Townhall.com The Blogspot for Political, Conservative and Republican Blogs and Bloggers

South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint on Friday became one of the first high-profile Republicans to publicly criticize John McCain following his electoral defeat, blaming the Arizona senator for betraying conservative principles in his quest for the White House.

... "McCain, who is proponent of campaign finance reform that weakened party organizations and basically put George Soros in the driver's seat," DeMint said. "His proposal for amnesty for illegals. His support of global warming, cap-and-trade programs that will put another burden on our economy. And of course, his embrace of the bailout right before the election was probably the nail in our coffin this last election. And he has been an opponent of drilling in ANWR, at a time when energy is so important. It really didn't fit the label, but he was our package."

Detroit hasn't been making cars people want to buy and was catering to Big Labor demands long before the mortgage crisis hit.  It's no wonder why they aren't competitive anymore. (I say this as a Flint, Michigan native.)

Mark Perry of the wonderful Carpe Diem blog put together this chart showing the inflated wages the Big Three automakers pay over their competitors. Big Three union workers, with their gold-plated health care plans, make about $73 an hour in total compensation.  And, now they're begging Washington for a bailout before they even think about negotiating with the UAW.

 From: Al Franken <aj@alfranken.com>
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:45:34
Subject: As our recount starts, join me, Al Gore and George Soros, for dinner Thursday, Nov. 20th, NYC!

Friends,

We've all worked hard to win back Paul Wellstone's Senate seat in Minnesota. As the dust settles on a long, exciting campaign, my race is still too close to call. Out of 3 million ballots, the gap between Norm Coleman and me sits at just 206 votes -- that's seven one-thousandths of one percent!

With a margin that small, we're headed towards an automatic statewide hand recount of every ballot in every county starting next week. And because the decision in this race could come down to just a few votes, we are placing staff in each county to make sure every single vote is properly counted.

We need every resource we can muster to ensure that Minnesotans' voices are heard.

I need your help right away. If you have already maxed to my campaign or are federally maxed this cycle, you can still contribute legally to the Franken Recount Fund--anyone can give up to $12,300 to our recount effort and the election cycle limits don't apply.

I will be in New York City on Thursday, November 20th for a special reception and dinner with Vice President Al Gore at the home of George Soros. I hope you will join me at the event. If you can't make it, I hope you will contribute as much as you possibly can to help ensure a fair recount.

Thank you--I need your help now more than ever! Contribute at www.AlFranken.com/NYC or see invite below for more details.

See you there!

Al Franken

Mitt Romney, Huckabee's principle rival in Iowa, comes in for the roughest treatment. Huckabee writes that the former Massachusetts Governor's record was "anything but conservative until he changed the light bulbs in his chandelier in time to run for president." He notes that Romney declined to make a phone call of congratulations after Huckabee beat the oddsmakers to win the Iowa caucuses, "which we took as a sign of total disrespect." He mocks Romney for suggesting, during one debate, more investment in high-yield stocks as a solution to economic woes. "Let them eat stocks!" Huckabee jokes.

His treatment of former candidate Fred Thompson, a rival who helped sink Huckabee's upstart ambitions in South Carolina, is somewhat more favorable, if only because it is less personal. Huckabee maintains that Thompson's biggest mistake was strategic: He didn't understand the need to expand the Republican party beyond its base. "Fred Thompson never did grasp the dynamics of the race or the country, and his amazingly lackluster campaign reflected just how disconnected he was with the people, despite the anticipation and expectation that greeted his candidacy," Huckabee writes.

He calls out Pat Robertson, the Virginia-based televangelist, and Dr. Bob Jones III, chancellor of Bob Jones University in South Carolina, for endorsing Rudy Giuliani and Romney, respectively. He also has words for the Texas-based Rev. John Hagee, who endorsed the more moderate John McCain in the primaries, as someone who was drawn to the eventual Republican nominee because of the lure of power. Huckabee speaks to Hagee by phone before the McCain endorsement, while the former Arkansas Governor is preparing for a spot on Saturday Night Live. "I asked if he had prayed about this and believed this was what the Lord wanted him to do," Huckabee writes of his conversation with Hagee. "I didn't get a straight answer." Months later, McCain rejected Hagee's endorsement because of controversial remarks the pastor had made about biblical interpretations.

