McCain's 100 year war quote - the truth

As the race for president continues, it is important to find out the facts about the candidates. If we depend on the media as our source of information we will be hit with a barrage of out of context quotes and lies. When the topic of conversation turns to John McCain, it is nearly impossible not to hear about the infamous “100 year war” quote. The Democrats have used this quote to try to paint McCain as a war-mongering Bush clone. Whenever anyone asks them in an interview about McCain, the first thing they say is something like this, “He wants to keep this war going for 100 years! Do we want that?” or something similar to that. The claim that they make is ignorant and way out of context, and they know it – The problem is that they know that casual followers of the presidential race won’t take the time to find out what McCain really said.

For a little bit of background I have posted the original video of what McCain said below. A reporter was talking about how Bush mentioned staying in Iraq for 50 years, and McCain said “make it 100…” He then went on to explain that we have been in Germany since WWII ended and in Korea since the end of the Korean War. He also made it very clear that it would only be ok to be there for that amount of time as long as US soldiers were not being killed.

John McCain never said that he wants the current war in Iraq, in its current state, to last for 100 years. It is important, though, to keep a military presence in the Middle East. The Middle East is one of the most volatile regions in the world. Many people think that if we just leave and let them take care of themselves that everything will be fine. They believe that it will not affect us. The truth of the matter is that if the rest of the world ignores the Middle East, it will put more and more people in danger. Radical Muslim extremists are being taught around the World, including in the USA, that Americans and their allies are evil and should be destroyed. They are taught that all people must convert to their religion- whether by force, manipulation, or some combination of both doesn’t matter. What Osama Bin Laden said is quite telling about the attitude of those who are fighting against our freedom. He said, “We love death. The US loves life. That is the difference between us two.”

It is obvious that the democratic candidates are using John McCain's quote out of context in order to advance their own campaigns, but in reality they both know that he is right. We will not be able to pull out of Iraq immediately, an even when active combat ends, we will have to maintain a military presence for years to come.

“This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.” ~Elmer Davis

Huckabee's supporters at it again

With the support for Romney as VP rising, a group of "social conservatives" has created a website in which they lie and write a letter to McCain saying that he can't choose Mitt for VP. Guess who's supporters are behind it? Yeah, its Huckabee's. The website is http://nomittvp.com the majority of those who are adding their names to the letter are actually for Romney and adding pro-Romney comments. I created an online petition that is against that website, go there and sign it if you agree. Click Here for the petition. Romney is not the only choice for VP, but it is ridiculous that these people can't get over their hatred for Romney and would try to destroy his chances.

Wright and Wrong

The president that we are going to choose has to be a person of good judgment. We must pick the person who will protect our country and who will make the right decisions at the right time. All of the candidates have their good qualities, and also their bad ones. It's up to us to decide who is the right person for the job.

During the past couple of weeks, there has been one name that has monopolized air time on all of the major and minor news stations. That name? Reverend Jeremiah Wright, the former pastor and long time friend and mentor of presidential candidate Barack Obama. Reverend Wright is the man who Obama said changed his life and introduced him to Christ. He has been his spiritual adviser, and until recently held a position in Obama's presidential campaign. Reverend Wright has been at the center of much controversy. In the past week videos of some of Reverend Wright's vitriolic sermons have been circulated and shown time after time on YouTube and other news stations. In many of these sermons, Wright made outrageous comments about America. He called the USA the US of KKK ... A . He also put a new twist on the common patriotic phrase of "God Bless America" when he said "... God bless America? no ... G** D*** America". He then went on in other sermons to blame the United States for the terrorist attacks of 911 saying that "the chickens have come home to roost" These comments are highly offensive and completely anti-American.

I understand completely that he is protected by the 1st amendment's freedom of speech, and he can say what he likes. He has a strong following in the black community and many people admire him. The person in question, though, is Senator Barack Obama. Obama has attended Wright's church for the past 20 years. He had his children baptized by him, and he was even married to his wife, Michelle, by Reverend Wright. Barack credits Wright as being the man who introduced him to Christ.

When Obama was questioned whether or not he had heard these comments in church, he responded that he had not. In a speech Obama gave last week he did admit that he had been in attendance when some comments that could have been considered controversial were said. Before that, he was asked if he would have stayed in the church if he had heard those comments, and he said that if he heard them repeated he would have left.

I want to continue by saying that I do not think that Senator Obama is un-American; nor will I say that I think that he is a dis-honest person. However, this story has caused me to doubt whether or not he has the correct judgment to be President of the United States. Many people ask what he can do in order to make up for this issue. Many people say that he just has to repudiate the comments that were made, and everything will be fine. In my opinion it will take more than that. He can not make up for 20 years of attending and receiving advice from someone like Reverend Wright, with a 30 minute speech. Whether or not Obama was in attendance when the worst of those comments were spoken is irrelevant. If he really is as close to the Reverend as he says he is, then he would be perfectly aware of the feelings that he held towards Americans, and in particular, white-Americans. It is understandable that Obama does not want to disassociate himself with Wright, because he truly has been an important figure in his life. However, a man running for president on the platform of Unity and Hope for a brighter future, should not have a man who pushes divisive policies and centuries old rhetoric as his spiritual adviser, nor should he play a part in his political campaigning.

I do not agree with Obama on many issues including Abortion, Health Care, Taxes, The War in Iraq, Immigration reform, and many others. Those are the main reasons why I can not vote for him. However, his apparent lack of judgment in this recent controversy has caused me to question even more his ability to lead and unite the country. Being President of the United States requires a keen sense of judgment and the ability to make correct decisions for the good of America. In my opinion, Obama's lack of good judgment should raise many red flags for anyone considering voting for him this election year.

