As it impacts our nation on all levels, financially and culturally, immigration is one of the most important topics for debate. These are our stories.

Mike Huckabee is thought to have the gift of gab. According to this quote, Gov. Huckabee didn’t have that gift going yesterday:

”Folks, I don’t know what you are going to hear, about that I’m not a conservative, but when you cut taxes, and you increase the per capita income, you improved the schools, and you rebuild the roads, and you preserve the national resources, and you streamline government, your government grows at a rate that is half that of the average of all states,” Huckabee said, his voice rising. “Call it anything you want to, but anybody with an I.Q. above broccoli calls that conservative, rock-solid, kind of leadership.”

I’ll start this fisking with the tax thing. When you cut some taxes a little bit but raise other taxes alot, you aren’t a conservative.

Next, let’s talk about the education issue. You aren’t a conservative when you get endorsed by the NEA, especially when you tell them that you’d veto any school voucher legislation that made it to your desk.

Next, let’s talk about the things that Gov. Huckabee didn’t talk about. When legislators here in Minnesota tried passing the DREAM Act, it was supported almost exclusively by the DFL. (DFL is Minnesotan for flaming liberal.) Mike Huckabee supports giving in-state tuition to children of illegal immigrants. At least he did before flip-flopping and saying that he’d deport every illegal immigrant in the US.

BTW, the outcry against Minnesota’s DREAM Act was so loud that the DFL dropped that out in conference committee.

If Mike Huckabee is the GOP nominee, I won’t vote for him. I’ll focus solely on local races. It’s time that the GOP faithful rejected Gov. Huckabee’s flippant one-liners and his inconsistent beliefs.

Technorati Tags: Mike Huckabee, Taxes, DREAM Act, Education, School Vouchers, Immigration, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

Here’s the transcript to Fred’s newest advertisement:

Fred Thompson: I’m Fred Thompson and I approve this message.

I’ve been a conservative all my life.
I grew up in a little hometown just like this.
Started the first Young Republican Club in Lawerenceburg, Tennessee.
In eight years in the United States Senate, I fought for tax cuts, and forconservative judges.
And I’m proud to have had a 100 percent pro-life voting record.
Common sense conservative principles. Free people and free markets and a government that doesn’t tax and regulate us to death, but defends us and protects our borders.
In a country where, if you play by the rules, you’ve got a fair chance to live the American dream.
My friends, we must remember that our basic rights come from God and not from government.
And if we stick to our basic conservative principles, we will win next November and the United States of America will be better for it.
Announcer: Strength, Conviction, Honesty.
Fred Thompson, President.

This is the type of conservative leadership we’ve craved for years. (continue reading post »)

After congratulating Gov. Romney on winning the Michigan Primary, John McCain defiantly declared that he’d win South Carolina’s Primary. Here’s what Sen. McCain said:

“I congratulate the governor. I just talked to him on the phone and congratulate him on his victory. Starting tomorrow, we’re going to win South Carolina, and we’re going to go on and win the nomination,” said the Arizona senator after his loss to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

“I congratulate him on that Michigan welcomed their native son with their support,” McCain added. “I said we would win in New Hampshire. We will win in South Carolina.

McCain’s momentum has just taken a hit following a relatively solid defeat at the hands of Mitt Romney. All day long, headlines read that he and Romney were “neck and neck.” As of 10:30 CT, McCain was gettng thrashed by a 39%-30% margin. That isn’t many people’s definition of neck and neck.

McCain’s also kidding himself if he thinks that he’s still the frontrunner in South Carolina. Alot of military personnel are also immigration enforcement hardliners. Look for that issue to hurt McCain as Fred draws a bead on him on his co-authoring the Shamnesty bill with Ted Kennedy.

Asked to respond to Romney’s comments that “It’s a victory of optimism over Washington-style pessimism,” the four-term senator passed on commenting, saying, “I would not know what he’s talking about.”

That’s a dose of doublespeak from the supposed straight-talking champion. He can’t not know what Romney meant. Sen. McCain knows that he went negative in Michigan and that that failed him. Essentially, Sen. McCain ran a campaign from this mindset:

‘You voted for me eight years ago, I’m still a great guy and I’m glad I don’t live here’.

That won’t get it done. People want to hear that their future will be brighter because the candidate believes in them. John McCain doesn’t have the ability to convey that type of message.

McCain is doing his best to show a brave face but he got stung Tuesday night. He needed to win to keep his momentum going. Now he’s got to face life in conservative states where his anti-conservative, stick my finger in their eye message simply won’t sell.

That doesn’t mean that he’s “out of it” but he’s facing a steeper uphill fight than Fred, Rudy and Mitt.

