Free Republic

CAN SARAH PALIN pick up where Hillary Clinton left off? Palin wowed delegates with a confident, cutting speech aimed at hockey moms with a chip on their shoulder. She could have been singing along to Gretchen Wilson's "Redneck Woman" - "Some people look down on me, but I don't give a rip. I'll stand barefooted in my own front yard with a baby on my hip." It was great theater. But to John McCain, all that really matters is whether his running mate can pick up where Clinton left off and expand the GOP voter base.

With the selection of Sarah Palin as Vice President Candidate on the Republican ticket, the presidential race is less about Democrat vs. Republican, than it is about Liberal vs. Conservative. Democrats and Republicans both agree that Washington is "broken" and both sides want "change." Democrats Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe that government is the answer while John McCain and Sarah Palin believe that government is the problem. Clearly, change can be for good or for bad. The speech by Sarah Palin marks the well-defined line in the sand that conservatives have wanted for months to have John McCain draw....

In order to legitimize your stealing from me. Over at Blogher, quite a spirited discussion about universal healthcare and other entitlement programs. Of course those most likely to banish God completely from the public square use their misunderstanding of the Bible to call me a hypocrite because I don’t see a Constitutional mandate for socialism. After I pointed out that being a conservative Christian is not an oxymoron, I received this reply (following verse after verse of Scripture admonishing me to give up everything I own, blah, blah, blah): "Christ was a radical who was working against corrupt government, selfishness...

In a sweep through the swing states of Michigan and Wisconsin, Mr McCain was met by the kind of near-hysterical crowds previously seen only at campaign events for his Democratic rival, Barack Obama. More than 6,000 exultant supporters turned out on Friday night in Sterling Heights, a town in Michigan's Macomb County, home of the Reagan-Democrats, the small town blue collar voters who propelled Ronald Reagan to the White House in the 1980s and hold the key to victory this year. Where he once played to a few hundred people, Mr McCain was greeted by an electrified crowd chanting "Sa-rah,...

John McCain’s address to the convention was more than a speech. It was a life impression. There is no logic in trying to compare his delivery style with any other speakers at the Republican Convention or the Democrat Convention. It’s not really about style comparison. Yet that is as far as some critics have gone following McCain’s speech. They deliberate regarding his pauses, a supposed glitch or two, his soft-spoken sentences on occasion. All of that is superficial assessment. What is truly significant is that McCain’s speech was about a serving life span over years.

If there was any doubt that John McCain's surprise pick of Sarah Palin has grabbed the attention of many Republicans, Barbara Falk, a retiree born and raised in this quaint small town, put it to rest yesterday: "I came out to see her." So did Falk's friend Pat Mantel, who said, "I do enjoy that vice president that McCain picked." And so did Mantel's sister Carol Eberhardt, a retired lab worker and single mother of three, who said, "She speaks my language." A day after McCain gave what many critics panned as a flat acceptance speech, Palin proved to be...

Later yesterday, the two traveled to Macomb County, the suburban Detroit turf where the "Reagan Democrat" demographic was first identified by pollster Stan Greenberg. Palin appeared to earn more applause than McCain when she was introduced, and an unsolicited chant of "Sarah! Sarah!" rose from the crowd of several thousand. She delivered an appeal to those socially conservative, working-class voters on the basis of patriotism, not class. "Our opponents have been going on recently about how they fight for you," Palin said. "Since Senator McCain won't say this on his behalf, let me say it: There's only one man in...

The tone and placement of the spread is no accident. In selecting Ms. Palin, a down-home girl with her own National Rifle Association membership card and anti-abortion narrative, the Republican Party is targeting a demographic of suburban women and small-town evangelicals that is as specific – and crucial to the election – as the towns she will visit over the weeks to come. “Her role here is, to borrow from Rush Limbaugh, ‘Babies, guns and Jesus,''' said Kyle Saunders, a professor of electoral politics at Colorado State University. “Over the past couple of election cycles there has been a slow...

It was the loudest and most prolonged cheer since Barack Obama appeared on the podium last week in Denver. Very few people had heard of Sarah Palin when Mr Obama delivered his acceptance speech eight days ago. One vice-presidential announcement, several news cycles and countless debates about sexism later, Ms Palin had been catapulted into starring role at a rejuvenated Republican Convention. Given the fluid nature of this presidential race, most analysts say it is much too early to pronounce whether Ms Palin's widely praised acceptance speech was the "game changer" that some Republicans claimed on Wednesday night. But in...