Romney for VP?

Today Mitt Romney was interviewed for the first time since withdrawing from the race, and when he was asked whether he would take the VP spot if it was offered to him he said the following, "“I think any Republican leader in this country would be honored to be asked to serve as the vice presidential nominee, myself included, Of course this is a nation which needs strong leadership. And if the nominee of our party asked you to serve with him, anybody would be honored to receive that call … and to accept it, of course.” He also said that he thinks that it would be easier for McCain to beat Obama, because people are starting to recognize that he is inexperienced and McCain will look great in contrast with him.

One of Romney's best lines of the interviews was when he was talking about national security. He said that listening to Obama and Clinton discuss their national security credentials, Romney said, is akin to listening to two chihuahuas argue about which is the biggest dog.
He then said that when it comes to national security, John McCain is the big dog, and they are the chihuahuas.

Romney said that there are no hard feelings between the campaigns, and some of Romney's top campaign officials have been in contact with McCain talking about fund raising. McCain will be in Boston tomorrow, but it is not known if Romney will be present at McCain's rally. We shall see.

Many people want Romney to be the VP, including many people within Bush's inner circle. I think Romney would be great and would help McCain to gain a lot more support. With Romney's grasp of the economy I think a lot of people will take another look, especially because of the current economic problems.

It is also interesting to note that after a few weeks of being down, Romney's website is back up and running. What that means we can only speculate, but if Romney is offered VP, we now know that he will accept it.

The Rise and Fall of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign

Well, there hasn't been much to write about lately, so I decided to make this random post. enjoy! Check out the link on the right of the page that says "My Helium Articles" It is a link to a website where I have written a few articles about other subjects as well as politics.

Every person who decides to run for President of the United States knows that there will be challenges along the way. That is part of the process. A great way to judge a candidate’s ability to be president is to observe how he or she reacts to opposition. Each candidate in this year’s presidential cycle faced unique challenges in their run. In the following paragraphs I will briefly describe and analyze the campaign of one of these candidates; his name is Mitt Romney.

Romney officially began his campaign for presidency February 13, 2007. At that point he was not very well known, and he had a long journey ahead. It was a journey that would require all of his time, and the help and support of his family and friends. Romney’s preliminary success was almost instant, as he won the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) straw poll, garnering 21% of the vote. Romney began holding fund-raisers and in the first quarter of his presidential run he raised over 23 million dollars in addition to just over 2 million dollars that he contributed from his own fortune. He began to spend this money on advertisements in two crucial states; Iowa and New Hampshire. These advertisements focused on his conservative credentials and he began to lead in the preliminary polls in those two states.

Things were looking good for Romney, and he began to receive better name recognition. However, along with his rise in the polls came an increase in the scrutiny that he received. This was the beginning of Mitt Romney’s downfall. One of the main issues that came up was Romney religion. Romney is an active and involved member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (commonly known as the Mormons). Many people were wary of his religion, because of his beliefs which differ in some parts from the “mainstream Christian” beliefs. From nearly the beginning of the campaign Romney had to try to prove to the voters that his religion would not affect his ability to lead the country. The religion issue came to a climax when Romney gave a speech entitled “Faith in America” in which he explained that authorities from his religion would not affect his presidential decisions. Although he was able to calm the fire slightly, it still burned brightly in the hearts of many people who didn’t feel comfortable supporting a “Mormon”.

Romney continued working hard and was poised to win the Iowa caucus. Those plans changed when another no-name candidate came into the spotlight. That candidate was named Mike Huckabee. Huckabee was a former Southern Baptist preacher, and was very popular among evangelicals in Iowa. His popularity soared through the roof in the weeks preceding the Iowa caucuses and that resulted in a victory in the first of many contests. This put a dent in Romney’s armor and forced him to change his strategy slightly.

At that point Romney began to run ads which some construed as negative, in which he compared his record with his opponents’. Romney’s competition took advantage of this to point the finger at him and labeling him as the first to go “negative”. His top two opponents took every chance that they could to point it out in their interviews, apparently not seeing the irony in what they were doing. Nevertheless, Romney made a comeback and won some key primary contests and caucuses, which put him in the delegate lead for the time being.

In the interim between the first rush of primaries, Romney’s opponents and the media threw everything that they had at him in debates and in other interviews. He was accused of “flip-flopping” on several key conservative issues. The major issue that he was questioned on was his switch from being pro-choice to being pro-life. He explained that he had been pro-choice in the first case because of a close family member who had died of an illegal abortion, and for that reason he thought that it abortions should be safe if they were going to be performed. Romney gave his reasoning for the change, explaining that he had learned more about the issue, and could not support the stem-cell research that was being performed as a result of abortions. Despite Romney’s explanation he had already been labeled a “flip-flopper”, and that is one of his main challenges in his presidential run.

Romney hung in there until Super Tuesday, hoping to come away with big wins which would keep him in the running. Unfortunately the states which he won did not give him the amount of delegates that he was hoping for. Within a week of realizing his chances of capturing the nomination were slim, Romney gracefully bowed out claiming that he didn’t want to deny the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee, John McCain, the opportunity to begin his national campaign.

Romney’s run for president ended sooner than he, or many of his supporters, would have hoped, but it was far from a failure. Romney received the name recognition that he so desperately sought during his entire campaign, he engaged in many debates in which he looked very professional and presidential, and he set himself up for a potentially successful career in politics; which could possibly even include another presidential run in the years to come.

