Posts with the tag 'republicans'
The network of McCain supporter sites is going through a growth spurt, right, left, and center. On July 1st, the anniversary of John McCain’s promotion to Commander of Attack Squadron 174 in 1976, the founders of John McCain 2008 Social Network and McCain Now are launching LetsGetThisRight.com. They have worked tirelessly to launch a site that focuses on supporting Senator McCain and local Republicans across the country. They are looking to raise money for a series of candidates in important races.
On the other side of the spectrum, let me welcome Clinton supporters who now support Senator McCain to the club. The establishment and networking of Clinton supporters not willing to support Senator Obama, has been impressive to say the least. Over 125 sites and blogs have emerged within a few weeks. A list of all (or most) is available at Just Say No Deal. Here are a few that have already established a significant following. Clintons 4 McCain, Savage Politics, Puma Party (which includes the Puma Party forum), Done Dems, Hillary Clinton Forum, and Dems 4 McCain. Certainly, not all who have decided not to vote Obama have committed to voting McCain. However, there is mounting evidence that many Clinton supporters will vote McCain.
Some Hillary supporters have even decided to donate to Senator McCain’s campaign on July 4th. As a show of support, many long time McCain supporters have also agreed to contribute on that day. The request is that Hillary supporters make donations in amounts like $5.44, $25.44, or $125.44 and others donate in whole dollar amounts so Clinton supporters can be differentiated and counted.
Other new Pro-McCain sites include…
Battleground States ‘08 is a contributor based blog giving a state to state perspective on the presidential race.
Local Republicans similarly is a contributor based blog focused on down ticket candidates and state and local Republican candidates.
Grand Old Partisan is an excellent site for those interested in history. It remembers that the GOP is the party of Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt.
also…
Jews for McCain
Conservative Mom in a Liberal World
Its All Dicta
McCain Brigade
McCain Independent
McCain Supporters
Local Republicans
Obama Independent or McCain Independent?
Red Arizona
Right Score
Stop Obama Vote McCain
Democrats and Independents for McCain Social Network
Tags: candidate, Clinton, Democrats, hillary, Hillary Clinton, independent, independents, John McCain, liberal, mccain, politics, president, republican, republicans
June 29th, 2008
Republicans in the branches of Congress and throughout the Washington establishment are hiking enthusiasts, we can only conclude. How can we not? In the three and a half years that have elapsed since the election of 2004 we have demonstrated an incorrigible determination to delve deeper and deeper into the dark recesses of the political wilderness. We were punished for this avant garde tendency in ‘06, decisively losing our governing majorities in Congress that we so uselessly squandered. A lesson was to be gleaned from this punishment, a lesson which has apparently fallen upon inattentive ears.
The establishment GOP for too long has been far too tolerant of corruption within its midst. Residing within government simply to gorge upon its trough is antithetical to every principle which defines the party, yet too few within the party’s apparatus are willing to undertake the dirty work of preserving the integrity of those principles and of the party in general. Thus we march deeper into the wilderness.
Pork-barrel spending—the nectar and sustenance, nay the seed of corruption—also flies antagonistic to our party’s principles, yet in the years since we have controlled Congress until this day it has grown exponentially among the caucuses in the House and Senate, even after our ass-whipping in November ‘06. A recent proposition by House Minority Leader John Boehner that House Republicans adhere to a moratorium on pork was easily defeated. What is more, some of the caucuses’ most disreputable appropriators maintain their positions of leadership within the caucus and on committees. Thus we march deeper into the wilderness.
Though many good, credible conservative solutions there be, Republicans in Congress still provide no compelling agenda to address the country’s problems and the concerns of the American people, such as health care, energy, the economy, Iran, North Korea, etc. Democrats have their own (big government, terrible) ideas, we appear to have none. Thus we march deeper into the wilderness.
The upshot is that Republicans face losses this year every bit as significant as those in ‘06, losses which will strengthen the Democrats’ grasp on the levers of power in Washington and their ability to inflict real harm through their disastrous prescriptions. It does not help Republicans that their own malfeasances have coincided with Democrats’ long-awaited realization that to win Congressional seats within generally conservative America you have to run candidates who are themselves conservative, specifically on social issues, immigration, spending, etc. Witness Travis Childers’ recent victory in a House special election in heretofore Republican Mississippi.
