"A wise and frugal government which shall restrain men
from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government."
(Thomas Jefferson)


Tuesday, June 14, 2011

GOP debate winners: Romney, Bachmann and Rick Perry

Interesting headline this morning. Even though Klein uses Rick Perry's name as he says for a stand-in for someone who might get in the race late, most of us know that Rick Perry would go to the lead 'if' he gets in the race following the special session of the Texas legislature which ends on 30 June 2011.

There is no "WOW" factor with any of these candidates. We have a candidate with executive experience but no government experience, two former Governors, a former Speaker of the House, two House Members, and a former Senator. If anyone can find a "WOW" factor with this group, then the bar is pretty low for a GOP candidate. It is not to say they are not nice people but in today's climate, a lot of voters are affected by that "WOW" factor. Ask yourself if Obama would be afraid to go up against any of this group?

Republicans have gone after Obama for his lack of executive experience so experience in the eyes of the Democrats is very low on the list. I would like to think that Republicans are better than that and value executive experience as a key factor in electing a candidate to oppose Obama. Also believe that experience as a Governor is much higher on the list then that of a member of Congress. Let's look at the candidates currently in the race.

Mitt Romney was a one term Governor of Massachusetts who helped bring in universal healthcare to MA and caused a lot of doctors to leave. He ran the Olympics with the help of the Mormon Church putting pressure on an OK Congressman to take light rail and road money and move it from Oklahoma to Utah for the Olympics. Romney is too liberal for most of us. Most of us have no desire to have our nominee be from liberal Massachusetts where he got along just fine with the legislature which is overwhelmingly Democrat. There is a reason friends in MA do not support him for President and in 2008 went to NH to work for McCain. He is being pushed by the media as the best chance to beat Obama -- might want to think twice when the Obama media is pushing a candidate.

Tim Pawlenty, the two term Governor of Minnesota, was able to accomplish more in Minnesota than most of us thought possible as we was up against a heavily Democrat legislature. He was reelected and has the credentials to be President based on his record but there is something lacking in his presentation and needs to do a better job in debates. The "WOW" factor was missing in last night's debate according to what we have been reading, but he has the credentials and has some really good ideas on how to jumpstart the economy.

Herman Cain is the one person in the race with executive experience and no government experience. He has some great ideas but is lacking in knowledge of how government works like saying he would only sign a bill that is three pages or less. For starters Budget/Appropriation bills that go the President for signature have to be huge bills because of all the data they contain on how money is to be spent. After the last few years we need someone who can hit the ground running as President and not have on the job training.

Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House and policy wonk, should not be running after his debacle during the impeachment of Bill Clinton when he left the House in disgrace. After leaving the House, Newt and Hillary got together on healthcare and Newt and Nancy Pelosi got to together on climate change and he wants to be the Republican nominee?

Ron Paul, member of the House, running again to get out his message that probably 95% or more of the Country could care less as some of his ideas are out of the mainstream of conservatives especially on the military.

Michelle Bachmann, member of the House, presents herself well but has a lack of depth when it comes to experience. Kind of odd to see her portray herself as this big conservative on the budget when she stands with a lot of others wanting pork and earmarks. She also could not get many members of Congress to support her in the House for the Conference Chair. If the people who work with you, won't support you, then it makes a person wonder. She wasn't elected to the House until 2006 so there is not even that much Federal experience. The past year she formed the Tea Party Caucus in the House. Frankly, we are part of the group who believe the Tea Party should have remained in local control and no politician should be involved as heading any part of the Tea Party.

Rick Santorum, former Senator, was defeated in 2006 when Republicans lost a lot of good Senators. He was defeated by a Democrat who was just as pro-life as Santorum or at least said he was. Santorum is considered part of the religious and social conservative part of the GOP. Since losing his Senate seat, Santorum has given speeches and worked at a conservative think tank and as a cable news channel commentator.
There you have our current crop of candidates and to be honest, we would support the Republican for President but don't believe this group has the ability to unite Republicans in a way to take on Obama and the Democrats and make our candidate have long coattails. That is why so many people are asking Rick Perry to get in the race -- he has the "WOW" factor when he speaks and he has already taking on Obama several times as Governor of Texas.

