Global Warming Myth Busting 3
From theage.com:
Greenhouse sceptics to congregate
Katharine Murphy and Brendan Nicholson, Canberra and Richard Baker
HARD-CORE global warming sceptics will descend on Canberra today for the release of a book claiming environmentalism is the new religion.
Former mining executive Arvi Parbo will launch Ray Evans’ new publication, Nine Facts About Climate Change, at a function at Parliament House.
The book claims climate change is nothing new and declares Howard Government investments in solar power and in cleaning up coal a “complete waste of taxpayers’ money”.
“Environmentalism has largely superseded Christianity as the religion of the upper classes in Europe and to a lesser extent in the United States,” Mr Evans says in the publication.
“It is a form of religious belief which fosters a sense of moral superiority in the believer, but which places no importance on telling the truth,” he says.
“The global warming scam has been, arguably, the most extraordinary example of scientific fraud in the postwar period.”
The function is organised by the Lavoisier Group, founded in 2000 by Ray Evans and former mining executive Hugh Morgan to test claims that global warming is the result of human activity.
Mr Evans is a longstanding friend and colleague of Mr Morgan and a committed activist on issues such as workplace reform through the HR Nicholls Society, which he founded with federal Treasurer Peter Costello.
Former Labor minister Peter Walsh also will attend today’s function, and the group will hold a dinner to be addressed by climate-change sceptic Chris de Freitas, Associate Professor in the School of Geography, Geology and Environmental Science at Auckland University.
Liberal MP Dennis Jensen has organised the function on behalf of the Lavoisier Group and expects about 50 people to attend the dinner.
Dr Jensen, a nuclear physicist, has said he is not convinced that human activity is responsible for global warming.
In an interview with The Age last month, Mr Evans acknowledged that last September’s visit by former US vice-president Al Gore to promote his Oscar-winning global-warming documentary An Inconvenient Truth had helped generate a lot of publicity on climate change.
But he described Mr Gore’s film as “bullshit from beginning to end”.
“The science from the anthropology point of view has collapsed. The carbon-dioxide link is increasingly recognised as irrelevant,” Mr Evans said.
“But the Government’s frightened.
“Cabinet, from what I understand, is by and large still sceptical of climate change, but it is scared of the drought and worried about how Labor will make use of it.”
Comments On Huffingtonpost Wishing The Taliban Killed Cheney
Below are a few of the posts that were made on the huffingtonpost.com forum after it was learned that Dick Cheney was the Taliban’s tarket of a bombing. This is truely discusting. This just proves that the left considers George Bush and Dick Cheney are the enemy. They want to see them destroyed. Hell, this shows they want them dead. This is so hard to understand, thinking your president is the enemy and actually routing for terrorists to kill them. The same terrorists that killed 3000 Americans on our soil because Bill Clinton was too busy hiding the blue dress to go after Bin Laden when he had the chance.
Here are some of the comments:
The start of a new season of “Fear”. Must be sweeps month. The mass media is out of steam on Anna Nicole and so now the ever-popular terrorism and al Queda is filling the airways. Seems that even when the congress is not in his pocket he keeps going back to the only card he has left in his hand. And the media just laps it up and never asks any hard questions. Pathetic.
I think old Dicktater Cheney just got a taste of what his ‘remarkable success’ really means. My only fear is that Bushco will manufacture some evidence that this attack has ties to Iran to justify their planned attack on them.
I wonder if Cheney had the courage to actually go and look at the carnage that resulted from the blast? Chances are he claimed he was too important to be put at risk and had someone else go make a report for him. No doubt also asking that person to find evidence of Iranian involvement. That of course would prove yet again that he is just a coward who, while more than willing to risk the lives of others, has no intention of ever risking his own.
Suicide bombers penetrate security in an attempt to kill VP Dick Cheney at a US military base in Afganistan. The Taliban claim responsibility, but we will soon learn of highly publicized evidence they were working on direct orders from Iran.
Same warmongering excuses, different day.
Darth sure does manage to spread a little cheer everywhere he goes
So Cheney is personally responsible for the deaths of 14 innocent people…and then he waddles off to lunch!! What a piece of shit
They missed. Too bad
Too bad they missed
You can’t kill pure evil. Like an exorcism you have to drive a stake through it.
