselves, at the last 8 years, at the people who have led them to this near catastrophe, and at a new breed of conservative Republican who could revitalize and re-energize the party and show the American people that the GOP is the party of the future once again.
Obviously, I am not working for a McCain defeat. But his loss would not be the end of the world and could very well be the catalyst for a new, smarter, more dynamic Republican party. It all depends on whether those of us who are in a position to call for change learn the right lessons from a McCain defeat and go about the slow, laborious process of building a new GOP. A party that would not only be capable of winning elections but of governing this beloved country honestly and with the humble realization that the American people need more out of us than moralizing and the tired ideas of the past.
9:55 am
An Obama victory would be an unmitigated disaster.
This is the same party that gave us the subprime mortgage crisis by putting the Community Reinvestment Act on steroids in 1995, and requiring banks to offer mortgages to people who did not meet traditional standards. It took just ten years of that foolishness to destroy the mortgage banking industry. Now they want to blame the collapse on the people who remixed those mortgage loans into other investment securities. But the core problem is that money was loaned to people who could not pay it back. And now the American taxpayers are picking up the bill, one way or another. After all, at least some poor folks got to enjoy the American dream of home ownership for a short while, before it turned into a financial nightmare—for them and all the rest of us.
The Democratic party has given us the most partisan member of the House as speaker, and two of the three most left-wing members of the Senate as candidates for President and VP. Quite clearly, their agenda is not to move the country toward the center, but toward the hard left. If they win the presidency and hold control of congress, they will turn the US into a socialist country, with Marxist tax policy (“From each according to his ability, to each according to his need”).
America did not achieve its greatest prosperity through socialist policies, but through personal freedom and free market economics. In the current economic climate, the last thing we need is more socialism.
9:56 am
“A party that would not only be capable of winning elections but of governing this beloved country honestly and with the humble realization that the American people need more out of us than moralizing and the tired ideas of the past.”
Brilliant! I will vote for this party if/when I see it. That’s going to be hard to achieve with the albatross of the evangelical base around the party neck, but good luck.
Remember, Republicans, you are supposed to be the fiscally conservative party of smaller government. As of right now, you’re doing it wrong.
10:23 am
Sometimes the truth hurts. I hate to agree with you on this, Rick, but I do. However…
1. I think your assessment of the SCOTUS is wrong (if Obama wins). It could be a true Marxist appointment, because a cloture vote is possible (depending on Obama’s coattails and RINO’s like Lindsey Graham).
2. If McCain winds, huge pressure would be applied for true reform, since this is now the cornerstone of his political aspirations. And whatever one think’s about Palin’s ability, most even-minded people would admint that she has “walked the walk” w.r.t. reform. Influence on McCain- doubtful, but all presidents want a positive legacy. It would not be the first time for Palin to resign in protest if a reform agenda were not pursued (and would be incredibly effective to her own political aspirations- it certainly worked in AK).
11:17 am
Oh, Rick, such defeatism!
Barack Obama spent his entire convention speech slamming Republicans. John McCain spent a significant part of his convention speech boldly saying that Republicans had lost their way. That took great courage on McCain’s part and makes it clear what his agenda will be.
Republicans will not gain control of either house of Congress. They are already in the wilderness. McCain will – if he maintains his proper fortitude – he will be able to push them.
I would rather support John McCain in his efforts for reform than to abandon the fight. I’d rather support John McCain, with his 100% rating against the anonymous, last-minute, back-room, lobbyist-written earmark process in Washington D.C., than to abandon the fight.
I’d rather fight, with hope and optimism, than ever slink away. We’ve got the right candidate for the right time. Let’s not descend into pessimism and throw it all away.
12:16 pm
Obama: Recession could delay rescinding of tax cuts…
Democrat Barack Obama says he would delay rescinding President Bush’s tax cuts on wealthy Americans …
12:24 pm
Well, not really. McCain has already started the reform by putting Palin on the ticket. Even if they lose, she will still be the face of the new party. As for this nonsense about an Obama victory forcing a re-alignment, that has never happened to either party, and it never will.
