Andy...thanks but no thanks...

In the immortal words of Darth Vader: Noooooooooooooooooo!

See, that's how you do a Star Wars reference.

• Now that he has resigned as White House Chief of Staff, Andrew H. Card Jr. may
end up returning to his home state of Massachusetts to run for governor,
Washington Wire reports. However, other sources indicate that while Card will
return to Masschusetts, he actually plans to aid Republican Gov. Mitt Romney in
a bid for president in 2008.

Not to obsolve President Bush, but Andrew Card is a good chunk of the reason that the 2nd term of this Administration has been struggling. When President Bush's instincts have failed him, Card has refused to save the president from himself. So it has been up to the grassroots of the GOP to do it for him.

In McCain's backyard

Gov. Romney did some fundraising in Sen. McCain's backyard yesterday.

Hehe.

Don't appreciate the stale Star Wars reference though, even if I do love the movies.

Immigration

Well, that's the big issue of the day. Might as well put in my own $.02 on the subject.

First of all, the Republicans are basically ruining themselves today. They're going to effectively piss off everyone in the country before it's all said and done. They seem hell bent on granting amnesty-by-another-name pissing off 75% of the country that sees the word "illegal" and has the audacity to give it a negative connotation. Meanwhile, the hardliners will do a good job of making sure Hispanic voters are less likely to vote Republican. Meanwhile, illegal immigrants will continue to pour over the borders and no one will say a word about the security threat that opens, the public health issues, or the stress placed on the border states' infrastructure.

Good work guys. Not since you let the budget explode have I been so happy to work towards a Republican government.

What are my solutions? Well, I think it should be obvious:

1. Get a hold of the ****ing borders! Do not do a single thing until you've done so. Build the fence (before anyone mentions Berlin, that was a prison wall and we should all be mature enough to tell the difference between a facist government making sure their citizens stay put and a democratic government enforcing its own borders.

2. Liberalize the immigration process. Yes we need immigrants. We need them from all over the world (Mexicans don't get special treatment). Get the best, hardest working, and most dedicated to assimilating as you can find and bring their butts over here.

And, several years after the first two have become firmly in place and sanity has resumed:

3. Just grant amnesty to the illegal immigrants already here. Why fight it? They're not going anywhere and I'm not particularly interested in calling it something else.

There you go. Situation solved. Unfortunately, it appears that the Senate is set on starting with amnesty and hoping that it somehow helps the problem. Here's hoping that the whole thing falls through and the issue will wait until a president comes into office willing to take the issue seriously *hint*.

Romney in Rome

Gov. Romney has been overseas the past few days for the elevation of Cardinal O'Malley. The trip has some minor political overtones, but I mainly mention it because it's the reason there's just not been much news directly related to the governor the past few days.

Dealing with the Gang of 14

Today Henry Saad withdrew his nomination from the 6th Court of Appeals due to Democrat smearing and Republican neglect.

Many conservatives believe that we won with the Gang of 14 deal that ended the nuclear standoff in the Senate. They are short-sighted fools. We lose one pro-nuke seat in the Senate and Henry Saad's cautionary tale will again become the norm.

We worked hard to give the Republicans the cushion in the Senate that they needed. And they betrayed us in order to appease a group of Democrats that have no compunction against issuing vague and unethical smears and the constant and unfounded accussations of racism that reduced Martha Ann Alito to tears. The reasoning for this unilateral disarmament is that the "comity" of the Senate must be preserved. I must ask: At what price comity? How many more qualified and good people must go through what Judge Pickering suffered? How many more Miguel Estradas? How many more brilliant young conservative minds will just pass on the opportunity because they know Senate Republicans (and the White House) won't defend their honor?

The failure of the Saad nomination rests on the head of one man in particular: Sen. John McCain. Under no circumstances should this man be allowed to become president.

Happy Vaginal Foam Day! (or not)

Abortion advocates are perturbed that Gov. Romney isn't issuing a worthless proclomation on a poorly reasoned Supreme Court decision.

For the record, I have no problem with most forms of birth control. However, the assertation that it's a Constitutional Right is quite flimsy and can only be justified through selective enforcement of doctrines such as privacy.

