- Despite an apparent wealth of grassroots and blog support in Virginia, Duncan Hunter has failed to make it onto the Virginia primary ballot. Unlike Tom Tancredo's withdrawal, this one surprised me a bit. I figured Hunter had the grassroots to make it on the ballot, and I would've signed a petition so he could at least make the ballot (of course, nobody contacted me), even though I'm a Fred Thompson supporter. I like Duncan, I think he's a decent politician and man, and I'm sorry he didn't make it onto the ballot.
- On the heels of his dropout from the GOP Presidential race, Tom Tancredo has endorsed Mitt Romney.
- No foul play suspected in the death of Dennis Kucinich's brother Perry, an autopsy will be done on Wednesday, Dec. 26th.
- From the Green Party ranks, former Democratic Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney has announced herself as a candidate for the Green Party's presidential nomination. McKinney has been elected, unelected, reelected, and re-unelected from the same Congressional seat (GA-04). Ironically, both times she was knocked out of her Congressional seat, it was in the Democratic primary (shows you her popularity).
McKinney joined the Green Party only two months ago, and is an extremely controversial (if nothing else) person. She has been accused of anti-Semitism, is a 9/11 conspiracy theorist who believes Bush was behind the 9/11 attacks, is an activist for the release of all documents related to the death of 2Pac (she introduced a bill to do this in Congress), attempted to bring about impeachment proceedings against President Bush, holds Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez in the highest regard, wants Nancy Pelosi replaced with Cindy Sheehan...oh yeah, and she was the one who punched a United States Capitol Police Officer when she attempted to re-enter the Capitol without the proper lapel pin for identification.
Yet, I don't see anything that stands with the Green Party's stances on environmentalism and decentralization...as she hasn't done much of anything on the environment and praises socialist/communist leaders. Hmm...
- John McCain is in a fight with the New York Times over an unpublished-as-of-yet story about a key telecom legislation that is currently before the Senate Commerce Committee. The story would lay out charges that McCain may have been providing special treatment to a lobbyist. The NYT is supposedly investigating the validity of the claims, but are frustrated with McCain's strong efforts to halt any and all publication of this story, as well. The lobbyist in question states that McCain has not shown any special treatment towards her.
McCain has hired high-powered attorney Bob Bennett to "stop the smears".
- Barack Obama stated that he would consider putting Republicans in his cabinet if elected President. Some of the names he mentioned: Sen. Chuck Hagel, Sen. Dick Lugar, and...California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
- Rudy Giuliani spent the night in a St. Louis hospital after suffering from flu-like symptoms. Feeling better after the overnight stay, Giuliani decided to go home for the holidays before heading back out on the campaign trail.
Showing posts with label Tom Tancredo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tom Tancredo. Show all posts
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Tancredo To Drop Out of Presidential Bid
Not really surprising.
However, I would like to see Tancredo run for Senate in Colorado, and he could put his national campaign funds towards that. The Dems are putting a lot of money into winning the 2008 Senate contest in Colorado (currently held by the retiring Wayne Allard), so a figure with as much national recognition as Tancredo would be a big help for the GOP here.
While I am against illegal immigration, I always felt Tancredo was about two notches too far on the issue in the sense that he wanted to limit legal immigration, which I believe needs to be expanded and streamlined into a more efficient process.
However, I would like to see Tancredo run for Senate in Colorado, and he could put his national campaign funds towards that. The Dems are putting a lot of money into winning the 2008 Senate contest in Colorado (currently held by the retiring Wayne Allard), so a figure with as much national recognition as Tancredo would be a big help for the GOP here.
While I am against illegal immigration, I always felt Tancredo was about two notches too far on the issue in the sense that he wanted to limit legal immigration, which I believe needs to be expanded and streamlined into a more efficient process.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Iowa GOP Presidential Debate
The last debate before the January 3rd Iowa Caucus looks like it was very interesting...I missed it, but here are the highlights from around the Web.
- The moderator was an apparent stick in the mud. She got smacked down by Fred because she kept using the "show of hands" method on so many points.
- Alan Keyes apparently hijacked the debate, big time.
- The moderator kept Huckabee from getting piled on.
- Fred actually had many good points from what I'm reading. About 80% of the AP's video highlights of the debate involved Fred Thompson.
- Duncan Hunter had a good showing, Tancredo did better than usual as well.
All in all, seems like Fred had a very good debate, and it could not have come at a better time. This is where he might be able to "turn up the juice" on his campaign. Shaun Kenney noted that this could very well be the turning point in the Thompson campaign.
- The moderator was an apparent stick in the mud. She got smacked down by Fred because she kept using the "show of hands" method on so many points.
- Alan Keyes apparently hijacked the debate, big time.
- The moderator kept Huckabee from getting piled on.
- Fred actually had many good points from what I'm reading. About 80% of the AP's video highlights of the debate involved Fred Thompson.
- Duncan Hunter had a good showing, Tancredo did better than usual as well.
