Race 4 2012 will be devoted to covering what will be the most exciting political race of a generation.

We are a group blog composed of several writers, each with their own distinct views and preferences regarding 2012. Be forewarned, we are a partisan site and will cover the 2012 race from a conservative viewpoint. Race 4 2012 does not endorse any particular candidate for the 2012 Republican nomination for President.

Staff Directory

DaveG is Race 4 2012’s Senior Editor. He is a former congressional staffer who currently resides inside the beltway and works in the legal and policy fields. Dave’s roots are in the upper midwest, a region whose politics he knows well and which he believes is vital to the sustainability of any long-term Republican majority. In addition to his work on this blog, Dave maintains a personal political blog, Political Prognostications.

Senior Editor Kristofer Lorelli is a former political organizer and fundraiser, who resides in suburban Toronto, Ontario with his son. As an American living abroad, he brings a unique perspective to U.S. politics and international affairs. In the blogosphere, Kristofer is best known for his work with the ‘Palin for VP’ grassroots internet movement, where he led the efforts on the guerilla marketing campaign, including producing the first Palin for Vice President web-ad. He is a self-described ‘Goldwater Conservative’, dedicated to an interventionist approach to foreign policy, laissez-faire capitalism, individual rights, and changes to the constitution that will enable the legislative supremacy of Congress over the executive and judicial branches. Kristofer plays ice hockey and soccer, and enjoys foreign-language cinema, beer, road trips and BBC Africa podcasts.  His favorite conservatives are; P.M. Thatcher, Senator Goldwater, P.M. Netanyahu, President Pinochet,  President Reagan, Premier Harris, Speaker Gingrich and Governor Palin. Kristofer can be contacted at kristofer.lorelli@rightOsphere.com, on Facebook and Twitter/Kris_Lorelli

Contributing Editor Adam Graham is the host of the Truth and Hope Report Podcast on Talkshoe.com and a 2007 Podcast Award Nominee for Best Political Podcaster. He is a columnist for RenewAmerica.us, and a former State Coordinator for Two Presidential Campaigns. In 2004, Adam was a Republican Candidate for the Idaho State House of Representatives. He and his wife live in Boise, Idaho. His personal blog is at http://www.adamsweb.us/blog.

Contributing Editor Alex Knepper is an undergraduate at American University. Aside from his work with Race, he is a contributor to the Independent Gay Forum and David Frum’s NewMajority.com, and writes a bi-weekly column for his college newspaper, the American University Eagle. His work has been featured in the online editions of The New York Times, C-SPAN, CBS News, Real Clear Politics, and other sites, and his local newspaper, the Herald-Mail, has profiled him for his political activism. He is a classical liberal, dedicated to a hawkish foreign policy, laissez-faire capitalism, and individual rights. He can be contacted at apkkib@aol.com

Contributing Editor Aron Goldman is a 36-year-old owner of an international Miami-based computer company. Goldman has been a leading wholesale supplier of retail computer and consumer electronic businesses in the Caribbean, Central & South America, and Africa since 1996. Although he started out as a journalism major at the University of Maryland, Aron graduated from the university in 1993 with a degree in psychology. Growing up 10 miles outside New York City in affluent Bergen County, New Jersey, Goldman’s political philosophy was built on a socially liberal but fiscally conservative foundation. In 2004, Goldman successfully negotiated with the British Foreign Office the re-opening of the previously evacuated southwestern part of the Caribbean island of Montserrat, a UK colony which has been plagued by volcanic activity since 1995. Goldman has also had some unique opportunities the past few years working for a major news network, reporting from Miami during Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma, and in February 2007, he covered Super Bowl XLI as a reporter; writing segments and conducting interviews. Most recently, four of Goldman’s questions that were submitted for the MSNBC/Politico GOP debate were asked of the Republican presidential candidates, including the controversial evolution question. If you would like to contact Mr. Goldman, he can be reached at aronscott@msn.com.