Update: One of Red State's bloggers picks up the story.

Latest Polls

Okay, Fox News has come out with a new poll on the 2008 elections. Time to do some digging.

Rudy Giuliani....29%
John McCain.....22
Newt Gingrich..8
Bill Frist.............5
Mitt Romney....4
George Allen.....3
George Pataki...2

First of all, don't get upset with the 4% number. It's to be expected given Gov. Romney's name recognition at this point in the race. Remember, this time in the last election cycle Sen. Lieberman was way out in front in the Democratic field. Gov. Romney is doing very well up to this point.

Now for the fun part:

Hillary Clinton..43%
Al Gore..............12
John Edwards..11
John Kerry.......10
Joseph Biden....4
Wesley Clark....4
Mark Warner...3
Evan Bayh........2

Once again, mainly name recognition, but Sen. Clinton's advantages are pronounced. Her most dangerous challenger, Gov. Warner, has a lot of ground to make up. His biggest advantage is that he'll be able to campaign throughout 2007. However, I consider Sen. Clinton to be almost a sure bet to get the Democratic nomination. Which is why the next few polls are so much fun.

Hillary Clinton..39%
John McCain.....50

Hillary Clinton..39%
Rudy Giuliani...51

Hillary Clinton..50%
Dick Cheney.....37%

The last poll is interesting. VP Cheney has (unfairly) become the most radioactive politician in this country. It would seem that whatever she would poll against him would be the ceiling of what she could reach. That ceiling appears to be set at exactly 50%. A strong conservative candidate would have no problem dispatching her.

Do not fear Sen. Clinton. We need only run our best candidate against her to retain the White House through 2012.

One of the Kos Kids writes about Romney

And, surprise surprise, it's about evil Christians will never accept a Morman candidate. Ignoring for a moment that he's practicing his own form a bigotry against Christians, I must say that I don't expect the Mormonism "issue" to be all that big of a deal in the primaries. The conservative base really is tolerant of other religions (is there any more pro-Israel section of the world now than in the American heartland?). Once Romney's election prospects begin to look real, they'll just see another man of faith who loves his wife and kids.

As usual he's also got things backwards. It'll be funny how bigoted the left will show themselves to be once Gov. Romney is nominated. I can't wait for them to overplay the idea that he :gasp: doesn't drink coffee. In the end, they'll have so disgraced themselves on this topic, that it will help elect Romney president.

Oh, just for the record:

But it was their Christian values (and by the Right's own admission, the inspiration of God) that led them to write these words first in the Bill of Rights: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

There were two Amendments passed by Congress before the 1st Amendment (one of which eventually became the 27th Amendment, but that's 200 hundred year long story). If he wants to make an argument that what comes first is most important, you could say that the first Congress was most interested in reapportionment and Congressional pay increases.

Besides, the relevant passage prohibiting a Religious Test is in Article VI of the Constitution itself.

Hat Tip blog.electromneyin08.com

Condi's Not Running!

The latest person guilty of running with this idea is Fred Barnes. Am I alone in knocking 10 I.Q. points off of anyone who mentions Condeleeza Rice as a potential nominee? She's not going to run. She says she's not going to run. She doesn't have any experience in campaigning. It's just not going to happen.

It reminds me of the SNL skit when McCain hosted.

Russert: "Our issue this Sunday -- a test of will for the president as he weighs invading to Iraq and for the Buffalo Bills as they head to Miami. Joining us, to discuss Iraq -- the next move -- is Senator John McCain of Arizona. Senator, we have ask -- are you considering running again in 2004?"

McCain: "No, I have no plans to run for higher office. The president's doing a fine job."

Russert: "No plans, but you wouldn't say no."

McCain: "Tim, I have no interest in running."

Russert: "You didn't answer my question,
senator."

McCain: "What was the question?"

Russert: "Whether you would say no, unequivocally, to running for president of the United States."

McCain: "Tim, I haven't even considered running."

Russert: "What if President Bush does not run?"

McCain: "I don't see any reason..."