Better luck next time, Taliban. What a different world we would be living in today if they had succeeded. Dr. Evil escapes again. Damn.” “Sounds like a BS attempt. The VP’s inside some sort of compound and they blow up a bomb at the front door? C—-t. At least lob a few grenades into the compound
They missed? Damn it. I hope they try again before he leaves.
Nancy Pelosi Has Let The Democrat Party Down
From politico.com:
Pelosi Falls Short On Election Promises
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is discovering the cold truth about governing with a slim majority: It’s much easier to promise behavioral change for Congress than to deliver it.
Pelosi vowed that five-day workweeks would be a hallmark of a harder-working Democratic majority. So far, the House has logged only one. Lawmakers plan to clock three days this week. Read more…
The Democrats Have No Courage
An article from nationalreview.com. This is just another article that shows the Democrat party has no balls. They know that Americans( except the moonbats) want to win this war. They are trying to oppose the war to make the moonbats happy, while trying to say they support the troops. You can’t have it both ways. We can see right though you.Here is the article:
Where’s the Courage?
By The Editors
A week or so ago, Rep. John Murtha embarrassed Democrats with a crude proposal to hamstring President Bush’s conduct of the Iraq War. He announced his plan — and said it would be the “real vote” — just as Democrats were voting on a non-binding resolution against the troop surge. He thus undermined the Democrats’ message that the non-binding measure actually mattered, and made it clear that Democrats wouldn’t be content with it: They wanted to go much further and use certain impossible-to-meet readiness standards to choke off reinforcements from reaching Iraq. Democrats appear already to be backing off from the Murtha proposal (it united Republicans and divided their own caucus), so now it is Sen. Carl Levin who is stepping into the breach with a crude proposal of his own. Read more…
Suspicious Deaths Around The Clinton’s
This is the list of people who were all found dead that were involved with the Clinton’s. I don’t think we want to relive four more years of this. Not to mention Ruby Ridge,and Waco.
Update: I think it is beyond time to add Chris Stevens, Glen Doherty, Tyrone Woods, and Sean Smith to this list as well.
James McDougal – Clinton’s convicted Whitewater partner died of an apparent heart attack, while in solitary confinement. He was a key witness in Ken Starr’s investigation.
Mary Mahoney – A former White House intern was murdered July 1997 at a Starbucks Coffee Shop in Georgetown. The murder happened just after she was to go public with her story of sexual harassment in the White House.
Vince Foster – Former White House counselor, and colleague of Hillary Clinton at Little Rock’s Rose Law Firm. Died of a gunshot wound to the head, ruled suicide. He also had another 22 gunshot wound in the neck. The gunshot wound to the head was of larger caliber and found still in his hand!!
Ron Brown – Secretary of Commerce and former DNC Chairman. Reported to have died by impact in a plane crash. A pathologist close to the investigation reported that there was a hole in the top of Brown’s skull resembling a gunshot wound. At the time of his death, Brown was being investigated, and spoke publicly of his willingness to cut a deal with prosecutors.
C. Victor Raiser II & Montgomery Raiser – Major players in the Clinton fund-raising organization. Died in a private plane crash in July 1992.
Paul Tulley – Democratic National Committee Political Director found dead in a hotel room in Little Rock, September 1992. Described by Clinton’s a “Dear friend and trusted advisor”.
Ed Willey – Clinton fund raiser, found dead November 1993 deep in the woods in Virginia of a gunshot wound to the head. Ruled a suicide. Ed Willey died on the same day his wife Kathleen Willey claimed Bill Clinton groped her in the oval office in the White House. Ed Willey was involved in several Clinton fund raising events.
Jerry Parks – Head of Clinton’s gubernatorial security team in Little Rock. Gunned down in his car at a deserted intersection outside Little Rock. Park’s son said his father was building a dossier on Clinton. He allegedly threatened to reveal this information. After he died the files were mysteriously removed from his house.
James Bunch – Died from a gunshot suicide. It was reported that he had a “Black Book” of people containing names of influential people who visited prostitutes in Texas and Arkansas.
James Wilson – Was found dead in May 1993 from an apparent hanging suicide. He was reported to have ties to Whitewater.
Kathy Ferguson – Ex-wife of Arkansas Trooper Danny Ferguson. Died in May 1994. She was found dead in her living room with a gunshot to her head. It was ruled a suicide although there were several packed suitcases, as if she was going somewhere. Danny Ferguson was a co- defendant along with Bill Clinton in the Paula Jones lawsuit. Kathy Ferguson was a possible corroborating witness for Paula Jones.