Contributing Editor Matthew E. Miller is a 21 year old currently working at a marina, during a year long hiatus from Williams College. He’s never been involved in politics at any level and feels awfully intimidated by the impressive resumes of his fellow contributors. Matt lives in light blue New Jersey, but spent his early childhood as a military brat. In 2004, he couldn’t bring himself to vote for George Bush (he stayed home), and feels Bush’s Big Government tendencies, combined with his incompetence, have deeply harmed the conservative brand. He hopes to become a political advisor, a history professor, or a federal judge.

Senior News Editor Anthony Dalke is a junior at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, double majoring in supply chain management and marketing. He has had the misfortune of living his entire life in solid blue Illinois (even worse, Chicagoland). He prides himself on refusing to vote for Rod Blagojevich in 2006. A recovering victim of pervasive Democratic bias in public schools, he received a healthy dose of liberal indoctrination in his high school government and U.S. history classes. Since those days, he has taken refuge in self-educating himself about functioning policy, leading him away from the left side of the political spectrum and toward the right. He has authored an opinion article for his school newspaper, the Daily Illini, and served as as contributing writer for the now-defunct sports website ForeverRivals.com. A die-hard Chicago Blackhawks and White Sox fan, he looks forward to rebuilding and strengthening the conservative movement, with an optimistic eye turned toward America’s future.

Adam Brickley is best known for his blog “Draft Sarah Palin for Vice President“, launched in February 2007. His efforts helped launch a grassroots internet movement which has been credited as one of the factors in Governor Palin’s swift rise to national prominence. Some Race42008 readers will remember him as “Palin for VP!” from the comments section. In addition to his blogging ventures, Adam has interned with The Heritage Foundation and Townhall.com, and in 2006 he topped the Phillips Foundation’s “Top 100 Conservative Student Activists” list.

Benjamin Hodge is a life-long Kansan. He grew up in northeast Johnson County, where he attended and graduated from Prairie Village-based Shawnee Mission East High School. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University. Hodge was elected to the board of trustees of Johnson County Community College in April 2005.

In early 2006, Hodge was appointed as chairman of a county committee that studied eminent domain and individual property rights. Hodge was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives in November 2006. Hodge’s public policy record has been recognized by Americans for Prosperity, the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, the Kansas Taxpayers Network, Kansans for Life, the National Rifle Association, and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). He and others have formed an independent, local online news journal, The Kansas Progress, which promotes conservative and libertarian policies. He also writes at RedCounty.com. You can follow Benjamin on Twitter and Facebook.

Bob Hovic is a marketing consultant with an international practice, based in the metro Chicago area. He has had three books published dealing with his area of specialization. Bob is a widower with two adult children. Though raised in a thoroughly Republican family, Bob began his political activism as a left-wing Democrat in the Vietnam era, before becoming disenchanted with the authoritarian tendencies of the left and joining the Libertarian Party. “I might still be a Libertarian,” Bob says, “if they were simply more realistic and more focused on accomplishing things, rather than fighting lost causes.” Bob considers himself a conservative with libertarian leanings, but above all a pragmatist, often quoting Otto von Bismarck: “Politics is the art of the possible.”

Bryan Weynand is a born and bred North Carolinian and an undergraduate religious studies major at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Weynand is the editor of the Carolina Review, a monthly publication of conservative and libertarian thought on campus, and is an active leader in the conservative movement at UNC. His vision for a free society is truly Jeffersonian in character. Holding an enlightened view of a rational individual’s right to pursue his desires free from intervention, he firmly believes that society flourishes when guided by the personal convictions of free individuals, not by government assuming the role of cooperate moral conscious. This vision informs a political philosophy based on individual liberty, free markets, and the supremacy of life and property rights, and he believes that the federal government can act legitimately only to directly serve these ends. In addition to his work with the Review, he has worked for a Lieutenant Governor campaign in North Carolina, and he hopes to help recapture this vision for the Republican Party. His life-long passion for Tar Heels basketball is unmatched, and he celebrated one of the finest days of his life on April 6, 2009.

