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, March 30, 2009
Rich Galen :: Townhall.com Columnist
Q & A
by Rich Galen
Forward Print Share Single Page
Vote on It:
Average Vote:
[+] Text [-]
 
 
Poll
Will the Dems' health care Christmas Present to America be an improvement or detriment to our health care system?


I may have told you that I flew to California on Friday to give a speech to the Lincoln Club of Northern California. These are Republicans from the Bay Area and north who put their money where their politics are and help fund candidates they think can win elections.

It was one those very rare occasions when the audience was fine but I stunk out the joint. To the point where I am not going to bill them for my fee. Seriously. I was awful.

The best part of the otherwise painful experience was the question and answer period when they asked some pretty good questions and I gave some pretty good answers. That is what I want to tell you about today.

One person asked "What is our message?"

That was a good question. I said "You are setting the bar too high. There isn't ONE message which will be the magic bullet and suddenly make everyone realize they should be a Republican."

There is not ONE message which will suit all voters. The notion of being a majority party is the edges move farther and farther apart, so there have to be messages which will appeal to voters all along the continuum.

No one has gone to Ford …

No one has gone to Ford and said, "Why can't you build a car which will appeal to everyone?" Ford builds everything from a "Focus" compact to an "Expedition" SUV to a "F-450" heavy duty pick up truck. Different people need different things in a vehicle.

Different people are looking for different things in their political affiliation.

I said, during my remarks, that there was a problem in DC with the guys trying to elbow each other out of the way to be the "Voice of the Republican Party." I didn't think it would be such a bad thing if we had a chorus as long as everyone was signing off the same page.

A woman suggested that "guy" thing was part of the problem. Maybe so. I wasn't endorsing an all-male chorus, I was merely reporting.

The GOP doesn't have to hit itself over the head with a gender-based ball bat. The Dems had a real shot at nominating a woman - a highly qualified woman - but decided to nominate Barack Obama, instead.

So, Republicans don't have to sit for being called, nor for thinking of themselves as being, the party of gender discrimination.

Another person asked who I thought would be the GOP nominee in 2012. If I had bet, in March of 2005 that a guy named Barack would be the next President of the United States I would owned his car, his house, his dog and his club membership.

I finished with one of my favorite maxims: If you want to make a difference, win an election. Tomorrow, the special election in NY 20 will be held to fill the seat left vacant by the appointment of Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) to fill Hillary Clinton's Senate Seat.

NY 20 is a Republican-leaning district. According to an AP piece by Valerie Bauman, "The district has more than 196,000 registered Republicans, about 125,000 Democrats and 118,000 unaffiliated voters."

If the Republican candidate, Jim Tedisco wins, that will be a leading indicator for the 2010 mid-terms that without Obama on the ticket (or George W. Bush in the White House) Republican-leaning districts will go back to voting for the GOP candidate.

If, however, the Democrat Scott Murphy wins, it will be seen as proof that Republicans have done nothing to attract independent voters and, more worrisome still, done nothing to get its base vote out to the polls.

In politics you either win or you lose. It's not like Little League where you get credit for taking "good cuts." Coming close doesn't count.

At the Lincoln Club speech, I might have been dreadful; but the questions were great.

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
(13 comments so Far)
View in ascending order     View in descending order
Reply # 1
Date: Mar 30, 2009 - 12:29 PM EST
Who?
In re the statement, "The Dems had a real shot at nominating a woman - a highly qualified woman..." precisely whom would that be? You can't be thinking of the cattle futures queen, who's only "qualification" was having been a president's wife, can you?
Flag as Offensive

Reply # 2
Date: Mar 30, 2009 - 12:40 PM EST
Galen, Galen, Galen...

Gelen sezs :

" The GOP doesn't have to hit itself over the head with a gender-based ball bat. The Dems had a real shot at nominating a woman - a highly qualified woman - but decided to nominate Barack Obama, instead. "

~~~

" - a highly qualified woman - ".

Yes, but only when compared to Obama.

An ordninary garbage collector would be better than either of the aforementioned.


Galen...
" At the Lincoln Club speech, I might have been dreadful; but the questions were great. "

~~~

A little weak, but I am still giving you five checks for being Honest.