Bill Shelton – Arkansas State Trooper and fiancee of Kathy Ferguson. Critical of the suicide ruling of his fiancee, he was found dead in June, 1994 of a gunshot wound also ruled a suicide at the gravesite of his fiancee.
Gandy Baugh – Attorney for Clinton friend Dan Lassater. Died by jumping out a window of a tall building January, 1994. His client was a convicted drug distributor. One of Clinton’s last duties as Governor of Arkansas was to pardon Dan Lassater convicted on over a hundred drug charges.
Florence Martin – Accountant sub-contractor for the CIA related to the Barry Seal Mena Airport drug smuggling case. Died of three gunshot wounds.
Suzanne Coleman – Reportedly had an affair with Clinton when he was Arkansas Attorney General. Died of a gunshot wound to the back of the head, ruled a suicide. Was pregnant at the time of her death.
Paula Grober – Clinton’s speech interpreter for the deaf from 1978 until her death December 9, 1992. She died in a one-car accident.
Danny Casolaro – Investigative reporter. Investigating Mena Airport and Arkansas Development Finance Authority. He slit his wrists, apparent suicide in the middle of his investigation.
Paul Wilcher – Attorney investigating corruption at Mena Airport with Casolaro and the 1980 “October Surprise” was found dead on a toilet June 22, 1993 in his Washington D.C. apartment. Had delivered a report to Janet Reno 3 weeks before his death.
Jon Parnell Walker – Whitewater investigator for Resolution Trust Corp. Jumped to his death from his Arlington, Virginia apartment balcony August 15, 1993. Was investigating Morgan Guarantee scandal.
Barbara Wise – Commerce Department staffer. Worked closely with Ron Brown and John Huang. Cause of death unknown. Died November 29, 1996. Her bruised nude body was found locked in her office at the Department of Commerce.
Charles Meissner – Assistant Secretary of Commerce who gave John Huang special security clearance, died shortly thereafter in a small plane crash. Dr.
Stanley Heard – Chairman of the National Chiropractic Health Care Advisory Committee. Died with his attorney Steve Dickson in a small plane crash. Dr. Heard, in addition to serving on Clinton’s advisory council, personally treated Clinton’s mother, stepfather and brother.
Barry Seal – Drug running pilot out of Mena Arkansas, death was no accident.
Johnny Lawhorn Jr. – Mechanic, found a check made out to Clinton in the trunk of a car left in his repair shop. Died when his car hit a utility pole.
Stanley Huggins – Suicide. Investigated Madison Guarantee. His report was never released.
Hershell Friday – Attorney and Clinton fundraiser. Died March 1, 1994 when his plane exploded.
Kevin Ives & Don Henry – Known as “The boys on the track” case. Reports say the boys may have stumbled upon the Mena Arkansas airport drug operation. Controversial case where initial report of death was due to falling asleep on railroad track. Later reports claim the 2 boys had been slain before being placed on the tracks. Many linked to the case died before their testimony could come before a Grand Jury.
THE FOLLOWING SIX PERSONS HAD INFORMATION ON THE IVES / HENRY CASE:
Keith Coney – Died when his motorcycle slammed into the back of a truck July, 1988.
Keith McMaskle – Died of 113 stabbed wounds, November 1988.
Gregory Collins – Died from a gunshot wound January 1989.
Jeff Rhodes – He was shot, mutilated and found burned in a trash dump in April 1989.
James Milan – Found decapitated. Coroner ruled death due to natural causes.
Jordan Kettleson – Was found shot to death in the front seat of his pickup truck in June 1990.
Richard Winters – Was a suspect in the Ives / Henry deaths. Was killed in a set-up robbery July 1989.
THE FOLLOWING CLINTON BODYGUARDS ARE DEAD:
Major William S. Barkley Jr.
Captain Scott J. Reynolds
Sgt. Brian Hanley
Sgt. Tim Sabel
Major General William Robertson
Col. William Densberger
Col. Robert Kelly
Spec. Gary Rhodes
Steve Willis
Robert Williams
Conway LeBleu
Todd McKeehan
Sen. John Kyl(R-AZ) Optimistic About Iraq
From azcentral.com, Sen John Kyl returns from Iraq and gives his opinion:
A Cautious Optimism On Iraq
Sen. Jon Kyl
MY TURN
Feb. 26, 2007 12:00 AM
I recently had the opportunity to lead a bipartisan, bicameral congressional delegation to the Middle East. Although such trips are short, they still provide more direct information than briefings back in Washington.
