Quote of the day

Fred running third party, instead of Mitt, would be OK too, I just don’t think that Fred would have the resources. For any chance of success it would have to be as a third party candidate, which would be way up hill itself, rather than as write in.

MB4 on February 4, 2008 at 12:49 AM

Well, we have how many months before the Convention to get this movement going? If the polls can be believed, no one is going to get the necessary delegates for the nomination. So we’re most likely going to a brokered convention. Between the Primary and the Convention, work could be done to convince conservatives to rally behind Fred and to convince him to run 3rd party if he doesn’t earn the nomination at the Convention.

Then again, looking at it realistically, the deal has probably been made for McCain to get the nomination. If that is the case, then most likely the only thing we can do is just send a message. If Fred can’t run, based on lack of funds, then just write him in anyway as a message vote and then prepare to energize the Conservatives in Congress to stop anything President Clinton or President Obama and Democrats in Congress try to do until 2010 when we can take back Congress.

Michael in MI on February 4, 2008 at 1:07 AM

Again, I love your enthusiam, but that ain’t gonna happen. If Fred had enough votes to do that, he’d still be in the race. McCain is winning because of name recognition. If the Base rallies around Mitt, and he is nominated, he WILL have name rec too. Mitt can beat Hillary, but McCain will lose like our last name rec candidate, Bob Dole.

Tony737 on February 4, 2008 at 1:06 AM

I disagree. The GOP voters are depressed and the Democrat voters are extremely energized. I don’t see either Mitt or McCain defeating either Hillary or Obama. Not a chance. Mitt does not have enough people energized to rally around him and McCain is basically a liberal socialist in the GOP. When it comes to making a decision between the GOP and Democrats, if there is no real distinction, people are going to choose the Democrats for a “change”.

So my energy is really not about winning, since I am resigned to the likelihood of a major GOP loss this year. The GOP will not win with a campaign of “vote for me, I’m not HIllary/Obama!” It didn’t work in 2006 for Congress and it will work less in 2008 for President. Voting against something is not very inspiring (and that is basically what you are asking when asking the base to rally around Mitt. It is not rally FOR Mitt, but AGAINST McCain). (Granted, I guess it did inspire the Lefties who hated Bush so much they got out in force to vote against him in 2004. But I don’t see that happening on the right.)

So the fight now is for Congress and the future and stopping the 2008-2012 Democrat President.

Michael in MI on February 4, 2008 at 1:14 AM

but I will NOT throw away my vote for a phantom candidate to ‘teach ‘em a lesson’. Look at how close the elections have been lately. Your vote might make the difference.

Tony737 on February 4, 2008 at 1:15 AM

This is not a “teach them a lesson” campaign. This is a “send a message” campaign, a la Ross Perot. Ross Perot votes were principled votes. Those principles sent the message that the GOP could not move left on fiscal matters. So the GOP listened and we got what we wanted in 1994. Without those principled votes in 1992, who knows what we would have gotten in 1994.

There are no exit poll results such as “40% of McCain voters were ‘hold their nose’ to vote against Hillary votes. No, the exit polls will show that McCain received X amount of votes and Hillary received Y amount of votes and that means that X amount of people like McCainservatism and Amnesty and big government and Y amount of people like liberal socialism/Marxism. And that means that now X+Y percent of America is now liberal and Conservatism is dead.

That will be the message after the general election if people ‘hold their nose’.

We have to realize what is going on here. The mass media controls the spin and controls the message to the American public. There are no boxes for “vote for McCain”, “hold my nose vote for McCain”, “vote for Hillary”, “hold my nose vote for Hillary”, etc. If we don’t vote our principles, then politicians do not get the message.

The GOP voters blew it already if they wanted a Conservative nominee. We had Hunter, Tancredo and Thompson. Yet, the focus was “electability” instead of policy and principle. So the general election is already lost. Conservatives have already lost credibility by focusing on “electability” over principle. That message has been sent to government and now they know they don’t have to pander anymore, because we will just hold our noses since we have no principles.

The only way to send them the opposite message is to not cast “hold your nose” votes.

Michael in MI on February 4, 2008 at 1:27 AM

Maybe like 1994. Maybe.

MB4 on February 4, 2008 at 1:28 AM

NO maybe! Do or do not. There is no ‘maybe’.

Anyway, but seriously… I hear so many people with their big talk about how we HAVE to defeat Hillary and we HAVE to rally around Mitt or McCain to stop them. HAVE to. It’s the end of the world if we do not. The country is dooooooomed, dooooooomed if we lose.

Whatever. I’m focusing on the likelihood of a loss and the reality that the world does not end with a Democrat President, it just means we have to work harder and be more engaged. And educate and inform people about conservatism and why it’s good for America and keep the movement going. That’s it. That takes effort. It seems some people are resigned to just give up after November 2008 and allow the Democrats to do whatever they want when in power.

Michael in MI on February 4, 2008 at 1:36 AM