Darrell F's blog
Posted at 12:54pm on May 7, 2008 I announce my candidacy for the Democratic Nomination
By Darrell F
The Clinton campaign has used outstanding logic to convince me that it is possible for me to become the democratic nominee.
According to the Clinton team's metrics:
1) Obama has not won yet. I am behind in delegates, but the elected (pledged) delegates do not have to vote for the one they were elected to support. Once the elected delegates are chosen, the real race begins to get their votes. All I have to do is convince 2000+ democrat delegates to vote for me.
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Posted at 5:27pm on Mar. 19, 2008 Fifth Anniversary in Iraq--Why I still support the War
By Darrell F
No WMD. Bush lied, people died. Iraq is taking longer than WW II. We've all heard the criticisms of the War in Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein and his regime ad naseum from the media and the left. I just have a series of questions to ask.
Do you remember that this regime started a war with Iran that lasted for years and cost over a million casualties?
Do you remember the invasion of Kuwait where this regime raped a country and the people?
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Posted at 8:20pm on Mar. 12, 2008 Enabling the Clintons
By Darrell F
Others don't share my assumptions. It is obvious. But here they are.
1) The Clintons will corrupt the democratic process in any way imaginable to get, accumulate and retain power.
2) They will ruthlessly use the ends to justify the means.
3) The long term integrity of the process is more important than temporary political goals.
4) Democratic processes that are corrupted are very difficult to repair.
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Posted at 10:10pm on Feb. 26, 2008 McCain, Obama, Faith, and targeting weak spots to shore up before the fall.
By Darrell F
For all of you bottom line folks, the numbers are at the bottom.
Creating an opening:
2008 will be an election decided by values voters on both the left and right. These voters tend to support values over policies and leaders over managers. We see these voters in action on the left and right. Mike Huckabee draws voters who look for candidates who support and give voice to their values. Most conservative commentators, especially those here at Redstate, are mystified by those who continue to support him in spite of his being a “pro-life liberal”. That they continue to support him in the face of McCain’s certain nomination is thought to be the petulant, narcissistic actions of a self-serving man and his “kool aid stained” followers.
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Posted at 9:05pm on Feb. 18, 2008 Get Over It!-- Or the best way to divide a party.
By Darrell F
Despite my deep misgivings, I signed up with Sen. McCain’s website today to begin supporting and advocating for his election to the office of President of the United States. At an appropriate time, I will probably donate (a modest sum) to help his efforts between now and the convention to build a fall campaign.
I spent considerable time overcoming my antipathy to Senator McCain including researching his background on trade, spending, the war, life, and other issues. Some policy minded individuals at Redstate helped me to make the transition to swallowing a McCain candidacy. There were many McCain supporters who did so in respectful, thoughtful way.
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Posted at 11:32pm on Feb. 13, 2008 McCain's Path to Evangelicals without Pandering
By Darrell F
I have for days been pondering what message that Mike Huckabee sends that John McCain doesn't. Republican voters tend to vote for the next guy in line and for the front runner. Why isn't that happening?
I thought it was the compassion theme, which may be a part of it. But my gut says no. I think that the key is family. McCain doesn't talk about family issues. At least he hasn't in any of the many speeches that I have heard.
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Posted at 12:59am on Feb. 5, 2008 More on the path to supporting McCain if he is the nominee...He should run as a "Bull Moose" Republican
By Darrell F
Thanks to all who are helping me with my political therapy. This isn't necessarily written as an advocacy piece. I am just trying to figure out my anti-McCain bias in time for the general election if he is our nominee.
The Republican party is a big tent party. I don't mind McCain running as a Republican. I mind him running as a conservative one. He is a part of a notable, honorable, and historic line of thought as a moderate in our party. He is a progressive Republican in the mold of Teddy Roosevelt.
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Posted at 10:17am on Feb. 2, 2008 My real problem with McCain: He has insulted me and won't apologize.
By Darrell F
*I am not a bigot.* (I support border enforcement first. Yes, I know it was Lindsay Graham who used the actual words, but McCain has this attitude. Graham is his chief supporter and surrogate.)
*I am not part of the forces of intolerance.* (I believe that the Bible is true.)
*I am not greedy.* (I do work for profit to support my family.)