And forget SCOTUS. How about socialized medicine? You think it will be repealed? How many entitlement programs, once established, have been repealed?
Exactly none.
1:25 pm
Concerned Conservative,
“America did not achieve its greatest prosperity through socialist policies, but through personal freedom and free market economics. In the current economic climate, the last thing we need is more socialism.”
Can you explain more about what “personal freedom” means, as you see it? Also, “free market economics” is a broad brush. What do you mean by that? Markets without regulation?
1:49 pm
Rick,
I am 67. I can’t wait for the Republican Party to rebuild. We had a bad bridge to nowhere. I look at McCain as a bridge to the revived Republican Party. If we don’t get this new bridge, we will have to walk through a deep and wide river full of crocodiles.
1:51 pm
I will vote for McClain, but I do agree the premise that an Obama election will most likely cause a deep recession. Could his election trigger a depression. Possibily and that would cause a world wide recession. We could live thru his term in office. I just do not want to.
2:27 pm
Rick,
Point 1: No matter which Oval Office wins this year, sovereign American individuals will be hit with a bigger Nanny State and less ‘inalienable’ liberty. The difference between McCain and Obama is how much liberty we lose.
Point 2: An Obama victory would sent the pachyderm punks back to the drawing board, but their likely conclusions won’t mean a move to the right. Except for the 1994 anomaly, the Elephant Clan has been drifting leftward since Reagan. I suspect that a McCain loss, especially a narrow one, will make them conclude “We’re moving in the proper direction, but we haven’t moved far enough left, yet.”
Point 3: Thanks to the stranglehold that America’s cultural Marxists have on American education, a critical mass of American chad punchers view an all powerful – Socialist/neo-Marxist – Nanny State as an ‘an idea whose time has come’.
Point 4: America’s bold experiment in limited government and maximized liberty is as dead as its most ardent, 20th century, advocate, Barry Goldwater.
Hambo
3:06 pm
I agree with Rick.
You know, it is far less DANGEROUS to have to have an enemy outside the walls (Obama), than it is to have a traitor within the walls.
McCain is to the Left of Obama on the war. This “save Georgia”, “save the Middle East”, perpetual conflict and export of conflict has its roots in Bolshevism. Neocon ideology has its roots in Bolshevism.
“save Georgia” is the same thing as “save Tibet”. Liberalism.
The only way to send the Neocons packing back to where they came from, is for them to be defeated at the ballot. McCain appear, to me, to be another neocon vessel, and they are quickly getting their hands on Palin’s head.
3:26 pm
...but I do agree the premise that an Obama election will most likely cause a deep recession.
Examine the list of US recessions. If I’m reading it correctly, since Wilson, all recessions/depressions have started during Republican presidencies. I’m a fairly partisan Democrat, but correlation is not causation here IMO. In some cases blame could be assigned to the previous administration, e.g. I wouldn’t blame the severe Volker recession on Reagan, the dot-com bubble burst during Clinton’s presidency, the real estate bubble burst during GWBush’s presidency, etc. Since BObama is a fairly center-left candidate with a slate of center and center-left policy proposals, I wouldn’t worry much if I were a Republican. Even the lack of gridlock is unlikely to be as much of a problem as it was under the GWBush + Republican congress – Democrats are famously good at bickering amongst themselves and not nearly as disciplined at voting the party line as Republicans have been for the past decade and a half.
4:18 pm
I have to admit I was one of those idiots that actually believed that the Republicans would honor the Contract with America. I saw how the pay as you go restrictions produced a surplus and naively thought that with a Republican president the long needed down sizing of the Federal Government would now take place. I watched with disgust when three weeks after the election the Republicans did away with the spending restrictions and we were once again on the road to defect spending.
