The Right Scoop- http://twitter.com/S_MSTP Starkville Tea Party
I am surprised by Erikson’s attacks on Santorum. I find them disappointing.
- Anonymous
Welcome STP, Go Dawgs!!
- Anonymous
Turns out it is true. Google Rick Santorum and individual mandate. Back in 1994; just like Newt. To me, this is disappointing; Santorum is big government.
- Constance
Please don’t just take one vote, particularly one that occurred almost 20 years ago, and then make the statement, “Santorum is big government”. That is short sighted. If that is how you look at all of the candidates, then you will simply need to stay home on election day. There is no such thing as a perfect candidate.
- Anonymous
Unfortunately, it is not just one vote. What IS short sighted is to throw aside pertinent facts and Santorum’s record is public fact. Perhaps, you are willing to compromise on conservative principles; I am not!
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1396855720 Brian Jones
You know what Scoop…We have the same EXACT Top 3, just different order! I could not agree more with EVERYTHING you said here! Great job good sir!
- StNikao
Evidently it is almost impossible, considering the current electorate for a fiscal, defense/military and social conservative to win the nomination. Here is an article that shows how hard it is and why: http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/morning-jay-nomination-rules-are-rigged-against-conservatives_616072.html
- Anonymous
Great article. Some reason and analysis for what we already know. The GOP is the moderate arm of the Progressives. Hopeless.
Easy to see what a major factor the GOP was in electing Hussein Obama. The GOP is a dead end alley for a Conservative.
“If you are a moderate Republican – e.g. Bob Dole or John McCain – you don’t need to win a majority of the conservative vote. You just need to do well enough among moderate Republicans so that you win more votes than your conservative opponents. Then, you simply wait for the media and the party establishment to pressure your conservative challengers into dropping out.”
The more the GOP comes into focus the better a third party or a new party looks.
- StNikao
Coulter has gone after Newt tooth and toenail. Drudge posts only the most unflattering, even diabolical photos and headlines about Newt.
It’s as difficult to discern between the different types of Conservatives and what conservative principles they stand for (if any) and which/whose camp and interest group they belong, as it is to figure out the various kinds of Evangelicals, Denominations and Christians.
Knowing Who’s Who and Whose Who someone may be is a daunting task.
- Anonymous
Helo Scoop, may be you can help us do something.
How about a poll that would score all the camdidates on the 10 most important conservative issues. On a scale of 1-5, 1 (one) being the least. - Garym
I can’t stand the scorched earth commentary from EE. Its ok to vet candidates whether you are for or against them, but to do it in a way that turns off the supporters of other candidates makes one lose any credibility as a pundit.
- Anonymous
I would go with the same list.
- Anonymous
I’ve noticed that about Erik, and I’m beginning to think him a tweet…or, er, I mean a twit.
- Anonymous
Your top 3 matches mine. Getting beyond #1, I hold my nose.
I think Erick’s point is valid. He is trying to make sure people realize that Santorum is for activist government and with that usually comes big government. Too many believe Santorum is a limited government guy.
Conservatism and the Tea Party, I thought, were supposed to be advocated of limited government. We seem so willing to settle. There’s no need to comprise. Now is our hour of choosing, of making the best RIGHT choice. What happen to the passion and the fire?
Was Santorum for mandates? Would you be surprised if he did? Is it that much of a stretch to think a politician who thinks he can wield the power of government for the good would do such a thing? Not to me.
Is the blog entry valid? It does reference the newspaper article. I am sure some are on the hunt to corroborate it.
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Steven-Valdez/1806887704 Steven Valdez
the individual mandate is a conservative idea to combat the socialist idea of the public option.
- Anonymous
Public Option: Two steps left.
Individual Mandate: One step back to the right.
Conservative idea: Keep the damn government out of healthcare.
- Anonymous
Ah, the old slippery slope. Pre-emptive statism.
- http://twitter.com/113KriEger 13Krieger
kamiller,
I am tired of your constant attack about Santorum on mandates on the Conservative plan as an alternative to Hillarycare back in the 1994. So I did some digging and guess what….Perry was even worse. He liked the HillaryCare program or a year earlier in 1993 which was worse and contained individual mandates!