... He also hits Libertarians and fiscal conservatives:

In a chapter entitled "Faux-Cons: Worse than Liberalism,"Huckabee identifies what he calls the "real threat" to the Republican Party: "libertarianism masked as conservatism." He is not so much concerned with the libertarian candidate Ron Paul's Republican supporters, as he is with a strain of mainstream fiscal conservative thought that demands ideological purity, seeing any tax increase as apostasy and leaving little room for government-driven solutions to people's problems. "I don't take issue with what they believe, but the smugness with which they believe it," writes Huckabee, who raised some taxes as a governor and cut other deals with his state's Democratic legislature. "Faux-Cons aren't interested in spirited or thoughtful debate, because such an endeavor requires accountability for the logical conclusion of their argument." Among his targets is the Club For Growth, a group that tarred Huckabee as insufficiently conservative in the primaries and ran television ads with funding from one of Huckabee's longtime Arkansas political foes, Jackson T. Stephens Jr. 

... One thought immediately strikes me:  This sort of candor is rare among politicians who have futures (or believe they have futures).  This is the candidate's equivalent of writing a tell-all Scott McClellanesque memoir.  It will surely generate a lot of buzz and sells a lot of copies, but does it help him win friends and influence people???

... Is this an indication that he has no future presidential ambitions???  Does he believe that this is his 15 minutes, and he has to quickly cash-in now -- while there is still interest in him?  Or is he egotistical enough to believe that he can write this sort of book today, and then use his great talent for talking to smooth things over later?

Lastly, TIME's headline also strikes me as humorous:  "Huckabee, Finally, Settles His Campaign Scores..."  (.. Finally???  When did he stop attacking his opponents???) 

No issue reveals the outrageous bias of the “prestige press” more reliably than the controversy over same sex marriage. On Sunday, November 16^th, the New York Times reported on demonstrations favoring gay marriage. The story by Jesse McKinley featured a sentence explaining: “The demonstrations – from a sun-splashed throng in San Francisco to a chilly crowd in Minneapolis – came 11 days after California voters narrowly passed a ballot measure, Proposition 8, that outlawed previously legal same-sex ceremonies in the state.”

First, Proposition 8 “outlawed” nothing --- it “banned” nothing. The Proposition, echoing a prior decision of the voters of the state in Proposition 22 eight years ago, added 14 simple, unequivocal words to the state Constitution: “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.”

The “previously legal same sex ceremonies” (authorized by four justices of the state supreme court in a divided decision a mere five months ago) have not been “outlawed.” Contrary to the tenor of the report, no jack-booted state troopers will come crashing down doors to bust-up the tender and loving commitment ceremonies of same sex couples. Even before the court decision, civil unions were available with identical rights to marriage, and those civil unions are still available after Proposition 8. The voters cast their ballots to eliminate confusion in the Constitution (confusion introduced by meddling jurists), not to interfere with private behavior of any kind. It’s absurd and dishonest to suggest that the proposition “outlawed” anyone’s relationship or expressions of love.

Moreover, the Times report that California voters “narrowly passed” the ballot measure also happens to be false. The margin of victory for Proposition 8 amounted to 511,000 votes – hardly a squeaker. In fact, the proposition got 52.2% of the statewide vote --- very similar Barack Obama’s 52.7% of the national vote.

Would anyone claim that Obama “narrowly defeated” McCain? The New York Times never used such language – despite the striking resemblance between Obama’s winning coalition and the nature of the vote that passed Proposition 8.

Obama lost white voters decisively (by more than 12% to John McCain) but made up for that loss with a strong showing in the Hispanic community and overwhelming support (94%) from his fellow African-Americans.

Similarly, Prop 8 lost (by a small margin) among white voters, while earning a majority of Hispanic support and drawing overwhelming backing (70%) from African-Americans.

The frequently repeated charge that the vote represents a triumph of bigotry amounts to one of the most insipid distortions in recent press history, fomenting rage in the gay community that will only serve to alienate activists even further from the voters in the American mainstream.   

I'm just looking foward to what some creative conservative video editors can come up with.