She’s gonna make it after all. Considering the location of the Republican convention, the theme song had already been written for Sarah Palin’s vice presidential campaign. It comes from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, based in the Twin Cities. “Who can turn the world on with her smile? Who can take a nothing day, and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile? Well, it’s you, girl, and you should know it; with each glance and every little movement, you show it. Love is all around, no need to waste it. You can have a town, why don’t you take it? You’re...

Interviews with the two pastors she has been most closely associated with here in her hometown — she now attends the Wasilla Bible Church, though she keeps in touch with Mr. Riley and recently spoke at an event at his former church — and with friends and acquaintances who have worshipped with her point to a firm conclusion: her foundation and source of guidance is the Bible, and with it has come a conviction to be God’s servant. “Just be amazed at the umbrella of this church here, where God is going to send you from this church,” Ms. Palin...

As I walked out after viewing John McCain's nomination acceptance speech into the balmy Northwestern evening, with the sun still illuminating the apricot clouds on the horizon, I looked up at the row of houses just across the street, and saw, through each of their front windows, eerily identical TVs showing the same giddy delegates and reporters and pundits at the Republican National Convention. John McCain's speech was moving, smart and well-delivered for his television audience on streets just like this one across America. The nominee punctuated his words with many wide smiles, grinning during a pause for disruptive protesters:...

Last January, on the night of John McCain’s back-from-the-dead victory in the New Hampshire primary, I asked a longtime adviser how McCain had survived the collapse of his campaign a few months earlier. “You know, in the darkest days, I think there were a lot of us who just respected him so much we just wanted to band together to make sure to restore his dignity,” the adviser told me. “But the chance of this actually happening was pretty remote.” And yet it did happen. After McCain won New Hampshire, he kept on winning until there he was, onstage last...

Her thrilling convention speech showed that the Governor of Alaska is a force to reckoned with. But she might be more than that The best line I heard about Sarah Palin during the frenzied orgy of chauvinist condescension and gutter-crawling journalistic intrusion that greeted her nomination for vice-president a week ago came from a correspondent who knows a thing or two about Alaska. “What's the difference between Sarah Palin and Barack Obama?” “One is a well turned-out, good-looking, and let's be honest, pretty sexy piece of eye-candy. “The other kills her own food.” Now we know, thanks to her triumphant...

The future of conservatism is bright. All those liberal Republicans who were arguing that the GOP needed to “rebrand” itself and move leftward are now crying in their coffee. Arlen Specter is feeling lonely. Break out the world’s smallest violin. I’m verklempt. Bloomberg News: At a Tuesday reception for moderate Republicans, Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter hushed the cocktail chatter when he began ticking off a long list of like- minded lawmakers who no longer hold office. “Today, we’re in a phone booth,” Specter said. To conservatives at the Republican National Convention this week, John McCain’s choice of running mate Sarah...

Conservatism... the real hope for America

SAN DIEGO -- Never mind the naysayers and inside-the-Beltway snobs who mock John McCain's selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. This was a brilliant choice. Sure, it's a risk. But as Palin's defenders point out, no less a risk than asking the country to take a chance at the top of the ticket on a first-term senator from Illinois who doesn't have much to show in legislative accomplishments or foreign policy expertise. I've defended Barack Obama by urging that we think outside the box and ask whether the world with which McCain is so familiar hasn't...

Partisan Democrats and many members of the media consider John McCain's choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate a terrible mistake. But McCain need not worry about their criticism. His unexpected selection satisfied the people he needed to please. Republican conservatives assembling in St. Paul for the party's national convention were "ecstatic" over the choice. Nor did the announcement Monday that Palin's 17-year-old unmarried daughter was pregnant -- but would raise the child and marry the father -- perceptibly diminish the enthusiasm for her in St. Paul by Republicans, who regarded the news as irrelevant to the...

Movement conservatives are dominating Republican National Committee elections throughout the country, and this conservative resurgence might portend a much-needed philosophical realignment of the Republican Party’s largest campaign and fundraising organization. In the past six months alone, roughly 25% of the RNC members have been replaced. Six states -- Alaska, California, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma and Utah -- saw complete turnovers of their delegations. The RNC’s re-organizational meeting on September 5 in Minneapolis will feature a new class of emerging conservative leaders who challenge both established Republican cultural stereotypes and the moderate Republican establishment. Three new committeewomen, all presidents of their states’...