All in all, seems like Fred had a very good debate, and it could not have come at a better time. This is where he might be able to "turn up the juice" on his campaign. Shaun Kenney noted that this could very well be the turning point in the Thompson campaign.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Candidate Analysis: Tom Tancredo
Candidate: Tom Tancredo
Party: Republican
Political Background: U.S. Representative (CO-6)
Campaign Website: http://www.teamtancredo.com/
GOP Appeal: Anti-illegal immigration is biggest issue, taxpayer-friendly record, anti-abortion, record of cost-cutting, anti-judicial activism, anti-gay marriage, pro-national defense, supports building of new oil refineries to ease energy costs, pro-War on Drugs.
Cross-over Appeal to Dems: Advocates larger federal government than most conservatives, racial unity a key issue of Tancredo's, is persona non grata at Bush's White House, racial equality
Cons: Poor verbal communicator, somewhat of an outcast amongst many in the GOP, basically a single-issue candidate who has stated that he is more concerned with pushing his issue than anything else, supports reduction of legal immigration which alienates most GOP voters as well as Dems.
My Personal Thoughts: Tancredo is pretty much the ultimate single-issue candidate, which would be fine if his solutions to this single issue were palatable to more people. His stances against illegal immigration are favorable amongst conservatives. However, his stances against legal immigration are where he loses a lot of the support he would have from some Republicans, as most favor tougher laws against illegals, but still support and advocate for the legal immigration of people from other nations.
Also, Tancredo is a terrible public speaker as seen in the debates. While this isn't exactly a "must-have" to be an effective president, he needs to be able to clearly communicate his positions and ideas to both Congress and the American people...I don't think Tancredo does that well.
All-in-all, Tancredo is a pretty popular figure in his district and will probably reside in the House of Representatives for quite a while. However, he needs to move beyond his single issue to have any hope of earning national support for a presidential campaign.
Party: Republican
Political Background: U.S. Representative (CO-6)
Campaign Website: http://www.teamtancredo.com/
GOP Appeal: Anti-illegal immigration is biggest issue, taxpayer-friendly record, anti-abortion, record of cost-cutting, anti-judicial activism, anti-gay marriage, pro-national defense, supports building of new oil refineries to ease energy costs, pro-War on Drugs.
Cross-over Appeal to Dems: Advocates larger federal government than most conservatives, racial unity a key issue of Tancredo's, is persona non grata at Bush's White House, racial equality
Cons: Poor verbal communicator, somewhat of an outcast amongst many in the GOP, basically a single-issue candidate who has stated that he is more concerned with pushing his issue than anything else, supports reduction of legal immigration which alienates most GOP voters as well as Dems.
My Personal Thoughts: Tancredo is pretty much the ultimate single-issue candidate, which would be fine if his solutions to this single issue were palatable to more people. His stances against illegal immigration are favorable amongst conservatives. However, his stances against legal immigration are where he loses a lot of the support he would have from some Republicans, as most favor tougher laws against illegals, but still support and advocate for the legal immigration of people from other nations.
Also, Tancredo is a terrible public speaker as seen in the debates. While this isn't exactly a "must-have" to be an effective president, he needs to be able to clearly communicate his positions and ideas to both Congress and the American people...I don't think Tancredo does that well.
All-in-all, Tancredo is a pretty popular figure in his district and will probably reside in the House of Representatives for quite a while. However, he needs to move beyond his single issue to have any hope of earning national support for a presidential campaign.
GOP Debate Thoughts
I missed the last 25 minutes or so last night, which means I missed the planted question from Hillary Clinton's campaign that Duncan Hunter answered...however, it seems that Hunter did not seem to have a problem answering the question from the transcript I read.
A lot of liberal bloviating in the comments over at Vivian J. Paige. I'll save you the trouble of actually reading the comments, because they mostly sound like this..."Arrrgh! Republicans like guns and hate taxes...guns are bad and taxes are good, rawr!" LOL, ok, I'm just having a little fun with my misguided liberal brethren :)
As for my thoughts on the debate.
- Mitt Romney definitely took a step backward last night. He got into it with Rudy right off the bat and took it on the chin from the Fred Thompson YouTube campaign ad. He seemed to be unable to deflect criticism and looked visibly frustrated for the first time in this campaign. His YouTube ad looked like a regular campaign ad, which was a bit "against the point" for making the YouTube-style ad. Mitt fumbled a bit on the "bible" question, even though I think his answer was good, his earlier frustration carried over here.
- Fred Thompson did a great job of just "being Fred" and let his humor and intelligence show in his statements. The YouTube-style ad was great, as he went after Romney and Huckabee with their own words, which caused CNN to change from going to commercial break to continuing the debate, and prompted Fred to quip "I just wanted to give my buddies up here a little extra air time." I liked his response of "I don't have 3 programs I would cut or reform the budget on, I have over 100 programs", which was somewhat drowned out by Anderson Cooper pressing for 3 specific programs Fred would do budget cuts on. Response to Grover Norquist was EXACTLY what was needed to be said...his alliance is to the American people, not to Norquist's organization. Answer to what guns he owns was very funny.
