Who's in and who's out!

Monday – May 16, 2011

Who’s in, and who’s out!

The field of Republican candidates for the office of the President of the United States has never been more varied, wider and more diverse, in any election in our history. The 2012 election will break all the records and will bring out even more outspoken pundits.

The field is open and the field will be one that will be watched closely. Barack Obama will raise 1 billion dollars in campaign money and he will change his political colors like multiple rainbows to win his reelection. He will talk the talk, but won’t walk the walk.

Ron Paul is in and Mike Huckabee is out. Mitt Romney has not yet committed and we know Donald Trump will not. There are hopefuls Rick Santorum, Mitch Daniels, Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty, Michelle Bachman, Herman Cain, Gary Johnson, Tom Miller, Fred Karger and Vern Wuensche. To many, these are possible contenders for the office of president. There are also those who have declined: Chris Christie, Jeb Bush and Haley Barbour to name a few. But none the less, these candidates are all contenders that deserve a look and that deserve their day on the stage of debate.

What needs to happen now is a sorting out of the field with vigorous public debate. What needs to happen now is that the debate must center on sensible politics and sensible arguments, as to why the President does not deserve another term. Each candidate has two jobs. They must each get out front and they must make the argument as to why the president doesn’t deserve another election victory. There is a fine line between victory and re-election. Victory means you have won and re-election means you have not only won the election, but that the voter has voted for your continued agenda over the other guys.

There will not only be public debate on stage, but a debate in the public itself. This is why it is so important to challenge those who still support the president’s agenda.

The GOP traces their roots back to the politics of Jefferson. The Republican Party can trace their roots back to the Democratic-Republican Party of Jefferson’s day. The belief in the time of Jefferson was anti monarchy, pro-decentralization of government and pro entrepreneurial leaning. The party of old believed in a strong republic. This is where our roots come from and this will be an argument that the strongest candidates can still rally around today. In 1860, only six years after fielding its first National Candidate the Republican Party or the GOP as it is also known, won their first election by electing Abraham Lincoln to the office of President. Since then, there have been 17 Republican Presidents serving a total of 88 years.

The list of Republican Presidents reads like this: Lincoln 1861-1865, Grant 1869-1877, Hayes 1887-1881, Garfield 1881, Arthur 1881-1885, Harrison 1889 -1993, McKinley 1897-1901, T. Roosevelt 1901- 1909, Taft 1909 – 1913, Harding 1921 – 1923, Coolidge 1923 – 1929, Hoover 1929 – 1933, Eisenhower 1953 – 1961, Nixon 1969 – 1974, Ford 1974 – 1977, Reagan 1981 – 1989, H. Bush 1989 – 1993, Bush W. 2001 – 2009.

If this list can be put on a time line and the dates plotted between which a Democrat held office, you would see how the liberal agenda in our life time has grown starting with Wilson, then FDR, then Kennedy to some degree, and on to Johnson, Carter, Clinton and now, Obama. With each Democrat, the push toward the left has been with greater agility and purpose.

It is the purpose that I worry about and now is the time that the potential candidates should start to articulate what the debate is all about. No matter who wins the nomination, the script of the election is now being written by the agile president and his purposeful press.

The growth of the Federal Government started with Wilson. The New Deal was ushered in under Roosevelt. Kennedy was a fiscal conservative, but was also a social liberal. Johnson was deliberate in pushing the most liberal agenda of the time. However, his great society failed, in time. Carter was a complete failure with a 22 % inflation rate, high unemployment, a misery index and the build up of Iran, the world’s first terrorist nation. Some would say we were fortunate, because his agenda was never fully enacted, thank God. Clinton was a practicing liberal that could demonstrate a political agility that was never before seen, even after his impeachment. Obama ,the greatest liberal in history, has purposely enacted the complete liberal agenda that has been written for nearly sixty years. His legacy will be felt, but we don’t completely know the impact, except for what we have seen and felt so far. His legacy appears to be similar to Johnson’s and Carter’s. This is why he doesn’t deserve another term. A jobless recovery, an economy that is growing at only 2%, increasing inflation and a world that is widely torn, because of the lack of American leadership, are all reasons not to vote for him. In a sensible election, that would be the case.

Some would also say many negative things have also occurred during Republican terms. Eisenhower was the first post war president that balanced our power with greatness. Nixon made his mistakes, but Ford strengthened a failed administration, due to the flaws of the man who previously occupied it and not because of a political ideology. Reagan saved the country after Carter, whose actions were flawed and an ideology that was greatly flawed. Bush continued the Reagan legacy of building a strong defense, bringing down a world threat with the tearing down of the Berlin Wall and the demise of the Soviet Union. His son G.W. Bush knew what a strong America was and once again brought greatness back to the Oval Office, with the respect he had for it. He also knew that a strong America would guarantee a safer world. Obama has purposely destroyed all of the good history only to re-enact the failed history of the past all over again.

However, I am only a one pundit who is writing about who’s in, who’s out and who should be out. You noticed I didn’t say who should be in. I am still waiting for that perfect candidate that will need to do what Reagan did, after Carter almost destroyed us. Carter was once in and he was once voted out. It’s not really a bad thing to do, when it becomes necessary.

Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives

A footnote: The Republican party boasts nearly 55 million registered voters. It advocates American conservatism, espouses the role of religion, nationalism, patriotism, a strong growth oriented economy and strong national defense, while promoting family values. When you ask what should be in and what should be out, then it is easy to answer who should be in and who should be out.