Technorati Tags: McCain, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Michigan Primary, Fred Thompson, Rudy Giuliani, Immigration, Election 2008

Cross-posted at LetFreedomRingBlog

I enjoy most anything that Human Events puts out. That said, this article is off the charts great. Here’s the lead-in to the article:

Wendell Goler: Gentlemen, if we can, let’s move on.

In his second inaugural, President Bush made clear that this country would no longer trade civility for democracy, yet relations with Pakistan seem to test that.

Senator Thompson, would your administration continue to back Pakistani President Musharraf despite polls that show two-thirds of the Pakistani people want him to resign immediately?

Sen. Fred Thompson: Oh, my goodness, go against the poll?
–Fox News Republican Presidential Debate, January 11, 2008

Fredheads like me have always loved how Fred zings media people, especially after they ask horserace-oriented questions. This wasn’t any different. As bitingly sarcastic as Fred’s reply was, these paragraphs were even more biting:

Thompson was fighting the polls even before he got in the race for president. First, he was the unannounced winner that we breathlessly waited to get into the race. He is a real conservative on every front and a commanding presence. After much too much waiting, Fred Thompson got into the race. He immediately began falling short of media-created expectations, and the sharks began to circle.

Since the talking heads have been right about everything else in the election, Thompson ought to just close up shop and go home to Tennessee, right? Since Iowa, if you only listened to the reporting on the Thompson campaign, you would think this guy is a few cards short of a deck for even going on another day. But what if the pundits and pollsters are wrong?

(continue reading post »)

That’s the question Peter Robinson is asking in this post at NRO’s Corner. Here’s the full post:

All eyes are naturally enough on the Michigan primary tomorrow—all eyes, that is, except mine, Jonathan Adler’s, and those belonging to readers of this happy Corner who have been wondering, along with Jonathan and me, when the polls down in South Carolina would finally begin to move in Fred Thompson’s direction. Now, Rasmussen reports, they have. Fred ain’t dead. Lately, as the South Carolina debate demonstrated to all the world, he ain’t even drowsy.

Which brings me to a question. Earlier today I talked with an old friend who’s close to the Thompson campaign. At every Thompson campaign stop in South Carolina, he told me, there is something new: real excitement. The crowds are big and growing by the day—for the first time, people are being turned away from Thompson events because they’re already full. The state troopers are showing that special deference and respect they reserve for candidates whom they actually suspect will soon become the commander in chief. And Thompson himself is pointed, energetic, combative. In other words, the campaign feels as though its achieving liftoff.

Are there any readers of this Corner in down in South Carolina who can confirm this? If you’re a citizen of the Palmetto State who has been to a Thompson event this week, I’d be obliged if y’all would drop me a line.

I’ve been wondering all weekend when the zombified media would pick up on the start to this ‘revolution-in-the-making’. While Peter Robinson and Jonathan Adler aren’t part of the Agenda (zombified?) Media, they’ve got a pretty significant readership. Now that they’re asking questions about the Fredhead Revolution, it won’t take long before it’s the subject on the cable news networks. (continue reading post »)

Based on the reporting in this article, it sounds like the crowds that Fred’s attracting are growing. Here’s what I’m basing this on:

It took Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson almost 15 minutes to drop the words “Law and Order” during his talk Saturday at Barbara Jean’s Restaurant, drawing a round of applause from the crowd of about 200. But the Lady’s Island gathering saved its loudest ovations for the former actor’s conservative messages during a brief Beaufort stop on an overcast afternoon. Coming off a sixth-place finish in New Hampshire’s Republican primary, the one-time Tennessee senator found a warm reception in “my neck of the woods.”

“You could see in there the level of enthusiasm people have,” Thompson said on his bus after the town hall-style meeting. “We’re going to be competitive on the airwaves in terms of radio and television…and I think we’ll do real well here.”

Fred’s message, combined with his imported GOTV operation, are leading to the increaseing crowd sizes. I’d bet that it’s intimidating to other campaigns that Fred’s got people flying or driving in to do doorknocking and phonebanking from all across the nation. That’s the type of ground game that’ll give a candidate a substantial advantage. Anyone that’s got that many passionate supporters is a force to be reckoned with.

Now check out what Fred’s saying:

In a campaign season marked by themes of change, Thompson started by citing something that doesn’t change, what he called the United States of America’s founding fathers’ understanding of “the wisdom of ages”, that too much governmental power corrupts. “That’s why they established the Constitution the way they did. The notion that a government big enough and powerful enough to give you anything was big enough and powerful enough to take anything away from you,” Thompson said.