I expected a Conservative revolt but all my Conservative friends wanted to talk about was Liberals, what they might do, could do, should do , etc. etc. When I questioned the preoccupation with he left I was told to tune in Rush Limbaugh to find out the great truth about Liberals. That was an eye opening experience. No talk about what the Republicans were doing just one Kool-Aid rant after another about Liberals. When the details of the K street project came out the pieces all fell into place. Anytime Conservatives started to question what Republicans were doing all Rove had to do was have his henchmen, like Limbaugh, pull out the “liberal bashing bauble” and like a bunch of children distracted by a shinny toy the Conservative conversation turned back to bashing Liberals.
Wm. F. Buckley was an intellectual who challenged the Liberal concept that government had all of he answers to any problem. Limbaugh found out the bashing Liberals made money. Rove found out that he could get away with anything by bringing out the “liberal bauble“ and turn Conservatism into a Liberal bashing cult that would allow him to make the Republicans the “permanent governing party” . But this permanent party had only one goal, staying in power, Conservative values on abortion, personal freedom, guns, and deficit spending were concepts that could easily be dropped to win elections so long as you controlled the “liberal bashing bauble” to keep Conservatives preoccupied with Liberals.
So Conservatism is going to reform? I’ll believe that when Limbaugh and company are called out for what they are and Conservatives drop the Liberal bashing start talking about the real problem, how they will go about selling their solutions to today’s problems as an alternative to the Liberal “government has all the answers” theme. That Liberals are a bunch of loonies is a given, but bashing them does not constitute a political philosophy. Good luck with reform, it would take someone with the stature of Buckley to take on the well entrenched Limbaugh brand of Conservatism and I just don’t see it happening regardless of who wins the election.
4:35 pm
COUNTRY FIRST! COUNTRY BEFORE PARTY!
This election is not about the fate of the GOP, its about something infinitely more important, the fate of the country.
I think this whole ‘meme’ of party reform getting put on hold if McCain wins but doing great if not … is a bunch of guff. It’s false. Beyond false. When you go state by state, you can see that where the state party has lost, it does NOT reform itself, its just sits there, a shrunken useless dead animal.
The fact is that whether McCain wins or loses, we need to move forward with developing and advocating strong ideas for freedom, individual responsibility and choice, and pro-growth pro-capitalist pro-traditional-values conservatism. Those ideas will need a home, and the Republican party is that home wrt electoral politics now and in the future.
There is so much to disagree with based on history … “The GOP will still have the filibuster in the senate. A truly egregious choice could be sidetracked.” ... wont happen. Uh, that didnt happen under Clinton and wont happen under Obama.
Mr Moran, the rationalizations about how we need reform in the GOP. Excuse me, but the Democrats need reform far far far more … so why not do THEM a favor, defeat the Democrats, get them to clean up THEIR leftwing nutcase problems, then fix the GOP at a future date when winning the war on GWOT isnt on the line, and we are not faced with the most left-wing horribly bad-judgment inexperienced foldable empty suit Obama on the other side.
We survived Carter, yes, but we should never have to go through a worse example of it again.
4:39 pm
“I have to admit I was one of those idiots that actually believed that the Republicans would honor the Contract with America. I saw how the pay as you go restrictions produced a surplus”
Hey Moby, that was a New Gingrich accomplishment. The Contract with America promises were mostly kept on the House side and the most important conservative reform in decades, welfare reform, came out of it.
One of the things conservatives (especially fake conservatives) dont do enough is PRAISE our good leaders for their successes and victory. Thank you Newt Gingrich for welfare reform!
This is important because if we want to have such a success again it cannot come from negativity and cynicism.
4:47 pm
“Since BObama is a fairly center-left candidate with a slate of center and center-left policy proposals, I wouldn’t worry much if I were a Republican.”
FALSE! Barack Obama was rated by National Journal as the most LIBERAL senator in the US Senate in 2007. He’s to the left of Ted Kennedy. He’s extreme on gungrabbing, abortion, taxes (for raising cap gains until recently), marriage, Israel, you name it … and has a history of working with far-left groups and individuals. His current campaign is just the potemkin promises that he can put out there because he doesnt have enough of a record to contradict his soon-to-be-broken promises. But the record he had as state senator, even with his 130 cowardly present votes is an extreme far-left record.