David Schmidt is a human rights activists who specializes in grassroots organizing with an emphasis on web technology and reaching today’s youth. He is passionate about exposing corruption and advancing protection and respect for all human being. His ardent support for universal life rights and desire to educate through new media about injustice brought him to Live Action. In addition to studying speech and debate in high school, he produced a full-length feature film that won film festival acceptance. In 2006, David graduated from The Master’s College with a degree in business administration with an emphasis in accounting. During his final year of studies he served as the Student Body President where he focused on increasing communication with the student body and on developing future student leaders. After college David worked in investment banking where he became the youngest registered securities principal at a firm that specialized in non-profit corporate financing. Previous political experience includes acting as campaign manager for the Student Body President that followed David, and leading the independent HucksArmy.com grassroots movement supporting Mike Huckabee’s 2008 presidential run as the co-national campaign manager where he helped build and train a national network of over 20,000 people. He also served as the field director for the successful campaign to elect Ashley Swearengin the Mayor of Fresno, California. David also owns his own consulting business where he advises organizations in the areas of podcasting, video-to-web, technology infrastructure, online outreach, internet activism, social networking, youth messaging, and grassroots organizing. In his free time, he enjoys skiing, travel, tennis, and life with his family and friends.

A native of New Hampshire, Dustin Siggins graduated from Plymouth State University with a business administration degree. During his time at Plymouth, Dustin founded the PSU Republicans, wrote the first conservative column in The Clock (Plymouth’s student newspaper), and was the first political talk show host for WPCR, Plymouth’s student radio. He also was a writer, copy editor and section editor for the paper, a student senator, and an organizer for political events on campus in which a number of selectman, Congressional and Presidential candidates participated. Since graduation, Dustin has interned with The Heritage Foundation in Regulatory Policy, where he researched the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the Fairness Doctrine and the automaker bailouts, and is currently the assistant director of communications for a health care trade association in Alexandria, VA. He is also a contributor to New Majority and The Lobbyist. Dustin is Roman Catholic and is a self-declared “ideological conservative tempered by practicality.”

George Gibbs is a second year student at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. George first became active in politics with the Rudy Giuliani Presidential primary campaign in late 2007 making phone calls and other get out to vote efforts. George continued his experience with the Republican Party working with the local county committee to elect state and local officials. George was also extremely active in the efforts to elect John McCain and Sarah Palin in 2008. George is currently studying Political Science and History at WCU and continues work with the Western Carolina College Republicans. George plans to attend law school and go into politics after receiving his bachelors at WCU.

Jason Bonham lives in the Chicagoland area. Aside from blogging at Race42012, Jason is co-founder and co-director of www.MyManMitt.com and is the Illinois state director for Legacy Law Foundation. Jason is also a member of the Romney Campaign’s Faith and Values Steering Committee. Jason also loves hotdogs.

Jillian Becker is editor-in-chief of The Atheist Conservative, started in May 2008. In January 2007 she moved to the US from England, where she had been Director of the Institute for the Study of Terrorism from 1985 to1990. She has contributed to numerous newspapers and periodicals on both sides of the Atlantic. Her published books are both fiction and non-fiction, and her writing on terrorism has been translated into many languages. She is a long-standing council member of The Freedom Association. You can view Jillian’s Wikipedia page here.

John Allen Newcomb graduated Summa Cum Laude from Mount Olive College with a Bachelor of Arts in English. During his college career, he became an Opinion writer for the college’s online newspaper, The Trojan Times, Vice President of Sigma Tau Delta during the 2008-2009 school year, Vice President of the Mount Olive English Society during the 2007-2008 school year, and President of the Mount Olive College English Society the following year. He was also the Co-editor of the college’s student-ran literary magazine, Trojan Voices, from August 2007 to May 2009. His writing skills have won him awards, publications, as well as the respect and ire of his fellow writers. He has written works genres, ranging from poetry to editorials. Whether it is supporting right and benefits of smoking or suggesting a separate election for Vice Presidential candidates, John enjoys challenging social and political norms. He currently resides in Lucama, North Carolina.

