Conservatives Have Conservatives To Blame For GOP State Of Affairs

Guess what fellow conservatives?

There is a huge problem in our ranks and we have ourselves to blame.

Before ye call me a sellout, RINO, etc., etc., read on.

A case in point and what I will concentrate on is the Republican leadership in congress. 

Recently former Speaker of the House, John Boehner, all but handed conservatives a gift by giving up and leaving congress. Mind you, Mr. Boehner was not some hippy, left-winger. He was reliably conservative while moving up the leadership ladder. Something happened when Mr. Boehner attained the pinnacle of house leadership, the speaker's office. Mr. Boehner came in as House minority leader and acted as such when he became the speaker. It appeared that Mr. Boehner was more interested in cutting the deals no matter what rather than taking stands against the overreach of the executive branch. Sure, we are in divided government and at some level, deals will be cut. Conservatives simply wanted floor votes on a myriad of proposals that did not have a chance of even getting out of the then Democrat senate. But Mr. Boehner did nothing when the Republicans took control of the senate this year. 

As I noted yesterday, the GOP could simply have taken a page from the Democrat playbook of 1974-76 and sent the whole left-wing agenda to an impotent President Ford. He vetoed 66 pieces of legislation and was only overridden on 12. That's an over .800 winning percentage. Maybe it will end up the same but what the Republican base wants to see is less deal making and some back-bone. Count me in that group. 

But when Mr. Boehner quit, where was the great conservative to win over the disparate forces of the House of Representatives GOP caucus? 

NO ONE, but NO ONE wanted the job. The current Speaker, Rep. Paul Ryan, literally had to be dragged into the job. Where was Daniel Webster? Where was anyone in the Freedom Caucus? Huh? 

I'll tell you where they were. 

Hiding. 

Hoping that they would not have to try for a job that saw a pretty conservative fellow, Mr. Boehner, run out on the rail.

I fear that some firebrand conservatives realize that because deals have to be done, some disgusting, some just unpalatable, they do not want their fingerprints on it. Really, that is what we have to conclude.

You know who cut some lousy deals with a worse political landscape but turned out to be a damn good president?
Ronald Wilson Reagan.

So the dude literally dragged into the speaker's chair, Mr Ryan, cut a lousy budget deal that as he said the cake was already baked.
He is right. 

What was he supposed to do? Rip it up and start over? Maybe. Give conservatives more of a place at the table? Well, duh! 

By getting this out of the way, next year is going to be different. Conservatives will have a place and Mr. Ryan will make much more of a conservative effort to govern with the most left-wing president in our lifetimes. 

We conservatives expect a lot and were promised a lot over the past couple of election cycles. at a real level, we have been hosed. But we also are so damn tribal, we can't get a good, unifying governing majority. 

I hope my fellow conservatives think about all of this and don't think blowing up the place will make for a winning coalition. 

Did Biden Or Ryan Win The Veep Debate?

Well, Vice-President Dim Wit Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) had their much anticipated vice-presidential debate tonight.
The obvious question is who won?
Well, I don't think our illustrious vice-president did himself any favors tonight in tone, style and frankly many answers.
Rep. Ryan was steady, calm, cool and came up with a couple of good zingers.
So, in the end, the edge, but not a smack-down victory does go to Rep. Ryan. But Vice-President Dim Wit Biden probably did fire up the left-wing base of the Democrat party. And in the process turned off more independents and solidified Republicans around the Romney-Ryan ticket.
I think that this comment from the estimable Charles Krauthammer sums it up, sadly:

If you were listening on radio, Biden won. If you were watching it, Ryan won.

I think that is true.
Hey, if you like former Vice-President Al Gore and the sighs and smirks in the 2000 election campaign against former President George W. Bush, you would have loved Vice-President Dim Wit Biden up against Rep. Ryan.
I mean, it is one thing to smile and look and act confident. But it is another to have these facial expressions of outright dismay. And laughing throughout the "debate". And hey, when he is not being a blowhard, why damn! Just keep interrupting Rep. Ryan when he tried to answer a question from ABC Newsgal Martha Radditz.
But in between all of that, Rep. Ryan managed to articulate the top of the GOP ticket, Mitt Romney, and what he wants to do if elected president. And managed to get a couple of zingers off on Vice-President Dim Wit Biden.
Now I loathe to ever resort to using the so-called fact-checkers. Most of the time, it is an excuse for actual reporters to not do reporting. But this link seems to be more fair than others.
On what may have been the damning part of the night for Team Worthless Leader Obama, Vice-President Dim Wit Biden really stepped in it.  It is in regards to the assassination of the United States ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens and three others in the terrorist attack on the United States temporary consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
Here is the exchange:

BIDEN, on whether U.S. should have beefed up security at the U.S. Consulate in Libya before the deadly terrorist attack there: "We weren't told they wanted more security there."
RYAN: "There were requests for more security."