Take the test:
http://www.barackobamatest.com/
5:32 pm
FALSE! Barack Obama was rated by National Journal as the most LIBERAL senator in the US Senate in 2007.
Really??? More liberal than Bernie Sanders (Socialist)? Than Russ Feingold? See this reasonably non-partisan
analysis of National Journal’s rankings.
I’ve been too lazy to do it but would not be surprised if a similar methodology ranked John McCain as the most conservative Senator in 2007, due to the same factor, a large number of missed votes.
As far as your assertion that BObama will deep-six his campaign promises after he is elected, well, that is simply an assertion. I call him center-left because he has instincts for compromise that are clearly represented in his platform, like an anemic “universal” health care plan. (Hillary’s plan at least was politically brave.) There have also been Senate votes that were center votes, like the FISA update “compromise”, and the tort reform vote.
9:16 pm
Marginally related, A Conservative for Obama by Wick Allison, a former publisher of National Review. It starts out:
“THE MORE I LISTEN TO AND READ ABOUT “the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate,” the more I like him. Barack Obama strikes a chord with me like no political figure since Ronald Reagan….”
10:15 pm
I must figure out what’s in your water.
We don’t have four years to play with… seriously.
10:59 pm
I rarely visit this site and the pessimism is why. Go take a vacation, will you?
Get McCain in office and slap him around when he starts spouting stuff like amnesty or global warming. We’ll be fine.
11:37 pm
I suggest that an Obama win would mean in excess of 15-20 years before we could turn around the damage he and his party would wreck on America. Many of the decisions made, voted out, and signed by Obama would be nearly impossible to reverse, especially those that would be entitlements, such as universal health care, universal college for free, reparations to blacks, and who knows what else?
The tax burden on the middle class and near-upper class would be severe, and very hard to change short of two or three presidential cycles. Your 2014 would pass by in a flash without much help, and suddenly we conservatives would be having to aim for 2028 or later, which means forget it for me.
The very hint that any person calling himself a conservative is planning to vote for Obama, should be the call for his being drummed out of the conservative movement, shunned, and left to wither somewhere.
The only backstops we have against a Democratic Party in control of Congress are the Presidential veto, and the filabuster. Without either of these weapons, and with less seats for us, we are at the mercy of the left.
We must fight now as well as fight later for conservative principles and practices, else our march to socialism will accelerate all the more.
3:27 am
I concur with David @ #20. This site is about as right as Ron Paul. This guy cites the Carter administration as a positive litmus test for an Obama regime? I suppose you enjoyed the gasoline shortages, the energy crisis, the unchecked rise of Islamic totalitarianism, the attack and destruction of an American embassy, the hostage crisis, the ceding of our national interests abroad such as control of the Panama canal, not to mention Carter ceaselessly maligning our nation and giving aid and comfort to our enemies since he left office. To Bill Arnold, who thinks Obama is center-left: Obama makes a lot of promises, like campaign finance reform, and bi-partisanship, and he doesn’t keep them. In other words, he’s a liar. Do you judge people by their words, or by their deeds? He’s a hypocrite who scolds Americans for going to foreign countries and not knowing the languages, but he himself speaks only english. He chastises Americans for being ungenerous, yet he himself gives less than 2% of his multi-million dollar income to charity annually. He is a product of a racist, anti-American upbringing, and he cannot explain or refute his confederacy with despicable people like Wright, Ayers, Pflegler. In sum, Obama is the polar opposite of John McCain who is an honorable man, a prescient, courageous, principled leader, and one of the few politicans in this country who is worthy of the office of the presidency. It’s an insult to America that this bogus bigot Obama has been nominated for that office, and it’s utterly distressing that at this late date this phony might still be elected. What has this country come to?
7:53 am
@manning, who wrote: “I suggest that an Obama win would mean in excess of 15-20 years before we could turn around the damage he and his party would wreck on America.”
Jeez, how long will it take to get us out of the mess the Republicans, including McCain, got us into? The bed-wetting paranoia on the right at the prospect of higher taxes on the wealthiest Americans is like worrying about whether the stove was left on while your house is burning to the ground.