Many conservatives are nervous as the Republican National Convention kicks off. They know they won’t be hearing anything close to the no-compromise declarations of Helms and Goldwater. John McCain is working hard to convince conservatives he is one of us even as he surrounds himself with prominent moderates, including Rudy Giuliani, Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida, Arnold Schwarzenegger, former Gov. Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania and Sen. Joseph Lieberman. Yes, conservatives will have their say at the convention: Vice President Dick Cheney, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Oka.), and Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) are scheduled to speak. But...

Schwarzenegger Skipping GOP Convo; Thompson Gets a Promotion California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is skipping the Republican National Convention this week in Minnesota to manage an ongoing budget dispute in Sacramento. Republican officials say Fred Thompson will take his place in the prime-time lineup Monday night and onetime presidential candidate will have nearly three times longer to speak than he was originally given for his speech on Tuesday. Schwarzenegger hinted that he might skip the convention at a press conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday. "The work for the people of California, and to solve this budget problem, is the most...

A spectre is haunting the liberal elites of New York and Washington--the spectre of a young, attractive, unapologetic conservatism, rising out of the American countryside, free of the taint (fair or unfair) of the Bush administration and the recent Republican Congress, able to invigorate a McCain administration and to govern beyond it. That spectre has a name--Sarah Palin, the 44-year-old governor of Alaska chosen by John McCain on Friday to be his running mate. There she is: a working woman who's a proud wife and mother; a traditionalist in important matters who's broken through all kinds of barriers; a reformer...

Conservatives are thrilled with the selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain's running-mate. Scroll through the postings at RobinsonandLong.com, or listen to the hosts and callers on any of the talk shows today. There are six reasons, all of them huge and enduring. First, over the past month we have gone from hoping Senator McCain would win to thinking he might actually be able to win. With the selection of Governor Palin most of us are convinced he will win. Which means the country will be well led on the war for at least another four crucial years. The reason...

Noticed that two planks of the party's platform have changed? The one about drilling is gone. Buh bye ANWR. And the new one about global warming? Yeah, that's real conservative. *SARCASM*

RUSH: This is Sarah Palin and her accomplishments. Obama cannot make a speech like this. PALIN: In serving as the team mom and coaching some basketball on the side, I got involved in the PTA and then was elected to the city council and then elected mayor of my hometown where my agenda was to stop wasteful spending and cut property taxes and put the people first! (cheers and applause) I was then appointed ethics commissioner and chairman of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. And when I found corruption there, I fought it hard and I held the...

RUSH: Senator McCain just took the podium with raucous music, raucous crowd energy. The place is going nuts there in Dayton, Ohio. Let's join it in progress and listen. (cheers and applause) The senator is looking genuinely happy today. (cheers and applause) MCCAIN: Thank you. RUSH: Well, I'm just describing this for you all who can't see it, his wife is hugging him. MCCAIN: Thank you. CROWD: John McCain! John McCain! John McCain! John McCain! MCCAIN: Thanks for reminding me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. CROWD: John McCain! John McCain! John McCain! John...

It better be good. The GOP has a lot of making up to do and it NEEDS to present a strong conservative message especially in the areas of limited government and drilling. And McCain had better pick a good VP. I don't know what emotion I'd call it, but I'm definitely ready to watch this convention.

I have long wondered why Liberalism in America came to be associated with quasi-socialist policies and big government. In Europe, liberals are "social democrats" from what I understand, while the term "liberal" is applied to free market and what we would call libertarian types. Liberalism is the foundation of this country and originally expressed pro-limited government views not held by liberals today, but in fact held by conservatives today. The classiscal Liberalism of old is much closer politically to Libertarianism or Conservatism today than to what we have come to know as Liberalism. I have seen many anti-liberal sentiments here...

Bruce Walker has written an encouraging piece in the American Thinker. He's been tracking results of the bipartisan Battleground Poll since 2002, and points out that Conservative/Liberal self-identification has consistently been roughly 60% conservative, 40% liberal. He goes on to analyze why these data are so at odds with popular perception. Short answer: Those to the left of center run from the liberal label while conservatives proudly self-identify. He also provides examples showing how skewed polling questions make America look more liberal than it actually is. I believe this to be true. America is not a liberal nation, and recent...

The Young and the Rightward by: Malcolm A. Kline, August 26, 2008 Buoyed by their success in persuading students to “get involved,” left-leaning college professors have overlooked a fundamental law of physics that can apply to human relations as well: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. “I realized I was conservative in college, and that I was a Republican just after graduating (when I cashed my first paycheck and saw so much of it go to the government),” S. E. Cupp, the co-author of Why You’re Wrong About The Right, recalls. “I became what I’d politely...