Per wikipedia:
In April 1993, Perry, while serving as Texas agriculture commissioner, expressed support for the effort to reform the nation’s health care, describing it as “most commendable”.[25] The health care plan, first revealed in September, was ultimately unsuccessful due to Republican congressional opposition.
or you can read from your own Texas Chronical the 2005 article about Perry’s support for HillaryCare calling it commendable.
So, shut up about Santorum’s support for a Conservative plan from the 1994 that was supported by most Conservatives and then abandon when it was discovered to have Constitutional flaws. Perry’s past ain’t so sqeaky clean….as a matter of fact it stinks worse than Santorum or Newt’s!!!
- Anonymous
Time has come for conservatives to align.
The more we delay more Romney wins - StNikao
Each candidate seems to be a mixture of hero and villain… there’s no savior on a white horse yet.
Really, the best thing they can do AND MUST DO is UNITE and organize.
The Left is doing everything to divide and conquer any opposition.
The Right must UNITE (and repent of all sins and renounce evil) in order to win.
II Chronicles 7 and 20, Psalm 133 and Acts 1 and 2 teach that when the bretheren are united in seeking Him, the power and anointing of God comes to do the impossible.
Right now, the US is the equivalent of a cancer patient with malignancies in all major organs, even the brain, a patient who also happens to be a king faced with a huge army infiltrated into his country, administration and even the hospital staff, physicians and surgeons. Only God can rescue him. He must do as Gideon, Jehosaphat, Joshua, Elijah and Elisha did.
We cannot win this battle in the flesh with conventional weapons. This is a spiritual battle and we need spiritual weapons. (II Corinthians 10:4-6)
- Anonymous
How right you are!
- http://twitter.com/PoeAllen Allen Poe
U R right. If we could just get the public to understand that, maybe things would work out. The problem is the general public would rather walk around a hole, than fill it up
- http://www.davemacleod.net/ dmacleo
all you need to know about EE and his group of lobbyists is that if you don’t agree with RedState you get banned there. you know when you are banned when you get a really odd sql error after logging in and they never reply to email about it.
they are cowards.
RS sucks. - Anonymous
just a thought if santorum was against the mandate in the 90′s that would mean that he was absent in the fight against hillary care…
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Steven-Valdez/1806887704 Steven Valdez
yep.
- Anonymous
Or he’s for it, but not the Democrat version of it. Republicans have agreed with Democrats on big government ideas, but refuse to side with the idea until they are in power, to implement their version of it.
Again, time will tell on the credibility of the article. Did a newspaper recently compose a 1994 article to derail Santorum? Hmm…
- Anonymous
You can link to the article by googling Rick Santorum and the individual mandate. I read it; the newspaper was the Lehigh Daily Mail? a local Pa paper. Remember, Newt was for it back then too.
- Jim Botts
Sorry guys, but Santorum actually makes Romney look attractive to me. I didn’t realize it was possible.
Santorum’s voting record uncovered by Erickson is awful. AWFUL!
So by nominating Santorum, you really really really rile up the left almost to Palin hatred levels, and what do you get in return. MORE BUSH COMPASSIONATE CONSERVATISM. Compassionate conservatism=Republican style socialism
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_4UX5IMCQLMMNCCKQUWML6KN6NA Mark
Erickson is a liar.
Santorum received excellent scores on his voting record from virtually every major conservative think-tank.
- Anonymous
LA Governor Jindal endorses TX Governor Perry; Advocates Cajun Ten Commandments for U.S. Children – THANK GOD!
- Anonymous
I thought you might like to ponder this while you are considering your options:
I want to be part of the Perry surge.
- http://twitter.com/113KriEger 13Krieger
1. Rick Santorum
2. Newt Gingrich
3. Rick Perry
4. think about Mitt Romney
5. sit at home and watch a movie and eat potato chips. because after that the country is done and we should all think about moving to Austrialia or New Zealand. - Maxsteele
My picks too. I would vote for Any on the conservative ticket over Obamination but hope to heck it does not come to that. I think Santorum or Gingrich would destroy Obama in head to head debates. They can even handicap him with as many teleprompters as he likes.