Obamamania? or ObamINSANia?

We all know what it is like when we discover a new fad. We know what it feels like when we hear an awesome new singer or band for the first time. Some of us may even know how it feels to be a part of their "fan club." Honestly, it's a good feeling. Everyone wants to feel like they are a part of something bigger. Most people want to be part of the "cool" group. This is normal, and a part of life, and in my opinion it is a very big part of why Senator Obama has become so popular as of late. I've been thinking about it a lot lately and I have a few theories about this so called "Obamamania"

In my sociology class we were studying group dynamics and one of the things we studied stuck out to me. It was the concept of "groupthink". Groupthink is defined as a narrowing of thought by a group of people, leading to the perception that there is only one correct answer, in which to even suggest alternatives becomes a sign of disloyalty. In my text book it says that people who develop this tunnel vision often, "put aside moral judgments and disregard risk." In a way this frame of thought affects the supporters of all candidates running for president, but I believe that it has affected on a larger scale the legions of Obama supporters. I am not saying that they are a bunch of mindless drones. Nor am I saying that they can't think for themselves, or that they shouldn't support their candidate. What I am saying is that Obama has gone from heavy underdog to superstar in the span of just a few short months, and there has to be reason.

It's easy to explain the reason for his popularity. Senator Obama has a great talent for giving speeches. He knows how to deliver lines that would have a much lesser affect if delivered by some of his opponents. He has based his campaign on a message of hope and change. The downfall? What he is "hoping" to "change" is widely unknown at this point. I have to admit that whenever I hear him give a speech he almost convinces me with his words, but when I look at his plan for "change", it's a plan that I can't swallow. This is where the above quote comes into play. Senator Obama plans on withdrawing all of the troops from Iraq starting the first month that he is in office. He plans on focusing on Afghanistan, with the "hope" that the terrorists that we will be leaving un-opposed in Iraq will follow our lead and go home. He said the other day that he would withdraw from Iraq immediately but if Al-Qaeda was in Iraq that he would "consider" going back. John McCain jumped all over that saying, "I have some news — al Qaeda is in Iraq. It's called: 'Al Qaeda in Iraq." If we withdraw from Iraq Al-Qaeda is not going to leave their new safe haven and return to Afghanistan to fight us there. They will make their bases in Iraq and plan attacks on us. The truth is that with the recent successes in Iraq more of the terrorists are leaving Iraq and going back to Afghanistan. Following Obama's "hope for change in the war" will only expose the American people to more risks. Jumping on the Obama bandwagon may seem like the cool thing to do, but the truth is that supporting Obama and electing him president disregards a very big risk, a risk to all Americans.

I have always said that I think Obama is great man. I believe that he does love this country. I don't pay attention to the rumors that he is not patriotic, and honestly I am not surprised that people look past his actual platform and jump on his train. I think that he truly does want a change in this country; but isn't that what all the candidates want? There isn't a candidate running for president who doesn't want to change some aspect of the government to make our lives better. Our responsibility as citizens of this great country is to decide who offers realistic changes that will work, and who merely offers unrealistic changes that will most certainly have the opposite effect.

**The War is not the only issue that I disagree with Obama on, but it is one of the more important ones at this point in my opinion, which is why I have been focusing on it more as of late**

Here are some videos for some comic relief :) (They're just for fun!!) Brought to you by "Swiftkids for truth"

IRAQ: Why we can't just leave and why Obama can not be our President

I had the unique opportunity to hear a lecture by Major Art Finch, an army major who has been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq many times in the past six years. He came to my Political Science class today, and his comments helped solidify my support for the War on Terrorism; and it also solidified my opposition to Senator Obama's candidacy. **Major Finch has been in on many important operations and has participated in meetings with General Petraeus**

Watching the news, one would think that all that is going on in Iraq is blood and carnage. That we are fighting a hopeless battle, or even that we shouldn't be there. It is obvious why a large majority of Americans think that we should pull the troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, which also would explain part of Senator Barack Obama's popularity. It is a well known motto in news that "if it bleeds, it leads". It's interesting to note that we rarely hear about Iraq anymore. Occasionally there is a story about a suicide bombing, or some other event in which life was lost. The reason we don't hear much anymore is because we are winning! We have to be careful when listening to the media. We have to wade through the spin that the media throws at us to find the true story. The following is an example that Major Finch shared. Near the beginning of the war in Iraq there were many stories in the news about all of the hospitals being looted; it showed people throwing gurneys down the streets and ransacked hospital rooms. To the casual observer this would translate to failure. While it is true that some hospitals were looted, the numbers are quite interesting. In Bagdad there are over 200 hospitals. The amount that had these problems was six! The stories that make it to our television sets are those of reporters who go to Iraq and instead of being embedded with troops, turn and run and tell stories of failure and death. The stories of the embedded reporters, who have first hand stories of the successes don't make it past press room. My point? We have to take what the news stations tell us with a grain of salt. Below I will state some of the common questions about the war, followed by some of the answers that I heard at today's discussion with a first hand participant in the war, Major Art Finch.

Is the Surge working? (the surge is the increase of troops in Iraq that began around a year ago.)

In simple terms, yes the surge is working. What is some evidence of this? The lack of news stories about Iraq. As I stated earlier, if we don't hear about anything, it's because good things are happening and not just bad things. This is basically what the military is doing and how its works; They are capturing the bad guys, sitting them down and talking to them, and getting information about where other bad guys are. Sound simple? That's because many of the bad guys don't like what they are doing anyway, and are beginning to realize that they are losing ground. This has caused a great decrease in the leadership of the terrorist organizations in Iraq.
It's also interesting that we are starting to hear about an increase in violence in Afghanistan. There is a direct causal relationship with the War in Iraq and this increase in violence. The extremists are abandoning their posts in Iraq and returning to Afghanistan.