Barack Obama will lose the November election to John McCain unless he overhauls his message of change, outlines specific plans and reassures Americans that he is one of them, according to swing voters in Denver. The results of a focus group held by Frank Luntz, the leading American pollster, on the eve of the Democratic convention should sound alarm bells for the Obama campaign after a month in which Mr McCain, the Republican, has drawn level in the polls. "The way that he gets here to the Democratic nomination - 'change' - is not how he gets there, to the...

Earlier this month Andrew Sullivan, a well-known writer, once in the center, now on the left, nominated me for what is apparently his lowest badge of distinction for defending citizens who shoot to wound graffiti vandals, or "taggers," while committing their vandalism. Under the heading, "Malkin Award Nominee," Sullivan provides a quote from my radio show: "'So you will now say -- I hear the voice of an ACLU member -- 'Dennis, do you think that this guy should have shot these people spray painting graffiti on his shop?' To which my answer is yes. I do. Not to kill....

Since world war ii international relations specialists have debated two main traditions or schools of American foreign policy, realism and liberal internationalism. Realism identifies with Richard Nixon and looks to the balance of power to defend stability among ideologically diverse nations. Liberal internationalism identifies with Franklin Roosevelt and looks to international institutions to reduce the role of the balance of power and gradually spread democracy by talk and tolerance. Generally speaking, conservatives or Republicans were considered realists — Eisenhower and Ford — while liberals or Democrats were seen as liberal internationalists — Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, and Carter.This debate broke down with...

Defence and security spending rose faster than any part of the budget — increasing its share of government spending from 22 per cent in 2001 to 29 per cent in 2008. But spending has increased across the budget. Bush was aided and abetted by a Congress dominated by Republicans until 2006. Juicy spending bills were passed on everything from farm subsidies to health (up 44 per cent) and education (up 47 per cent). After all, Bush had run as a "compassionate conservative"; he introduced the largest new entitlement since the Great Society programs of the 1960s: a prescription drug benefit...

If John McCain selects a pro-abortion running mate, he will continue an unfortunate tradition of Republican Presidential nominees sticking it to the conservative base. Sadly, even the man considered the greatest Republican President in modern American history wasn’t immune to doing wrong by the right. “…[W]e have to confess our disappointment with many of the people [Reagan] has chosen for his Administration”, wrote Richard A. Viguerie on behalf of the conservative movement in the December 23, 1980 Boston Globe. “We can live with any one, two or three of them, even though most are not the men we would have...

New video feature will zero in on the issues and events - an online video series to keep you up to date on the election. Host Stuart Shepard gets insights on the presidential race from Tom Minnery, senior vice president of government and public policy at Focus Action. Family advocates from across the nation will appear in upcoming episodes. "This is a challenging year for Christian conservatives to sort through where the leading candidates stand on pro-family issues," Shepard said. "We'll cut through the hype and the campaign ads and shine a light on how they view the sanctity of...

Why do conservatives and liberals respond so differently to the current war in Georgia? The answer to that question exposes the great political divide separating left and right, Democrats and Republicans, in today’s America. The stark contrast between Barack Obama and John McCain at this weekend’s televised Civil Forum at California’s Saddleback Church further underlined the vast gulf in worldviews when it comes to injecting moral standards or arguments into politics. Conservatives approach every challenge with a determination to approach the question (as far as possible)as a choice between right and wrong, good and evil. Liberals, on the other hand,...

The following is a list of beliefs that I hold. Nearly every one of them was a liberal position until the late 1960s. Not one of them is now. Such a list is vitally important in order to clarify exactly what positions divide left from right, blue from red, liberal from conservative. I believe in American exceptionalism, meaning that (a) America has done more than any international organization or institution, and more than any other country, to improve this world; and (b) that American values (specifically, the unique American blending of Enlightenment and Judeo-Christian values) form the finest value system...

Conservatism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaConservatism is a term used to describe political philosophies that favour tradition, where tradition refers to various religious, cultural, or nationally ... Conservatism in the United States - Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaConservatism in the United States comprises a constellation of political ideologies including fiscal conservatism, supply-side economics, .. What is Conservatism?A very brief summary of conservatism & liberalism. Conservatism vs Liberalism, From a pamphlet published in 1999. Medium length. conservatism - Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online DictionaryDefinition of conservatism from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary with audio pronunciations, thesaurus, Word of the Day, and word games....