And the fact-check verdict?
Rep. Ryan is correct.
And the worst part is that, once again, the Obama administration looks like The Keystone Kops in not knowing anything before, during and worse, after the attack.

Another whopper that Vice-President Dim Wit Biden, parroting the whole Democrat party talking points is that they, only they, "rescued" Government General Motors. And how it saved jobs and all is rainbows and unicorns.
Uh, only problem is that, regrettably, the auto bailout began in the waning days of the George W. Bush administration.
And the whopper continues because once again, lie numero dos is that Mitt Romney did not want an auto bailout. That he just wanted GM to die.
And that is a lie bore out by this fact-check:

BIDEN: "Romney said `No, let Detroit go bankrupt.'"
THE FACTS: GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney has gotten endless grief through the campaign for the headline put on his November 2008 opinion essay that he wrote for The New York Times. But his point was never that he wanted the auto industry to go down the tubes.
Romney opposed using government money to bail out Chrysler and General Motors, instead favoring privately financed bankruptcy restructuring. His prescription seemed improbable. Automakers were hemorrhaging cash and the banking system was in crisis, so private money wasn't available. Without the government money, it's likely both companies would have gone out of business. Romney did propose government-guaranteed private loans for both companies after bankruptcy.

While the fact-checker seems to offer an opinion at the end, that they would end up going out of business rather than being allowed to reorganize, the thrust is that Mr. Romney did not want the government to be as involved as it became in both GM and Chrysler.
But lets face facts.
On the right, we wanted to see Rep. Ryan mop the floor with Vice-President Dim Wit Biden's hair plugs.
But that did not quite happen. Rep. Ryan held his own and ends up shinning over you-know-who by simply not coming off as rude and obnoxious.
So, in that respect it is a victory for Rep. Ryan, the GOP ticket and Mr. Romney.
Vice-President Dim Wit Biden may have just went a little too far in the shtick department. Again, watching the debate and the split-screen and seeing Vice-President Dim Wit Biden just smile, laugh, look incredulous and just plain annoying probably excited the Democrat base. The problem with the approach that Vice-President Dim Wit Biden took is that it will turn off the very voters that they need at this point. They do not need the Democrat base fired up. They are. But not as many as in 2008. They need independents at this point. And I do not think that Vice-President Dim Wit Biden did any favors in that regard.
The edge goes to Rep. Ryan, but not by much.
It is enough though to keep the big mo' going Romney's way.

Post GOP Convention Thoughts

The 2012 Republican National Convention is over and Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are the GOP standard-bearers for president and vice-president.
So, some thoughts.
For a political convention, this one was very much a positive one. The theme to take out of it is that the current occupier of the White House, the Dear Leader, President Obama, had three-plus years to do a good job and he has not. It is time for a replacement.
One of the reasons that it was positive is that no one attacked the Dear Leader, President Obama, personally. And it was not put out there that it was in fact an assault on his abysmal record rather than going after him as a person. It does not work and will not work. The record is what the speakers went after.
Were there jabs?
Of course. It is a political convention after all.
Such as the senate Minority Leader, Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) suggesting that the Dear Leader, President Obama, was auditioning for the PGA (Professional Golf Association) tour. After all, the Dear Leader, President Obama, does like his golf. And very little does stand in the way of that.
Oh, BTW, did you know that pretty much everything said against the policies of the Dear Leader, President Obama, was raaaaacist?
Remember, as The Other McCain notes, there are five aaaaa's in raaaaacist!
If you relied on the "coverage" from DNCNBC, er MSNBC, then yes, everything was raaaaacist! Even mentioning the Dear Leader, President Obama, and golf.
I really do not want to continue on writing about a SCOAMF* of a "news" network.
But I will write what I think is the stark difference between the Democrat party and the Republican party.
One of the charges leveled is that the overwhelming majority of the assembled delegates and alternates were White. Yes, they were. For you see, the Republican party does not put a quota on favored groups and how they should be represented. Yet at the Democrat convention, if you dare to watch, there will be the requisite number of Blacks, women, union people, homosexuals, all other  minorities that they will feel compelled to add in. Its not real. It is phony. As more people of color and the like gravitate to the GOP, the faces in the delegations will change.
But a real contrast is the impressive slate of elected and those running for office the GOP did put on of color.
Here are a few.
As I noted here, congressional candidate Mia Love, Black, woman, Mormon.
Those that are holders of elected office.
Congressmen Tim Scott of South Carolina, Allen West of Florida, two Black men elected in the deep South. Govs. Susana Martinez of New Mexico and Brian Sandoval of Nevada. Texas senate candidate Ted Cruz. And he will be Sen.-elect Cruz come November 7. Of course Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. Gov. Nikki Haley of South Carolina, an Indian-American.
If I left anyone out, please let me know.
Now some did not speak, but were there at the convention. And some were not at the convention itself.
But, keep in mind that many of these people were elected in the eeeeevvvvviiiiilllll, raaaaacist South. And really, it is harder for a person of color to win in non-set-aside districts and statewide than if "safe" areas.
As more people see these people, many will give thought to joining the GOP. It will not happen overnight, but the best outreach is to support these kind of candidates.
But back to the convention itself.
Closing night was great.
Yeah, I had to actually watch the Clint Eastwood mystery speaker bit again. But doing that made me realize that at a gut level, he was speaking truth and while not in any way a polished political speech, you saw someone who's heart really aches for his nation. And who said this memorable line:

“When somebody does not do the job, we have to let them go.”

And that is the election for many of us in a nutshell.
But what about the candidates themselves?
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) made a stellar speech and laid out the vision of a Romney/Ryan administration. It was not all wonkishness, but let's face it, he is a wonk. And he did not run whatsoever away from his budget plan or medicare reform. 
Before the man of the hour delivered his best speech, evah, there was a lot to "humanize" Mitt Romney.
Look, Mr. Romney is old-school.
He is not one to boast of himself, a wonderful quality, and his relationships with people. He is not Dr. Phil and or Oprah. But in this day, it is important for people to know that he is not the eeeeevvvvviiiiilllll businessman. He did not rub his hands together a la Snidley Whiplash and hope people died. He did not smile and get happy when businesses failed even with the help of Bain Capital investments. At the end of the day, Mr.Romney realizes that he is one very fortunate dude and he has done his level best to share that good fortune with many, many people. And he is a great husband and father and grandfather. And that was successfully done last Thursday night.
And of course, what can we say about Dirty Harry's performance?
To the left and some blue-blood or just boring Republican types, it was bordering on boorish.
What it really was about that a man who has seen a lot in his nation over his 82 years of life is seeing an unhappy nation. He thinks, like many of us, it is time for a real change. Not just talk and or hype. But the real deal. And he made clear, Mitt Romney is the one to deliver that real change.
Then Mr. Romney took center stage.
He hit it out of the park. He made the case in the clearest, concise way possible why he should be the next president of the United States. There was not wonk there. There were broad themes and as it should be at a speech of this nature. The crowd at the convention hall were seemingly hanging on every word. Because like many of us, they sense the urgency of the American people.
What we saw this week in Tampa was an energized, focused Republican party. One ready to put aside real differences. One that realizes the importance of what this election means. One with a real message and that is what made it a positive convention.

*SCOAMF-Stuttering Clusterfark Of A Miserable Failure

IT'S ROMNEY/RYAN*

*-Just in case I am wrong, but the tea leaves do say otherwise

In less than eight hours, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is expected to announce that he will ask United States Representative Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to be his running mate in the 2012 presidential election.
So as I note the tea leaves.
Consider this earlier today report from Robert Costa of National Review Online. He may have been the one to call it and do so early.
Jim Geraghty at the Campaign Spot explained how this now seems to be the way it goes down, based on the way Team McCain did it in 2008.
If one thinks that this is all a head fake and Mr. Romney is going to have someone else with him in Norfolk, Virginia in front of the U. S. S. Wisconsin, this reporting from Stephen Hayes and Bill Kristol at The Weekly Standard would suggest that the Wisconsin governor, Scott Walker, is ready to go all out regarding the choice.
Again, I do not believe it is a head fake of any kind. This is it.
So, what to make of this choice?
I think that it is a great choice.
Paul Ryan is the man that gets the problem in Washington. He wants to address cutting the debt, deficit and entitlement reform. He is totally on board with repealing and replacing the horrible Obamacare. He is veteran enough in Washington, yet still is seen as an outsider. He is a hawk on foreign policy. He is a Roman Catholic. And he is young.  Mr. Ryan is 42 years old.
Yes, I would have loved to see someone like the South Carolina governor, Nikki Haley, or United States senator, Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), but these are important people that need to be where they are. Mr. Rubio is probably one of, if not the leading conservative voice in the senate. He too is young and one can see him as a senate majority leader possibly sooner rather than later. After all, he was the Speaker of the House in the Florida House of Representatives.
Mrs. Haley needs to continue her reform agenda in Columbia. No doubt she is a fighter and survived a horrible primary and a narrow election win in 2010. And she has hit some bumps in the road. But reform, ah it is always hard. Ask Sarah Palin.
Paul Ryan will make a great number two and a superior vice-president to the dim bulb occupying that position today,  Joe Biden.
Tomorrow at this time, it will be official.
ROMNEY/RYAN '12
And the real campaign begins in earnest.