Gov. Crist: GOP Should Embrace Reagan Roots

Wednesday, November 12, 2008 1:11 PM

By: Tim Collie

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said Wednesday that the Republican Party must reach out to minority voters, and tackle emerging issues like the environment and global warming, but remain true to its Reagan roots of lower taxes and lean government regulation.

And that's exactly the model he uses to govern in Florida, said Crist, who is considered on most short lists of rising stars in the Republican Party. Hosting a two-day conference of Republican governors in Miami, Crist told Newsmax Wednesday morning that party leaders should preach moderation as the first step in rebuilding the Republican brand. He frequently referred to Ronald Reagan's two landslide presidential victories that won over traditional, conservative-leaning Democrats in the 1980s.

"I think the first thing we have to do is rally behind the president-elect — that’s my view of it,'' Crist said. "As a Republican, I think governors can do the right thing by working together and being bipartisan. That's what we do here in Florida, and that's the formula for success.

"At the end of the day people want you to solve problems, to govern."

The event in Miami this week is likely to provide a glimpse of the intra-party debate that some observers say will last for at least several years. The struggle probably will pit moderates like Crist against more conservative candidates who want to emphasize traditional social issues like opposition to abortion rights, stem cell research and gay rights.

“We can’t be obsessed with issues that are not the issues that are important to American voters,” Jim Greer, the Florida Republican chairman and a likely candidate for national party leader, told The New York Times this week.

Asked whether that means reaching out to less-conservative voters, Crist replied: "I think we need to reach out to more people period. We need to reach Hispanics, other minorities on issues important to them. I think it is important that we maintain the principles that the party stands for: a strong national defense, lower taxes, but also broadening those by talking about protecting our environment, and by reaching across the aisle and being bipartisan whenever we can."

The party must take a "broad" view even on abortion, a non-negotiable issue for the party's social conservatives, Crist said.

"There's different ways to approach it (abortion), different ways to communicate, different ways to utilize — I think Ronald Reagan had the right formula for doing that."

Crist, who was criticized in some quarters for not campaigning hard enough for John McCain in Florida, blamed the national economy, not the candidate, for McCain's loss of the state’s crucial 27 electoral votes to Barack Obama.

Crist strongly suggested he will run for reelection in 2010. The well-known Florida Republican guru J.M. ''Mac'' Stipanovich told The Miami Herald that Crist will beat any Democrat ``like a rented mule.''

"I think he ran a great campaign, but i think you have to recognize it was a tough time,'' Crist said of McCain.

"Campaigning in this economy, following this administration, it was just a very tough sell." He dodged the question of his own aspirations for 2012, which nearly every reporter asked him about.

“It's a new day, there's no doubt about it. We need to refocus and reenergize and get ready for the future."

© 2008 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Gov. Crist: GOP Should Embrace Reagan Roots

Wednesday, November 12, 2008 1:11 PM

By: Tim Collie

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said Wednesday that the Republican Party must reach out to minority voters, and tackle emerging issues like the environment and global warming, but remain true to its Reagan roots of lower taxes and lean government regulation.

And that's exactly the model he uses to govern in Florida, said Crist, who is considered on most short lists of rising stars in the Republican Party. Hosting a two-day conference of Republican governors in Miami, Crist told Newsmax Wednesday morning that party leaders should preach moderation as the first step in rebuilding the Republican brand. He frequently referred to Ronald Reagan's two landslide presidential victories that won over traditional, conservative-leaning Democrats in the 1980s.

"I think the first thing we have to do is rally behind the president-elect — that’s my view of it,'' Crist said. "As a Republican, I think governors can do the right thing by working together and being bipartisan. That's what we do here in Florida, and that's the formula for success.

"At the end of the day people want you to solve problems, to govern."

The event in Miami this week is likely to provide a glimpse of the intra-party debate that some observers say will last for at least several years. The struggle probably will pit moderates like Crist against more conservative candidates who want to emphasize traditional social issues like opposition to abortion rights, stem cell research and gay rights.

“We can’t be obsessed with issues that are not the issues that are important to American voters,” Jim Greer, the Florida Republican chairman and a likely candidate for national party leader, told The New York Times this week.

Asked whether that means reaching out to less-conservative voters, Crist replied: "I think we need to reach out to more people period. We need to reach Hispanics, other minorities on issues important to them. I think it is important that we maintain the principles that the party stands for: a strong national defense, lower taxes, but also broadening those by talking about protecting our environment, and by reaching across the aisle and being bipartisan whenever we can."

The party must take a "broad" view even on abortion, a non-negotiable issue for the party's social conservatives, Crist said.

"There's different ways to approach it (abortion), different ways to communicate, different ways to utilize — I think Ronald Reagan had the right formula for doing that."

Crist, who was criticized in some quarters for not campaigning hard enough for John McCain in Florida, blamed the national economy, not the candidate, for McCain's loss of the state’s crucial 27 electoral votes to Barack Obama.