Last year at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference (SRLC) his speech made you wish he would announce right then that he was running for President. Only two people gave really good speeches at the SRLC last year -- Perry and Mike Pence who is now running for Indiana Governor.

After reading about last night's debate, no doubt in my mind that Republicans and this Country need Rick Perry in the race to enthuse the Republicans across the board. This time the Republican grassroots are going to bring along the establishment Republicans in DC and other places. Anyone who says that Rick Perry is an establishment candidate doesn't know Texas politics.

We have been wondering who would run as the VP candidate with Rick Perry or any of our candidates. Marsha Blackburn, House Member from Tennessee, was the first name that popped in my head. She has been in our state to speak but when I really noticed her was during the Obamacare Summit. That's when we also learned to know Paul Ryan. Blackburn held her own against Obama and the Democrats and came across as very knowledgeable on healthcare. Since 2007, Blackburn has not made a special spending request in federal budget earmarks. She is conservative on both economic and social issues. Blackburn is currently the Vice Chair on the Commerce Subcommittee for Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade. Since a lot of people would like to see a Republican woman candidate on the ticket, why not look at Marsha Blackburn?

GOP debate winners: Romney, Bachmann and Rick Perry

By: Philip Klein 06/13/11 10:37 PM
Senior editorial writer Follow Him @Philipaklein

Mitt Romney has tremendous vulnerabilities as a presidential candidate, but those weaknesses won’t matter unless one of his rivals tries to exploit them. Tonight, he skated past questions on the health care law he signed as governor and on his record of flip-flopping on abortion, because none of his opponents were willing to challenge him.

This made for an especially weak showing by Tim Pawlenty, who talked tough in a television appearance on Fox News Sunday when he used the term “Obamneycare” to describe the Obama/Romney approach to health care. But when given a chance, repeatedly, to elaborate, Pawlenty wimped out. In addition to letting Romney get away with his flawed explanations for his disastrous health care legislation in Massachusetts, Pawlenty came off looking weak – like the guy who criticizes you behind your back and cowers in front of your face. It was sort of like Ronald Reagan’s “I am paying for this microphone” moment in New Hampshire, only in reverse.

During the 2008 campaign, one of the biggest problems Romney had was that he built up resentment among his rivals by not only reversing himself on a host of issues, but then attacking all his opponents for being insufficiently conservative on the issues he had just converted on. This came back to haunt him down the stretch, particularly as Mike Huckabee and John McCain effectively teamed up against Romney in Iowa and New Hampshire. But tonight, Romney was affable, and complimentary to all of his rivals, and specifically to Pawlenty. This had a disarming effect, and it also allowed him to concentrate his fire on the real opponent, President Obama.

Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., who announced during the debate that she would be running for president, also had a strong showing. Though she’s portrayed in the media as a lightweight, she came across polished, knowledgeable and quite comfortable during the debate. The only thing that had me a bit confused was when she said that she wouldn’t interfere with a state that wanted to legalize gay marriage, but yet she’d support a federal marriage amendment. The 2004 version of that amendment read, “Marriage in the United States shall consist solely of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a man and a woman.” If Bachmann catches fire, it could be particularly damaging to Pawlenty, who needs a strong showing in Iowa have a chance against Romney.

None of the other candidates on stage: Rep. Ron Paul, R-Tex., Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, or Herman Cain particularly distinguished themselves.

In my headline, I named Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who didn’t participate, as another winner in the debate. And by mentioning Perry, I use him as a stand-in for any other Republican candidate who may be contemplating a late entry in the race. Romney may have established himself as the frontrunner tonight, but he remains incredibly vulnerable. So there’s still a huge opening for another candidate.
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Read more at the : Washington Examiner

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