Stories by Martin A. Knight
Posted at 11:20am on May 8, 2008 How McCain Can Win
Win The Argument
By Martin A. Knight
Victor David Hanson makes a good point here about the upcoming Presidential election; John McCain cannot beat Barack Obama by trying to blur the differences between himself and the likely Democratic nominee in a bid to win over the mushy middle.
... conservatives should reach out with conservative principles better framed and presented, rather than change the message for the perceived advantage of the hour.
What the Republicans need is not an abandonment of conservative principles, but a smarter, more articulate defense of even more conservativism, not less.
My shorter interpretation of what VDH is saying we need is this; BETTER MARKETING.
The fact is Conservative turnout in 2006 was virtually unchanged from 2004 in 2006 so blaming our booting from majority status on the 1-2% of the base that sat on their hands ON 11/7/2006 is being willfully blind. We lost because we lost swing voters (the "center") in massive numbers (70D-30R, if I recall correctly) from an essentially even 50D-50R split in the two years from 2004 to 2006. And from all indications, we still have a long way to go before we can claw our way back to narrowing it to 60D-40R later this fall.
The first step to doing that, over the long and short term, is recognizing the fact that swing voters are primarily won through the marketing, rhetoric, stagecraft, image management, Press coverage, etc. The presentation and the public persona of the candidate (including the baggage of the popular perception of the candidate's party) matters a lot more with the average "middle" voter than his/her policy positions.
It's not exactly the most flattering picture of the part of the electorate that generally gets to decide who ends up giving the concession (or in the case of Democrats - filing suit in the nearest friendly Court) or victory speech on Election Day, but there it is.
The thing to remember though, is that this is no sign of stupidity, it's a sign of disinterest.
Amongst these people are numbered some of America's smartest men and women in every field of endeavor. They are registered as Republicans, Democrats as well as Independents - what they generally have in common is that they just do not actively think of or pay anything beyond passive attention to politics until maybe a week or two before Election Day. Then everything they've absorbed over the whole cycle combines with what they're hearing at the moment - from their own subjective gut reactions to poll reports telling them who their neighbors are voting for to the disbelieving arch of the reporter's eyebrow to October Surprises - and then they go out and vote.
Posted in 2008 | 2008 | how to win | McCain | Obama — Comments (84)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 9:02am on Apr. 16, 2008 O'Bama: I said something that "everybody" knows is true ...
Giving the rest of us a window into the liberal/Democratic worldview ...
By Martin A. Knight
I really didn't have much to say about Barry Henry O'Bama's San Francisco gaffe - but I did notice how similar it was to Michael Weisskopf's little "largely poor, uneducated, and easy to command"? gaffe way back in the early 1990s. And, of course, how it echoes one of the Left's most celebrated political books today; "What's The Matter With Kansas?"
As George Will's very nice article on this points out, this has been a part of the Left's mindset since Adlai Stevenson (Eisenhower's opponent in both '52 and '56). Liberals excel at psychoanalyzing the American electorate and assigning attributes/motives/beliefs to vast swathes of the American people, that, strangely enough, always serve to make them look good in comparison.
Read on ...
Posted in 2008 | Archived | gaffes | liberal condescension | Obama — Comments (7)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 7:04am on Apr. 8, 2008 Meet The Deaves of Southern Australia
H/T: Wizbang - Skip This If You're Squeamish
By Martin A. Knight
They look like an ordinary every day couple blessed with a beautiful little girl (and little baby Celeste is indeed beautiful, isn't she?), don't they? John may seem a few decades older than Jenny but that is far from uncommon and no more a cause for a raise of the eyebrow than it has ever been.
What really makes this family unit "special" is that John and Jenny are not married and yet, strangely enough, Jenny bears the same legal last name as John. Coincidence - as is 99.9% the case in these situations? No. Not really.
John and Jenny Deaves reunited 30 years after Mr Deaves separated from Jenny's mother.
Jenny was 31 and just two weeks after meeting, father and daughter had sex.
"John and I are in this relationship as consenting adults," Mrs Deaves told the Nine Network's 60 Minutes tonight.
"We are just asking for a little bit of respect and understanding."
Their nine-month-old daughter Celeste, shown on TV, appears fit and healthy.