How is the morale of the soldiers?

Good! Major Finch told us that the soldiers are there, they get why they are there, and they are seeing the success of their efforts. They are helping civilians and building schools, and the children are always trying to get close to them and talk to them. It's not all pretty, but they know what they are doing and are encouraged by their recent successes. Major Finch did say that they are a bit ticked off at us Americans. They feel like many American's are being hypocrites. They receive tons of packages and letters of hope and support, but then they see polls that say that 60-80% of American's don't think we should be there. They feel like if we really supported them that we would support them in every aspect.

What effect would pulling out of Iraq immediately have?

When asked this, Major Finch said, "It scares the tar out of me." He said that if we pull out the troops before it is necessary that it will change the entire battlefield, it will give the terrorists a sense of security, and we will fight this same war later on, but it will be more expensive in the cost of American lives and more extensive in the ground we will have to cover.
He also emphasized the fact that so many attacks on American soil are averted every week! He says that he is very surprised that none of these attacks have slipped through, and that it is because of our ability to stop them in Iraq before they can put their plans into action on our soil. The troops don't care anymore why we went to Iraq; it doesn't matter anymore. They are there and they want to finish it now, so their children won't have to fight the same war 20 years from now. Iraq is not a land full of terrorists, it is a land full of families; grandparents playing with their grandchildren, aunts talking with their nephews, parents counseling their children, mothers nurturing their babies. The soldiers want to allow these people to have some semblance of freedom so they can enjoy those gems of life. If we pull out the troops immediately, they will lose all freedom that they have so far been granted.

So how are we going to win? According to Major Finch, it's through information. When people can choose the information that they receive without having to wade through the media's manipulation we will be able to gain ground on the enemy. When we as American's unite and truly support the efforts of our military, we will win.

These are a few of the questions and answers, mixed with my own insights about the War on Iraq. These are the main reasons why I can not support Barack Obama. We need a president who will fight for our freedom. A president who will not surrender to the terrorists and thus strike fear into the hearts of our soldiers. A president who will not get stuck in the media's intricately spun web of deception. The best choice we have to protect America and defeat the terrorists is John McCain. He isn't strong on everything, but he knows very well the consequences of surrendering to the terrorists in Iraq. He knows that surrendering their will endanger us here. That is why I am now supporting John McCain, and will simply not vote for Obama. I will vote for substance over speeches, truth over rhetoric.


*Major Finch also talked about the Blackwater Scandal and Weapons of Mass destruction and Osama Bin Laden. It was very interesting. If anyone wants to know what he said about them, let me know.

The Endorsement

We all saw it coming. Mitt Romney today officially endorsed the GOP nominee John McCain. They got together today in Boston, and Mitt Romney threw his support behind McCain. Romney also urged his delegates to vote for McCain at the GOP convention. This basically seals the deal for McCain. If McCain gets all of Romney's delegates it will put him very close to the amount that he has to get to clinch the nomination. At the news conference Romney and McCain acknowledged that they had differences on the issues, but at the same time they both stood for the common Republican values of lower taxes and smaller government.

Huckabee responded almost immediately and not surprisingly said that he will not drop out until McCain has the amount needed to win. Huckabee was still in third place 6 primaries after Romney dropped out. Huckabee didn't sound as confident as he has in the past, and I think he is beginning to realize that it is over for him.

There have been rumors that Romney has been offered a VP spot within the past week, and whether or not he will accept it is still in question. This is just a rumor, but it could possible be true. I think a McCain/Romney ticket would be strong, but I don't know if it will be strong enough to overcome the Obamamania that has swept the nation.

This is one of the first steps towards uniting the Republican party for a hard fight against the Democrats this November. I still don't agree with McCain on everything, and he is hard to get completely behind, but I believe he will be much better than either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton. It appears that many people who said they would never support McCain are starting to come around and realize the negative implications of a potential Obama or Clinton presidency. I am one of those. It's time to rally around our nominee and not retreat from the terrorists.

Good job Romney. This was a very classy move, and it shows that he has the best interests of the country on his mind.

Can anyone say unhealthy grudge?

Remember that mosquito? Well turns out he is still badmouthing Mitt Romney even after Romney has dropped out. He is doing it through a group that is called "trust Huckabee" (an oxymoron in my opinion) They are doing push polling in MD and Virginia, and instead of just going after McCain, they are fabricating lies about Romney. One of the questions asks whether the person receiving the calls would still vote for Romney even though he already dropped out, and then it goes on to distort Romney's record and insult his character. It appears that Huck's people are afraid that Romney will continue to take votes away from the sideline even after he has dropped out. Huckabee continues to show his sliminess and his inability to win without resorting to dirty politics. (Huckabee says he doesn't support the group, but he accepted money from them in the last quarter ... another lie?)