Kelly H. Estes is a political and financial blogger. She is a former award-winning newspaper journalist with a passion for politics. Kelly has a BA (double major) in English and Communications, with emphasis in journalism from Jackson University (Jacksonville, FL). Kelly was editor-in-chief of the Navigator, the college newspaper at JU. Following graduation, Kelly spent a couple of years as a newspaper journalist and now is a freelance blogger/writer.

Mark B. Lowe has been a long time political observer, having cast his first vote for the re-election of Richard Nixon in 1972. He is an engineer by trade. He has had a long fascination with government and leadership and how it works. While he is eager to help contribute to the success of Race42012 and is honored by the privilege, he has no illusions of quitting his day job. He can be contacted at MarkB.Lowe@Yahoo.com.

Matt C. (aka HeavyM) is a 27 year old who hails from Wyoming, the second-most conservative state in the country based on recent Presidential election results. He became interested in politics during the 2000 election while in college and ended up sorting out his personal beliefs to the point where he voted for George W. Bush – and did the same more enthusiastically in 2004, though he is a lot less enamored with Bush now. HeavyM is currently on staff with a church overseeing the development of spiritual community and small group ministries and follows politics on the side as a hobby, though he believes the two should rarely overlap one another.

Max Twain is a graphic designer and contemporary artist who resides in unfortunately still-blue New Jersey. Max is a life-long fiscal conservative and was a member of the few but proud College Republicans, and the even fewer and prouder college republican art students. Max has been a constant observer of the national political scene since the 2000 Florida recount and particularly the September 11th attacks.

Michael Doerr is a longtime Republican activist who resides in Colorado.

Nate Gunderson owns and manages a small business that specializes in souvenir manufacturing and wholesale, and has been in business for 10 years. He was born in Chicago in 1976 and moved to Colorado and Virginia before ending up in “Happy Valley” in Utah at the age of 11, and has resided there ever since. Nate has been an adamant Romney supporter since mid-2006, and with a team of like-minded individuals launched MittRomneyCentral.com in September 2009. He also manages the site PlanetRomney.org, a pro-Romney blog aggregator, which he started with help of his brothers in early 2007. You can follow MRC on Twitter and also via their page on Facebook.

Richard Murray is a disciple of President Ronald Reagan and an admirer of his ability to help Americans make themselves great again. His passion for politics was kindled through Rush Limbaugh, and that passion led to action after the Gingrich Revolution of 1994. Richard is a strong, yet pragmatic, fiscal and economic conservative, national defense hawk, and has social conservative leanings liberally peppered with libertarianism. He was proudly a Republican until 2000, when the party’s change in course disenchanted him. Richard left the Republican party, but maintained his predisposition to support them. He is currently a registered independent who supports and works towards a reawakening of the Gingrich Revolution within the Republican Party. After conservative policy, Richard’s second fascination with politics is the ebb and flow of poll numbers, and does shade tree analysis of them in his spare time.

Tommy Oliver is a founding member of draftfredthompson.com team, where he still works with the administrators and has helped contribute to the online Thompson research encyclopedia, the “Fredipedia”. He is a regular contributor to MO Speaker Pro Tem Carl Bearden’s blog, Fred Thompson-N-Mo and the national grassroots Thompson news blog, Blogsforthompson. He also is the founder of Fred Thompson Presidency, a site cataloging Thompson’s accomplishments while in the Senate. Tommy currently produces a radio program for ESPN and Kickoffzone.