Mrs Deaves said soon after reuniting with her father she began to see him as a man first and her father second.
Read on ...
Posted in Archived — Comments (63)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 2:10pm on Mar. 17, 2008 A Tough Decision For FL-22 GOP Primary Voters
The case for picking the candidate that makes strategic sense in both the long and short term.
By Martin A. Knight
The 22nd Congressional District of the state of Florida is currently represented by a freshman Democrat, Ron Klein, the former Minority Leader of the Florida Senate, who defeated Republican Clay Shaw in 2006, a very senior 26 year veteran of the House.
This is still a marginal district, a purple seat with neither red nor blue having a distinct advantage, even with the benefit of incumbency that Ron Klein currently holds.
And it is one of those seats we need to start winning before we can have a hope of regaining a majority any time within the near future. 2006 saw the GOP lose probably around 90% of every toss-up race in the country, and to make matters more ... difficult, we just lost our former Speaker's nominally Republican seat thanks to our side's nomination of someone who, by all accounts, was a terrible candidate.
Like Dan would say, it's people ultimately that run for public office, not disembodied ideas, ideologies or Parties.
Read on below ...
Posted in 2008 | Allen West | Archived | FL-22 | GOP | Mark Flagg | Primary | Ron Klein — Comments (10)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 9:16am on Nov. 5, 2007 Giuliani No Better Than Hillary On Abortion? I Don't Think So ...
The Choice Here For Pro-Lifers Is Ultimately Between More Abortions & Less Abortions.
By Martin A. Knight
For what it's worth, I'm already on record as not a Primary supporter of Rudy (even if this is my second somewhat "pro-Rudy" post in as many weeks), but in the general, I would happily pull the lever for the man because he will be many times better than the alternative. Even on life issues. Believe it or not, the truth is, from all indications, I don't think Rudy gives that much of a damn about abortion. That makes him much easier to sway than someone who passionately upholds it as a sacrament (Hillary). And if, as he must, he picks a pro-lifer to be his Vice President, when his term(s) is/are done, we will have successor in line for the White House who is pro-life.
Will we get that with Hillary? Does anybody believe that the Press Corps will do anything that will jeopardize President Hillary being succeeded by her equally rabidly pro-abortion Vice President? Understand this, the Press now knows from 2006 that they can control the mushy middle (not by building up Democrats, but by tearing down Republicans) and they're going to make sure she has an eight year honeymoon if she wins - corruption and scandals are going to be spun, covered up and even pinned on Republicans, until her successor is safely inaugurated.
Never forget this; defeat does indeed have consequences. And they could last decades. Upon decades. Imagine three (or more) 40 year old Ginsburgs and Breyers on the Court - and one of them could be replacing Justice Scalia.
More below ...
Posted in 2008 | Abortion | Archived | election | giuliani | Rudy | unity — Comments (21)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 5:00pm on Oct. 25, 2007 Rudy's Appeal
By Martin A. Knight
I'm a social conservative through and through; I'm pro-life - much more so after the first trimester, I am opposed to redefining marriage to allow just any combination of people to enter into the institution and be called a married couple (or group) and I am unreservedly pro-Second Amendment. I hasten to add that these are far from the only issues a social conservative should be concerned with; "civic" and "law and order" issues - things like education, immigration, welfare, preferences, etc. generally qualify as social issues as well. Either way (for now) abortion, marriage and the right to bear arms are clearly the three key "social conservative issues" on the front burner.
Logically Rudy should not have any appeal for me. But he does, despite being so very wrong on three key issues for this SoCon. But yet, I'll be upfront and say that if on Election Day 2008, the man at the top of the ticket representing the Republican Party happens to be one Rudolf William Giuliani of the state of New York, I would be punching out the chad by his name with some measure of enthusiasm.
Read On...
Posted in 2008 | Republicans | Rudy Giuliani — Comments (183)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 10:10am on Aug. 10, 2007 Another Blow To The "Consensus"
Turns Out 1934 Is The Hottest Year On Record
By Martin A. Knight
Oh the humanity ...
The next decade will be a hot one, according to scientists unveiling the first 10-year projection of global warming.