Based on face-to-face meetings with U.S. troops and our top military commanders on the ground, as well as Iraqi officials in Baghdad, I took away three key points.
First, both the Iraqi leaders and Americans we met expressed cautious optimism about the new Baghdad Security Plan, and all believed that it was already showing some signs of working. For example, violence by Shiite militias and death squads has significantly subsided. And the Iraqi government is now committed to a key part of the military plan, making sure that after an area of the city is cleared, the Iraqi army and police remain to keep it pacified.
The political part of the plan is also showing progress. For example, the Iraqi Parliament is close to passing a badly needed law to define how Iraq’s oil resources will be shared with its citizens.
Two key Iraqi leaders noted a feeling among ordinary Iraqis, Sunni and Shia alike, that “something was different this time” – that this new strategy has a chance to succeed. All cautioned that there would be “bad days and good days” and that we wouldn’t be able to pass judgment on the new strategy for months. But the sense of hope and optimism was still palpable.
The second message I took away from our trip was that we cannot micromanage this war from the U.S. Congress, either by cutting off funding for our troops or setting conditions on troop deployments.
Beginning with our first meetings at Camp Arijan in Kuwait, senior military leaders consistently emphasized to us the need for Congress to pass President Bush’s supplemental spending request to carry out the mission over the next several months.
Threats from some in Washington to block the request for funding or impose onerous restrictions on how the money is spent have our military leaders worried that they won’t have what they need to fight and win. The troops with whom I spoke are also carefully watching the debate back home and don’t want to be undercut while their lives are on the line. I am convinced, now more than ever, that this “slow bleed” strategy that seeks to end the war by choking off funds and reinforcements is totally irresponsible. It would pull the rug out from under our troops just as they appeared to be making real progress against the enemy.
Finally, I left the Middle East with a growing concern over the pernicious role Iran plays in the region.
Whether we were meeting with U.S. military leaders or Iraqi government officials, the conversation always seemed to come back to Iran. Shiite militias in Sadr City and elsewhere are clearly being armed by Iranian agents.
The commanding general of Multi-National Corps-Iraq, Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, showed us advanced IEDs, known as Explosively Formed Penetrators (EFPs), which had Farsi writing on them indicating they were made in Iran.
In Kuwait we had seen the damage EFPs can do when we walked through long rows of armored vehicles, including 70-ton Abrams tanks, ripped apart by these devilish weapons.
Part of the president’s Baghdad Security Plan includes going after improvised explosive device networks and capturing those who bankroll them, regardless of their nationality. Some have criticized this approach as an “escalation against Iran” or a “prelude to war.” It is not, but I believe we have an obligation to stop those who are responsible for killing our troops. And we do need to apply the appropriate pressure to get the Iranians to back off.
I returned home from this trip more convinced that stabilizing Iraq is the only acceptable outcome in this struggle, and that the president’s new strategy is our best opportunity for achieving it.
We have an incredibly complex and difficult road ahead, but everyone I met in Baghdad – Iraqi or American, general or private – believed that we were finally moving in the right direction.
The writer, a Republican, represents Arizona in the U.S. Senate.
Bush’s Poll Numbers Among Republicans
This article appeared on usatoday.com, it shows us that the president poll very strong with republican voters. This means the constant polls you see on the mainstream media are heavily weighted with Democrat voters. Of course, we knew they were skewing the polls to advance their liberal agenda, this just confirms it. How did this manage to get past the editors?
Here is the article:
GOP is abandoning Bush? Not quite
By Richard Benedetto
The Washington punditocracy has proclaimed far and wide that Republicans, disenchanted with the war in Iraq, are abandoning President Bush in droves, leaving him the lamest of lame ducks. However, the latest USA TODAY/Gallup Poll suggests Bush might not be as wounded as he appears — at least not among his party faithful.
The Feb. 9-11 poll puts Bush’s job approval at 37%, but among people who identify themselves as Republican or leaning Republican, his approval rating is 76%.
Thus, despite bad news from Baghdad and carefully crafted hand-wringing by high-profile GOP war critics in Congress such as Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, three of four Republicans in the country are hanging in there with the president.
