Sadly - but arriving with an increasing sense of inevitability - Fred Thompson has dropped out of the race to be our next President. A classy departure worthy of an honorable man who ran an honorable, if less than inspirational, campaign. Most telling is his lack of endorsement: a non-endorsement that has to hurt John McCain. Yes, my predictions for South Carolina clearly were wrong, altogether too much made from the heart rather than the head. I'm not ashamed of holding out hope for Fred while hope was still there. Nor should my blogger friend Steven be ashamed of holding out hope for his man Huck (though we disagree on his candidacy). I share the sentiments of Dr. Rusty Shackelford at The Jawa Report (H/T Hugh Hewitt):Dear fellow … [Read more...]
Teacher Union Prepared to Thwart Autonomy Reform, Its Own Members?
Today is the day of truth (again) for the union that represents Denver public school teachers. As the editors of the Rocky Mountain News highlight today, observers want to know whether they will vote Yes and grant the request for freedom from district bureaucracy and union work rules, or vote No and stand squarely in the way of educational progress for a high-poverty school: We're heartened by this spontaneous uprising. It has been led as much by unionized teachers as by school management; two-thirds of Bruce Randolph's DCTA members backed autonomy, and at Manual the vote was unanimous. The DPS board unanimously approved Bruce Randolph's request last month, so the district is open to giving some schools more control. But the union brass … [Read more...]
Roe v Wade at 35
Tomorrow is the annual Blogs for Life conference at Family Research Council headquarters in Washington, DC, a somber commemoration of the 35th anniversary of the terrible and infamous Roe v Wade decision from the U.S. Supreme Court. A provocative NewsMax essay today from Joseph Sobran summarizes three and a half decades of the debate:Note the strange progress of the advocates of abortion. A generation ago, just before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that virtually all legal restrictions on abortion violated the U.S. Constitution, these people agreed that killing the unborn was evil; but they held that its evil might be minimized by legalizing and regulating it. Then they shifted to what might be called an agnostic position: that nobody … [Read more...]
South Carolina Predictions
If Michael (picking McCain) and Steven (picking Huckabee) can do it, let me venture a stab-in-the-dark prediction at today's South Carolina Republican primary results. Because, with Rasmussen seeing an extraordinary amount of uncertainty and the unusual weather apparently driving down turnout, this one is up in the air. So without further ado, here is my prognostication: Huckabee ... 28 Thompson ... 24 McCain ... 22 Romney ... 13 Paul ... 7 Giuliani ... 6 Such a finish would knock McCain down a couple notches and give Thompson the boost he needs heading into Super Tuesday as a viable competitor with Huckabee in the Southern states and with Giuliani & Romney in some of the other states (provided Rudy can win Florida, of course … [Read more...]
Economic “Stimulus” = Impatient Politics Trumping Good Policy
Update: It's good to see Michael at Best Destiny and Phil at Clear Commentary thinking along similar lines. With all the news of economic slowdown nearing fevered pitch, some Americans will like the sound of a few hundred extra bucks in their pockets. Hey, it sounds good to me, too. Except it's not a tax break in the sense of getting to keep more of your own hard-earned money. It's plain old wealth redistribution, as explained by George Mason economist Russell Roberts in this piece (HT Rossputin):The money has to come from somewhere. If you raise taxes to fund the plan, the people who are taxed are poorer and they'll spend less. If you borrow money to fund the plan, the people who buy the government bonds have less money to spend and … [Read more...]
Fredmentum Firsthand
"The man finally comes around," writes Red State's Erick Erickson for Human Events, as he travels with the Thompson campaign in South Carolina:Though barely mentioned in the national media, Senator Fred Thompson has been on a barn storming tour crisscrossing South Carolina for more than a week. In a unique approach, he is not just going to major media markets, but to rural areas of South Carolina. On my first day on the trail with Senator Thompson, he drew a crowd of 180 people to a small Mennonite restaurant in Abbeville, South Carolina — population 26,000 with a median income of $15,370. He capped off the day at the Orangeburg-Calhoun County Technical College in Orangeburg, South Carolina with over 200 people braving a rare snow shower … [Read more...]
David Limbaugh: Give Fred Thompson a Second Look, Answer His Call
David Limbaugh eloquently tells conservatives why now is the time to give Fred Thompson a second look and fearlessly answer the call of his campaign:Fred does not run from his record -- more to the point, he doesn't need to. He shoots straight without the constant self-serving reminders that he does, as in telling us he's driving the "Straight Talk Express." More importantly, Fred is right on the issues, and there's little doubt his positions are firm. Research his stances; read his position papers. You'll find he's very strong in all areas important to mainstream conservatives, including national defense, taxes, spending, life, immigration, federalism, appointing originalist judges, health care and education. I'm not drooling over … [Read more...]
Why South Carolina Should Pick Fred
At the American Spectator, Quin Hilyer makes the best case I've seen for South Carolinians to support Fred Thompson in Saturday's primary:If I were a South Carolina Republican voter on Saturday, then for parochial, tactical, and philosophical reasons, I would vote for Fred Thompson. This doesn't mean that I would not have voted for Mitt Romney in Michigan on Tuesday, if I were a Michigander, or that I would not vote for Rudy Giuliani in Florida later this month. Voting in each state, especially in a drawn-out nomination battle, involves particularly local considerations as well as national ones. But for South Carolinians who are mainstream conservatives, those local considerations seem to cry out for a boost for Fred Thompson. Read … [Read more...]
Merrifield Returns to Chair, Dems Still Reel in Union Cash
Over at the new Face the State is a story about the ascension of State Rep. Mike Merrifield back to the chair of the House Education Committee, after last year's controversy and resignation:Rep. Mike Merrifield, D-Manitou Springs, quietly resumed his post at the helm of the House Education Committee on Monday more than nine months after his resignation over a well-publicized email that condemned school choice supporters to a “special place in hell.†Of course, if you've been reading Denise at Colorado Charters or Mr. Bob at The Daily Blogster, you would already be aware of this un-parent-friendly political event in our fair state. More from Face the State:Political consultant Katy Atkinson, a consultant to moderate and … [Read more...]
Why Not Huckabee? The Slime
Why as a conservative don't I support the presidential candidacy of Mike Huckabee? Another great example is highlighted this morning by Jim Geraghty at NRO's Campaign Spot:The Thompson campaign has video of one of those pro-Huckabee push polls. More than a few South Carolina readers have reported the same calls, as well as Campaign Spot Senior South Carolina Correspondent. I'm neither impressed by the Huckabee campaign, nor from Common Sense Issues, the group behind the calls. Sure, the Huckabee campaign says they don't support this, and they're calling on it to stop. But let's see some anger. Let's have Huckabee call up Davis, the guy who's doing this and say, "stop it, you're hurting my campaign." Come on out and denounce Davis … [Read more...]
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