Huckabee and Mosquitos

Every year near the end of winter I look forward to summer so that I can warm up and take a break from school, while at the same time work and make some money. Then as summer progresses I begin to wish that winter would return so that I can cool down and escape the yearly onslaught of mosquitos and gnats. You may ask what this has to do with a political blog, but I will now explain. No matter what you do during the summer there is always that annoying gnat, or mosquito that you just can't get rid of. It just hangs around and won't go away even after being smacked down over and over again. In this year's primary process there has been one candidate that is very similar to these annoying summer pests, his name ... Mike Huckabee. He emerged as a virtual no-name running for President. He garnered popularity with his quick wit and sense of humor. Being a Southern Baptist preacher he had a natural appeal to the evangelical christians who pushed him way up in the polls. Some people called this sudden surge of popularity a "Huckaboom." His popularity climaxed right as the Iowa caucuses were to take place, and he reaped the benefits winning the state. As always happens, increased popularity was followed by increased scrutiny on his record, and soon the "Huckaboom" began transforming into the "Huckabust." His popularity among evangelicals remained, but a closer look at his "more liberal than conservative record" as governor of Arkansas caused other conservatives to take another look and turn away. After the Iowa caucuses Huckabee struggled to get support outside of his base of christian conservatives. Since that time Huckabee has continued being persistent and trying to use his preacher style of talking to convince people that he actually has a chance.

Months later Huckabee is still persisting in his goal to become the Republican party's nominee, and in the process he has become like that annoying summer mosquito that just won't go away. While he has every right to stay in as long as he wants, today I want to write why I believe he should drop out now.
1. It is nearly impossible mathematically for Huckabee to get the amount of delegates needed to win the nomination. If you don't believe me, consider this. In order for a republican to capture the nomination, he has to receive 1,191 of an available 2380 delegates to go to the National Convention. Right now Huckabee has 217. There are 1,138 delegates remaining that can be won. Huckabee needs 974 of those delegates to win. That means he would need to win 86% of the remaining delegates. In other words he would have to beat McCain in landslide fashion in every single remaining contest in or to do so. Huckabee has faired well in the south, and in states with a large evangelical population, but the remaining contests highly favor McCain. When Huckabee was asked about this he said "I didn't major in math, I majored in miracles, and I still believe in them." Well Mike, I'd say you have a better chance of turning water into wine than winning this nomination.
2. The longer that Huckabee stays in, the longer he delays the unification of the Republican party for this year's general election. The Republican national convention will take place September 1-4 of this year. In other words only 2 months before the general election. If Huckabee continues dragging this on until then it will make it very difficult to form an effective campaign against the democrats.
3. If he were to pull of the impossible and capture the nomination, he would have to rely on an even bigger miracle to win in November. Huckabee has a very limited and small base of support. He can win the south, but outside of that base he has little to no support. He has alienated much of the Republican party, with his strange ideas and his blatant hypocrisy when it comes to negative campaigning. Many republicans have a hard time trusting him, which is no surprise considering he is #6 on last year's Judicial Watch's top 10 most corrupt politician list.

Those are just 3 reasons why I believe that Mike Huckabee should follow Romney's lead and graciously step down. When a mosquito sticks around for too long, we tend to get impatient and smack it until it finally goes down. Well its time for the Republicans to put their foot down and force Huckabee out of this race and to restore some level of sanity to our lives.

VP, Obama, and Letter from Mitt

Well there isn't too much to write about today. McCain, when asked if he would talk about who would be his running mate brushed it off, but he did say that his VP wouldn't necessarily have to be a southerner. I have mixed feelings about if I want Mitt to be the VP. He would be great, but it might be like jumping on a sinking ship. Things don't look good for McCain and if Romney wants to run in 2012 it might be best to distance himself from McCain. At the same time he could help the ticket and give McCain a better chance at beating Barack or Hillary.

Also for all of you Romney fans who are thinking about voting for Obama, he called Mitt an "ineffective candidate who ran an ineffective Campaign" when asked what he thought about Romney's comments in his speech. I think that in the next few months Obama's true colors will start to show, and unfortunately those true colors are those of a flaming liberal. McCain is not the most conservative Republican, but he is much more conservative than Obama. McCain's conservative rating is an 82.3 out of 100 and Obama's is an 8. So while McCain's is lower than a lot of Republican it is about 10 times as high as Obama's. The above table shows where Obama ranks among other senators. He is the # 1 most liberal senator in the United States in 2007. We are gonna be in for a wild ride these next few months lets get ready!

Here is an email I got from the Romney Campaign today. Too bad America rejected the most qualified candidate that there has been in years.

Dear daniel,

If you have not heard by now, I have decided to suspend my campaign for president. This was not an easy decision for me, and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support from the beginning to the point where we are today. We’ve come such a long way, and our hard work together will leave an imprint on the course of history.

As I addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) yesterday in Washington, D.C., I outlined what I know is the right course ahead for our nation – a course based on conservative principles such as individual responsibility, strong faith and values, economic strength with lower taxes and a national defense that will not retreat from the threat of evil extremism.

I disagree with Senator McCain on a number of issues, as you know. But I agree with him on doing whatever it takes to be successful in Iraq, on finding and executing Osama bin Laden, and on eliminating Al Qaeda and terror. If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding surrender to terror.

This is not an easy decision for me. I hate to lose. My family, my friends and, you, our supporters, have given a great deal to get me where I have a shot at becoming President. If this were only about me, I would go on. But I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America, I feel I must now stand aside, for our party and for our country.

You can be sure I will continue to stand for conservative principles. I will fight alongside you for all the things we believe in. And one of those things is that we cannot allow the next President of the United States to retreat in the face evil extremism.

It is the common task of each generation – and the burden of liberty – to preserve this country, expand its freedoms and renew its spirit so that its noble past is prologue to its glorious future.

Please stand proud today that you fought for a cause greater than yourself, and please continue to fight to preserve our ideals.

Thank you again so very much.

P.S. To read more about my vision for strengthening America’s future, please take a look at my speech from CPAC. Thank you.

