But Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and John McCain’s 2008 Republican running mate, has yet to decide “who is best able to go up against Barack Obama,” Todd Palin said.
Palin said he has not spoken to Gingrich or anyone from the former House speaker’s campaign. But he said he respects Gingrich for what he went through in the 1990s and compared that scrutiny in public life to what Sarah Palin went through during her run for the vice presidency.
Todd Palin said he believes that being in the political trenches and experiencing the highs and lows help prepare a candidate for the future and the job of president.
One is sorely tempted to read an entire library or two into this. Which is probably why face value is the wiser course. Nevertheless, some form of a Palin/Gingrich alliance could prove quite formidable, and lead to incontinence in certain corners of the White House. . .
HOLLIS, N.H.
The Only Man Who Can Save American Liberty™ — as he is regarded by his famously fanatical supporters — appeared today at the Lawrence Barn here, and I was pleased to discover that one of Lisa Graas‘s Twitter friends, “TradiCatholic,” was among the Paulistas in attendance. And I explained to her that, unlike some other conservatives in the blogosphere, I have sought to avoid the “urge to purge” attitude toward Ron Paul’s supporters.
We ought to distinguish, I believe, between the sincere, serious and well-meaning Paulistas, who will gladly close ranks with conservatives in opposition to Obama’s liberal agenda, and the relatively small number of insane hate-filled monsters who infest the dark corners of the Internet.
The scene inside the Lawrence Barn. This was an “invitation only” event that was originally planned for someone’s living room, but which outgrew the venue and had to be moved to a public facility. Among those on hand to support Ron Paul was this homeschooling family:
One of the highlights of the event for me was the performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” by these home-schooled girls:
Let those who wish to banish the Paulistas from the “Big Tent” explain: How is it in the interests of the conservative movement and/or the Republican Party to tell young people like this that their support and influence — their commitment, their energy, their enthusiasm — are unwelcome within our ranks? Here is Ron Paul being introduced at the Lawrence Barn:
Here is Paul answering a supporter’s question about the American “empire” during his appearance in Hollis:
Now, you may disagree with the congressman about these matters, and that’s OK. And certainly the vast majority of Republican voters (more than 80 percent, according to the Iowa caucus results) do not support Ron Paul as a presidential candidate. But why do so many conservatives go beyond mere opposition to Paul, and engage in demonization of him and his supporters?
Perhaps I am exceptionally sensitive to the need for conservatives to include Paulistas in their ranks because I am an ex-Democrat. Unlike so many of my peers in conservative New Media, I was born and raised a Democrat and did not wise up to that inherited folly until I was in my 30s. Whatever errors of ideology or rhetoric you may attribute to Ron Paul’s supporters, I doubt many of them were ever so foolish as I was in 1984, when I voted for Walter Mondale.
Mea culpa. Mea magna culpa.
Therefore, my conservative friends, let us be civil and reasonable, and seek common ground with those of Ron Paul’s supporters who are also civil and reasonable, striving together to form a common front among those patriotic Americans who seek an end to the dreadful misrule of the Obama administration. And really, how can you not love this kind of enthusiasm for liberty?
This Paulista apparently drove all the way from Pennsylvania.
HOLLIS, N.H.
Ron Paul has won many converts in New Hampshire with his libertarian-influenced anti-war message, but a flyer circulated by the Texas congressman’s campaign here emphasizes Paul’s Christian faith, pro-life position and opposition to same-sex marriage.
“I believe marriage is between one man and one woman,” the flyer quotes Paul as saying, expressing his support for the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that would “ensure that no state would be forced to recognize a ‘same sex’ marriage license issued in another state.” The flyer also reminds voters that Paul “was an original co-sponsor of the Marriage Protection Act, HR 3313, that removes challenges to [DOMA] from federal courts’ jurisdiction.”
The Paul flyer (full image below) describes him as having “worked tirelessly to defend and restore” pro-life protections: “The right of an innocent, unborn child to life is at the heart of the American ideal of liberty.” Evidently aimed at wooing social conservative support for the congressman’s campaign, the flyer also includes these quotes from Paul:
“I have accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior, and I endeavor every day to follow Him in all I do and in every position I advocate.”
“We must recognize that true national defense means defending our own borders and coastlines. … Borders should be the number one national priority, plain and simple.”
You can click on the image below to see it full-size:
UPDATE: What struck me about this flyer is that so many of Paul’s young supporters I’ve spoken with are in favor of gay marriage and they seem to assume that Paul is as well. Yet the Paul campaign is distributing this flyer to emphasize the candidate’s social conservatism. Meanwhile, another candidate has a slightly different problem here:
J.D.’s Tavern at the Radisson Inn in Manchester was crowded Saturday night with the elite of America’s political media. Famous faces from TV news mingled with less-famous but nevertheless influential writers from major publications. Waiters brought food and beverages — and still more beverages — as midnight passed in the hours after yet another nationally televised Republican presidential debate. One of the more famous bylines among the journalistic throng delivered a harshly negative verdict on the proceedings that had just aired on ABC.
“They were weak,” said the writer. “They didn’t bring it.”
By “they,” he meant the various challengers to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. The pre-game forecast for Saturday night’s debate was that the non-Romney conservatives would rush to attack the man who is the overwhelming favorite to win Tuesday’s primary here in New Hampshire. But the promised assault on Romney — in a debate that had been hyped up like a professional wrestling match — never materialized, much to the disappointment of the journalist in J.D.’s Tavern.
“Look, I’m a reporter,” he said. “You know I’d love this thing to go all the way to the convention, but… C’mon.” …
Read the rest at The American Spectator. You’ll notice that I never name the reporter who said that. If people ever started quoting all the stuff I said in after-hours conversations . . . Well, it would be a horrible precedent.
UPDATE: Welcome, Instapundit readers! I’m rather depressed tonight. Some young Romney supporters just invited me to attend his victory party Tuesday night at Southern Hew Hampshire University. I’ll probably go, and hate myself for it Wednesday morning.
Maybe she should drink a little less Santeria while practicing sangria:
On the other hand, if President Obama listened to her sage advice, it might help that bad encomium that Bush left him and stuff.
The World's Youngest Blogger uses peas to offer a conceptual impression of Jim Moran's public statement on merging NOVA with DC.
Via Patrick Murray, we have this tidbit about ‘Gentleman’ Jim, always looking out for Virginianshimself:
Jim Moran said Northern Virginia was more reflective of the D.C. metro area than the rest of the state.
“We’d all be better off if they took the Virginia and Maryland suburbs and made them part of the district,” he said. “But that’s not going to happen, so we’re dependent on what happens in Richmond.”
So, thanks, Jim. In a twisted sense, Moran is arguably correct: VA-8 residents could be better off grouped in a place entirely without Congressional representation than with Moran providing serial embarrassment. The ironic historical angle on this is that Alexandria, Virginia actually was a part of the District until 1847.
I’ve got a splendid idea: let’s give Jim Moran to the District, and remove a sad little stain from the fabric of Virginia.
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