- StNikao
Australia’s woman PM is down with Obama (birds of a feather, soul mates, best friends forever, etc.) and he’s sending troops to AU….partly because Obama wants to help the Islamists seal up the S. China sea and all trade in Indonesia. He’s the one-man Islamic Global Advancement Czar.
New Zealand is very liberal.
- http://twitter.com/PoeAllen Allen Poe
My Aussie friends, my heros, are following the USA. This is a global war my friends. Stand and Deliver!
- http://twitter.com/113KriEger 13Krieger
Fine….how about Antarctica or the North Pole?? You obviously are missing the point.
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_GFUD5ZFQKBK4G74NZJ3N4Q3XKE Bzip
Just a 2 minute search on Google reviled (and that isn’t even digging deep):
Santorum Supported Individual Mandate Before He Was Morally Aghast By It
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/frenchrevolution/2012/01/07/santorum-supported-individual-mandate-before-he-was-morally-aghast-by-it/Which goes to a 1994 article:
Candidates Diverge On Health Care Remedies
http://articles.mcall.com/1994-05-02/news/2979474_1_cooper-grandy-health-reform-employees-premiums/2“Santorum and Watkins would require individuals to buy health insurance rather than forcing employers to pay for employee benefits.”
Who knows what would show up when a deep search/investigation is done
- http://twitter.com/113KriEger 13Krieger
Bzip
I think you will find that most Conservatives were for the Heritage Foundations Plan that competed against HillaryCare. Then they discovered the Consitutional and Implementational issues and they all (including the developers at Heritage Foundation) quickly abandon the plan because it ran against their core beliefs.
So your PerryBot attack point on Santorum is a moot point.
- Anonymous
I love the Heritage Foundation, and was extremely sad when they endorsed an unconstitutional healthcare mandate.
- http://twitter.com/113KriEger 13Krieger
endorsed it??? they co authored it!!! (meaning a conservative alternative of it)
- http://twitter.com/PoeAllen Allen Poe
Well said for a Sanbot.
- http://twitter.com/113KriEger 13Krieger
Becareful….your horse in this race made a worse decision in the 1990s.
- http://www.therightscoop.com/ The Right Scoop
That’s what Erickson tweeted and it has no credibility imo.
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_GFUD5ZFQKBK4G74NZJ3N4Q3XKE Bzip
Several things:
1) I didn’t say agreed or disagree just pointed to what is out there is a quick search.
2) If you look at facts, Santorum’s voting record you can clearly see what he has done and what he has stood for – not good, a big gov’t spender and it doesn’t take a pundit to see the actual record and determine that for themselves.
3) If Santorum did support the mandate in 1994 I think it is odd he is hitting Newt for the same thing – don’t you? - Anonymous
I read the article; it is true! You don’t have to agree with Erick for tweeting it but you cannot deny it exists because it does. Santorum is from Pa and I live in NJ and Republicans in the northeast are not as conservative as everyone else. They are much more liberal but will call themselves conservative because the Dems have moved so far left a moderate seems conservative. This is the NY/DC corridor mindset and why the establishment, especially many in the media consider themselves to be a conservative when the true conservatives know they are not. As for me, I am one of the few right wingers around here, thanks to El Rushbo’s wisdom and excellence in broadcasting.
- http://twitter.com/PoeAllen Allen Poe
Love to hear from a NJ sane person.
- http://www.noneedforastinkingwebsite.com dow daytrader
Bzip u are misrepresenting Santorum’s position and you still don’t present first hand quotes, it is all 2nd or 3rd hand info.
Bring us 1st hand quotations, then u got something. Santorum was pushing back on the employer mandate, which is a good negotiating tactic…at that time there were still MSA’s (medical savings accounts) which is an excellent option for any American.
Santorum is smart and he can get stuff thru Congress without giving up core principles.
- StNikao
Maybe these guys have changed their minds on mandates/healthcare, and other issues now that they’ve seen radical Obama accelerate or catapult them into everyone’s minds…and they can see first-hand the disastrous effects of socialism… time and experience do change us.
- Anonymous
You think the left doesn’t hate Romney? They used to like McCain too?