The campaign ends, but the man lives on

Today Mitt Romney officially suspended his campaign. That means that he keeps his delegates, but he is no longer campaigning or participating. In other words he's ending his run for presidency. He may use his delegates as a bargaining chip later on or he may just hand them over to McCain.
I just watched his speech, and it was honestly one of the best I have ever seen. He was so passionate and the crowd loved him. When he announced that he was ending his campaign the crowd was so disappointed, as was I. Romney was by far the best choice and he would have been the best candidate. He showed his class and explained why. This is an excerpt of what he said. He said that if he continued it would "forestall the launch of a national campaign and be making it easier for Sen. Clinton or Obama to win."

"In this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign be a part of aiding a surrender to terror. This is not an easy decision. I hate to lose," the former Massachusetts governor said.

"If this were only about me, I'd go on. But it's never been only about me. I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America, in this time of war I feel I have to now stand aside for our party and for our country."

Mitt didn't officially endorse McCain, but he made it known that the Republican nominee needs to win in November, and him dropping out seals the deal for McCain, thus making it an indirect endorsement. I don't support McCain on many issues, and I believe he will be defeated in November (especially against Obama). But as a true Romney supporter I will follow his lead and support McCain against the democrats. I like Obama much more as a person than McCain, but I don't want to think about the negative implications that retreating from Iraq would have on our country. I remember what happened on 911 and the fear that I had. I don't want to face that again. Admitting defeat to the terrorists will not stop them from attacking us again. They hate us whether we are there or whether we are here, and retreating from there will not protect us here.
Mitt showed a real class act today, and at the same time he showed America what they are missing out on because of, in many cases, their inability to realize who would be the best for our great country.

What now?

Super Tuesday has come and gone and there is still not a winner. That being said, it would be a lie to say that McCain doesn't have it about wrapped up. Romney vows to continue on, and I believe he should. There are a couple of reasons.
1. He can continue to show that McCain is no conservative and open the eyes of more conservative voters so that something is done about it.
2. If McCain doesn't have the necessary amount of delegates by the convention it will result in a brokered convention, and there will have to be some dealing done. If Romney has the delegates that McCain needs then they might be able to work something out. I don't know what Romney wants, but it could result in him being on the ticket as VP, or a spot in the cabinet. Personally, I don't know if that would be good for Romney, because I believe that in 2012 Romney will be the front runner for GOP nominee if McCain doesn't win in November, but that depends on Romney.
3. If McCain faces enough opposition from conservative voices and leaders, it may force him to make some public commitments and promises. For example right now there are 6 supreme court judges over 68, meaning the next president will be appointing at least 6 new judges. If McCain promises to appoint all conservative judges he can gain some support from the more conservative voters. Because as it stands, he doesn't have the support of the base of the Republican party, and he will not win in November with out it.
There was a recent poll done by KSL in Utah that said that both Obama and Hillary would beat McCain in UTAH! I don't know when the last time a Republican lost Utah in a general election. Today in my Political Science class our teacher asked who would vote for McCain and there was a deafening silence in the room, until a bunch of people yelled "NO!" and when they asked about Obama vs McCain a large portion of the class raised their hands in support of Obama (there are about 400 students in my class) This is bad news for McCain if he can't unite the party. I say Romney should keep going. If there is any chance that McCain can be stopped or slowed down at least, I say go for it. And I will continue supporting Romney until the end. McCain has a lot of convincing and promising to do before he can get my support.

One last thing I heard today is about a movement called "Mavericks against McCain." As we know McCain is known as the maverick for his non-conservative, have-it-my-way attitude. So now some of his critics are calling for all conservatives to be "mavericks" and vote against McCain, supposedly to give him a taste of his own medicine. Personally, I am not ready to put a democrat in the White House, which would threaten our national security and wallets, but the way its looking, McCain will have a very uphill battle if he indeed becomes the GOP nominee.

PS - If no deals are made at the convention, (doubtful considering Huckabee and McCain's mutual love) or if there are deals and McCain still doesn't have enough, it could come down to a vote at the convention, in which case the conservatives can have some say for once. By the way, McCain won his home state of Arizona, but he lost the Conservative vote there by almost double. Interesting ...

Tag Team?

The suspicions have been confirmed. For months bloggers and pundits have suggested that McCain and Huck are tag teaming against Romney. It has been apparent in the constant Huckabee defense of McCain and not so veiled attacks against Romney. You can see them smiling at eachother at the debates. It's obvious that either Huckabee has a man-crush on McCain or he is running for Vice-President. This suspicion was confirmed today with the dirty back room deal that was done today to give Huckabee the win. Also it has been confirmed that Huckabee traded 3 of his national delegates to Ron Paul in exchange for the 3 WV state delegates that he needed for the win.
I think it's funny, because Huckabee can't win. He is expecting the VP slot, but I can almost guarantee he won't get it. McCain will do anything, he will make any amount of cheap deals to win the nomination. And I have no doubt he will stab all those who helped him get it in the back. And that will backfire in the general election when he loses in a landslide to either of the democrats. Hope your happy team McHuckabee!

Romney is a real man, even when the media isn't there

Everyone should see this. Mitt Romney shows that he is a real man and even if he doesn't win the election he still has his integrity. Something that neither McCain nor Huckabee can claim.

And the first winner is ....