The poll also shows that rank-and-file Republicans have higher regard for the president than they do Republicans in Congress. They gave GOP lawmakers a 63% job-approval rating, 13 points below Bush’s. And 72% of Republicans do not think Bush made a mistake sending U.S. troops to Iraq.
So if congressional Republicans figure the key to re-election in 2008 is taking a hard line against Bush on Iraq, they could be dead wrong. They might lure some independents, but they risk alienating their GOP base. To win, you need solid support from your base plus independents, not independents alone.
Conventional wisdom also says the presidential ambitions of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., could be derailed by his strong support for the war. This poll, however, shows that his stance could be a plus among the base.
What does this high approval among Republicans mean for Bush? It means that as long as his party support remains that strong, he won’t fall below 30% approval, a depth that would virtually extinguish his political power. The lowest Bush has fallen is 31%, still enough to make him a significant, although wounded, force in legislative battles with the Democratic-controlled Congress.
The latest congressional skirmish over Iraq underscores the point. In the House’s non-binding vote to oppose the president’s deployment of more troops to Baghdad, 17 Republicans voted with 229 Democrats to pass the measure. Four GOP representatives didn’t vote. Lost was the fact that 180 Republicans stuck with Bush. By that count, Bush gets a 92% loyalty standing among House Republicans who voted. Hardly a GOP exodus.
In the Senate, Democrats fell four votes short of the 60 needed to force a vote on an identical Iraq resolution. Why? Not enough Republicans would go along. Indeed, seven GOP senators broke with the president, and nine didn’t vote, yet 33 held firm. Among GOP senators who voted, that’s an 83% Republican loyalty rating for Bush.
Though the president may have lost the country on the issues of the day, rumors of his demise among Republicans voters and lawmakers are greatly exaggerated.
Richard Benedetto retired last year as White House correspondent for USA TODAY. He teaches journalism and politics at American University in Washington and is author of Politicians Are People, Too.
Al Gore’s Energy Consumption
The following piece shows you some of the hypocrisy that liberals display. Al Gore runs around trying to tell us how to live. That we must change our lifestyles or we will destroy the planet. But does he change his lifestyle? NO. These people know what is best for us, but they don’t follow their own advice. This doesn’t even mention the fuel he is burning flying private jets around to all these events so he can tell us WE need to drive hybrids.
Here is the article:
POWER: GORE MANSION USES 20X AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD; CONSUMPTION INCREASE AFTER ‘TRUTH’
Mon Feb 26 2007 17:16:14 ETThe Tennessee Center for Policy Research, an independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan research organization committed to achieving a freer, more prosperous Tennessee through free market policy solutions, issued a press release late Monday:Last night, Al Gore’s global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, collected an Oscar for best documentary feature, but the Tennessee Center for Policy Research has found that Gore deserves a gold statue for hypocrisy.
Gore’s mansion, [20-room, eight-bathroom] located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES).
In his documentary, the former Vice President calls on Americans to conserve energy by reducing electricity consumption at home.
The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average.
Last August alone, Gore burned through 22,619 kWh—guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year. As a result of his energy consumption, Gore’s average monthly electric bill topped $1,359.
Since the release of An Inconvenient Truth, Gore’s energy consumption has increased from an average of 16,200 kWh per month in 2005, to 18,400 kWh per month in 2006.
Gore’s extravagant energy use does not stop at his electric bill. Natural gas bills for Gore’s mansion and guest house averaged $1,080 per month last year.
“As the spokesman of choice for the global warming movement, Al Gore has to be willing to walk to walk, not just talk the talk, when it comes to home energy use,” said Tennessee Center for Policy Research President Drew Johnson.
In total, Gore paid nearly $30,000 in combined electricity and natural gas bills for his Nashville estate in 2006.
For Further Information, Contact:
Nicole Williams, (615) 383-6431
editor@tennesseepolicy.org
A Plee From Joe Lieberman
Here is an article from Joe Lieberman that appers on opinionjournal.com, this is one man who understands what is going on in regards to the war. Look what happened to him. He supports the war, so he wasn’t able to win a Democrat primary, even though he has served his state for years. He was the vice president candidate not too long ago. He runs as an independent and wins. I believe this represents the true general sentiment out there. You can win a primary just by being an anti-war defeatist, but not a general election. You may appeal to the far left in the Democrat party but that isn’t how mainstream America feels.
AMERICANS WANT AMERICA TO WIN.
Sen. Lieberman, I ask you to switch paries and put these defeatists back where they belong, in the minority.
