After watching the first GOP presidential debate, I had this sinking feeling. It was too pathetic for comedy and too trivial for tragedy. There were 10 candidates on stage, but the pundits told us that it was all about the big three: Giuliani, McCain and Romney. Well, the big three left a lot to be desired.
The other seven candidates scored some important points, but, if we are to believe the pundits, the other seven were simply inconvenient obstacles for the big three to work around. None of these guys has a prayer of making it into the first tier. At the end of the day, the nominee will be the former mayor of New York, the senator from Arizona, or the former governor of Massachusetts ... unless actor Fred Thompson decides to enter the race. Should that happen, all bets are off.
Thompson is the man the mainstream media fear most. As a senator, he compiled a conservative voting record. He won this debate, hands down, simply by not being there!
Thompson has star power and a following that transcends politics. However, many of his positions remain undefined. At the moment, he is the "un"candidate. His rise in the polls partly reflects the fact that voters are projecting their own beliefs onto him.
Make no mistake, the big three are the favorites of the left-leaning mainstream media, which are willing to accept a president with the GOP label, as long as he is a liberal at heart. Each of these men has been pandering to conservatives on immigration and the social issues, but the media are willing to forgive these indiscretions. They see them as necessary bumps on the road to the White House.
Giuliani, McCain and Romney were each trying to convince us that he is the next Ronald Reagan, but Ronald Reagan didn't hide his beliefs to get elected. He made the case for them.
McCain was trying to dance around the fact that he wants to give amnesty to illegal aliens. He calls it "comprehensive immigration reform." He also wants to provide the entitlement class with a steady stream of cheap labor by bringing in more "temporary" guest workers.
Rudy Giuliani was trying to dance around the abortion issue by saying that it would be OK if Roe v. Wade is repealed and OK if it isn't.
And Mitt Romney, the slick Stepford candidate, was still trying, ineptly, to explain his "road to Damascus" experience with abortion. What about his position on gay rights? Mitt is glad that didn't come up. If Romney were an atheist, or even a Methodist, I could understand how he might have been confused about these issues. A Mormon knows better.
Each of the big three thinks it's acceptable to kill tiny human beings to do medical experiments on them. If embryonic stem cells ever show promise, will they, then, want to experiment on older human beings?
Surely, the GOP can do better than the big three!
There are four solidly pro-life candidates in this race, although I would throw out Sam Brownback for sucking up to Giuliani, as in, "I could (support Giuliani even though he is not pro-life) because I believe in the Ronald Reagan principle that somebody that's with you 80 percent of the time is not your enemy ... this is a big coalition party." Sounds as if he is already running for vice president!
Ronald Reagan never gave in on the life issue. It transcends all other issues. We are talking about life and death here! Aren't we, Sam?
So, why are the three solidly conservative candidates in this race (Huckabee, Hunter and Tancredo) in the second tier instead of the first tier? Money! That's all.
You can change that.
Now is the time to cast your vote for one or all of these worthy candidates, not after the primary has been decided when all you can do is groan. People of faith, who make up the backbone of the Republican Party, want a free ride. We want good government on the cheap.
So what if the media tell you these men have no chance! Vote for them now with your dollars because it is the only vote that really counts. Furthermore, it's the right thing to do.
If just 200,000 people each gets five people on board to donate just $1.50 a day to one of these candidates for the next year and a half, that candidate would have $985,500,000.00 for his campaign. That candidate then would be in the first tier – and he might just be the next president of the United States.
Related special offer:
"In the Words of Ronald Reagan"