Russert: "What if he forgets to run? The president forgets to run for re-election and the Republicans are without a candidate, would John McCain step in to fill that
void?"

McCain: "I would call the president and remind him to run."

Russert: "So you're running?"

McCain: "What? No."

Russert: "You're a candidate?"

McCain: "I am not a candidate."

Russert: "John McCain is running for president in 2004."

McCain: "No."

Russert: "2008?"

McCain: "No."

Russert: "2012?"

McCain: "No."

Russert: "2016?"

McCain: "No."

Russert: "2020?"

McCain: "No."

Russert: "Let's talk about 2024."

McCain: "I'll be 90."

Russert: "Alright, hypothetically, genetic engineering has extended the human the lifespan to 200 years. Would a relatively young John McCain challenge a reanimated Jimmy Carter zombie?"

McCain: "Now, President Carter has been a great humanitarian."

Russert: "So John McCain would back down. Are you afraid of Carter eating you?"

McCain: "I don't think that's an accurate..."

Russert: "So you're a candidate?"

McCain: "No."

Can we please stop playing inside-the-beltway games and just cross the lady off the list? Foreign policy (important) and identity politics (not so important) aside, she's not exactly a dream conservative candidate anyway.

C-Span interview

Video here.

Transcript here.

Enjoy.

Romney vs. Allen

National Review's Rich Lowry has reached much the same conclusion that I have. The race to compete against Sen. McCain is fast coming down to a battle between Gov. Romney and Sen. Allen.

Romney is off to a strong start. He is a polished performer on TV, and people are noticing. He is good-looking, charming and articulate — so impressive that at times one has to wonder how he found himself tossed among all of us mere mortals.

The governorship of Massachusetts isn't a natural launching pad for a Republican presidential run. But Romney has shrewdly leveraged his position there into an ongoing social-conservative credential. He has been in fights with liberals on every social issue imaginable — gay marriage, cloning, abstinence education, emergency contraception, gay adoption. At times, it's almost been as if the conservative capital of America has been in that tiny slice of Boston occupied by Romney's office.

Romney isn't running for a second term this year, which frees him up for energetic presidential stumping and organizing, all for the cause of getting a leg up on Allen.

Excellent analysis of Gov. Romney's strengths.

Let me say that I'm not a Sen. Allen detractor. I believe he's a good man. I'm just not overly impressed by him at the moment. He has a few years to get me excited, but I don't believe that he has a spark of greatness to him that I'm looking for in a president. Could he beat Sen. Clinton? I do believe that he could. As could almost any other person on the Republican short-list. But I don't believe he would squash her like she could be, and wouldn't bring any coat-tails with him.

He's an insider's pick right now. But I do believe that he will fade over the next year while Gov. Romney will surge.

Gov. Romney's C-Span Interview

Heads up guys, an interview with Gov. Romney will air Sunday at 8:00 on C-Span.

Romney was also on Imus's program this morning. I was fortunate enough to catch it even though I normally think that putting a radio program on television is rather dumb programming decision. Romney was his usual smart, competant, and funny self. For what it's worth (admittably little), Imus seemed to like him.

Also today, there was a rebuttal of Dick Morris's dismissal of Gov. Romney's chances of becoming president from RedState.

The Case Against Sen. McCain

Right Wing News has an excellent laundry list of reasons to vote against Sen. McCain.

Myself, Sen. McCain scares me because I think that he has a real chance of splitting the party in two if he were ever to be its standard-bearer.

Getting Way Ahead of Myself

I'm in a spirit of optimism tonight, so I believe that I'll do something stupid and start running possible Vice-President nominees.

There are a lot of reasons to pick a Veep. To "balance" a ticket, to give a competitive edge in a swing-state, to give gravitas to a younger president, to set up the next president for the party, etc. President Bush selected VP Cheney for the gravitas reason and to supply the adminstration with a solid number. While Sen. Kerry chose Sen. Edwards because he had nice hair. Let us hope that Gov. Romney chooses a bit more wisely.

