Content by jamespolk
Posted at 11:35am on Oct. 18, 2007 The Case For John McCain
By jamespolk
John McCain is my first choice for the GOP nomination. Romney is probably second and Thompson third. Despite McCain's recent problems these are the reasons I still think he is the Republicans best hope.
1. Military/Foreign Policy Experience
Of the "big 5" (including Huckabee), McCain is the only one who served in the military (Huckabee might have been a JAG lawyer?) and the only one who faught in Vietnam. His miltary service is well known. He also has years of foreign policy experience in the Senate. I think this experience is vital right now. I know many think it doesn't matter but I think it does. McCain is the only one of the Republican candidate's who was critical of Bush's handling of the war WHILE Bush was actually screwing things up (now of course the others have jumped on the bandwagon and criticized Bush's handling of the war up until the surge that McCain had long been arguing for). McCain understands the threat of terrorism and he has the knowledge and experience to deal with it. He will be a strong and SMART leader in the GWOT.
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Posted at 6:40am on Oct. 17, 2007 Why Dobson CAN'T Support Rudy
By jamespolk
It seems like everyone who has commented on Dobson's latest comments and he and other Christian leaders' possible foray into a 3rd party are looking at it from the perspective of the GOP. Would Rudy be good for America and good for the GOP or would he not? But let's look at it from the perspective of the Christian right for a moment.
The Christian right started getting involved in politics in the late 1970's and really first coalesed behind a candidate in 80 with Reagan. Their big issues when they first entered politics were abortion and school prayer. They also talked about bringing morality back into politics. I think under George W. Bush they became even more in bed with the Republican party because Republicans continued to stand for those three "issues" (I'm defining morality in politics as an "issue" and I think that the whole "family values" convention reflects that) as well as a new fourth issue -- support for traditional marriage.
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Posted at 7:25am on Oct. 10, 2007 Who Should Social Conservatives Support?
By jamespolk
There have been several blogs recently which have degenerated into shouting matches between Rudy backers and social conservatives who won't support him even in the general. I certainly won't support him in the primary and probably won't in the general either. But that's not what this blog is about. It seems much more constructive for social conservatives to gather behind one viable alternative candidate and I'd like this post to provide a forum for that discussion.
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Posted at 2:24am on Apr. 29, 2007 McCain Surge?
By jamespolk
I'm not sure if McCain can pull this out, but here's how it could go down.
McCain's failure to make himself the "establishment" turns out to be a blessing. Rudy is now the frontrunner. McCain is looking older and tired, exhausted by his battles in the senate and failure to become the inevitable candidate by default ala Bob Dole. But his position as underdog rejuvinates him - he needs that status to go back out on the campaign trail with something to prove, just as he did in 2000. But instead of rallying the support of independents against the establishment candidate, this time he's leading an insurgency from the right-wing of the party. His own views haven't changed, it's just that the candidate he's running against is a liberal (in comparison to the mainstream of the GOP).
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Posted at 12:39am on Apr. 6, 2007 Rudy Can't Win
By jamespolk
There are a lot of reasons I would never vote for Rudy Giuliani, but I think one reason hasn't been addressed enough: if, on the off chance he won the Republican nomination, he couldn't win the general election.
There are two primary reasons for this -- he'll turn off social cons and won't be able to win the support of Independents/Moderate Democrats.
I realize that there are some social conservatives, including devout evangelicals, who are willing to overlook Rudy's support of abortion on demand, civil unions, gun control, and now government funding for abortion (in cases of rape/incest) because they think the War on Terror trumps everything else. But I think this group is a minority -- most evangelicals won't be willing to forget these issues. Dobson, Robertson, etc. will vehemently attack him during the primary and the support he now has from evangelicals who don't realize just how liberal Rudy is will erode. Many will vote for a third party candidate or stay home in the general.
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Posted at 12:39am on Mar. 16, 2006 Hah! KH to stay in race
By jamespolk
I just saw on Drudge that Katherine Harris is going to announce that she's staying in the race and will spend her entire fortune (10 million) on it. Good for her.
I think Harris has a shot of winning. It's slim, but I think he numbers will improve now that there's no longer any doubt about her dropping out. These rumors that conservatives have been spreading for months have caused her fund rasing to be very low, and her poll numbers to stay at exaggerated low levels.
The Republican Establishment can be pretty obnoxious from time to time. I think that's why there are some people who may disagree with some of McCain's positions but admire him anyway. Personally I'm not a huge Trent Lott fan, but I'd have been pissed off too if I were him and was treated as I was after his innocent Strom Thurmond comments. So it's nice to see Harris bucking the establishment.
If she were to win I think it would make a terrific movie - the protagonist takes on the liberals media and the republican establishement and emerges triumphant.
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Posted at 10:15pm on Feb. 11, 2006 "Human Events" Names Mitt Romny #8 RINO
By jamespolk
I guess they're showing their appreciation for all the liberal things he's done in the last few years -- like becoming one of the most vocal opponents of same-sex marriage, converting to pro-life, and balencing his state's budget w/out raising taxes.
Romney is not the most conservative Republican, but he's no RINO. For being from the most liberal state in the country, he's surprisingly conservative.
(Chaffee, Snowe, and Specter were 1,2, and 3. BTW).
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Posted at 1:10am on Feb. 10, 2006 A Question About The Things That Offend Us
By jamespolk
So most of the American media is refusing to show us the cartoons that have inflamed much of the Arab world. They say they Islam, and because they don't want to offend American muslims.
So why then do they insist on showing us image after image after image of Danish, French, Norweigan, and other countries' flags being trampled on and burnt? Aren't Scandanavian and French Americans offended by these images? Isn't there at least as possability that they are? I am. So why is the American media so insensitive to all these people?
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Posted at 1:56pm on Jan. 31, 2006 Oscar Nominations
By jamespolk
While D.C. went right and voted Alito today, one could say Hollywood went left w/ its Academy Award nominations.
Best Picture Nominees:
Brokeback Mountain
Capote
Crash
Good Night and Good Luck
Munich
Two gay-themes films, a movie about Racism's pervasiveness in America, a film that is arguably sympathetic to terrorists, and a good old-fashioned anti-McCarthy diatribe (this is relevent to today, by the way, because, in case you missed it, we're not allowed to speak freely and dissent from our government - it's true, I heard it from George Clooney).
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Posted at 2:14pm on Jan. 28, 2006 Katherine Harris
By jamespolk
I can't believe how unsupported Katherine Harris is on this site. It seems like people are convinced she has absolutley no chance of winning the Senate, and she isn't much liked anyway.
What exactly is wrong with her? She's a solid conservative, has served as congressman as well as state-wide elected post. It's almost as if everyone is buying into the idea that she did something wrong in the 2000 election, which she didn't.
Jeb Bush had more reason to cheat for Georgen Katherine Harris did, but voters didn't boot him out. In fact, he's got a very high approval rating now. I think if the Republican establishment in Florida (and nationally) would stop pretending they're going to get another candidate, and if the grassroots folks would come out w/ support and money, that Harris would quickly close some of the gap w/ Bill Nelson and it could be a very close race. But the defeatism is becoming self-fulfilling.