Conservatism

As Mike pointed out, we did a lot of yakking with guests Friday and Saturday.  For the most part, our video stream was there but even with the massive amount of bandwidth laid into the hotel for the weekend at the Hilton Minneapolis,  thousands of online activists at both RightOnline as well as from the Netroots Nation (think MoveOn.org) chewed it up pretty quickly.  To boot, RightOnline was streaming both Main Sessions and the Policy Track (click here to see). 

Why mention this? Given that I forgot a couple of cables, and the Radio Row noise, using our "recording" camera was out of the question so we had to rely on UStream.TV servers for recording.  Given that they are "touchy", some of the videos segments came out OK and others not so much (i.e., if you lose the connection, the recording gets corrupted).  I have a whole bunch to review to see what might be worthwhile to post, so that will happen over the next few days.

Thoughts – I guess that the highlights for me would be (in no particular order):

• Getting to see a number of the Samsphere bloggers for the first time in a while.  Emails are great but seeing the face and talking was way better than typing.  These are all smart folks (including a couple that earned AFP Blogger of the Year awards: Bob Weeks and Maggie Thurber).

• Big hotel: decent accommodations with prices to match.  Good food at the Lobby bar/grill!

• Didn’t get to a single Track meeting or session, but given the rang of folks that strolled in, didn’t matter.  Both the RightOnline folks and ‘Grok friend Chris kept us well supplied.  Often, Mike and I would agree to take a break, start to stand up, and then yet another would plop themselves down in front of us, and off we’d go on another interview!

• "Biggest" blogger interviewed: Michelle Malkin

• Taxi rides – more expensive than parking my car in Manchester Airport.

• Most intellectually stimulating interview to craft: 

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Our friend John Hawkins over at RightWingNews is very fond of polls and lists – pretty much I read everyone that he puts out either on RWN or in his Townhall columns.  This one, The Right Wing News Bloggers’ Choice Conservative Of The Year For 2010, is an aggregate of 66 of the blogs that responded to him:

The bloggers were all provided with a pre-selected list of 20 candidates that I chose. Out of that list, they were allowed to choose up to 3 names. All 20 candidates will be listed, the top 7 will get an extremely brief profile, and the top vote getter is the Right Wing News 2010 Conservative of the Year. Enjoy!

Close, but no cigar:

Honorable Mentions (Alphabetical order):

* Dick Armey/Matt Kibbe (Freedomworks)
…
* Haley Barbour (Governor of Mississippi. Chairman of the Republican Governors Association)
…
* David Bossie (Citizens United President. Citizens United v Federal Election Commission)
* Jan Brewer (Governor of Arizona)
…
* Erick Erickson (Redstate, CNN)
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* Bobby Jindal (Governor of Louisiana)
* Tim Phillips/Phil Kerpen (Americans for Prosperity)

The "Almost There"’s:

The Runners-Up

5) Allen West (11 votes): West is a newly elected Congressman from Florida. He stands out, not only because he and Tim Scott are the first two black Republicans in the House since J.C. Watts left Congress in 2003, but because he’s a fiery, outspoken Tea Party favorite who has no qualms about standing up for conservatism or speaking out against radical Islam.

5) Jim DeMint (11 votes): This South Carolina Republican is widely viewed as the prototype of what a conservative Republican should be like in the Senate. Not only was he a ferocious defender of conservative values in D.C., he was an impact player both in the primaries and the 2010 general elections.

The actual contenders for the title:

The Big Three

3) Marco Rubio (23 votes): When Marco Rubio, a young, exciting, conservative, charismatic, Hispanic Republican tossed his hat in the ring for a Senate seat in Florida, the grassroots instantly warmed to his candidacy. However, when Charlie Crist got into the race, the establishment Republicans immediately rallied behind him. That didn’t sit too well with conservatives all across the country who immediately rallied to Rubio’s candidacy. In the end, Rubio’s star power was too much for Crist, who abandoned the GOP and ran as an independent. Happily, Rubio smashed both Crist and Kendrick Meek in the general election and a new conservative star was born…

What, you think I’d give it away? This is what he says this about #1:

Simple: He’s a charismatic, bold, and pugnacious fiscal conservative who has absolutely no qualms about taking on Democrats, the unions, the media, and anybody else who tries to separate ..

of course, GRTWT (Go Read The Whole Thing)

My answers after the jump:

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Guest post by Bob Southard

No, I did not have a wonderful time 2 years ago.  Obama lied and the media hid his true background as a Socialist and Communist sympathizer.  His Daddy was an avowed Communist, his Mommy was a committed sympathizer and his Grandparents (why didn’t Mom & Dad raise little bitty Hussein?) were declared Socialists.  Fact.  Look it up.
 