A lot of the buzz will undoubtably focus on Condeleeza Rice. She's brilliant, experienced in foreign policy (as with most governors, this is among Romney's weaknesses), and, not to be diminshed, is a black woman. However, I don't think she's interested in ever being president and I would be very surprised if she runs on any ticket in 2008. She's also a political novice, and could be a liability at times. Also, the fact that she's a woman would be trumped if Sen. Clinton is the Democrat candidate.

So who do we have next? Looking at the Senate, there's Sen. Allen. He'll likely be a favorite amongst the rank-and-file. But he really doesn't add much to the ticket, though he would become the heir-apparent in 2016.

On the governor side of things, Gov. Barbour is generating some buzz coming out of Memphis and being the only competant person involved in the Katrina fiasco. However, he has a lot of negatives going even beyond his thick accent. Most of the remaining governors come from already solid red or blue states.

Personally, if I were advising Gov. Romney, I would point him to one of two regions: The southwest and the upper-midwest. Each of these regions is likely to flip over the next 15 years. The upper-midwest from Democrat to Republican, and the southwest from Republican to Democrat. There are a lot of good candidates in these regions. Sen. Kyl is a solid, if uninspiring prospect. Sen. Coleman is still relatively new to the job, but he's got a rising star quality. Gov. Pawlenty is another good choice if he manages to get re-elected (which I believe he will).

There is one name that floats to the top of the pack. He's a successful governor, leading the country on conservative bedrocks such as school choice and welfare reform, he's worked in Washington as a cabinet official (even earning a little experience within the War on Terror), he's from upper-midwest where he continues to be popular. His only downside is that he'll be, perhaps, too old to run for his own term in 2016. However, I somehow doubt the Republican party can hold on to the White House for 5 consecutive terms anyway.

Gov. Tommy Thompson would be the ideal running mate.

Heads-Up

Polipundit is having a Straw Poll of their own tonight. Be sure to vote.

A Good Night

I'd say that tonight's Memphis straw poll saw Gov. Romney as the big winner. Naturally, there are a few caveats. Of course, Sen. Frist actually won, but that's to be expected since it is his home state. And Sen. McCain essentially punted so as to blunt the significance of the poll and keep Sen. Allen from picking up a victory on him.

But, let's look at the significance here: Romney defeated Allen, the insider favorite to spoil McCain by a fairly significant margin (almost 33%). Which means he's obviously playing well with those who take time to listen to him. We're also seeing that he has some good organizational skills from his supporters which will help him in the smaller caucus states.

This is one more step towards cementing Gov. Romney as one of the Big Three coming into 2007, when he'll have months to roam the primary states earning cash and making a name for himself.

Edit: It seems Gov. Romney won a small Michigan straw poll outright.

2006 Elections

I consider myself a pretty optomistic guy. But I'm starting to feel as though the stream that President Bush has been swimming against for the past 4 years has turned into a whirlpool sucking him down into the bottom. We may be only weeks away from officially calling him a lame-duck president.

The sad thing is he mostly has himself, and the people in Congress to blame for it. Though the Democrats and the media aren't helping by hyping such pseudo-scandals as Wilson/Plame and the whole Delay mess (for the record, that prosecuter is responsible for the grossest abuse of power that I've ever seen), Republicans in Washington really have forgotten what it means to be conservative. For the life of me, I will never understand the creation of a new entitlement program, on a party-line vote, that will eventually cost the country trillions but will only help the Democrats in the long-run.

So, after years of pandering, what is the hill that President Bush decides to die on? Handing over ports to an Arab country? Are you kidding me? I understand the background of it all, and, in a non-ideological sense I could even support it, but this is just such a case of political tone-deafness that it's amazing.

I think that was the final straw. Democrats will take over the House in 2006 and Nancy Pelosi will be the new Speaker (despite being the most incompetant party leader in my lifetime). The Senate should hold much better, I don't see more than 3 seats going to the Democrats, but that will be enough to get them to start filibustering every judge in sight.

So where does that leave us. Well, since, at this moment, this blog is concentrating on getting Gov. Romney the Republican nomination, it does provide some stumbling blocks and opportunities.