Flag as Offensive

Reply # 3
Date: Mar 30, 2009 - 1:19 PM EST
wbheff, it is all part of the RINO
succup. They have been listening to the MSM tout the Hildebeast's credentials as the "smartest" woman in the US for so long, they are starting to believe that hype. Usually Rich is better than that, but it does go to show that if they tell a lie big enough, loudly enough for long enough, even smart people will begin to believe it.

I am not stating that Rich G. is a RINO, but enough RINOs have been repeating the lies about the witch that you have to be careful who you believe.
Flag as Offensive

Reply # 4
Date: Mar 30, 2009 - 4:27 PM EST
Beignets, Cafe Au Lait, Et Un Peu

1) What is the GDP of the US in a good year?

~$14,000bn

2) What is the current national debt?

~$12,000bn

3) What will be the budget deficit next year?

~$1,300bn

4) How much will Obama's deficit add to the national debt in the next 10 years?

~$9,300bn

5) What is the estimated amount of unfunded mandates (social security, Medicare, and Medicaid) on the "books" of the United States?

Between $56,000bn and $75,000bn

6) At what income figure would the US government have to seize all income in order to pay down the CURRENT deficit and debt?

~$75,000

7) What was the effect of the debt saddled on each and every American from the Stimulus bill?

~$38,000 in debt was charged to each and every American.

8) What is the multiple of cash injected by the Federal Reserve in the last 6 months?

~279%

9) Are we currently in a deflationary or inflationary cycle?

Deflationary

10) What are two examples of depressions with hyperinflation?

The Weimar Republic in Germany during the 1920s through Hitler's rise to Führer in 1933.

Current day Zimbabwe where Mugabe seized all of the assets of the plantation owners to spread the wealth. Devalued Zimbabwe's once stron currency and destroyed the former thriving economy.

Flag as Offensive

Reply # 5
Date: Mar 30, 2009 - 4:33 PM EST
Plus Langiappe


(and, a little more N'Awlins style)

11) What is the minimum expected rate of inflation once recovery begins?

At the very minimum, inflation will be 5-8% when recovery begins, which will act as a disincentive for employers to expand and hire more workers. It will make feeding one's family, buying a car, paying tuition, and surviving cost-prohibitive in an evironment where the overall cost-of-living is dramatically higher than it has been.

12) Accordinging to the Washington Post and if Obama's budget passes, the Government will spend 82% of our GDP by 2019, which makes Zimbabwe look sane.

13) You will have to work 299.3 days a year in order to pay Uncle Sam.

14) Socialism always FAILS because the Government runs out of everyone's money, except for the funds of Soros, who made over $1bn by shorting the market, and the rest of the "shorters".

15) We all DIE.


Flag as Offensive

Reply # 6
Date: Mar 30, 2009 - 5:29 PM EST
Denise
you have said it all. Thank you again for you work at TH
Kirk
Flag as Offensive

Reply # 7
Date: Mar 30, 2009 - 5:34 PM EST
Denise
Denise did, you see the NY Times piece on how some LA County cities are trying to sell their stimulus checks for a discount?


"The financial desperation among America's local governments is so consuming that cities in Los Angeles County were recently caught trying to sell their promised federal stimulus checks at a discount for cash. This was either the municipal equivalent of seeking payday loans or a clever attempt to avoid the strings attached to federal money.

So much for the creation of new jobs.
Flag as Offensive

Reply # 8
Date: Mar 30, 2009 - 9:55 PM EST
Kirk & Anderson

All I did was state the FACTS, but I thank you all the same.


Where are all of the trolls defending the "Utopias" of California, Michigan, and New York? Don't they love high taxes?
Flag as Offensive

Reply # 9
Date: Mar 30, 2009 - 9:58 PM EST
WP: 82% of GDP in 10 Years!!!

Before reading, keep in mind that the EU average for its countries' with anemic growth is 47% of GDP...

“In the midst of this bonfire of inanities, President Obama is pressing ahead with a $3.6 trillion budget, predicated on utterly unrealistic economic growth, even as the Congressional Budget Office is now projecting that this year’s deficit will soar past $1.8 trillion, 13 percent of the US economy. This would amount, as the Washington Post reports, to ‘the deepest well of red ink since the end of World War II.’ According to the Post, the CBO is warning, ominously, that the result of this kind of borrowing and spending could lead to an exponentially expanding national debt that would ‘exceed 82 percent of the overall economy by 2019.’”