Two of his closest Advisors?  Saul Alinsky (an avowed Socialist) and a convicted Terrorist who planted a bomb that killed a Policeman and has never renounced his admitted terrorist background.  Ayers is his name and he would have you believe he’s all better now.  Oh how I wish he would go look the Policeman’s wife and kids in their eyes and make that same statement today. And let us not forget the oh so very Reverend Jeremiah Wright, a raging crazy lunatic of the Fringe Left who was never truly vetted by our "major media" even though all the warning signs sat out there in plain view.
 
Why was that?  Why didn’t any of our major news and media outlets investigate a…

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In response to Terry Downs’s Letter to the Editor (see after the jump):

To the Editor: 

Terry Downs’ letter to the Laconia Daily Sun on October 12 mostly  seems right, but his conclusion is baffling.  Most Americans probably share the three key values he identifies, personal freedom, equitable tax code with no one getting a “free ride at the expense of others”, and reasonable and prudent personal and government expenditures.  Add “rule of law” and strict interpretation of the US Constitution and you would have the major planks in a Tea Party Platform, if there were one.

However, Downs’ conclusion that therefore people should vote for democrats is ludicrous.  Contrary to their promises and claims, the evidence of their actions shows that progressives (people learned what liberals stand for, so liberals now want to be called “progressives”) such as Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, Steny Hoyer, Harry Reid and their followers like Carol Shea-Porter and Paul Hodes prioritize these values, if they share them at all, way below their progressive big government agenda.  
 
Some examples showing that progressives do NOT cherish personal freedoms follow.  Both Shea-Porter and Hodes supported the Cap and Trade bill that will not only increase your energy costs, it will, despite the wishes of both buyer and seller, restrict  the ability to sell your house unless it meets new bureaucrat established environmental standards.  Also, both Shea-Porter and Hodes are co-sponsors of the misnamed Employee Free Choice Act (aka Card Check) which allows a workplace to be unionized  without a secret vote by the workers.  These stomp on personal freedom.

Remember the promises that Americans can keep their health insurance under Obamacare supported by Shea-Porter and Hodes?   About 7 million …

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Sometime in the future, we will look back at the mid-term election of 2010, fully comprehending the significance of the year that led up to this one election, the election itself, and the 2 years that followed.  As we do to our founding generation and their revolutionary period, future generations will judge us by how we performed across these three dimensions.

The Federal Government has been usurping the power of the States, and the People, for over 90 years, particularly during the past 50, especially in the past 10, and painfully within the past 2.  The people can, and rightfully should, send a clear message, at both State and Federal levels, that we have had…quite enough.

The majority of Americans are against unconstitutional nationalized healthcare.  The majority of Americans do not want the government bailing-out, taking over, or favoring any particular private industry.  The majority of Americans are frightened about the US Debt, and our ability to fully recover from this economic malaise.  The majority of Americans are deeply concerned about the fate of future generations.  The majority of Americans do not trust their Representatives in Congress – particularly over the past 2-4 years.

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Tom has a good post on the meeting at Jennifer Horn’s home last night – and that house was packed!  TMEW and I both attended – and no, we were not the folks who traveled the furthest to be in attendance.  Even though we are in District 1 and will be voting for Frank Guinta, I saw it as a "must" opportunity to give Mr. Bass my concerns from the Conservative side of the Republican Party. 

He tried to make his points, as Tom pointed out.  Normally, I would have video’d the meeting so that you, our readers, could make up your own minds without the filter of impressions of others (including my own).  Fortunately (or not, depending on your point of view), we were asked not to (even Charlie mentioned the aspect of being YouTube’d in an unflattering matter with such a crowd).  

Most of the folks were concerned – very concerned, and they let Charlie know of that concern in no uncertain terms.  Topics ranged from abortion to Cap N Trade to illegal immigration to taxes to Obamacare to….well, you get the message (did Charlie?).  In each aspect of their question, what shown was the message of "smaller government, smaller footprint, less interference in our lives, and stop taking choices away from us."  They want Government to be in the background and "out of their face", wagging its finger in their faces at almost every turn.  They are very concerned that the tipping point is upon us – or perhaps past us.  Uppermost was "has the US devolved into a Socialist Democracy where Government is preeminent rather than us?"

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