Featured Archive – Deroy Murdock

Race 4 2008 is honored to feature selected articles by Deroy Murdock, a nationally syndicated columnist with the Scripps Howard News Service and Contributing Editor with National Review Online. Mr. Murdock has written much of the seminal commentary regarding Rudolph W. Giuliani’s tenure as Mayor of New York City, as well as his nascent presidential campaign. Please be sure to follow the link to read all of Mr. Murdock’s truly essential 2008-related work contained in our archive.

Distinguished Alumni

Billy Valentine is a Junior at Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he is concentrating in Legal Studies and Human Life Studies. He comes from a family deeply committed to political activism, especially when it comes to protecting the unborn. Billy was the chairman of the College Republicans during the 2006 election cycle and worked on the Blackwell, Dewine, and Santorum campaigns. He is currently the National Chairman of Students for Brownback, the Vice President of Students for Life of America, and is a candidate for Vice Chairman of the Ohio College Republican Federation. Billy was named Iowa Director of Youth Outreach and Communications Aide for Sen. Brownback, and wad the Managing Editor of The Daily Brownbacker.

Brett Passmore is an experienced Technology Professional with a passion for American History and Politics. Brett has a long history of success and innovation with 2 patents and several hundred completed projects to his name. Brett has served on several boards and was the Houston Area Grassroots coordinator and the Director of the HuckabeeHouston PAC. He is currently the Executive Director of The F3 Coalition, a non-profit educational and advocacy group whose mission is to inspire, educate, motivate and empower individuals to become values-voters so that they can become active in the political process. F3 Stands for Faith, Family, and Freedom.

Clarence Claus is a Republican activist from New Hampshire, home of the first in the nation primary. He volunteered for President Bush’s New Hampshire campaign in the 2000 general election and assisted the primary campaign of Gubernatorial candidate Gordon Humphrey in 2002. He has also been involved in several state senate and state representative campaigns. Clarence is currently undecided in the 2008 primary race and does not see himself making up his mind until close to primary day.

Doug Forrester is an economics graduate student and frequent volunteer for Republican campaigns across the nation. Doug has volunteered for the 2002 Ehrlich, 2004 Bush, 2006 Talent, and 2007 Northup campaigns among many others. He’s currently employed teaching introductory economics to frightened freshmen at a small Southern college.

Gary Matthew Miller has been fascinated with politics ever since someone gave him one of Teddy White’s Making of the President books nearly 23 years ago. A former mind-numbed liberal, he was “mugged by reality” when a friend explained to him the folly of the Nuclear Freeze movement. Gary was the first full-time employee of Center of the American Experiment, Minnesota’s conservative think tank, where he spent several years after college before coming to the realization that public policy wasn’t going to pay the mortgage. With more than a decade in technology and software sales, today Gary makes his home in Minneapolis with his wife and 3 young sons. For the last 2 years he chronicled the 2006 Minnesota U.S. Senate race at the nationally-recognized blog Kennedy vs. The Machine.

Greg Alterton works in public policy in Sacramento, Calif. He’s had over thirty years experience working for the California Legislature, the Governor’s office, professional and business associations, the private sector, and regional government. His experience ranges from health care, to criminal justice, to environmental regulations, to general business issues. Greg is a graduate of the University of California, Davis, where he not only received a degree in political science, but also came to personal faith in Jesus Christ. He considers himself a “social conservative,” and writes from that perspective. Greg also blogs at his personal site Value Voters for Rudy.

Justin D. Smith is a first-year law student at the University of Missouri. At the age of nine, he volunteered for John Ashcroft’s 1994 United States Senate campaign. Since that first taste of politics, he has volunteered on almost 50 different campaigns and has served as the campaign manager for many local races. He is heavily involved in the College Republicans, in Missouri and at the national level. Justin can be contacted by e-mail at JDSmithGOP@sbcglobal.net

LJ has been fascinated with politics for much of his life, but particularly since the September 11th terrorist attacks. He’s currently an undergrad at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee working towards a double major in Political Science and International Studies, with a focus on the Middle East and Arabic. He follows the 2008 Presidential race with great interest and thinks that it will be a crucial test in which road the country chooses to go down during these historic times. He ran a now-defunct blog entitled The Urban Empire. You can reach him at urbanempire@gmail.com.

