My 2008 Election Coverage

In case you haven’t been able to tell yet, Snowflakes in Hell will have more emphasis on the elections in 2008 than have previously.  There is nothing of greater consequence to gun owners than elections.  They decide what can and can’t be accomplished, and ultimately decide whether we have our rights protected, or spat upon.

Via Dr. Helen I found an excellent article by Jonah Goldberg I think you all should read.

Huckabee, who once promised to “take back this nation for Christ,” has masterfully blended right-wing identity politics with feel-your-pain populism. “There’s a great need in this country,” Huckabee explained, “to elect someone who reminds them of the guy they work with, not the guy who laid them off.”

He’s largely right — and shame on us for it. I’ve never met an employer who likes cutting jobs. Yet the assumption behind Hucka-Edwardsism is that if we only had a president who understands — feels! — the pain of losing a job, people wouldn’t lose their jobs.

Huckabee is the Jesus loving version of Bill Clinton, which is part of why I find the viability of his candidacy more than a little creepy.  He’s striking chords with a very influential part of the Republican base, who I am beginning to conclude cares far less about the principles of limited government than they do about electing themselves a former preacher.

The Republican coalition was beginning to show strain when we nominated George W. Bush.  The events of 9/11 temporarily clouded our differences, but with America being eight years removed from the events of that day, and with Iraq looking like it’s settling down, I think the fissures within the Republican coalition are starting to appear again.

I believe 2008 may end up deciding whether that coalition is salvageable, or is irrevocably broken.  I fear the consequences of a broken coalition will be progressive Democratic rule for another couple of decades, and I don’t think our country, as we know it, and as our aspirations wish it to be, will survive that.

Classical Values also has some excellent commentary on Jonah’s article as well.  Go check out it out.

19 thoughts on “My 2008 Election Coverage”

  1. We’ll find out PDQ. If anyone but Fred is nominated, then it’s gone. Real gone.

  2. “I don’t think our country, as we know it, and as our aspirations wish it to be, will survive that.”

    Bah! You give someone a little bit of hope and then you lose start to loose it. Chin up! We’ll pull through like you said, (nervous laugh) or die trying.

  3. Bah! You give someone a little bit of hope and then you lose start to loose it. Chin up! We’ll pull through like you said, (nervous laugh) or die trying.

    I hope so.

    We’ll find out PDQ. If anyone but Fred is nominated, then it’s gone. Real gone.

    I’m reluctant to say Fred is the savior. He has enough weaknesses himself as a carrier of the message. McCain isn’t perfect, well, McCain is far from perfect, but if the alternative is Huckabee or Mitt, I’ll get behind McCain.

  4. While you may be “covering” the 2008 primaries, I’m not sure you are really investigating or even watching much. Huckabee’s going down in a tail spin right now. Fred slapping him on stage last Thursday (metaphorically, of course) coupled with the strong endorsements of what would be classic evangelical causes is putting the SC race well in Fred’s grasp.

    Paul Pressler
    National Right to Life

    After only two states, neither of which are classic Red States, you are willing to jump behind McCain? Lord, man! Even Rush Limbaugh has more or less broken his own commandment and endorsed Fred!

    Friends of Fred asked for $540,000 last week for ads. They ended up getting over $800,000 as of this morning. If you really want Thompson in the White House next January, stop using this influential blog of yours to tout the fact that he’s dead. Sheesh!

  5. Incidentally, FOX news has not been right on any prediction they have made this election. Not one! Their pundits are miserable failures at this. If they are your source, you may mant to look elsewhere.

  6. I’m not using Fox. I’m using the fact that Fred’s showing in Iowa was poor, but not disastrous. His showing in New Hampshire, which is traditionally a red state, and should be open to Fred’s message, was disastrous.

    I hope Fred pulls it out, because I don’t really like John McCain, but after his showing in the first two states, and given things I’ve heard from people who have tried to work with his dysfunctional campaign, I think it’s reasonable to question his viability as a candidate.