Crist strongly suggested he will run for reelection in 2010. The well-known Florida Republican guru J.M. ''Mac'' Stipanovich told The Miami Herald that Crist will beat any Democrat ``like a rented mule.''

"I think he ran a great campaign, but i think you have to recognize it was a tough time,'' Crist said of McCain.

"Campaigning in this economy, following this administration, it was just a very tough sell." He dodged the question of his own aspirations for 2012, which nearly every reporter asked him about.

“It's a new day, there's no doubt about it. We need to refocus and reenergize and get ready for the future."

© 2008 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

It's Good to Know: The Black Friday Myth 

As Thanksgiving approaches, it is a mantra that will be repeated constantly by countless media outlets: The day after the holiday is the busiest shopping day of the year. But guess what? Though there may be huge crowds in the stores on "Black Friday," they'll mostly be window shopping.

In terms of sales, the Friday after Thanksgiving doesn't even make the top three. The most lucrative day for retailers is usually the Saturday before Christmas. Last-minute shopping, anyone?

(Source: Snopes.com and the National Retail Federation)

If You Want 2012, Earn It 

by Jed Babbin 

Posted 11/10/2008 ET

Updated 11/11/2008 ET

The lesson of 2008 is that it’s not enough to sound like a conservative. Whoever wants the Republican nomination in 2012 is going to have to earn it by taking conservative actions, not just repeating conservative words.

For the next four years, presidential aspirants will have to prove their dedication to conservative principles by casting votes and signing vetoes, by taking political risks and helping fellow conservatives reorganize all across the nation.

The “moderate” wing of the Republican Party isn’t dead. Too many of them are still in Congress, among current and former governors and in the unelected Party leadership. Some can even be found among the conservative media. They will do their best to contain, confuse and prevent a conservative from gaining the nomination.

And they will do their best to becloud the forces that led to McCain’s defeat. Yes, the media and some pollsters contributed to McCain’s loss by promoting Obama and predicting his election by inflated margins. But pollsters and media bias were not the decisive factors in McCain’s loss. George Bush, John McCain and Barack Obama were.

The decisive factor is that the Republican Party drifted to the left, to big government, in irresolute prosecution of the war, and into the biggest economic crisis in living memory. The truth that Democrats caused the financial mess -- protecting Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, forcing banks to issue loans to unqualified borrowers by passing the Community Reinvestment Act -- was overshadowed because the Bush Administration didn’t foresee or prevent the crash.

American voters lost confidence in George Bush. John McCain was the wrong choice to regain that trust because he is not an ideological conservative and chose to run a moderate campaign divorced from the issues in the front of voters’ minds. What else could explain the exit polls showing minority Catholics voting in tremendous numbers for pro-abortion Barack Obama?

The Republican Party will recover, but its only path back to the presidency and majorities in Congress is to return to conservative principles and -- as Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Mi) said on election night -- to again become the party of big ideas.

Since 2006, Americans have suffered like Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega did in December 1989. Noriega, fleeing US forces, holed up in the Papal Nuncio’s residence where he was besieged -- night and day -- with blasts of loud rock music. Sound creates physical pressure that can be felt not just in the ear but in the mind. With the 2008 campaign finally over, Americans were just beginning to realize the relief from the relentless blast of campaign news only to discover that the first showcase for potential 2012 nominees is already upon us. The Republican Governors’ Association meeting this week in Miami will attract a whole gaggle of them.

Most will abide by Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour’s advice, reported in The Politico. Barbour said, “One of the worst things that can happen to the Republican Party in our effort to rebuild is for a bunch of people to start running for president. Anybody harboring that ambition needs to squelch it until after 2010 … Anybody out there running for president is undercutting what’s important. You do this against your own interest.”

But the game is afoot, and the subjects of speculation can’t do more than deny they’re running. The political press can neither leave them alone nor resist reporting on their every move. The media have restarted the horse race, even if only with a few exhausted horses.

Conservatives have to guide that competition by setting criteria for candidates and goals they must achieve. We have to demand that the Republican candidate in 2012 earn our trust and support.

No potential conservative candidate should be written off or anointed too soon. Many of those who ran in the presidential primaries this year will try again as, probably, will Sarah Palin. Others in congress, among state governors and some who don’t hold office now covet that chance. But to covet something is not to deserve it. To restore the Republican Party, an aspirant will have to work tirelessly to reject compromise with liberalism and strengthen conservatives’ hand.

Those who are elected officials -- in Congress and among the governors, state legislators and mayors -- have it the easiest. Members of Congress can vote for the rare conservative proposition that may see the light of day, and must vote against the liberal agenda as well as the compromises offered by the moderate Republicans. And they can do more, as the House Republican Study Committee did in August when -- despite the recess, even after Speaker Pelosi shut off the television cameras -- they stayed in town to rebel against the offshore drilling ban.

