McCain says N.C. Republicans out of touch over ad

(Reporting by David Morgan, editing by Jackie Frank)

Fri Apr 25, 2008 8:44am EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. presidential candidate John McCain accused North Carolina's Republican Party of being "out of touch with reality" over its refusal to pull an advertisement criticizing Democrat Barack Obama.

……………………………………………………………………………………….

I think McCain is onto something here. Let’s face it, the conservative pundits with the exception of Medved and a couple others, were wrong on McCain. We (not that I’m a pundit) thought that McCain didn’t stand a chance. Furthermore, we thought that McCain was not conservative enough for the Republican Party and we didn’t want him to win. Well, the base was wrong; Republicans and independents won McCain the nomination. Maybe, we are out of touch with reality. Maybe, McCain is right.

As for strategy, this is a win-win situation. Obama’s pastor hurts him as a candidate. It keeps Hillary in the race longer. So, the Republican Party can play the ad with its full effect. Meanwhile, McCain looks good to all of those people out there that do want a more, let’s say, traditionally polite campaign. The only thing I’m worried about is that the Democrats will eventually get privy to all of this and nominate Hillary, who I think will be harder for McCain to beat. The excitement for Obama is already wearing off, as all excitement does.

Finally, we need the conservative base to vote for McCain. Don’t abandon him just because he isn’t as conservative as you are. It will just be a shot in the foot of the Republican Party, if we do.

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

In an NBC interview aired on Friday, the Arizona senator said he has done all he can to persuade the state party to cancel the television ad that criticizes Obama as "too extreme" because of controversial remarks made by his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

"They're not listening to me because they're out of touch with reality and the Republican Party. We are the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan and this kind of campaigning is unacceptable," McCain told NBC's "Today" Show.

……………………………………………………………………………………………….

McCain brings up an excellent point to remember. He is bringing us back to a traditional and historical perspective that makes the Republican Party look great! Let us thank McCain for that.

………………………………………………………………………………………………..

"I've done everything that I can to repudiate and to see that this kind of campaigning does not continue," he added.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

Republicans, I understand that this comment hurts. But don’t be offended so easily. A McCain win will be a Republican win. Don’t let a little difference in election season become a big difference in the course that we take as a nation.

Ironically, if Obama had spoken about his pastor the same way McCain speaks about the Republican Party, we might actually respect Obama a little. Then again, Obama has no excuse for being in that nut’s church anyway.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Asked if the state party's unwillingness to heed his call raised questions about his leadership, McCain replied: "I don't know exactly how to respond to that."

North Carolina is one of two states holding the next crucial Democratic primaries on May 6 in the tight race between Obama and New York Sen. Hillary Clinton to oppose McCain in the November presidential election.

Obama, an Illinois senator who would be the first black U.S. president, has come under fire for attending Wright's church in Chicago where the fiery black preacher made a number of racially charged statements about the United States.

Wright, who is now retired, said in a PBS interview that people are trying to paint him as "some kind of fanatic."

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

It is understandable that Wright is upset. He is not a fanatic. He is an entertainer and a fraud. As a privileged, American, male, W.A.S.P. I feel obligated to speak the truth at the risk of overstepping my bounds. Wright exploits the people that he claims to love and his rhetoric of victimization has done more to oppress black Americans than the evil and entirely morally repugnant, sad, sorry, little racists in the K.K.K over the last two or three decades. I can’t do anything for the black community, but I know what the black community needs. It is the same thing that every ethnic group needs; freedom, opportunity, personal responsibility, and leaders who will encourage it.

Back to Mac, McCain is the kind of leader who speaks to all Americans with the same message of freedom and responsibility. He could be the man to draw blacks back to the Republican Party. McCain leads by example. He stood in Arlington before a crowd that won’t vote for him on the anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s assassination. Although I didn’t agree with him, he has visited Louisiana in the aftermath of Katrina and may appeal to the blacks there. He walked the bridge in Selma on his tour of forgotten places. His example is admirable and it does not go unnoticed. Nothing will change during the campaign, but a McCain presidency shows promise for the improvement of race relations in the future of the Republican Party.

McCain Faults Bush Response to Gulf Storm

By ELISABETH BUMILLER

Published: April 25, 2008

BATON ROUGE, La. — Senator John McCain took direct aim at the Bush administration on Thursday as he stood in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, the area hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and declared the handling of the disaster “terrible and disgraceful” and pledged that it would never happen again.

Asked at a news conference outside St. David’s Catholic Church if he traced the failure of leadership straight to the top, Mr. McCain, who has said he wants to campaign with President Bush, said emphatically, “Yes.”

Later, Mr. McCain told reporters on his campaign bus that if the disaster had happened on his watch, he would have landed his plane “at the nearest Air Force base and come over personally.”

………………………………………………………………………

McCain took a cheap shot at Bush with his criticism of the Katrina response. He falls right in line with the “government needs to save me” crowd. Look, flying to the disaster area is good for morale and PR. But that isn’t what is going to fulfill the promise never to handle a future disaster the way this disaster was handled.