- Anonymous
LA Governor Jindal endorses TX Governor Perry; Advocates Cajun Ten Commandments for U.S. Children – THANK GOD!
- http://twitter.com/113KriEger 13Krieger
that is from September 2011….old news.
- Anonymous
LA Governor Jindal endorses TX Governor Perry; Advocates Cajun Ten Commandments for U.S. Children – THANK GOD!
- http://www.therightscoop.com/ The Right Scoop
Not sure why you keep posting that in the same thread, but we dont allow that.
- http://twitter.com/113KriEger 13Krieger
OLD NEWS!!!! This is from Septembner of last year you troll.
- Anonymous
Sarah Palin is a quitter. Her overall message may be dazzling; but she left us holding our Johnsons.
- http://twitter.com/PoeAllen Allen Poe
I just wish I could put your name on the ballot. You have no idea how those liberal attacks can hurt your life. Delightful Sarah made the right decision for her, live with it.
- Anonymous
Cajun Ten Commandments? Sounds extremely exciting, and disturbing at the same time.
- Anonymous
I have nothing personally against Santorum, for the most part, I agree with him. But, like Bachmann, his delivery leaves me cold. And he’s kinda whiney! Can’t abide that…….we already have that.
The one thing I have heard about him is he did not accomplish much while in the Senate because he was too dogmatic and unable to work with others. I heard this while listening to Tom Sullivan a couple of weeks ago. Dunno….just fyi. - Anonymous
It’s not just Erickson who is doing it. All of the people who want Romney do it because they can’t defend Romney. They have to trash the other candidates in order to make Romney look better. It’s their only strategy because it’s the only thing they can do. Romney can’t be advocated for unless you can diminish everyone else who’s running.
Take Sarah Palin as an example. Those of us who supported her did so because we honestly, truly believed she was the best person to beat Obama and put this country on the track to reverse some of the horrible things the Democrats have done to this country in the last few years. We knew she could do it. We knew we could trust her. We counted on her. Forget the outcome. She’s not running and that’s that. But we all fought for her whenever she was trashed because we knew she deserved to be defended and fought for. We wanted to convince people that we were right about her.
What do Romney supporters have? They don’t have any real belief in him. They sure as hell don’t have near the passion that we did for Palin. All they can do is trash everybody else. It’s all they’ve got.
- Anonymous
Somebody needs to tell Ann Coulter about Romney being a lib. She is a Romney zealot.
- Anonymous
Santorum is a big government Conservative. He is socially Conservative, but not a fiscal Conservative. More importantly, he lost his home state election in a landslide. If you cannot win in your home state, how will he appeal to the general electorate. This election is about beating Barack Obama. The MSM have already begun the mantra that he is homophobic and racist and a right-wing extremist. None of these may be true, but, unfortunately, this is the message they will push in Peoria. No-one will hear anything else. He is unelectable.
- Anonymous
He lost to a pro-life democrat with major union backing. The fix was in HERE in PA with that election. I love people that just read the first line to any story without researching the details. He also had a popular Governor that basically created the largest turnout in Philadelphia that has ever been seen. The votes that were cast there had nothing to do with Santorum, as they are largely more interested in what kick backs they can receive from big government liberals. They feed them the same lines about entitlements and the same fear tactics about losing their benefits. He may not be ultimately the most “electable” in the field. But, make your decisions based on your own principals without spewing about candidates that you are not entirely informed about.
- Anonymous
I have done my research. I found out that Santorum voted against the National Right to Work Act, and against the repeal of the Davis-Bacon act. He played ball with the unions too. He also pandered to the Iowans in the caucuses. He had always voted against ethanol-subsidies, but then changed his tune in the Iowa primaries, as he knew that the Iowans love their ethanol-subsidies. He also helped get the medicare prescription drug benefit passed. Don’t tell me he is a fiscal Conservative. He also played ball with Arlen Specter and endorsed him over Pat Toomey. I read his defense about the “gentlemans agreement” and the Supreme court nomination. But principled people don’t make gentlemans agreements or play ball with the unions, if they are truly Conservative. Even if the fix was in, as far as I know Pennsylvania is still a blue state, so if he couldn’t win it back then, is he going to pander some more to the unions to win it next November? I don’t like unions, I am sick of paying for their protected class.