The first winner of the the day has been declared ... or has he? West Virginia held their state convention today. Romney, Paul, and Huckabee showed up and spoke. Romney had the most support. The way this work is as follows. There were some 1206 delegates at the state convention and after the speeches they voted. The twist is that the winner has to get at least 50% of the vote. Well after the first vote Romney had 41% and Huckabee had 33% Paul had 10% and McCain had like 15%. Well Paul was eliminated and they had to vote again. Supposedly the McCain camp called their men in West Virginia and told them to switch their votes from McCain to Huckabee to stop Romney. So when the second votes were cast Huckabee won 52% to 48% so Romney lost by 4% to the combined voters of Huckabee and McCain. I guess this just goes to prove what Romney has been saying. A vote for Huckabee is a vote for McCain. McCain continues to show that he will resort to anything to secure the nomination, that includes very dirty politics. Many people continue to lash out against McCain. James Dobson, chairman of the Board of Focus on the Family said today "If McCain is the nominee we will have the worst choice for President in history, and I will not vote." This is just the latest of many influential people to "anti-endorse" McCain. Romney continues to have the most support among conservatives. Get out and vote for him! There is still a lot of Super Tuesday left! One good thing about Huckabee winning in West Virginia is that we all know Huckabee has no shot, so anywhere that McCain doesn't win is a good thing for Romney.

Super Tuesday Eve

As many of you know tomorrow is the most important day of voting during this entire election cycle so far. Voters in 21 states will cast their votes and try to get their candidate nominated. Obviously I am pushing for Mitt Romney. As important as tomorrow is, I don't believe that a nominee will be crowned on Super Tuesday. The states are split and no one will come away with the necessary amount of delegates to be the Republican party's nominee. There has been a public out lash against John McCain in the past few days. Many conservatives are starting to see him for who he is, which is, with all due respect to Senator McCain, a RINO (Republican in Name Only) While this may sound harsh, it is supported by his record, and his apparent willingness to turn his back on his fellow GOP'ites. (For more information on this go HERE or HERE)

This sudden push by conservatives to keep McCain from getting the nomination has been a positive thing for Mitt Romney. He has received some key endorsements and his numbers are going way up in some of the important polls. In One California poll Romney leads McCain 40-32, and that seems to be trend in the polls that are coming out in the last few days. Many Romney critics are saying that people are just voting for him to make sure McCain isn't the nominee and that he isn't really qualified. Part of this may be true, the fact that many are voting for Romney so McCain isn't the nominee for example, but I believe the main thing is that many conservative voters who probably weren't going to participate, but who would probably support Romney are exercising their civic duty and getting out to vote. This can be seen in Romney's landslide victory in Maine over the weekend, gaining over 50% of the vote compared to McCain's 22%.

On another note, Huckabee has continued with his incessant whining that Romney is suppressing votes by saying that a vote for Huckabee is a vote for McCain. Romney replied saying that its not called suppressing voters, its called politics. Huckabee had the audacity to suggest that Romney should drop out of the race, because it's a two man race between Huck and McCain. Romney responded that he respects Huckabee and would never suggest that he quit, and that everyone has the right to stay in as long as they want. Romney did note that Huckabee has had less than stellar results in nearly every state except for Iowa.

Anyway, I think its important to remember the real reasons to vote for Romney, they aren't just because we don't want McCain, its not just because conservative radio heads are telling us to, rather its because he has the experience and values to lead this country. One look at his Economic Stimulus Plan should be a stark reminder as to why he is the most qualified to lead this country out of the seemingly imminent recession that is coming. Remember, every vote counts. Spread the word. Its game time!

John McCain hates Reagan's son?

Well I don't have much time tonight. So I'm just gonna post this link to an interesting article written by Ronald Reagan's son. Pretty Interesting I must say. John McCain Hates Me

Phone calls for Romney!

Below are a couple of the videos that my sister took when Romney was in Denver yesterday. Apparently there were a lot more there than was expected!

Today I had the unique opportunity to go to a call center and make calls to republicans in Colorado. It was a great experience. The truth is I talked to a lot more answering machines than actual people. But the people that I did talk with all had one thing in common; they didn't want Hillary or Obama in the White House. There was one person I talked to who said he would be voting for McCain, when I asked him why, he said, "I don't really have a reason, I just like how he sounds." I talked to a couple of people who didn't even have to listen to why I was voting for Romney, because they were also voting for him. Those were the easy ones :) Most of those who were undecided were leaning towards Romney, but had a few questions. One of the things that a woman said to me was that she agreed with Romney in everything, but she didn't know if he could beat Barack or Hillary in the general election. She said that the LAST thing she wanted was Hillary or Obama in the White House. I explained to her some of my reasons for voting for Romney and why I think he can win in November, so today I'll dedicate this post to that.

Obviously it is an important decision. We are talking about who could be the next President of the United States. National polls right now are showing that both Hillary and Obama would beat Romney in the general election. These same national polls show McCain either close or beating both Hillary and Obama. So one might ask why I support Romney if he can't win in November. My answer ... at this point these polls are irrelevant. A quick look into past elections show that there have been candidates that showed very strongly in head to head polls early on in the election process, but ended up losing quite badly. Anyone remember Bob Dole? I don't really remember seeing as how I was still pretty young, but I have seen that he was ahead or close to Bill Clinton during that election cycle and by many he was considered the most "electable". Well we all know what happened there, Clinton beat Dole pretty handily. If this happened to Bob Dole, who was well liked and a nice guy, imagine what will happen to McCain! He is well liked by non-republicans and he hasn't proved himself as a nice guy, but he's "electable"... right ... Also one year ago Rudy Giuliani was ahead by a HUGE margin in all of the preliminary polling for Republican nominee, well Giuliani dropped out of the race this past week, showing just how in-accurate polling can be so far in advance.