The truth is that our country is too big for a federal response even to huge disasters. What we need is local disasters response forces and local responsibility. Bill Clinton’s FEMA failed. He missed a great chance to explain carefully that a large centralized government, which is what the Democrats want, is what allows these problems to happen.

It is easy to say what should have been done after the fact.  Criticizing the “little things” like making an appearance at the site is not constructive. McCain runs the risk of alienating the conservative base of the Republican Party that he needs to court.

Early Pennsylvania exit poll results
By The Associated Press
Tuesday, April 22, 2008

LOOKS MATTER

About one in five voters said the race of the candidates was among the top factors in their vote. About as many said that about the candidates' gender.

From a partial sample of 1,421 Democratic primary voters conducted in 40 precincts across Pennsylvania by Edison Media Research and Mitofsky International for The Associated Press and television networks.

……………………………………………………………………………….

Okay, now I’m the racism/sexism police. I can’t believe 20% of Dems would use race and sex as a major factor in choosing for whom they will vote. This is the same kind of discrimination that we passed Civil Right legislation to end.

I would not be surprised if Republicans were much less likely to use race and sex as a determining factor in their vote for a presidential nominee.

I would love to vote for a black person or a woman. I just have to agree with their policies first, not the other way around.

-Mitt will court those conservatives who are wary of McCain

-Mitt and McCain are good in debates, where Obama is weak.

-Mitt’s experience with the economy will support McCain where McCain has admitted weakness. Although, both McCain and Romney are more experienced than Clinton and Obama.

-Mitt gives a good speech. His best has been a speech on religious freedom, sure to appeal to Christians. He is young and attractive. He is likable.

-Mitt is already vetted. He has name recognition because he ran in the primaries. We have already learned about his down

In a blog entry by Desparado featured by Google News (4/21/2008):

Since Hillary Clinton cannot possibly catch Barack Obama in the number of pledged delegates needed to win the nomination, her only hope for victory lies with the superdelegates. According to AP, the count right now stands at 258-232, advantage Clinton. There are 250 who are still uncommited and 60 more yet to be selected.

AP surveyed the uncommitteds and this is what they found:

"AP reporters across the nation contacted the undecideds and asked them how they plan to choose. Of those, 117 agreed to discuss the decision-making process.

*About a third said the most important factor will be the candidate who, they believe, has the best chance of beating Republican John McCain in the general election.

*One in 10 said the biggest factor will be the candidate with the most pledged delegates won in primaries and caucuses.

*One in 10 said what matters most is who won their state or congressional district in the primary or caucus."

There are two major things I’d like to point out here. I refer to Democrats as members of the “Democrat” party because I don’t think they believe in democracy. They have no problem with going against the will of the people and they don’t have a problem with activist judges because those judge accomplish the leftist agenda that a democratic vote would never accomplish. As Desparado points out, only one in ten of the superdelegates that responded were concerned with the popular vote among democrats.

Secondly, the democrats set up their own primary according to their will apart from conservative or republican influence. They can’t even run an effective primary. How can they be expected to run this great nation?

     “In the end, that's what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope? I'm not talking about blind optimism here... No, I'm talking about something more substantial. It's the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker's son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too. The audacity of hope! “ – Barack Obama

I finally understand what this whole “hope” thing is about with Obama. He has locked into the defective thinking of the left. He thinks that unless the government solves our problems, the problems will forever remain. His whole message is that your hope can be found only in the government.

If you don’t agree with Obama, then he says you participate in a politics of cynicism. I find great dissonance between this view and the view that our hope comes from God. The psalmist writes:

 16 No king is saved by the size of his army;
       no warrior escapes by his great strength.

 17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance;
       despite all its great strength it cannot save.

 18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him,
       on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,

 19 to deliver them from death
       and keep them alive in famine.

 20 We wait in hope for the LORD;
       he is our help and our shield.

 21 In him our hearts rejoice,
       for we trust in his holy name.

 22 May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD,
       even as we put our hope in you. (Psalm 33)

Does the psalmist participate in the politics of cynicism? Our Lord Jesus Christ provides hope for Christians. I think it a virtue to find our hope in God and not government. Why? God has proved that He is faithful and just.

Our government:

 - just shipped missile components to Taiwan by accident (25 March 2008).

- can’t balance a budget and is as efficient at spending money as a sift is at carrying water.

- can’t match the outcomes of students attending private schools.

- didn’t do such a great job with the Katrina disaster.

- Look! The list goes on and on.

What is the big problem with big government? Big government control has been tried in the former Soviet Union and it resulted in 100,000s murdered. It is the same with Cuba under Guevara and China under Mao. North Korea under Jong Il is a tale of starvation, poverty, and zero human rights.

Granted, Western Europe has not been involved in any genocide over the last 50 years. The problem is that if we go the route of Western Europe, we will have the same opportunities as Western Europeans. Western Europeans do not have the opportunities Americans have. America as it stands is still the land of opportunity. It is a land full of tales of rags to riches, social mobility, and great progress. That is the story of hope. You live in a land where you can worship as you please in America. It is a land where you can become anything you want to become through decency, hard work, and a little ambition.