Conservatives want nothing but unchecked, unfettered free markets and when they get it, they ruin it. Who’s left on the hook for it? American taxpayers. Corporate welfare at its finest and there is no one else to blame/thank than your friendly neighborhood GOP administration and Republican-led Congress. And you’re worried about your income taxes going up a little? Have you checked the national debt lately? Or the budget deficeit? And isn’t the monthly tab on the Iraq war still about $10 BILLION? I’ll be the first to admit that you can’t tax your way out of the hole, but further tax cuts seem downright irresponsible given the current situation. Alan Greenspan said as much last weekend. especially since we’d be paying for them with borrowed money.
And now you’ve got McCain flip-flopping sometimes even on the same day on whether the economy is sound, whether government bailouts are a good thing and whether greater Wall Street oversight is needed. Holy cow, the Republicans have driven us into a black hole of debt and McCain’s economic advisors are lobbyists and Phil Gramm. Wonderful!
Corporate welfare, reckless spending and runaway debt. That’s the Republican business model…So, what exactly is your fear of Obama again?
9:05 am
This fight inside the right is already taking place.
It is not time to sit on your asses and claim neither party represents you.
The age of “compassionate” conservatism is waning, as is relying on taxpayers to bail out private industry. It is hard work, but the fight for real fiscal conservatism must continue well after the McCain election until the big spending mindset is dead, dead, dead.
http://www.therudenews.com/archives/781
Barry: “unfettered free markets”? You mean like theses two GSEs that came crashing down with all of their liberal economic oversight? I seem to remember the Prez saying this would happen five years ago.
Phil Graham? You ignored Frank Raines, James Johnson and all of that GSE money the democrats have taken.
9:48 pm
Obama is NOT a fiscal conservative, McCain is.
Obama does not have any executive experience at all.
Obama does not have any financial credentials at all.
Obama is in the tank with Black Liberationists.
McCain has proven that he is his own man, and can lead the Republicans out of their misery.
McCain is very forthright about the need to turn the party around, and become fiscally more prudent.
McCain has more insight into military affairs than Obama by a long margin. We need a President that can deal with the Pentagon, the Iraqi situation, Iran, and Afghanistan, just to name the most pressing of our military engagements.
With our financial crisis weakening us, we need McCain far more than some liberal academic pipsqueek Democrat, Obama-the-God (Hmmm..LAPDOG!) from the Chicago Machine leading us in a time of great peril from those who would bring us down.
LAPDOG is the least qualified candidate for President ever, in my lifetime.
Biden is a joke—an expensive and gaffe-prone joke at that. He lets the Democrat’s secrets out, to thier great embarassment, if you read closely!
Vote Republican!
10:56 pm
I want to see a McCain shit_fit, in the dem news.
We all know the guy can/will do it.
Dinnerjacket, Putlin, ETC,
THEY ARE WORRIED.
McCain, GO CRAZY….
Wadduya got to lose?
I am not, by the way, A Concerned christian consertive
trying to astro-rug this blog!
I do think, however, that XERXES, URKEL, OBAMA, will destroy everthing we hold dear.
7:40 am
The only way to have any credibility on the issue of destroying the power of special interests and cleaning house in Washington would be for every Republican candidate to pledge to serve no more than 6 years (one Senate term or three House terms). The reason nobody believes those who run on the platform of “reform” or “cleaning up Washington” is because, once elected, they settle into the cozy office and start attending the nice parties with the good booze and getting the free Redskins tickets and THEY NEVER LEAVE! For God’s sake, look at Congress since the Democratic agents of change took power!
They need a modern day version of the Contract with America that every candidate can SIGN. Problem is the Republican party is not willing to do that. They don’t want real change. They are still just trying to find a way to obtain power, and “reform” rolls off the tongue so nicely…
We reap what we sow.