Many Republican pecksniffs derided their protest as a stunt. But it worked: the offshore drilling ban expired because Pelosi and Reid knew they couldn’t get an extension passed. We need more conservative stunts like that.

Governors can also take political risks and stand for conservative principles. They have the power to veto legislation, and -- even when their vetoes are overridden -- can stand for conservative principles.

For all elected officials, this course presents political risk. But risking and suffering defeat and being willing to take the consequences is something we must demand of our congressmen, senators and governors. Barack Obama’s agenda, and the Pelosi-Reid congress will provide a lot of opportunities for them to prove their worth.

For those who aren’t in office, it’s more difficult but not impossible. Many, such as former Speaker Newt Gingrich, are the keepers of the conservative flame. When Gingrich wrote his “Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less” petition, he helped the House “Drill Now” rebels organize a tidal wave of conservative support. There’s a huge lesson in Gingrich’s petition.

Any conservative who wants to be nominated in 2012 must help conservatives all across the nation organize, raise money for other conservative candidates and rebuild the Republican Party on conservative principles. They should be forming and leading coalitions of conservatives, running political action committees nationally and in every state to elect conservatives to state and local office.

And they should be helping find and recruit conservatives to run in 2010.

We often ask, “What would Reagan do?” That’s what Reagan did. It’s a model every presidential aspirant should follow. 

To Our Veterans 

Thank you for your service and your sacrifices to protect the freedom that only your service has provided us. You understood that someone had to serve that the rest of us could live free. You understood that someone had to serve so that the rest of the world could live free.

You were the ones to see what needed to be done, to stand up and do the job, and make the sacrifice to your own lives. You gave up time from your family and friends, your jobs and careers, to do the job you saw needed done. Some of you sacrificed your bodies and health and some sacrificed their very lives so that brothers and sisters in arms could live and virtual strangers could live free.

You are the best that our country has. You are the definition of "Hero". You are the future of our country. And with the servicemen and women we have, it will be a wonderful future to offer the coming generations. We adulate movie stars and athletes when we should give that honor to you. Instead, unless we personally know you or  you are a member of our own families, we seldom think about you except on Memorial Day, the 4th of July, and of course, Veteran's Day. We go on about our lives and give little thought to the people that protect us twenty-four hours a day every day of the year. That's our shame and I am as guilty as the next person.  

I can't offer anything that comes close to what you did for me. All I can do is say Thank You. It's not nearly enough, but it comes from my heart. May God Bless and keep each and every one of you in the safety of His Hands and Heart.

Congressman Warns of Obama Dictatorship 

Monday, November 10, 2008 6:44 PM

WASHINGTON — A Republican congressman from Georgia said Monday he fears that President-elect Obama will establish a Gestapo-like security force to impose a Marxist or fascist dictatorship.

"It may sound a bit crazy and off base, but the thing is, he's the one who proposed this national security force," Rep. Paul Broun said of Obama in an interview Monday with The Associated Press. "I'm just trying to bring attention to the fact that we may — may not, I hope not — but we may have a problem with that type of philosophy of radical socialism or Marxism."

Broun cited a July speech by Obama that has circulated on the Internet in which the then-Democratic presidential candidate called for a civilian force to take some of the national security burden off the military.

"That's exactly what Hitler did in Nazi Germany and it's exactly what the Soviet Union did," Broun said. "When he's proposing to have a national security force that's answering to him, that is as strong as the U.S. military, he's showing me signs of being Marxist."

Obama's comments about a national security force came during a speech in Colorado about building a new civil service corps. Among other things, he called for expanding the nation's foreign service and doubling the size of the Peace Corps "to renew our diplomacy."

"We cannot continue to rely only on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set," Obama said in July. "We've got to have a civilian national security force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded."

Broun said he also believes Obama likely will move to ban gun ownership if he does build a national police force.

Obama has said he respects the Second Amendment right to bear arms and favors "common sense" gun laws. Gun rights advocates interpret that as meaning he'll at least enact curbs on ownership of assault weapons and concealed weapons. As an Illinois state lawmaker, Obama supported a ban on semiautomatic weapons and tighter restrictions on firearms generally.

"We can't be lulled into complacency," Broun said. "You have to remember that Adolf Hitler was elected in a democratic Germany. I'm not comparing him to Adolf Hitler. What I'm saying is there is the potential."

Obama's transition office did not respond immediately to Broun's remarks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

True? Is this something Obama has in mind? I have no idea since I'm not in the Obama loop. I don't doubt that the transition office didn't respond. If it's true, they wouldn't wan't this to get out yet. If it's false, it's not worthy of response.

It really doesn't make a difference whether it's Obama planning a dictatorship or someone else. We must be diligent that our Constitution and Bill of Rights aren't removed as our blueprint to our freedoms. These are the documents that guarantee our freedoms.

If it's true that Obama is planning a dictatorship, we must learn from history and not allow it to be repeated in our country. Again, I don't know if this is in the works or not. I surely hope not. 

The Human Slinky

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fascinating!