- Rudy did a good job of deflecting criticism in a way that Romney could not. He handled Fred's criticism on the 2nd Amendment in a decent manner, where he basically admitted that New York is different from other places (no kidding). His answer on the "bible" question was excellent. His YouTube ad made me laugh with it's statement that Rudy took on New York's greatest nemesis, King Kong...lol, it was great stuff.
- Mike Huckabee did a pretty good job in this debate, as well, and may overtake Romney in Iowa after last night. However, he did fumble a bit on his response to Thompson's ad (probably the most direct ad of the night). He did display quite a bit of cool in his demeanor, and played to his strengths for most of the night.
- McCain was very measured as he has been, but he was a bit more direct and honest. His response "I never supported amnesty for illegals" drew some serious boos, but he got a LOT of cheers when he went after Ron Paul for his anti-Iraq War stance and compared Paul's stance on foreign policy as similar to American isolationist policies that contributed (in part) to the rise of Hitler and World War II. He seemed to be a bit more in agreement with Thompson on a few points.
- Tom Tancredo...not a bad YouTube ad, other than that, stick a fork in this guy. He's done as presidential candidate.
- Ron Paul didn't have his greatest debate last night, and he really needed it. In fact, his barb-trading with McCain did not help him as their pools of support overlap when it comes to social moderates. He did have his supporters out en masse last night, and it showed with the unusually timed shouts and screams to everything he said.
- Duncan Hunter had a strong performance on his key areas of military and immigration. However, due to his being a 2nd tier candidate, he didn't get the bulk of economic questions...and while he was correct in his response to Grover Norquist, he probably could have phrased his response a little better. He'll win a few more NRA votes due to the pride he took in talking about his guns. Probably would have had a stronger performance with a few more minutes of talk time.
A lot of liberal bloviating in the comments over at Vivian J. Paige. I'll save you the trouble of actually reading the comments, because they mostly sound like this..."Arrrgh! Republicans like guns and hate taxes...guns are bad and taxes are good, rawr!" LOL, ok, I'm just having a little fun with my misguided liberal brethren :)
As for my thoughts on the debate.
- Mitt Romney definitely took a step backward last night. He got into it with Rudy right off the bat and took it on the chin from the Fred Thompson YouTube campaign ad. He seemed to be unable to deflect criticism and looked visibly frustrated for the first time in this campaign. His YouTube ad looked like a regular campaign ad, which was a bit "against the point" for making the YouTube-style ad. Mitt fumbled a bit on the "bible" question, even though I think his answer was good, his earlier frustration carried over here.
- Fred Thompson did a great job of just "being Fred" and let his humor and intelligence show in his statements. The YouTube-style ad was great, as he went after Romney and Huckabee with their own words, which caused CNN to change from going to commercial break to continuing the debate, and prompted Fred to quip "I just wanted to give my buddies up here a little extra air time." I liked his response of "I don't have 3 programs I would cut or reform the budget on, I have over 100 programs", which was somewhat drowned out by Anderson Cooper pressing for 3 specific programs Fred would do budget cuts on. Response to Grover Norquist was EXACTLY what was needed to be said...his alliance is to the American people, not to Norquist's organization. Answer to what guns he owns was very funny.
- Rudy did a good job of deflecting criticism in a way that Romney could not. He handled Fred's criticism on the 2nd Amendment in a decent manner, where he basically admitted that New York is different from other places (no kidding). His answer on the "bible" question was excellent. His YouTube ad made me laugh with it's statement that Rudy took on New York's greatest nemesis, King Kong...lol, it was great stuff.
- Mike Huckabee did a pretty good job in this debate, as well, and may overtake Romney in Iowa after last night. However, he did fumble a bit on his response to Thompson's ad (probably the most direct ad of the night). He did display quite a bit of cool in his demeanor, and played to his strengths for most of the night.
- McCain was very measured as he has been, but he was a bit more direct and honest. His response "I never supported amnesty for illegals" drew some serious boos, but he got a LOT of cheers when he went after Ron Paul for his anti-Iraq War stance and compared Paul's stance on foreign policy as similar to American isolationist policies that contributed (in part) to the rise of Hitler and World War II. He seemed to be a bit more in agreement with Thompson on a few points.
- Tom Tancredo...not a bad YouTube ad, other than that, stick a fork in this guy. He's done as presidential candidate.
- Ron Paul didn't have his greatest debate last night, and he really needed it. In fact, his barb-trading with McCain did not help him as their pools of support overlap when it comes to social moderates. He did have his supporters out en masse last night, and it showed with the unusually timed shouts and screams to everything he said.
- Duncan Hunter had a strong performance on his key areas of military and immigration. However, due to his being a 2nd tier candidate, he didn't get the bulk of economic questions...and while he was correct in his response to Grover Norquist, he probably could have phrased his response a little better. He'll win a few more NRA votes due to the pride he took in talking about his guns. Probably would have had a stronger performance with a few more minutes of talk time.
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