*I am not stupid.* (Of course some sort of McCain-Kennedy will be passed by a democrat congress in a McCain presidency. He will sign it.)
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Posted at 12:01am on Jan. 30, 2008 Congrats to McCain...Goodbye to Bloomberg
By Darrell F
Congratulations to the McCain campaign and his supporters. You won a closed primary. You passed the test.
Looking for a silver lining in this, McCain may have just ended the presidential aspirations of Michael Bloomberg. It is very difficult to see the rationale or space in the fall election for Bloomberg with McCain as the presumptive nominee. Although I have always thought his flirtation with running was an ego trip, it does my heart a bit of good to know that another big government candidate will not be irritating me in the fall.
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Posted at 11:18pm on Jan. 26, 2008 Obama is NOT just another socialist
By Darrell F
I am ready for the blowback.
He differs in attitude.
Obama is different. Two chants at his speech tonight. One was "USA! USA!" When was the last time you heard a "USA" chant at a democrat rally for President? The other was "race doesn't matter". I am sorry. In this age of identity politics, this is important.
The other point is that Obama believes in America in a way that liberals have not voiced since before Vietnam. Policy is important, but so is worldview. He doesn't believe that Republicans are inherently evil.
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Posted at 1:15pm on Jan. 23, 2008 Pessimistic and looking for input
By Darrell F
Today, I am a pessimist. I am a small government conservative in a party seduced by big government incrementalism. Much to my chagrin, this seduction didn’t start with McCain, Huckabee, Giuliani or even Romney. It started with Bush 43, Tom Delay and Trent Lott and a cast of dozens.
Republicans are amateurs at the big pork, nanny state bureaucracy. We can do it, but not well. The President has unfortunately proved this point. Where the President is right, he is heroically right. Like the man he defeated in the 2000 primary…when he is wrong, he is terribly wrong. If you are at Redstate, you know the litany. Congressional Republicans have done the party no favors from earmarks to corruption. Simply put, the Democrats can make a case that they are better qualified in 2008 to run a nanny state.
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Posted at 2:46pm on Jan. 18, 2008 With McCain, I Fear the Next Big Thing
By Darrell F
As I have observed and read the debate about John McCain on Redstate, I have questioned my own opposition to his nomination as a Republican candidate for president. As his defenders have so eloquently stated, John McCain is no more outside conservative orthodoxy than Giuliani, Huckabee, or Romney's past. He is orthodox on many of the key issues. Why do I oppose him so?
I oppose John McCain because of the *next big thing* that becomes the cause of the moment in the Main Stream Media and pop culture. McCain is a hero and a man of intense and deep passion, but he is carried away by passion at times to ignore inconvenient truths, long held principles, and a needed distrust of that which becomes the fad. He doesn't distrust information from the trendy and inaccurate chattering class as much as he should.
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Posted at 12:21am on Jan. 14, 2008 Remember the lesson of Bush 41
By Darrell F
He is a great man and a patriot. Polically, he had some difficulties.
He was a moderate.
Campaigned as a conservative.
Governed as a conservative...then moderately conservative...then moderately.
He was nominated because he was electable. He was the next in line.
Nixon was nominated because he was electable. He was the next in line. Nuff said.
Remember 1974 and 1976. Remember 1992. Remember 2006.
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Posted at 1:45pm on Jan. 12, 2008 The Huckabee Record for Big Government
By Darrell F
Two examples:
1) Huckabee opposed a ban on internet taxes in 2003. If one uses South Carolina's sale tax rate of 6% and an estimated internet sales of $175 bn, internet taxes would add up to $10,500,000,000 in new taxes with more to come as internet sales grow.
2) Huckabee would sign a national smoking ban. I don't smoke. I encourage others not to. However, the federal government has no standing to pass a ban like this. It is nanny state overreach.
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Posted at 4:51pm on Jan. 11, 2008 I just became a Fredhead!
By Darrell F
Can Fred win? Absolutely.
Will he win? There is a long way to go.
However, I have decided to put my voice and my very limited money behind FDT for one simple reason. He won't embarass me. I can be proud of who he is and what he stands for.
McCain is a hero. Huckabee is a true Christian man. A President needs courage and faith, but those are not enough. They are necessary but not sufficient. A President needs judgement, guiding political values, and a clear vision of political goals that encompass both process and outcomes.
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