4:00 pm
To all who are running around in circles and predicting outcomes: this will be close. I have always thought so and it shouldn’t surprise anyone. I’m not going into politics, just the horse race aspect of it. McCain probably made a life saving move with Palin energizing the base and Team Obama run a more effective campaign than Gore and Kerry combined. Whether you like it or not it is and will be 50/50. Thought this was fun:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/horseraceblog/2008/09/the_state_of_the_race.html
What does that have to do with reform? Nothing! Probably elections are not the best time for that.
6:59 am
I’m a simple guy. In this essay Rick is too smart by half. All you theoriticians beware of the Law of Unintended Consequences. None of us can strategize the complexities of the future.
I say we have two candidates from which to pick. Choose the one you like best , or who is the least offensive, and vote for that candidate. What happens next, none of us can predict.
7:45 am
I’ll take my chances with John McCain over the empty suit Obama. Maybe even more important is to get more people like Gov. Jindal in congress then in the white house. But for now McCain.
12:26 am
Whew! Now I remember why I stopped reading this blog. What’s the deal Rlck, loosing the 2006 congressional elections wasn’t enough for you? Now you think sending America down the road towards some socialist utopia is just okey dokey because it might make the Republican party respond more to your liking? This election isn’t about some intellectual excercise or the realignment of one political party or the other. This is about the future of our nation, not the party, either party. Jimminy cricket, dude, dial back the pessimism, it’s unseemly. Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to go read something a little more upbeat, maybe John Stienbecks “The grapes of wrath” or something equally uplifting.
The reason you stopped reading this blog is your lack of comprehension. Things go right over your head and you never notice the breeze.
I do not agree that the election of Barack Obama would lead to socialism. Bush is doing that very well with this bailout right now so your arguement is specious. And if its national health insurance you hate, stay home on election day or perhaps vote for Bob Barr. Even then it won’t matter. I can guarantee you that some form of national health insurance will be passed by Congress by May of 2009 whether its Obama or McCain won’t matter.
ed.
8:00 am
Rick, I can’t agree.
The best way to improve the Republican brand is with a successful McCain administration (one-term, IMHO) that brings through one or two items of serious bipartisan reform (slaying the earmark beast, for example). More than that we can’t expect out of him, but that in itself would be worthwhile.
Absent a true disaster, their will never be a slate-clearing 100 days for Conservatives. Our victories will be offset by defeats and slips, and the same political shenanigans that Washington embodies.
The “younger generation” reached the majors by the same process as their elders, give them some time in Washington, they two will have swimming pools full of lobbyists. It’s the nature of the place.
A serious Conservative congress and administrations should focus on these things, in order:
1. Government issues: increasing transparency, decreasing lobbyism, decreasing the budget, reforming entitlements. Serious and revenue-negative tax reform.
2. Economic issues: reducing government oversight of resources and capital management while INcreasing the investigative and punitive authority over business fraud. We should be making it easier to start business that make and do things, and more dangerous for the upper echelon of the corporate world to string their bottom-line along. Phase out all government corporations, from Fannie and Freddie to Amtrak.
3. Foreign Policy—maintain the sea lanes, protect our allies, hunt our enemies. The rest is mere details. Tell the UN to bugger itself.
4. Cultural Issues—Our motto needs to be “IATFL” Irrelevant At The Federal Level. In other words, its time to remember what the 10th Amendment states, and start reminding everyone else—from the Supremes on down.
If McCain can manage any of the first or fourth, he’ll make it easier for the second and the third. We need to keep this in mind during the myriad of boneheaded plays he’ll lay down. He’s not our kind of guy, but he represents an opportunity in exactly his area of experience. We would be foolish indeed to pass that up so we can have the next Newt Gingrich. In the end, both serve us in a similar manner.
1:42 pm
I agree that an Obama Presidency wouldn’t be an unmitigated disaster, there’s only so much a President can actually accomplish—short-term.
There are plenty of problems in this country, regardless of who’s in the Oval Office. The positive spin is that there are plenty of things RIGHT with this country and we will manage to improve in many areas, again, regardless of who’s in the Oval Office.
However, things do add up over time. A foot in the door seldom withdraws without a concerted effort to remove it. The changes promised by Obama worry me more—long-term—than the changes promised by McCain.