- Anonymous
Read my comments. Never said he was anything. Didn’t claim he was a fiscal conservative or any other kind of politician. The pandering charge is weak because every single on of them are and have done it, it is called American politics. Again, support your candidate of choice. But, all of this blanket description is ridiculous. They all have records and some are complex and not easily defined in a short post. Romney, above all has a lot to answer for. Perry’s record on immigration is shady. Ron Paul is a nut. Huntsman is a liberal that thought working for the Obama administration is a great service to the country and so on. The process will play itself out and if your candidate of choice comes through, congrats.
- Anonymous
Who cares what message they push in Peoria? Besides that, you seem pretty spot on.
- Anonymous
Any “conservative” who is a paid political pundit for the Communist News Network (CNN) isn’t. Yes…EE that means you!
EE threw me off RedState because I tried to defend Santorum against some of the lies EE and other RedState bloggers were throwing around.
After forbidding me to log into the site, EE “sarcastically” posted a piece entitled “Honest Question” where he asked Santorum supporters to defend Santorum….of course by this point he had made it clear Santorum supporters would be silenced.
- StNikao
I hate blogs that silence people and do the stealth banning. It feels awful…like being in a totalitarian regime. They are almost Islamist – no mercy, no forgiveness, no explanation, just off with your head!
- http://twitter.com/PoeAllen Allen Poe
Welcome to the new world order!
- K-Bob
Charles Johnson Syndrome
- Anonymous
The article the blogger refers to is from the “Morning Call” newspaper in Allentown, PA which is in the “Lehigh” Valley not “LeHigh” Valley. I know because I lived in the Lehigh Valley area for 9 years.
- Anonymous
Love your top three but lean towards Santorum only because he appears to be the most “Constitutionalist.” Plus, experience in Congress counts a lot; those mistakes they make are learning opportunities and enrich them as candidates.
I am deeply grateful for the strong field we have to pick apart; each one is very well qualified and is making a tremendous personal sacrifice that we ourselves are not.
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Liz-Theiss/100001295886095 Liz Theiss
Erik E.can’t handle this guy.. wants Perry.
- Linky1
I concur with everything you say, Scoop, except I’d change the order of #1 & 2. That’s just my preference.
- Anonymous
I’m a Perry guy myself. But, as Mark says, I’ll support Romney, god help us, against Obama. Scoop, I think Ron Paul and Newt tie for the 3rd position. Newt is on every side of each issue: individual mandate, global warming, etc.
- StNikao
Newt said that after they investigated the Heritage Foundation plan, they determined it was unconstitutional.
He has also recanted the global warming myth as well. In fact, he’s challenged every other PC propaganda myth: SS marriage, abortion, Palestinian victimhood.IN the next debate, I wish they they would talk about:
- stabilizing currency
- dealing with the FED (though they did touch on that)
- the addiction problem in the US – which affects the jobs statistics. We have a massive drug and alcohol problem in the US – and now sexual and porn addiction is taking hold, which like drugs and alcohol, acts like a drug on the brain, changing structure, function and chemistry.I would like decisions in congress to be made more on the basis of actual facts, evidence and statistics than sentiment, bribes and pressure from agenda groups and lobbyists.
- http://twitter.com/directorblue Doug Ross
Good post. I feel the same way. Erickson has gone off the rails, and I fear he has an ulterior motive in doing so. Santorum is as conservative as a candidate comes (and was campaigning for Reagan in 1980) when Erickson was presumably suckling on his binky.
- Anonymous
Shilling or not, I think there may be some evidence of Santorum supporting an individual mandate. Here is another article from the same Morning Call newspaper, which explicitly says that under Santorum’s Medisave plan, “workers would be required to buy major medical insurance and could then make monthly, tax-free contributions into Medisave accounts to pay for routine medical services.”
http://articles.mcall.com/1994-03-06/news/2959858_1_health-care-santorum-tax-free-medical-savings-accounts
And just in case that newspaper is untrustworthy, in Santorum’s own press release describing his Medisave plan, he says that individuals who do not get health plans from their employers would be required to purchase health insurance from a major insurance company:
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/SANTORUM+INTRODUCES+LEGISLATION+AIMED+AT+CONTROLLING+MEDICAL+CARE…-a011878393 - Anonymous
The first link is what everyone’s talking about and wondering if credible.