Without reformation, complacent Republicans will only watch their seats dwindle further and further year after year. This leaves Sen. McCain in the position of having to enforce the Pirate’s Code: Whoever falls behind, is left behind. He has to press ahead with his reform agenda, touching upon those issues of concern to the American voter that Congressional Republicans at least appear to be ignoring. Be prepared to go it alone; if Republicans in Congress want to follow great, they’ll be doing all of us a favor. If they do not, press forward regardless. I wouldn’t wait for them to return from their furlough into the wilderness.
Tags: 2008 election, Campaign Issues, Earmarks, mccain, republicans
May 29th, 2008
The New York Times (yeah, I know) has a piece today on John McCain’s Memorial Day Weekend visits. Apparently Governor Mitt Romney, Governor Bobby Jindal and Governor Charlie Crist are all expected to visit Senator McCain in Arizona this weekend.
Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, on Friday is scheduled to meet with two Republican governors who have been prominently mentioned as potential running mates, according to Republicans familiar with Mr. McCain’s plan.
Charlie Crist, the governor of Florida, and Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana, have both accepted invitations to meet with Mr. McCain at his home in Arizona, according to Republicans familiar with the decision. One Republican said that Mitt Romney, a former rival of Mr. McCain for the presidential nomination — is also expected to visit him this weekend. Mr. Romney’s advisers declined to comment.
This may be the first Times article on McCain that has some basis in reality. Realistically, Senator McCain is probably winding down his Vice-Presidential search, even if he has no plans to publically announce his choice in the near future. Romney, Crist and Jindal, along with Tim Pawlenty are all very legitimate choices for the spot on the ticket, and there’s really no other reason for them to all be visiting McCain this weekend.
Ultimately, I think they all have something to offer the ticket, but they all have at least some minor weakness. I think Jindal may be the best bet in this bunch, but I’d like to hear everyone else’s opinions as well
UPDATE:
Tom Ridge received an invitation as well
Tags: Bobby Jindal, Charlie Crist, John McCain, Mitt Romney, nomination, nominee, republicans, Vice President
May 21st, 2008
Senator McCain made the following remarks during a speech today in Chicago…
“Before I begin my prepared remarks, I want to respond briefly to a comment Senator Obama made yesterday about the threat posed to the United States by the Government of Iran. Senator Obama claimed that the threat Iran poses to our security is “tiny” compared to the threat once posed by the former Soviet Union. Obviously, Iran isn’t a superpower and doesn’t possess the military power the Soviet Union had. But that does not mean that the threat posed by Iran is insignificant. On the contrary, right now Iran provides some of the deadliest explosive devices used in Iraq to kill our soldiers. They are the chief sponsor of Shia extremists in Iraq, and terrorist organizations in the Middle East. And their President, who has called Israel a “stinking corpse,” has repeatedly made clear his government’s commitment to Israel’s destruction. Most worrying, Iran is intent on acquiring nuclear weapons. The biggest national security challenge the United States currently faces is keeping nuclear material out of the hands of terrorists. Should Iran acquire nuclear weapons, that danger would become very dire, indeed. They might not be a superpower, but the threat the Government of Iran poses is anything but “tiny.”
“Senator Obama has declared, and repeatedly reaffirmed his intention to meet the President of Iran without any preconditions, likening it to meetings between former American Presidents and the leaders of the Soviet Union. Such a statement betrays the depth of Senator Obama’s inexperience and reckless judgment. Those are very serious deficiencies for an American president to possess. An ill conceived meeting between the President of the United States and the President of Iran, and the massive world media coverage it would attract, would increase the prestige of an implacable foe of the United States, and reinforce his confidence that Iran’s dedication to acquiring nuclear weapons, supporting terrorists and destroying the State of Israel had succeeded in winning concessions from the most powerful nation on earth. And he is unlikely to abandon the dangerous ambitions that will have given him a prominent role on the world stage.