If Romney is the nominee he will have the ability to beat Hillary or Obama. He is strong on more than one issue. He is strong on the Economy, he is strong on Illegal Immigration, he supports the war in Iraq and will continue fighting hard against the Jihadists who want to destroy our freedom. He has family values that are reflected in his own family, and he is a genuinely nice guy. McCain has turned me off and the general opinion that I have gotten from people is that they don't like his anger. McCain is strong on foreign policy, but that is about it. He has sided many times with democrats on many issues. For example McCain-Kennedy is a bill that McCain tried to push which would allow all illegal immigrants to stay in America by paying a fine and learning English, but thats not it, they would also be able to collect social security for the time that they were here illegally. He also participated in many bills with very liberal democrats. Romney is a man of integrity. When he was running for Governor of Massachusetts, he made 93 campaign promises, he wrote them down, and he marked them off as he fulfilled them. Out of the 93 promises that he made, he kept ALL 93 of them. He was able to make health care affordable and available for everyone by allowing the free market to work. Everyone that could afford health care was required to buy it. This caused there to be more competition and better prices, causing health care to be much more affordable.

When Mitt Romney became the CEO of the Olympic games in Salt Lake City the Olympics were in debt and in danger of being canceled all together, but when all was said in done after Romney had turned them around, the Olympics came away with a 100 million dollar profit. This goes to show that Romney has the ability to take broken things apart and put them together in a more efficient successful way. This is exactly what we need in Washington right now. One last thing regarding the Olympics; When Romney was CEO of the Olympics he forfeited his 825,000 dollar salary and donated it to charity, which is exactly what he did as governor of Massachusetts and has pledged to do as President of the United States. I would have liked to share all of that with the woman on the phone today, but time was limited so I only shared a few. Those are the reasons I am supporting Mitt Romney. For more information visit www.mittromney.com

Mitt Romney #1

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Edit: It was actually an even 100 promises he made and kept in MA Here is the link Romney Promises

Mitt In Denver

Today my sister Katie texted me telling me that she was going to go to a Mitt Romney rally in Denver. To say the least I was a bit jealous. But my mom called me during it and I think I heard the word Economy and America a few times; that and a lot of cheers. Including "WE WANT MITT, WE WANT MITT" Well she took some videos and hopefully she can get those sent to me so I can post them here. But until I get those videos, I made a little video about Romney and his family values. This is one thing that I really like about Mitt. He talks about the importance of family values, and we see those values reflected in his own family. Enjoy!

“If I were two faced, would I be wearing this one?” –Abraham Lincoln

I

Introduction and last nights GOP debate.

When I got home in July from Bolivia after two years I started seeing lots of news about election 2008. At first I didn't take too much interest (I was still trying to get used to talking to girls again and eating good food), but after reading up on it and seeing some of the arguments of the candidates, I began to get really interested. Since about October or so I have been glued to the screen (Internet and TV) finding out more about the candidates and watching their debates. I have to admit, I am addicted to it. I find this year's race very intriguing. We have so many candidates from so many different backgrounds that it is hard not to be interested. Look at it, On the democratic side we have a woman and a black man, on the GOP side we have a Vietnam vet, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon), a Southern Baptist Minister, and a former Libertarian party member. We are in for a treat and I will be posting my take on all of the happenings during this election cycle.

The CNN/POLITICO/LATimes California Debate

I have mixed feelings about last night's debate. I feel like CNN did a poor job on moderating. Although I support Romney, I realize that as long as there are four people campaigning, there are four contenders, and all deserve the right to share their position. That being said I did enjoy the 1 on 1 grudge match between McCain and Romney. I felt like Romney came out on top and was able to get his message across. I enjoyed them going back and forth on the timetables, because it was able to show both candidates viewpoints, and I think it was clear who's was correct. One of my favorite parts of the debate was when Romney was able to set the record straight. As a Romney supporter I had heard many of the arguments that McCain leveled against him and I was glad to get the truth about what McCain was saying straight from Romney last night on 3 issues. For those who didn't watch Romney had his record questioned on the following 3 issues.
1. Job Loss in MA
2. Why his health care plan is now in debt
3. Why he raised fees by "730" million dollars as Governor of MA
This is how Romney replied



I thought that Ron Paul really got a raw deal and wasn't allowed to share his viewpoints. It's also interesting to note that Anderson Cooper, the moderator, told him that he would come back to him about a certain question that Paul wanted to address and he never did. I believe his words were somewhere along the line of "... please, I promise that you will get your chance to respond to that question, in ... two minutes ... I promise." That didn't help the credibility of the media now did it?

I think that Huckabee did well with the time that he was given. All he had to do was talk in his pastorly voice and throw in a few one-liners and he didn't hurt himself any. Although most would say Huckabee is no longer a factor, I believe that he still will play an important role in the primary process.

So the question is: Who helped himself out last night? Who hurt himself last night? and Who, if anyone will benefit from the debate?

My opinion is that Huckabee helped himself out by staying relatively quiet (although not his choice). Romney did a great job answering claims and showing his intelligence, but I don't know how much that will help him, especially seeing how many so called "experts" on TV will stop at nothing to derail him. McCain hurt himself, plain and simple, it probably won't be enough to have a huge impact on voters, but he came off as petty and stubborn. I think that this debate won't have a huge impact on the race, but I do believe that anyone watching it was able to clearly see the differences in the candidates.

This is a very exciting race, and we should all be proud to live in a country where we can have an impact and a voice about who will be the next President. God Bless America