The second link describes what is called Health Savings Accounts (HSA) today. If you open an HSA account, you have to buy insurance to go with it. But, the press release don’t seem to say you have to be insured by employers or an HSA plan. It just says if you get an HSA, you have to buy insurance.
Maybe I am reading it wrong. Good researching though.
- Anonymous
Actually, the link everyone is talking about is this one, which just has an unsourced one-liner on Santorum supporting a mandate:
http://articles.mcall.com/1994-05-02/news/2979474_1_cooper-grandy-health-reform-employees-premiums/2As I read the press release, Santorum is pretty clear. If you get a health plan from your employer, you can keep it. If you don’t have health insurance from your employer, you have two options: either you get a comprehensive health insurance plan from a major insurance company, or you self-insure using a health savings account and you have to sign up for a high-deductible insurance policy. Either way, you have to get health insurance in some form.
- Anonymous
What Erick did is no different than what Romney’s supporters or Paul’s supporters or Obama’s supporters or any other candidate’s supporters has done. Nobody should do it, but is there truth in it? If Santorum favored an individual mandate we should know.
- Anonymous
Erick is right; the link will take you to Patheos and the article is listed by link. I tried to copy and paste but would not let me. You can also google Rick Santorum and individual mandate.
- Anonymous
Erickson Was Wrong On Santorum And An Individual Health Care Mandate
http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2012/01/erickson-was-wrong-on-santorum-and-a-health-care-mandate.htmlKeep in mind that Dan Riehl is not a Santorum supporter. He favors Perry.
P.S. Earlier, Dan Riehl wrote this blog post:
Erickson Shilling For Conservatism? Are You Sure About That?
http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2012/01/erickson-shilling-for-conservatism-are-you-sure-about-that.html - KenInMontana
Apparently, Dan didn’t read Scoop’s post to get the context of the headline, if he did read it, he skimmed it and ran with an assumption. That’s my take away after reading both posts.
- K-Bob
Exactly. Scoop isn’t saying “people like Eric are shilling for conservatism,” he’s saying that the shilling for candidates is obvious, and the only thing he (Scoop) will shill for is conservatism, itself.
I couldn’t agree more with Scoop’s article.
- Anonymous
Hey John:
Good to see you these parts! Thanks for the links!
- http://twitter.com/PoeAllen Allen Poe
This is coming from an old conservative. As having a English education also, I would like to inform this site users. Slang, is the death of a language. Changing word meaning may be fun to a teenager, but I saw the danger in high school. If you persist in changing word meanings, people as few as 20 years in the future will be unable to understand what you have written. Thusly conservative means adherance to the use of words to the accepted meanings, Liberals cling to the change of all things, because new is better, and this is the direst lie of all. An example is the ammentments to the constitution of the USA. It was never meant to be a living document, the truths are self evident. Ammendments were meant to clarify the original document. Thusly, the Supreme court could not decide to change the constitution, just decide if new laws fell within its boundaries. They had only 2 choices, yes or no, no opinions, please. I can read 2000 year old Latin books, because no one dared to change word meanings. Thusly, I know, the Spanish who slaughtered the Incas, considered them dogs. Their lives are not recorded, yet every Spanish man, in Peru, has a record in Spain. Up to you.
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_4UX5IMCQLMMNCCKQUWML6KN6NA Mark
Santorum is the most conservative Republican candidate in this race.
He is both a strong social and fiscal conservative.
He’s rated highly by virtually every conservative think-tank.
I support Santorum 100%.
- Anonymous
I’ll edit that list a bit…
1. Rick Perry
2.Rick Santorum
3.Newt Gingrich
4.Mitt Romney
5.John Huntsman
6. Barack Obama
7.Ron PaulPaul looks every bit as capable as Obama, maybe more so, of launching America to the abyss.
There… I’ve said it. Now excuse me while I get my tomato umbrella.
