Townhall.com, Where Your Opinion Counts
Talk Radio:   Bill Bennett   Mike Gallagher   Dennis Prager   Michael Medved   Hugh Hewitt   
BREAKING NEWS  LeftArrow - Townhall.com : Conservative, Political, Republican   RightArrow - Townhall.com : Conservative, Political, Republican  
Columns, funnies & more in your inbox!
Login | What's Hot
  • Check the boxes and send us your email address to receveive your free newsletter
  • Your daily must-read of conservative columns, cartoons and news. Coulter, Sowell, Krauthammer and more.
  • Townhall.com’s weekly inside scoop on what’s happening behind the scenes in the world of politics. When news breaks, we report.
  • Signup to receive the latest daily Townhall cartoons
Monday, February 25, 2008
Rich Galen :: Townhall.com Columnist
Ralph Nader and Alan Keyes
by Rich Galen
Forward Print Share Single Page
Vote on It:
Average Vote:
[+] Text [-]
 
 
Poll
With unemployment at 10.2%, what will happen by the end of Obama's first term?



Friday night I spoke at the Galveston County, Texas Lincoln Day Dinner.

It was a great event. Maybe 300 people came on a Friday night to chat with each other, greet candidates, bid on tshatshkes placed on tables against the back wall which no one really wants or needs to help raise money for their county party, and listen to a speech.

Or, in the case of the Galveston County GOP, speeches.

I was the after dinner speaker, but the chairman of the event called about a week ago to tell me that Alan Keyes had asked to speak and he would be speaking for five minutes before dinner.

I said Alan Keyes has never spoken for five minutes in his life. Keyes spends more than five minutes talking to the guy at a toll booth.

Sure enough, Keyes went into a full 20-minute exhortation as to why the audience should not support John McCain for President nor Mike Huckabee, nor Ron Paul (who was, uncomfortably, sitting at a table in the front row but was not asked to speak).

Alan Keyes, as you may remember, participated in that dreadful debate in Iowa run by the Des Moines Register and Iowa Public Broadcasting. Other than that, he has not been as much a participant in this campaign as Duncan Hunter. Or Mike Gravel.

I didn't care that Alan Keyes spoke. What I did care about was that he spoke at a county Lincoln Day Dinner and, in effect, told Republicans to stay home rather than vote for John McCain.

This was not the Conservative Political Action Conference, where you can assume a significant portion of the audience were not registered Republicans.

This was a REPUBLICAN Lincoln Day Dinner.

So, naturally, when I got up to give my remarks I asked how many people had served in public office, run for public office or worked on the campaign of someone who was running.

As you might expect a huge percentage of the hands in the room went up because the people in the room are the Republicans who pay good money and give up their Friday night to make their county party stronger.

I told them the story of my having lost my first campaign for City Councilman in Marietta, Ohio 45750 by two votes.

I asked them to think about how many candidates across the country for everything from US Senate to School Board might lose by a handful of votes if they followed Alan Keyes' advice and stayed home because McCain doesn't meet his standards of perfection. Continued...
1 2
| Full Article & Comments | Next >
Share:
Forward Print Single Page
Vote on It:
Average Vote:
 
About The Author

Rich Galen has been a press secretary to Dan Quayle and Newt Gingrich. Rich Galen currently works as a journalist and writes at Mullings.com

Be the first to read Rich Galen's column. Sign up today and receive Townhall.com delivered each morning to your inbox.

Join The Debate!

Post Your Comment
(74 comments so Far)
View in ascending order     View in descending order
Reply # 1
Date: Mar 1, 2008 - 7:48 PM EST
Rich Galen is no conservative
...and does not belong on Townhall.com

We need Alan Keyes for President

http://www.alankeyes.com
Flag as Offensive

Reply # 2
Date: Feb 27, 2008 - 9:54 AM EST
Beeb - ''flaccid on national security''?
--
Interesting remark.

"As we all know, Ron Paul is extremely flacid on the issue of national security."


There's a reekingly Neo-con aroma to that remark, which argues for a more thoughtful consideration of just how "national security" is to be defined.

I tend to go with a view of foreign policy as an extension of government's "goons with guns" role (the only role in society, after all, that government is either equipped for or competent to fill).

The purpose of government (to anyone but a bloody "Liberal" or some other kind of psychopath) is to protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign or domestic. As such, "national security" consists in maintaining the capability - and the demonstrated willingness - to retaliate with reliable effect against anyone who either acts or threatens to act in violation of American citizens lives, liberties, or property.

Note: that's "Americans." Not "Englishmen" or "Canadians" or "Kuwaitis" or "Israelis."

*OUR* security. Nobody else's.

The private American citizen is free to filibuster as he likes. He can get all Lafayette Escadrille or Eagle Squadron or Flying Tiger on his own, but the American *GOVERNMENT* is bound - quite properly, and inescapably - by "the chains of the Constitution."

No "Neutrality Patrol" crap. No playing convoy escort in a state of undeclared war against even the most odious belligerant foreign nation's U-boats. No "police actions."

But when war comes - when Congress *DECLARES* war - no holding back. No restricted targeting for fear of a "diplomatic incident," no suicidal rules of engagement, no Foggy Bottom Breakdown.

Kick 'em in the butt; don't pee on 'em.

That's "national security," and on that count Dr. Paul is as much a hard-on as you or any other American has any right to wish for.

--
Flag as Offensive
Sign Up to Post Your CommentsSign Up to Post Your Comments
If you are already registered, click here to login. Otherwise, please take a few seconds to register with Townhall.com. Once you sign up, you’ll be able to post your comments immediately, use the action center, get podcasts, and more!
Note: Fields marked with a red asterisk (*) are required.
Salutation:
First Name:
*
Last Name:
*
Email:
*
Nickname:
*
Note: Nick name will be shown when you post comments.
Address 1:
*
Address 2:
City:
 *
State:
 *
Zip:
 *
Phone:
       
Your daily must-read of conservative columns, cartoons and news. Coulter, Sowell, Krauthammer and more.
(Bi-Weekly) We highlight the best opportunities from our partners for surveys, action items and more.