Ronald Reagan: 1980 Republican National Convention

EVERYONE should listen to this speech by Ronald Reagan. It is so relevant today.

Here is a link to the text of the speech: http://www.nationalcenter.org/ReaganConvention1980.html

we need more guys like this!

Newly elected Congressman from Utah, Jason Chaffetz, showed up in DC with a cot to sleep on and dreams of fiscal responsibility in the land of spending. This guy ran his campaign withut doing any polls, had no campaign office, was outspent by $600,000 and he still won by 20 points. When you hear his message, it's not hard to figure out why Chaffetz is a voice that needs to be heard in the Republican Party.

 

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/18581/

 

“Well, I think the Republicans blew it. They had the House, the Senate and the presidency and I argued that, hey, if we want different results, we're going to have to elect different people. And until the Republican party returns to those core conservative principles of fiscal discipline, limited government, accountability and a strong national defense, we will continue to suffer as a party and as a country.”   --Jason Chaffetz

 

no softballs here

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Yahoo! News Story - Palin breaks with McCain on gay marriage amendment - Yahoo! News

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Palin breaks with McCain on gay marriage amendment - Yahoo! News

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A REAL Running Mate

I just read in Runner’s World that Sarah Palin ran a 3:59:36 marathon in the Humpy’s Marathon in 2005.  That’s just a little over 9 minute mile pace for 26.2 miles!  I hope I can do that when I’m over 40!  She was only 9 and a half minutes from having a Boston Marathon qualifying time.

 

(Humpy’s, the sponsor of the marathon, is a cool pub in downtown Anchorage.  My coworkers from Central Middle School threw me a baby shower there in 2001.)

Abraham Lincoln's "folksiness"

Some have said today that Palin was a bit "folksy" last night.
In Lincoln A Photobiography by Russell Freedman, it says: "... Lincoln had little formal 'eddication,' as he would have pronounced it. Almost everything he "larned" he taught himself. All his life he said "thar" for there, "git" for get, "kin" for can. Even so, he became an eloquent public speaker who could hold a vast audience spellbound, and a great writer whose whose finest phrases still ring in our ears. " (pg. 4)

Palin's resume vs. Obama's

Last night a reporter said to Newt Gingrich on NSNBC: "..her resume is not somehting we've seen with presidential candidates" Newt said to the effect: "She has a stronger resume than Obama so why do you guys say this baloney? She has been a REAL governor, a REAL mayor, in charge of a REAL national gaurd. Obama hasn't done any of those things.. She defeated an incumbant mayor; he has never had the courage to be a whistle blower and turn in a member of his own party and then fined 12k for it. Never seen Obama do anything like that. He can only talk and write. Show me a single thing Obama has done." He directed this comment to the reporter who could only thank him and tell him he didn't have anything futher! Nice, Newt!

What a Night!

Amanda mentioned that we "went on the record" tonight. A reporter from Channel 6 news wanted a local response to the debate and was given Amanda's name from a local Republican because of our Palin's Pitbulls group. So Amanda came over and we had a little interview session with the reporter during the debate. It really gave us some perspective of how tough it is to be on the hot seat. Of course, they only ended up pulling one soundbyte for the clip, and thankfully it was from Amanda! I thought it was a good clip of her though. I thought it was funny is how they introduced us as a GROUP who got together, when it was just me and Amanda and Raleigh and Jaden (and Ty). Ha! I guess we should have had a party, but we only had about 30 minutes notice that the news wanted to interview Amanda before the debate started. Amanda and I weren't even planning to watch it together. But back to the actual DEBATE...

For the record, I think Palin was herself tonight, and when she is herself, she is GREAT. Overall she did a great job of communicating her conservative values and responding to the questions and Biden's comments. I will be interested to see the ratings of the debate, as well as the commentary on her performance. From what I've seen so far from the media, she is getting significant praise, which indicates to me that she did a lot more than just hold her own.

One thing that came through very strongly was just how genuine Sarah Palin is. I believe she truly cares about this country and she has a servant's heart. Regardless of how you feel about her political views, I don't think anyone can make the case that Sarah Palin is a person that shouldn't be trusted. I have confidence that she will be true to her values and do her best to do the right things for our country. I think she's got great instincts and a great foundation of life experiences to draw upon. The lady has street smarts, plain and simple.

Palin had a lot of funny lines, but my favorite part of the debate was when she talked about her stance on drilling in ANWR and that she would continue to work to try to get McCain to come around on that one, because he oppposes drilling there. Having lived in Alaska, I am very much in favor of drilling in ANWR and I'm glad Palin talked about it on the national stage.

I felt that Gwen Ifill did an excellent job of moderating the debate.

As for Biden, although I disagree with him on most issues, I think he communicated clearly and probably won on points, but he did not win the popularity contest tonight. When you look at how big of an underdog Palin was, and how much more experience Biden has in debate settings, she gave a tremendous performance, and I think Biden knew it.

I did REALLY like one comment from Biden about working with those of opposing views in the Senate over the years. He said something to the effect of, "I don't question their motives--I question their judgment." That's truly how I feel about many of my liberal friends and family members. They are just trying to find solutions to the problems we face in this country. I just don't feel that individuals in the country ought to be looking to government to solve all their problems. FAIRNESS, as Biden defines it, involves a significant redistribution of wealth. I think that his views on taxes and healthcare aren't just on the slippery slope towards socialism, they are fundamentally socialist.

Obviously a lot of people in this country think socialism ain't too bad.

Just a sidenote, I got a kick out of Dennis Miller on Jay Leno tonight. He was talking about reading Nancy Pelosi's book and said something to the effect of, "I had the 'Shrill to English' version." Zing!

Palin's Debate Debut

YES! She did it! I think collectively conservatives are all breathing a sigh of relief... After all of the negative sound bites from interviews with Palin, I was holding my breathe for this debate. She did better than I had hoped. On one occasion I felt like she dropped the ball, but she recovered and did a knock out job.

This week was awesome. Mitt Romney visited IF and I was able to shake his hand. He is a great man and I am glad he is doing all he can to help out the party in general. Please check out his site: freestrongamerica.com.

Kaly and I were able to go "On the record"! Talking on camera is harder than it looks! I hope I was able to do the party and the recent movement Palin has evoked, some justice.

United States Voting Stats

Though the U.S. prides itself on being the world's greates democracy, that claim is not reflected in the country's voting patterns.

In 26 elections since 1945, an average of 48.3% of American voters actually cast a ballot, placing the U. S. at No. 139 in the world. This ties America with Mexico, according to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.

Italy, with a 925% turn out, rates No. 1. Iceland (90%), New Zealand (86%), Israel (80%) Great Britain (75%), Canada (68%), and France (67%) all far surpass the U.S. electorate in turnout.