I'm taking time out of my busy cocktail guzzling schedule to share with you some thoughts about our presidential primary season and how it's shaping up. In short, I'm nervous. . .
Firstly, if I haven't been clear, I am in the "anybody who can defeat Obama camp" (I know, I know...RACIST!). Sigh, moving right along...my main concern is, as Charles Krauthammer puts it, the authenticity vs electibilty issue.
I fear we are at risk of repeating the same mistake the democrats made in 2004. Our adversaries were in a position to win the 2004 general election. Operation Iraqi Freedom (Bush's War) was highly controversial for different reasons. Some believed the operation took resources from Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan (the good war). Saddam Hussein wasn't a threat to us and even though at some point in time he was in possession of, at the very least, chemical weapons (weapons of mass destruction) they were nowhere to be found in 2003. Some were angry with Bush giving the federal government the Go-Go-Gadget Collection with The Patriot Act. Others were angry about the spending increases, fighting two wars is expensive. And how can we forget The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 and The Jobs and Growth Tax Reconciliation Act of 2003 (the Bush Tax Cuts)?
Sounds like a landslide waiting to happen, right? Wrong. Kerry lost by over 3.5 million votes, he fared better in the electoral college, 286 to 251. All candidates are not created equal, electability matters.
The current GOP pool plus the truuuuue conservative vs the establishment RINOS infighting could put us in the same position the democrats were in, eight years ago. I find a lot of my fellow republicans writing on social media sites and blogs that we could defeat President Obama with any one of the candidates currently running (or Sarah Palin) even if national polls suggest otherwise; this concerns me. I do believe that Obama is beatable, just as I think Bush was in 2004, as long as we choose a winner. But please, while doing so, keep these things in mind:
- Each of the current candidates is on record as saying they will repeal ObamaCare and appoint conservative judges to the Supreme Court.
- While I agree that entitlement reform must happen, it is a huge manmade problem facilitated by us, the voters. We have allowed the government to grow with each administration, we have to have realistic expectations about what can be done and we can't win the general without Independents.
- Illegal immigration reform has been campaigned on for decades resulting in nothing but talk. If you are born here, you are an American, period. Educating American children is not just the only choice, it is the smart choice. Investing in young Americans (I don't care where their parents were born) through education is a no-brainer. I don't know why Perry had a hard time articulating this on Thursday but "children of illegals" and "illegals" are not the same thing. How to do so, is a fair question but asking "should we" is not.
- And as far as getting sucked into abortion, gay marriage and capital punishment debates:
We can win, as long as we don't get Kerry'd away.
P.S. If after reading this post you want to comment on the legality of war, I wasn't addressing you but I'm sure your mom would like to discuss the War Powers Act and the current administration's actions in Libya.
"Educating American children is not just the only choice, it is the smart choice. Investing in young Americans (I don't care where their parents were born) through education is a no-brainer. I don't know why Perry had a hard time articulating this on Thursday but "children of illegals" and "illegals" are not the same thing. How to do so, is a fair question but asking "should we" is not."
ReplyDeleteWhy should these people get a tuition discount? Why should they get affirmative action?
A tuition discount? The student, assuming s/he was born in the US, would get the same in-state tuition as any other student living in that state. Affirmative Action? I don't believe in Affirmative Action. All students should be evaluated and afforded or not the EXACT same (not special or different) educational opportunities.
ReplyDeleteMy "investing in young Americans" quote was referring to public education from elementary - high school. If a child is born here, but their parents are here illegally...the child is protected, the parent is not. "How do we handle this problem", is a fair question, "should the child be allowed to go to public school" is not.
I still remember the bumper stickers that read "Clinton Gore Gone in Four".
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I think the fear that the establishment candidate will promise to repeal, promise good judges, promise etc and then renig on the promises is very legitimate. They have done this before, too many times. Anyway, the bottom line is (probably) that it won't matter in the end and Mitt Romney is going to get it no matter what. Whether or not he beats Obama remains to be seen. There are so many factors that could come into play at a critical time (again, Clinton Gore Gone in Four comes to mind) and it is too soon to speculate on what those factors could be.
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