- Anonymous
You know how they say there’s a Pre-9/11 and Post 9/11 mentality.
Well, I think there’s a Pre Tea party and Post Tea Party mentality too.
Rules are different now. Conservatism is actually taken into consideration. I think the days of saying something and not doing anything are over. Modern (Conservative) politicians need to take that into account.
- Anonymous
I read Eric daily blog. He has brought up some relevant points about Santorum. As of right now I think I would vote for Perry in the primary. I will vote for Romney as a last resort if he gets the nomination.
- K-Bob
I’ll address this in “Darmok” speak:
Rove, The Night O'Donnell Won. - Anonymous
I agree completely, and appreciate your work here. In my opinion, conservatives really need to develop skills/habits of reasoned communication and persuasion–there may be an occasional place for rough-and-rude verbal jousting, but, judging by online comments, that seems to be greater than 80% of what we’re capable of, which ultimately constitutes a severe weakness. There are plenty of problems with Romney that can be brought out and argued very reasonably, far fewer, in my opinion, with Santorum, Newt, or Rick Perry–flattening tires, as you write, is currently a much-overused approach…
Perry is my first choice–I’d vote for him anywhere, anytime. But I do appreciate a lot of what Santorum has to say–and I believe the Republican party will ultimately have to be front-and-center on the fact that the market is not a god. Without sufficiently strong social institutions, including the traditional family, which to some extent necessarily entails government recognition and indirect supportiveness, individual liberty is not likely to be sustained over the long term. If Newt can play no role other than sinking Romney, he will be long-remembered and owed a debt of gratitude.
- Anonymous
Any votes taken must be looked at in full context. There are one hundred senators who have an opinion and a vote. If you are unwilling to compromise nothing gets done. I don’t know what Erickson is referring to, but let’s get real.
Today Erick Erickson tweeted out a link declaring Santorum supported the individual mandate in 1994:
Santorum too was once an individual mandate supporter. patheos.com/blogs/frenchre…
— Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) January 7, 2012
Problem is that there is no link to the source for us to validate and the quote is in third person which means it’s not even Santorum’s own words. It’s something that someone said about him. But Erick Erickson expects us to believe this garbage?
The other week he wrote a piece on Santorum that some continue to pass around. It’s not that I have a problem with looking at someone’s record, but Erickson writes with such contempt for Santorum that it’s surprising.
My point isn’t to pick on Erickson per se, but to suggest that this kind of shilling is shameful and damaging. It’s obvious he is a Perry fan like many of us are, but he insists on trying to flatten the tires of other candidates who begin to surge in favor of Perry. Right now Santorum is surging and I think that’s great. It’s not that Santorum is the perfect candidate. In fact every one of our candidates has done one thing or another that we don’t like and not one of them is perfect. But does Erickson want to end up with Romney? Perry hasn’t gained traction since he lost it and it doesn’t look like he will, yet Erickson wants to destroy every other candidate in hopes that maybe Perry will finally surge. But what if he doesn’t?
Look, here’s my take. I am not a Romney/Paul/Huntsman fan so I’d rather have another choice in the primary. I don’t post their video ads here because I don’t support them. So, my choices are Perry/Santorum/Newt and I’m happy with either of them. Sure, I have my preferences and I find Newt the least trustworthy of the three, but even still I’d much rather have Newt over Romney. I trust him much more than I do Romney.
But in the end, if Perry and Newt can’t sell their messages to the people and Santorum can, then I’m ecstatic. You can change that equation with either of them really and I’d be just as happy. My point is I want a conservative and these candidates are the closest we are going to get to having a conservative in office. I’m not going to shill for any of them but I will shill for conservatism.
That said, here’s the list of my preferences of all the pertinent candidates from most trustworthy/conservative to least:
- Rick Perry
- Rick Santorum
- Newt Gingrich
- Mitt Romney
- John Huntsman
- Ron Paul
- Barack Obama
Note: Once you get past Romney, I’m pretty much fear electing any of the others.
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Hey John:
Good to see you these parts! Thanks for the links!- http://twitter.com/PoeAllen
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_4UX5IMCQLMMNCCKQUWML6KN6NA
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