That is why I have since the publication of his book, The Audacity of Hope (2006), found his words to be incredibly pretentious. Americans are hopeful. Americans are good people. It does not take audacity to have hope. What does take audacity is calling a nation of hopeful people, “cynics.”

Clinton proposes 100,000 police officers on the street.

Everyone knows that before she was elected to her position as New York Senator, Hillary promised 200,000 jobs to New Yorkers. And she came up 450,000 short as New York lost 250,000 jobs while she was serving in the Senate.

Based on this quote, I find two things. One, Obama wants you to envy the wealthy. He thinks that if you envy the wealthy, that you will vote for him because he is Robin Hood. He will steal from the rich and give to the poor. Go Obama Hood! So much for acting like a Christian. Envy is a sin Obama. And this isn’t a one time slip-up. Promoting envy is a way of life for Obama.

The second is that he believes that American’s should live in a world with no risks. He thinks we can just spread out the wealth by taking away the rights of successful, honest Americans. Sorry Obama. Your utopia has been tried. It was called the Soviet Union and it collapsed. Others have tried it too. They were called cults. I’m not drinking the kool-aid Obama. Just say “no” to Obama.

Doug Ose is running this new add claiming that McClintock is just a big carpetbagger:

“NARRATOR: For 22 years, Tom McClintock has been representing Los Angeles in the Legislature. But now term limits are forcing him out. So he's shopping for a new job. At first he was going to run for Congress here, in L.A. And then he thought about running in the Bay Area. Finally he rolled into our congressional district in Northern California, over 400 miles from home. That's a mighty big stretch to run for office.

OSE: I'm Doug Ose, I was born and raised in Northern California and I approved this ad.”

According to Peter Hecht of the Sac Bee, Doug Ose are both 4^th district outsiders and Tom McClintock lives in Elk Grove, CA near Sacramento. I however, don’t care much about hypocrisy on these non-substantive issues. What I do care about is that Doug Ose is breaking the rules of engagement 1 and 2.

1.       He is not talking about substantive issues. The issues should be at the forefront of any campaign. It isn’t substantive because Ose is acting as though an intelligent, hardworking public servant like McClintock would not be able to learn the local issues. McClintock has the experience and the right approach for dealing with the issues as they arise and that is what is substantive.

2.       Ose is misleading the American public. He is distorting the facts by reporting half-truths. The voters are too smart for that in the 4^th district. We see through your lies Ose. This is no surprise from Ose. I’m sure he’s a good guy ‘n’ all, but he claims to be a Republican when he is just another tax and spend liberal. Shame on you, Ose.

The other issue that comes up here is term limits. Why do term limits matter in the first place? It doesn’t matter. It is just another way liberals can try and fail to control the system. Term limits do nothing but force good politicians out of office regardless of whether their constituents want them to stay or leave. Term limits take away the individual American voter’s choice to vote for whom they please. (Surprisingly, liberals are only “pro-choice” when it comes to killing babies.)

McClintock has a strong conservative record. He is liked by conservatives and liberals alike because of his common sense and intelligent approach to California’s issues.

Vote McClintock for 4^th Congressional District Rep.

First we heard that Elton John and Hillary Clinton were blurring the lines on new campaign finance laws. They were laws unfortunately championed by my man, McCain, and also supported by Clinton. His contributions blurred the lines because he is a foreign contributor in an American campaign for which American freedom of speech has been challenged under the guise of “campaign finance reform” that limits the amount of money honest, hardworking individual Americans can contribute to their candidate of choice. (Surprising, liberals are only pro-choice when it involves killing babies.)

Now we are hearing this classic liberal complaint from Elton John:

NEW YORK (Reuters) – “British pop star Elton John, playing a fund-raiser for Hillary Clinton in New York on Wednesday, said he was amazed at the misogyny of some in America and he hoped that wouldn't stop her being president.”

Liberals can be so narcissistic. They think that the only reason someone would disagree with them is because they are sexist, xenophobic, homophobic, racist, or otherwise bigoted. Well I have a message for you…

I would vote for a Gay Woman of Mexican heritage….if she were a Conservative Republican.

 I have often wondered how well this reasoning will work.

People often say that they don’t trust their government. None the less, they elect representatives that expand government institutions and power. Republicans have been guilty of this as well as Democrats.

Our government leaders and institutions have such low approval ratings and yet they persist. We put them in power. Let’s take it back. As Laura Ingraham’s book is titled, “Power to the People!”

Voters have choices. We can elect someone who will grab power or someone who will give it back to people. In this election cycle, the former is Obama. The latter is McCain. To choose smaller government is to choose to give Power to the People!

First off, the obvious, I would love unity, if everyone agreed with me.

Second, Barack won’t unify the country. He is too far left. All he will do is get the radical, outspoken protestors to shut up about the presidency.

Here is the clincher. Barack has never done anything with bipartisan support. McCain has. McCain is the one that reaches across the isle. McCain for unity!