  7. I think it’s fair to question if Fred is dead or not simply because he’s done so exceptionally poorly. It’s not just that he hasn’t won, it’s that he’s come in very far behind. Seriously, when Paul get 8% in NH, and Fred only gets 1%? That’s bad…

    Sebastian would love to have Fred as a candidate. However, consider that he’s looking through the lens of someone who can’t vote until April. Even if Fred improves, he’s going to need big, big wins on Super Tuesday to make up for lost ground. Sure, by the numbers, he’s only down 24 delegates from Romney, but Romney will get more. Huckabee will get more (Lord, save us from the preacher…). McCain will get more. Fred has to overcome all of that, so even just a simple improvement isn’t enough.

    That said, I think gun owners in particular should rally behind McCain through Tuesday just to knock Mitt out. If we can keep Mitt from winning Michigan, we can kill his campaign. We know the devil we get in McCain. Romney will throw you under the bus any chance he can if the polls show promise of something better.

  8. John McCain only has four more delegates that Thompson right now. How is he so much better a rally point? I view these McCain endorsements as a compromise in principles.

    If, as you say, Bitter, Sebastian would “love to have Fred as a candidate,” then start treating him like one.

  9. Well, I appreciate the forum to express my views and I do consider this a very influential blog. I have been accused before of philosophizing with a sledge hammer.

    This campaign is, however, a battle for the GOP. We have numerous RINOs and one conservative on the ticket. That has sparked a passion in me. I am 43 years old and have voted in every election since 1982. This is the first time I have ever given money to a campaign. The big talk this year is the Reagan Coalition. In another 12 years it’s going to be the Thompson Revolution.

    We’re winning. It’s just that nobody but me seems to know it yet.

  10. After getting back from my old town I now know I will never set foot there again….. Well….. Maybe not for a long time…. (shudders) Too many Hillary signs. More of them than Huckabee or McCain.

  11. Clint, apparently you can’t read, or you’re purposefully ignoring an important qualifier in what I said.

    I said voters “should rally behind McCain through Tuesday just to knock Mitt out.”

    Now, either you are willing to deny that McCain, at last check, had the better opportunity to knock a big moneymaker out of the race on Tuesday, thereby freeing up supporters and money for other candidates – including Thompson – or you’re so blinded by your support of Fred that you’re unwilling to acknowledge an opportunity for him that may come in an indirect form.

    Either way, misquoting me or misleading others on the context of my statement and then attacking my principles is a pretty damn pathetic way to promote your candidate. I would hope most of Sebastian’s commenters not driven here by Ron Paul posts are above that. Apparently you’re not.

  12. It’s been a while since my literacy levels have been questioned, but I assure you, I did not take your post lightly. I even looked up the words I didn’t understand.

    But please tell me what you mean by “throw our support” behind McCain until Tuesday. How can you and I, as Virginians, who have nothing to do with a vote in Michigan “support” McCain? Certainly you don’t mean money so you must mean lip service.

    Flip flopping from candidate to candidate is a strange stategy. Are you promoting an approach of “my enemy’s enemy is my friend?” I am not blinded by my support, but I am engrained into the platform that Thompson presents. Using a form of media such as a well read blog to support a person who is a co-author of McCain-Feingold and McCain-Kennedy is a compromise in principles, plain and simple. Support what you believe in and let the chips fall where they may. That is how momentum is gained. If people don’t know where you stand now, how will they know later? Do you truly view this strategy as a “pathetic” way to promote my candidate? By taking a stand on what I believe?

    Obviously my post angered you which was not my intention and if that is the case then I apologize. But I most certainly did not mislead or misquote you. It’s right there in black and white.

  13. It might be easier to find everyone who gave Romney money and whip them.

    I just noticed that “Romney” is an anagram for “R money”. There may be a psychological angle to it.

  14. Incidentally, I’ll think I’ll get a piece of calling Dr. Paul a RINO. He’s just a L masqueradings as an R; a change from the more usual Ds…

    I hope like hell Fred can pull it out. I believe he can, myself.

    But in the end, I think a Republican majority in Congress (with as few RINOs as possible) is what we need to go with a Republican president. And one that can lay off the damn pork…

  15. Incidentally, I’m starting to see strains in the Democratic party as well. I think both parties are heading for some severe crack ups, as they are both coalitions of special interest groups and the groups are starting to see that its nearly impossible for each party to cater to them all. The only questions will be whether or not they manage to stay together or if they split into multiple parties, who stays in powers, and whether or not the two party system is destroyed or remains in tact.

    Should be interesting to watch; unfortunately, I think all of our rights will suffer in the meantime.

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