President Obama came to office proclaiming that he aims to solve problems, not hand them on to our children. Most presidents say that sort of thing. But now we are in very dire straits, and that being the case, he will be held to account. It’s your legacy, sir, and let’s not hear any more about ‘inheriting the crisis.’ You asked for the job. Meanwhile, let us hope that his talent for mastering a sérieux financial crisis are not on a level with the Special Olympians of Wall Street, and Congress.”
Flag as Offensive

Reply # 10
Date: Mar 31, 2009 - 11:39 AM EST
You mention something about
building cars for all the people.

I have a chore for you, please honestly try it.

The next time you go for a drive, a block, a mile, an hour, look at all the cars you can look at while driving safely, and let me know if you ever find a car exactly like yours, unless you are at a car dealer's or a rental car lot.

Henry Ford is praised for inventing the assembly line, and an assembly line is intended to build copies of exactly, or almost exactly the same product.

Now I have worked on assembly lines building Diesel Engines, and at another time, building kitchen stoves. Let me assure you that when the exact same product is being built, twice the number of products will be built in the same time, and in the space and investment needed to build if that line tries to build a dozen different items.

I don't remember the exact details, but some years ago I read a story that said GM could build hundreds of thousands of different vehicles in any one year. Just imagine the cost of a car, when millions are the same, rather than millions being different.

You know that right along with that efficiency there would be many companies established who could add this gadget and that, so if you are ashamed to look like your neighbor, at your cost, make it look like what you want.

I can remember our 4-door 1927 Buick that could hold a family of 8 with no problem. Between the front and back seat was room for a bench for 2 children, and the back seat held 4, easily. Every year we drove from PA to Ind, with luggage on the rear bumper, on the roof, and bolted on the running board. So you can see our Buick looked different from others.

When the brakes on our 1927 Buick overheated as we crossed mountains in Pennsylvania, the daughters were of no help at all, but the boys did help cool the brakes, a little!
Flag as Offensive

Reply # 11
Date: Mar 31, 2009 - 12:40 PM EST
Jim_CA
I can identify with U on the need for a choice of 200 (at least) varieties/models of Vehicles..But we both know we're *too old and out-of-date* to say things like that.. Anyway, I have a good time just trying to figure out WHO DOES make some of the strange-looking contraptions.. Saw one on I79 yesterday that looked like a cross between a golfcart and the original Subaru BRAT.. Have a GOOD DAY.
Flag as Offensive

Reply # 12
Date: Mar 31, 2009 - 2:14 PM EST
Ugly, Ugly, Ugly

I told a guy the other day, "That looks just like the box my first car came in."
Flag as Offensive

Reply # 13
Date: Mar 31, 2009 - 2:27 PM EST
trade 2004 Chevy Malibu for '51 Plymouth

Roy Location: WV
Reply # 2
Date: Mar 31, 2009 - 12:40 PM EST
Jim_CA
I can identify with U on the need for a choice of 200 (at least) varieties/models of Vehicles.

==========

I mis read what you mis read on my post earlier.

I don't want 200 different models, I want less. Of course color can make all the difference, and when was the last time you saw a car painted in a pretty color?

I have rented nearly a 1000 cars, from Saipan and Guam to various parts of Europe and nearly 40 States, mainly in my business life. At one time I noticed the car I had so often was hard to get in and out of. I asked the gals at the rental desks, where I visited monthly, why I was getting such a cramped vehicle.

They said exactly the same thing in Phoenix, Frisco, and Sacramento, "We thought you would like the sports car, so we saved our best for you." I replied, "Just give me one I can step into, rather than craw into."

I would trade my 2004 Chevy Malibu for my '51 Plymouth, straight up. I know comfort when I feel it.

And that '78 Caddy that I drove for 22 years, is still one of the best.

75 years ago my brother and I would sit on the front porch on a Sunday afternoon, and he would count Fords, and I would count Chevys.

In spite of all the publicity on the part of the auto makers, I have owned only one Ford in my life and did not like it, and when I visited with my brother a few times over the years, he never had a Chevy.

So there.



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.