First, it will provide an instant boost for the "electable" Sen. McCain (note: same adjective used to desribe Sen. Kerry). However, we should remember that a 3rd Supreme Court nomination is likely to come up between now and the primaries. When the Democrats filibuster that candidate, it will be easy to remind Republican primary voters that Sen. McCain is largely responsible for keeping that weapon safe for Democrats once the RINOs are in charge.

Second, the Democrats will make President Bush's life a living hell. But, that's okay, he'll be long since irrelevant as a political force by then. The Democrats will embark upon Operation Overreach, and will lose momentum as the country gets tired of their games. What that will mean for the political calculus of the 2008 primary, I'm not exactly sure. But it does seem to me, that an outsider would be a smart bet at that point.

State of the Mitt

Policial Derby rates Gov. Romney in 4th place on the Republican Primary list. National Journal places him in 3rd place. I tend to agree with National Journal. I like Mayor Giuliani a lot, but the man is simply too liberal on social issues to win the Republican nomination in this day and age.

For those not understanding, this is fantastic news. Gov. Romney has already managed to distance himself from the crowd of wannabes and is a legitimate contender with presumed frontrunner Sen. McCain and presumed spoiler Sen. Allen. Once he leaves office, Romney will be free to spend even more time roaming around the country (particularly the primary states) gaining support while McCain and Allen are stuck in the Senate wasting their lives away listening to Sen. Biden. We've seen this strategy work. Gov. Dean went from being that Vermont guy to frontrunner because he was able to focus only on running for president in the year leading up to the primaries.

Granted, Dean imploded, but that's only because he's Howard Dean and had no business in the national spotlight to begin with. Gov. Romney, on the other hand, impresses at every turn and is ready for primetime now.

A Little About Myself

Why should you listen to me? Well, I like to think I have some interesting things to say, but I suppose my bonefides would be good as well. I'm a lifelong conservative from the bright-blue county of Palm Beach, Florida. I'm something of a judicial junkie and regularly make a habit of posting at confirmthem.com under the alias of son of lucas. Judges are probably the single most important political issue to me and with Justices Stevens, Ginsberg, Souter, and Scalia all likely to either retire or expire before the 2012 election comes along, we have one final chance to put a lasting change on the courts.

Like most conservatives, I shudder at the idea that a spending explosion has occurred under the watch of a Republican President and Congress. It almost makes me long for the days of divided government and gridlock. Almost. With luck, Gov. Romney will be willing to use the veto pen in order to reign in Congress.

On the War on Terror, I remain a hawk. I wouldn't describe myself as a neoconservative, but I believe that Iraq was justified and continue to be hopeful that it will prove a worthwhile enterprise.

Domestically, I'm a mixed bag. I'm very strongly pro-life and do not believe in an exception for rape or incest (I find it reprehensible to punish the child for the sins of the father), do not like the idea of doctor assisted suicide, and am very much against legalization of narcotics. However, I am sympathetic to gay rights. Also I am nominally opposed to the death penalty, though I am quite apathetic to almost anyone on death row's well-being. That being said, as I mentioned above, I'm a strong judicial conservative and get quite angry when any of these topics are taken away from the public by judges who think they know better than the populace.

On a more personal note, I enjoy writing, animation, Star Wars (including the Prequels), and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

First News Story

Mort Kondracke was kind enough to give Gov. Romney some good press yesterday.

Don't worry folks, I'm not a mushy moderate in disguise trying to push a disappointing president onto the faithful. I believe Romney will please the conservative base on most levels. It is good to see, though, that a sane moderate liberal like Kondracke won't run away screaming from our man at first blush.

Mission Statement

I suppose the basic mission of this shiny new blog is pretty simple: Elect Governor Willard Mitt Romney to the presidency in 2008.

While it's nice to think big, it is usually best to act small when you're starting out. So, for now, we'll be just concentrate on getting the message out and raise awareness. I'll post the news articles I find most interesting for Gov. Romney's chances of becoming president. Along the way I'll compose a few opinions of my own to liven things up.

So sit back and enjoy, because we only have 975 days until election day!