The climate projection, published today in the journal Science, suggests that a natural cooling trend in eastern and southern Pacific ocean waters has kept a lid on warming in recent years.
And it will continue to do so, scientists say, but not for long.
The projection spans 2006 to 2015. "At least half of the years after 2009 are predicted to be warmer than 1998, the warmest year currently on record," the researchers say in their report.
Err ... not anymore.
Read on ...
Posted in Policy — Comments (52)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 10:32am on Aug. 7, 2007 The KS GOP & Its "Moderate" Leadership
Rethinking the "Big Tent ..."
By Martin A. Knight
Erick's story about the Kansas GOP and their "moderate" National Committee representative Steve Cloud is just another piece of evidence leading me to believe that it is time we Republicans re-evaluated our commitment to the "Big Tent." I still believe that it should be "Big", but we need to define bright and clear boundaries that define precisely where one crosses the line.
Clearly there should be a limit to our tolerance of Republicans elected to public office going "moderate" wandering off the reservation on so many issues that they are by and large indistinguishable from Democrats on the things that matter. Allowing the "Big Tent" concept to be the final word on what it means to be a Republican simply makes us a party without anything to stand for - and that's enough to guarantee the GOP going the way of the Whigs.
"Moderate" and/or Rockefeller Republicans (I exclude proper Republicans like Rudy Guiliani and William Weld) may win elections here and there, but at the end of the day, they are basically slow acting poison. Note that we spent years as the minority party led by Rockefeller Republicans of the United States until the very moment Gingrich excised them out of our Congressional leadership.
It is extremely rare to find a Rockefeller Republican as either an elected or party official who leaves office with the party in his district or state stronger than when he/she met it. It is far more common to find the exact opposite, e.g. Bob Taft in OH, George Pataki in NY, Christie Whitman in NJ. I have looked for instances where it is proven otherwise but those instances are very few and far between. In fact, in recent times, the immediate after-effect of electing a "moderate" Republican into any public office is an increase in Democratic strength in the area affected.
Read on ...
Posted in Republicans — Comments (27)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 9:34am on Jul. 27, 2007 Beware the Jamil Hussain Maneuver.
Let's Stop TNR From Getting Away With It.
By Martin A. Knight
Everyone here probably remembers the "Jamil Hussain" kerfuffle. "Jamil Hussain" was the pseudonym (though that was not made known to their readers at the time) of a police captain assigned to the Khadra police station in Baghdad who the AP has identified as a source for 62 of their stories - this included events that were outside the station's jurisdiction.
Then one day the AP filed this report;
Shiite militiamen grabbed six Sunnis as they left Friday worship services, doused them with kerosene and burned them alive near Iraqi soldiers who did not intervene, police Capt. Jamil Hussein said.
The savage revenge attack for Thursday's slaying of 215 people in the Shiite Sadr City slum occurred as members of the Mahdi Army militia burned four mosques, and several homes while killing an unknown number of Sunni residents in the once-mixed Hurriyah neighborhood of Baghdad.
Read on ...
Posted in Archived — Comments (9)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 4:05pm on May 7, 2007 Fortitude, White Lies & The Great Communicator
S*** CIVILITY.
By Martin A. Knight
Andrew Klavan's (author of Shotgun Alley, True Crime, Don't Say a Word) latest submission in the most recent edition (Spring 2007) of the Manhattan Institute's City Journal magazine is a very good read - though, to be completely honest, I am yet to come across an article in the City Journal that is not a very good read. The very first sentence of Klavan's column seems especially designed to annoy all the right (i.e. Left) people ...
The thing I like best about being a conservative is that I don’t have to lie. I don’t have to pretend that men and women are the same. I don’t have to declare that failed or oppressive cultures are as good as mine. I don’t have to say that everyone’s special or that the rich cause poverty or that all religions are a path to God. I don’t have to claim that a bad writer like Alice Walker is a good one or that a good writer like Toni Morrison is a great one ...
Of course, like everything, this candor has its price. A politics that depends on honesty will be, by nature, often impolite. Good manners and hypocrisy are intimately intertwined, and so conservatives, with their gimlet-eyed view of the world, are always susceptible to charges of incivility. It’s not really nice, you know, to describe things as they are.