Fred’s a true federalist. What makes it even better is that he isn’t bashful about being a federalist. It’s a safe bet that that’s a winning message in the South Carolina GOP primary. Fred’s saying that the Founding Fathers were wise is something else South Carolinians are sure to appreciate. (continue reading post »)

Salena Zito, one of my favorite columnists, has written a magnificent column titled “The certainty of political uncertainty.” It’s possibly the best writing I’ve seen from Ms. Zito, which is saying alot. Here’s the first key portion of Salena’s column:

Not much is certain in politics. Not exit polls, forecasts or punditry. Yet one thing that is for certain, coming out of New Hampshire, is that the 2008 presidential race remains very much up in the air.

“Look at what has happened so far,” says George F. Will, the conservative columnist. “The very idea that money is all-powerful was struck down with Romney in Iowa and New Hampshire; the idea that organization is all-powerful was struck down by Huckabee. “And with the Democrats we learned that the Clintons can top momentum in just about eight hours,” he added. “So, in other words, just about anything can and will happen.”

Finally, a columnist that admits this race likely will have several more twists and turns and that “just about anything can and will happen.” I wrote here that Dick Morris’ analysis wasn’t wise analysis because he’s saying that McCain is the favorite to win the nomination.

As near as I can tell, that prediction isn’t based on the map of winner-take-all states. Many of those states are states that Rudy has a big advantage in: California, New York, New Jersey, the New England states (now that New Hampshire is out of the way).

If Fred Thompson wins South Carolina, that will be another major twist on the way to the nominating convention here in Minnesota. Fred’s the truest conservative in the race, followed by Rudy. He’s got tons of gravitas, appeals to each of the major wings of the party (fiscal, judicial and social conservatism) and he has impeccable national security credentials besides.

Here’s another astute observation Salena makes: (continue reading post »)

When I read Dick Morris’ latest column, the first thing I thought was that is that it’s foolish to predict who the GOP nominee will be. The second thing was that picking McCain was Morris’ pick. Here’s a portion of his analysis:

McCain could even beat Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. His record taps into a latent populism that attracts Republicans, Democrats and Independents. His battle against big tobacco, efforts to address global warming, opposition to torture during interrogations and fight to reform corporate governance and to protect investors and pensioners appeal to voters of all stripes.

His issues cut across party and ideological lines, for an attraction far broader than the single notes sung by the evangelical Mike Huckabee and the anti-terror Giuliani.

His heroism is apparent and his independence from special interests notable. He’s pro-life and suitably conservative on social issues, so he attracts conservatives as well as moderates. And his credentials on terrorism and other national-security issues are outstanding. He’s got two main obstacles to overcome: his support for amnesty for illegal immigrants and his age.

The first thing Morris gets wrong is that McCain attacts enough Republicans now that we’re entiring the Republican phase of the GOP primaries. McCain is a populist, just like Huckabee is. Neither will get the endorsement because they don’t attract conservatives. (continue reading post »)

Human Events just endorsed Fred Thompson. Here’s what they said about Sen. McCain:

Sen. John McCain of Arizona is a war hero whose personal courage sustained many of the men imprisoned with him in the infamous “Hanoi Hilton.” We honor him, but he does not honor many conservative principles. His co-authorship of the Bush-McCain-Kennedy “comprehensive immigration reform” legislation last summer ran directly against our principles of American sovereignty and national security. His position has not been ameliorated by his more recent explanations of border-security measures he might support. His opposition to the Bush tax cuts, his support for economy-strangling measures to control “global warming” and his anti-torture legislation (which didn’t make torture illegal, it already was: McCain’s law only made a clear law vague to the point of unenforceability) all cut against the conservative grain. And so did his McCain-Feingold campaign finance law with its stifling of political free speech.

Last night, I said that McCain’s wandering off topic to talk about global warming had everything to do with his winning independents, not conservatives. John McCain isn’t terribly interested in conservatism. John McCain’s interested in self-promotion.

Here’s what they said about Mike Huckabee: (continue reading post »)

RECESSION:

Romney: We need to invest more into R & D, make the tax cuts permanent, “stop the housing crisis” & reduce our dependence on oil.
McCain: Some jobs aren’t coming back, Education is key for those who’ve lost jobs. We aren’t heading for a recession.
CWallace: What do we do shortterm?
McCain: Cut gov’t. spending. He’s dissing South Carolinians by talking about Michigan alot. Otherwise nondescript answer.

As expected, Ron Paul gave the wierdest answer, saying that we’re in a recession, then saying that “we don’t know when it’ll come.” Then he dug his hole deeper, saying that we’ve delayed a serious recession.

Fred had a great answer, saying that he’ll defend Rudy’s tax cut plan because “it sounds an awful lot like the plan I introduced months ago.” He then stated that revenues are always more than the so-called experts predict before saying that “we’ve got too many two-handed economists”, saying on the one hand this, on the other hand that.

McCain should get off the climate change kick. That isn’t a selling point with conservatives.

Health Care/Abortion Rights question to Mitt: (continue reading post »)