GOP Nominee
Former Candidates
I am one of those increasing numbers of SoCons who would be perfectly comfortable with a President Giuliani because of his commitment to constitutional originalism. I am an evangelical who loses no sleep over the idea that my president might hail from the profoundly unorthodox LDS church. I am a Reaganite who is cheered by the prospect of a conservative white knight riding to the rescue in the form of Fred Thompson.
But this I know: John Sidney McCain would set the conservative movement back a generation.
And when you listen to this audio from today’s Laura Ingraham show, you realize that this is a man who would simultaneously swear to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution and yet would gut the first item in the Bill of Rights.
He must be stopped. (H/T: Evangelicals for Mitt)
March 27th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
Gary, I agree with you regarding McCain’s effect on the social conservative movement.
EDIT: Sorry Murph… But internal R4′08 policies are not up for discussion.-KWN
March 27th, 2007 at 7:07 pm
No prob Kavon. Just curious.
March 27th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
No problem
March 27th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
Btw, I’m quite tickled that my very first editting occured in a thread titled “free speech for me, but not for thee”.
Yank yank.
March 27th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
That is ironic…
March 27th, 2007 at 7:21 pm
Gary,
this is a man who would simultaneously swear to “preserve, protect and defend” the Constitution and yet would gut the first item in the Bill of Rights.
Gut the First Amendment? Interesting. Perhaps you missed it but BCRA’s challenge McConnell v. FEC was upheld by the Supreme Court.
Also, I find it fascinating that you have no qualms about Romney when his past position on CFR was far, far more radical than anything in BCRA (he wanted to tax political contributions, ban PACs altogether, limit spending in federal races, and opposed large contributions).
March 27th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
As much as I like McCain as a person, I think his time has passed.
His age, his ties with Bush and the war (if significant progress isn’t made by July at the latest, Republicans will be running from Bush and for the tall grass), and I think his general temperment will stop him.
March 27th, 2007 at 7:25 pm
LJ,
The part of McCain-Feingold that bothers me the most is the moratorium on ads in the months prior to an election, as well as the restrictions that can be applied to bloggers. If that’s not gutting the 1st amendment, I don’t know what is. And btw, Romney never advocated that.
March 27th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
I’ve never understood the hysterical reaction to campaign finance reform. It hasn’t been effective in ending dirty political ads, influence peddling or bribery. The only sense it which it has changed politics is to shift power away from the national parties.
March 27th, 2007 at 7:40 pm
“…BCRA’s challenge McConnell v. FEC was upheld by the Supreme Court.”
Yeah… It was truly one of the saddest days in recent memory for those of us who love and revere the Constitution… Hopefully that atrocity will be remedied very soon…
March 27th, 2007 at 7:47 pm
murphy,
The part of McCain-Feingold that bothers me the most is the moratorium on ads in the months prior to an election
This was instituted, partially, in order to curtail the negative ads that would pop up as races got down to the line and candidates would pull out all the stops in order to win. Has it been a complete success? No. But progress has been made.
as well as the restrictions that can be applied to bloggers
I don’t understand this. McCain is running the most accessible, blog friendly campaign ever. He’s invited several bloggers to ride with him on the Straight Talk Express and at various campaign stops and he treats them like they are accredited members of the MSM.
March 27th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Kavon,
It was truly one of the saddest days in recent memory for those of us who love and revere the Constitution
This makes it sound like the Supreme Court upheld the right to institute the “One Child Policy” in the US or something. I just don’t understand how it’s such a appalling affront to free speech when, as I said above, the invention and popularization of political blogs are the epitome of free speech. For a low-level writer on a site to actually be taken seriously and have so much free access to a top tier candidate is a truly revolutionary development.
March 27th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
LJ,
This has nothing to do with McCain giving bloggers joy rides on his bus. I hope you’re not buying that media gimmick as a demonstration of greater degree of freedom of speech. The McCain-Feingold bill has a Free Speech Blackout Period which can gag bloggers involved in grassroots nonprofit organizations.
That bill is a disaster. Instead of cleaning up politics, McCain-Feingold silenced grassroots groups, empowered special interest groups, and protected incumbents in federal office. Instead of reducing the money involved in politics, McCain-Feingold drove it into hidden corners.
March 27th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
Amen. If I was to define my stance on 2008 PRIMARIES in two words it would be “Stop McCain.” I like him on a personal level and GREATLY admire his service in Vietnam and Senate(equally frightening
), but on a political do not want to see the man as the nominee nor as president.
March 27th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
Actually, add Brownback, Gingrich, Hunter, Tancredo, and the like to the list of people I am trying to stop. I think that all of these candidates are a blast from the GOP of 2005. We need a fresh, appealing, more politically moderate, face as our nominee. Thompson, Romney, and Giuliani fit the bill. The others cannot win nationwide in a post-2006 world.
March 28th, 2007 at 6:31 am
All this hype about Fred Thompson, AN ACTOR FIRST, a mediocre politician second and THEN AN ACTOR AGAIN, LAST…. is utterly ridiculous. HE IS NO REAGAN.
March 28th, 2007 at 9:50 am
KT-
You know if ignorance is bliss, you must be REALLY happy.
If all you know about Thompson is that he’s been an actor, you know about a 1/3 of his life story. Do a little fact gathering beofre you comment on other candidates.
Kavon-
If I’ve been accused of trolling. So how does KT’s rant make it through?
March 28th, 2007 at 12:29 pm
BTW, the Gary responding in this thread is not the same Gary (me) who wrote this post.
April 1st, 2007 at 10:54 pm
1st post–(got banned at Redstate after one day–guess moe lane couldn’t stand hearing the truth–I’ll try to be nice)
Here’s the way I understand the so-called ban on ads before an election.
Individuals can only contribute a certain amount for a candidate (I think it’s $2300 in the primaries and $2300 in the general election)–called hard money. And the USSC had ruled years before M-F that limits on campaign contributions were constitutional.
BUT–If an individual wanted to give MORE money to his/her candidate they could give an unlimited amount of money to the NRA, NOW, Right to Life, etc and these entities would run ads attacking a candidate in the same way that giving money to his opponent would have.
Sooo, in order to stop this obvious circumvention of the system, the M-F CFR law (approved by a Republican congress, signed by a Republican President, and deemed constitutional by the USSC) said that an organization can still run these ads, BUT the money to pay for them has to meet the HARD money requirements.
That’s not exactly the way you hear it describe very often, but I am pretty sure that it is accurate–and frankly I don’t have a problem with it.
April 3rd, 2007 at 10:20 pm
Campaignia is a nonpartisan web site, dedicated to the exploration and study of political campaigns. Currently, it is charting the campaign of Senator John McCain (R., Arizona) for the Presidency of the United States in 2008.
Its goals are to identify and explore the McCain campaign’s strategies, tactics, message, etc., as it endeavors to elect Senator McCain as the 44th President of the United States. In addition, Campaignia will study the unofficial campaigns - the efforts of bloggers, grassroots activists, interest groups, organizations, as they attempt to further the official campaign’s efforts.
Exploring McCainia Web Log - http://forums.campaignia.org
Exploring McCainia is dedicated to chronicling Campaignia’s metaphorical voyage through the McCain campaign - what it deems, to continue the metaphor - the region of McCainia. Click on the link at the top of this paragraph, for all of the daily news on McCainia- both the official campaign, as well as the independent bloggers and news sites.
Come visit both the main site - http://www.campaignia.org - and the blog for the latest and most in-depth coverage of the McCain campaign.
Sincerely,
Publisher, Campaignia.org