Here is the article:
The Choice on Iraq
“I appeal to my colleagues in Congress to step back and think carefully about what to do next.”
BY JOSEPH LIEBERMAN
Monday, February 26, 2007 12:01 a.m. EST
Two months into the 110th Congress, Washington has never been more bitterly divided over our mission in Iraq. The Senate and House of Representatives are bracing for parliamentary trench warfare–trapped in an escalating dynamic of division and confrontation that will neither resolve the tough challenges we face in Iraq nor strengthen our nation against its terrorist enemies around the world.
What is remarkable about this state of affairs in Washington is just how removed it is from what is actually happening in Iraq. There, the battle of Baghdad is now under way. A new commander, Gen. David Petraeus, has taken command, having been confirmed by the Senate, 81-0, just a few weeks ago. And a new strategy is being put into action, with thousands of additional American soldiers streaming into the Iraqi capital. Read more…
Interesting Article About Romney’s Political Posturing
Below is an article from nationalreview.com about Mitt Romney. I believe he did a decent job as governor of Massachusettes. I follow Ma. politics pretty closely as I work in that state. He was hamstrung by the Democrat legislature and really didn’t get alot done. Democrats were unwilling to work with him.
I really don’t support him as president, I like three of the lesser known candidates, but I would support him over McCain or Guiliani. He probably is closer to being a conservative than the other two.
This is an interesting article about his posturing:
The current narrative about Mitt Romney’s political positioning — driven by both the media and conservative critics — has put in jeopardy the candidate’s plan to be a credible conservative alternative to the current frontrunners. In staking out positions to the right of John McCain and Rudy Giuliani on issues important to conservative voters, the former Massachusetts governor is also to the right of his former self. Skeptics see more naked ambition than sincere conversion in Romney’s shifts on multiple issues, including abortion, gun control, gay rights, and taxes. His campaign should make no mistake: His introduction to the public has gone badly, and a few early TV ads aren’t going to fix it.
Conservatives should hope Romney’s campaign does not fizzle. For three decades, candidates who have moved to the right in Republican presidential primaries have been rewarded rather than punished. Conservative openness to converts has made it possible for moderate Republicans who found themselves moving rightward to prosper, and given ideologically malleable Republicans an incentive to adopt conservative positions. In both cases, the effect was to facilitate the country’s rightward move.
Conservatives should want to keep it that way. Thus, the gleeful pounding away at Romney’s changes from some on the right is counterproductive. Do any of these critics really wish that Romney had remained pro-choice? Pro-choicers didn’t object when Al Gore, Dick Gephardt, and Jesse Jackson moved their way on abortion — they welcomed the converts.
Still, there is a sense that Romney has moved too far, too recently, on too much. A conservative Republican would be unelectable in liberal Massachusetts, so it is understandable that such a badly outnumbered politician would emphasize some issues and soft-pedal others. It is natural that he might say he is personally pro-life, but would not try to change laws in Massachusetts; that he would oppose same-sex marriage, but otherwise promote gay rights; even that he would duck the Reaganite label. In any case, Romney is a career businessman who spent far more time thinking about management and government reform than social issues and political philosophy.
His difficulty is obviously in transitioning from Massachusetts to the national stage. Part of what Romney needs is simply time, and even though the campaign season is already super-charged and the news cycles relentless, he will get it. It is still ten months before anyone votes, and conservatives will get a chance to evaluate Romney’s sincerity and honesty over those months. But his conservatism will likely continue to sound tinny until he gives it an overarching theme of his own.
George W. Bush moved right in preparation for his presidential run in 2000, but also thought through a new brand of conservatism that he figured would be attractive in the post-Gingrich, post-impeachment era. We have never been particular fans of “compassionate conservatism,” but Romney would be well advised, in a similar fashion, to figure out a distinctive way to apply his conservatism to the challenges of our time. (Alliteration is not necessary and probably should be avoided.) This individuation could help deepen and authenticate that conservatism, and make it sufficiently compelling to prevail in the general election. At the moment, Romney is running on a businessman’s typical theme of competitiveness along with a paint-by-the-numbers collection of conservative positions that seem to have no deeper rationale than getting to the right.
That was enough to get him into the top tier of candidates, but won’t be enough for him to thrive there. Romney is in many respects a talented and impressive man. We believe he can have a significant and healthy role in this race, but probably not by simply checking all the conservative boxes.