Michael Lawrence is a native central Pennsylvanian, and practices criminal defense in northern Virginia with special emphasis on indigent clients. Initially a liberal due to his influences growing up in an ethnic, lower-middle class, rust-belt area, Lawrence later embraced more conservative viewpoints on government. Although Lawrence has always been an avid follower of all things political, his primary interest is public policy. He considers himself to be a federalist of the Goldwater stripe.

Michael Stubel is a freshman at American University in Washington, D.C., where he is Political Science major with other academic interests in United States foreign policy and journalism. He is a native of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, an increasingly purple-shaded suburban Philadelphia county that recently saw Democratic registration inch by Republican figures for the first time. A political junkie since the 2000 election, Michael was a student leader for the Rudy Giuliani campaign before the Mayor exited the race and is now volunteering when he can for John McCain at his Crystal City headquarters. Fully committed to the ideals of smaller government and a robust national defense, Michael – PARepublican from the comments section – hopes to expand the Republican brand on one of the country’s most liberal campuses.

Ory Rinat is a Junior at Columbia University, majoring in economics and political science. He previously served as the National Chairman of Students for Rudy. In that capacity he built almost 200 chapters of the coalition on campuses around the country, and designed high school and college outreach programs. He posts will be focusing on the youth involvement in the 2008 race for the White House.

Senior News Editor Robbie Borchik is a 22 year old college senior double majoring in Political Science and Communications at Charleston Southern University in Charleston, SC. His political experience ranges from campaigning during the 2004 election cycle to working for a regional think-tank based in Charleston. He currently works for a news service providing information to high-profile political and business leaders throughout the state of South Carolina. He considers himself something of a pragmatist on domestic issues and a realist in terms of international affairs. He is an avid fan of the Auburn Tigers, the Colorado Rockies, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Fender Guitars.

Rudyblogger was the founder/editor of the excellent Rudy Giuliani for President site Giuliani Blog. RB made a name for himself as one of the best bloggers out there, and we were quite pleased to have him join us here.

Sean Oxendine is a Virginia attorney who has worked in Washington DC as a bartender, congressional staffer, research assistant at a think tank (AEI) and attorney (the only DC job he hasn’t had is lobbyist, and they don’t get cool stuff anymore). Sean’s introduction to blogging came at the site MyElectionAnalysis.com. In the 2004 election, Sean correctly predicted all 50 states, and predicted Bush’s percentage in 45 states within 2% of the actual results (curse you, AL, MS, ND, RI, and VT!). His prized possession is his complete set of Almanacs of American Politics (1972-2006). He is a former libertarian who now considers himself more of a “South Park Conservative.”

Woodrow J. Eisenhower, who also goes by “Woody” or “Ike” or both, is a political enthusiast with a Political Science degree from the University of New Hampshire. As a resident of New Hampshire (the site of the nation’s first presidential primaries), he has the advantage of meeting all of the big name politicians and presidential candidates regularly. Before coming to New Hampshire, coincidentally, Woody grew up in rural Northwest Iowa (the site of the nation’s first presidential caucuses), in a small town called Mallard (“home of the friendly ducks”), so Woody’s been exposed to presidential races all his life. To top it all off, his great grandfather was not only an Iowan farmer/pilot, but also a proud state senator, so an interest in politics and government has been bred into his blood for generations. He is now earning a degree in law at the Franklin Pierce Law Center, with the eventual goal in mind of becoming a politician himself one day (Who knows? Maybe we’ll be voting Eisenhower for President again before we know it.) Woody maintains his own personal blog on the 2008 race at GOP 2008 Blog.