“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it,” my grandmother used to say when serving a food that seemed, let us say, unappetizing. The same advice ought to be applied to public policy. In the Outlook section of The Washington Post recently, Greg Anrig, vice president of programs at the Century Foundation, gloated that conservatism is in decline, slowly being replaced by what he labels “progressive” ideas. These days, he writes, “conservatives are the ones who are tongue-tied, as demonstrated by Sen. John McCain’s limping, message-free presidential campaign.” Well, hold the phone for just a moment, there. First, John McCain is...

At a recent writers conference in Southern California, one of my colleagues on a screenwriters panel told the crowd of about 50 people that she hoped Barack Obama would win the presidency. A number of people applauded. When it was my turn to speak, I politely said that I disagreed with her politics and moved on to other topics. There was no applause for me, but several writers approached me afterward. Each dropped his voice to a whisper and, looking around to make sure no one would overhear, said, "Thank you for saying that." Which raises a question for all...

The Republican Party suffers from a pervasive and inexplicable failure to identify some key points of distinction between themselves and their Democratic opponents on issues that speak clearly and forcefully to the public consciousness - and to run with them. I.e. to put and keep those issues in the spotlight of the campaign. The latest case in point: Racial preferences - i.e. Affirmative Action. Many "red meat" Democrats as well as most Republicans see these measures for what they are - state-sponsored racism - plain and simple. More deeply - an attempted end run around the most basic tenet of...

Just watch the VID..

If there's one thing Thomas Frank has, it's certitude. As a result, he has been singularly successful in getting his political views noticed, which, of course, is his goal. No self-doubt restrains his assaults; no nuance clutters his pages; his are books not of arguments but of pronouncements. Frank clearly holds his conclusions to be self-evident, his insights both noble and incontrovertible. Thus it follows quite naturally that disagreement, even skepticism, is proof of a substantial deficiency in either intellect, instruction, or character. This belief in the superiority of his understanding has led to two books, one building on the...

The battle for the Senate has been overshadowed by the presidential race, but just as important as who will reside in the White House is whether Democrats can get 60 seats in the Senate. The "Magic 60" would give Democrats a filibuster-proof majority, and the keys to true power in the Senate. Assuming that their party leaders could keep Democratic senators in line, 60 votes would mean a fast track for their agenda, prevent Republicans from blocking it and a clear path for their nominations for the federal bench.

Back to basics for conservatism while moving into the internet age. Youtube combines the power of the TV and the internet. For conservatives to win in the 21st century, they’ll need to engage American public opinion with “video pamphleteerism.” If the videos aren’t funny, they’re just spam. Here’s one of the best I’ve ever seen!! It has all of the laughs of slapstick humor and cartoons but it makes “a far larger conservative point.“ The show's host, John Galt actually appears on Rush Limbaugh in one of the other network’s videos. Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FvuZiAZKj8

When I was a teenager, my dad used to say that the media in this country are so biased and so liberal that we conservatives needed to figure out a way to buy a big newspaper or television network so our views could have a voice. That was 35-40 years ago. Today, we have Rush Limbaugh. He is our voice. He is the counter-weight to the liberal media complex. He is the answer my dad and millions like him were hoping for. Those of us who were alive and attentive during the 1960's and 1970's know what it would be...

The thing I like best about being a conservative is that I don’t have to lie. I don’t have to pretend that men and women are the same. I don’t have to declare that failed or oppressive cultures are as good as mine. I don’t have to say that everyone’s special or that the rich cause poverty or that all religions are a path to God. I don’t have to claim that a bad writer like Alice Walker is a good one or that a good writer like Toni Morrison is a great one. I don’t have to pretend that...

Why We Whisper by: Melinda Zosh, July 24, 2008 Senator Jim Demint (R-SC) said that unwed pregnant women should not be schoolteachers, and the media accused him of intolerance. What the media did not reveal, however, were the constituents who whispered after the cameras disappeared. “People would whisper ‘you’re right, we’re with you,’” said Sen. Demint. “They did not want to say that anything was wrong, because they know that’s hateful, wrong and politically incorrect. I notice how much people whisper.” Sen. Demint more than noticed the whispers, and he wanted his constituents’ voices to be heard. He wrote a...

Liberal Greed by: Melinda Zosh, July 24, 2008 Liberals accept cheating on taxes, cheating on their spouses and lying for their own self interests, Peter Schweizer, author of Makers and Takers, said. Schweizer spoke at the Heritage Foundation about his book focusing on “why conservatives work harder, feel happier, have closer families, take fewer drugs, give more generously, value honesty more, are less materialistic and envious, whine less…and even hug their children more than liberals.” He decided to write his book after liberals published articles about conservatives. His book is based on research conducted by non-partisan researchers at the University...