“This is not to suggest that the United States should not communicate with Iran our concerns about their behavior. Those communications have already occurred at an appropriate level, which the Iranians recently suspended. But a summit meeting with the President of the United States, which is what Senator Obama proposes, is the most prestigious card we have to play in international diplomacy. It is not a card to be played lightly. Summit meetings must be much more than personal get-acquainted sessions. They must be designed to advance American interests. An unconditional summit meeting with the next American president would confer both international legitimacy on the Iranian president and could strengthen him domestically when he is unpopular among the Iranian people. It is likely such a meeting would not only fail to persuade him to abandon Iran’s nuclear ambitions; its support of terrorists and commitment to Israel’s extinction, it could very well convince him that those policies are succeeding in strengthening his hold on power, and embolden him to continue his very dangerous behavior. The next President ought to understand such basic realities of international relations.”
Tags: 2008 election, Democrats, independents, Iran, iranian, mccain, national threat, nuclear threat, Obama, persia, republicans, threat
May 19th, 2008
Conventional wisdom for some time has been that this is a Democratic Presidential year. However, that theory is starting to be tested in a serious way. All signs indicate that the Democrats will be fighting through August where the nominee could be chosen at convention. This creates a huge challenge for the Democrats. First, the two candidates are beating each other up, and showing off each others flaws in big ways. Senator Clinton’s Bosnia remarks and Senator Obama’s ‘bitter’ comments could haunt them throughout the campaign, and if they keep up this pace more damaging remarks will likely come. Second, they have very little time to unite the party. Particularly in a contentious contest they may not win over the other candidate’s supporters. They have 2 months and 6 days from the end of their convention till the general election vote, which means they need to unite the party almost instantaniously, whereas Senator McCain will have had almost eight months to do that. Senator McCain has a huge time advantage not only in unifying his party, but in strategy and in direct campaigning. He stays above the fray, and can emphasize his strengths with little challenge from the left as they are preoccupied.
The decisive advantage that the Dems have had throughout the campaign is money. However, as asked in an article at The Pink Flamingo you have to wonder how much money the candidates will have on hand. Senator McCain, on the other hand, has had the luxury of saving his pennies. Obviously he has taken in less, but at this point in the race he needs less. Also, there is a strong possiblity of contributions increasing. No one wants to put their money on someone who can’t win and as it becomes clearer that his odds of victory are excellent people may be more willing to part with their cash; not to mention that he has Romney and Huckabee helping raise money now as well. Finally, Senator McCain has always had an appeal with Independents and moderate Democrats. If the other candidate comes out their convention battered or damaged Senator McCain could overwhelmingly win middle-of-the-roaders.
Tags: august, campaign 2008, campaigning, candidate funds, convention, democrat convention, Democrats, independents, mccain, middle of the road, republicans, victory 2008
April 14th, 2008
Promises from the left of a decent and honorable campaign so far are coming up short. Comments from Obama surrogates stating that Senator McCain is war monger and that his military experience shows that he doesn’t care about people are far from the ‘new politics’ that Senator Obama promises. The left has been crying dirty pool for the last eight years, and now their the ones with a pool cue in their hand. There’s always a challenge when candidates have other people speak for them, but it you compare the two sides Senator McCain is seriously out-classing the Democrats. When supporters were repeatedly using Senator Obama’s middle name, the McCain campaign told them to stop. When a radio host introducing him at an event went on a rant against Senator Obama, Senator McCain condemned it angering some conservatives. When a McCain blogger posted video about the Jeremiah Wright controversy, he was suspended from the campaign.
The Democrats on the other hand have their leader, Howard Dean, making personal attacks calling Senator McCain an opportunist. This is an attack which is both personal and baseless. The liberal blog The Atlantic posted an admittedly unsubstatiated article that was a direct personal attack on the Senator. The Democrats have accepted and embraced political dirty pool. If this trend continues, and if America is truly seeking a more decent and respectful style of politics Senator McCain has shown himself to be the leader bringing this change.
Tags: campaign, change, decency, Democrats, dirty pool, DNC, honor, honorable, Howard Dean, mccain, Obama, republicans, rnc, rockefeller, wright
April 9th, 2008
