The Campaign's Course and its Implications on our Society

Here are Rush Limbaugh's thoughts on the campaign. I included them without editorial comment and do not necessarily fully agree with every comment, but I think on the whole he expresses the implications well.

---------------------
"I am accused of pining for Fred Thompson, which is partially true, but only as a retrospective whimsical diversion. The main reason I bring him up now, as we are faced with three choices that are unacceptable to all, and the likely nominee being the very most unacceptable, is because I think we can gain an insight into conservatism's future role in the Republican party by looking at the candidacy of Fred Thompson. I believe his candidacy is a bellwether for that role in the future.

It distresses me that the electorate puts all its hope and energy into the one who runs the best campaign, as opposed to the one who has the best chance to unite the party, and be a standard-bearer for the party's core principles.

Huckabee ran a great campaign, but he was never going to break out of the evangelical stereotype he cast for himself. Evangelicals refused to see that for what it was, and now look where we are.

Mitt Romney ran a great campaign, but he was never going to unite evangelicals and skeptical social conservatives. Those who favor financial and executive issues refused to see that for what it was, and now look where we are.

John McCain ran a crappy campaign, but his early victory with independents and Democrats in New Hampshire gave the mainstream media and the Republican party establishment all the ammo they needed to elevate him to frontrunner status. But he was never going to gain the trust of the conservative base whom he has been spitting on for years. Kneejerk Republican voters and "moderates" refused to see that for what it was, and now look where we are!!!

And then there was Fred Thompson. A solid conservative record. An articulation of core conservative principles based on the constitution and the concept of federalism. Acceptable to all brands of conservatism. A no-nonsense orator, and no friend of the mainstream news media. A man no one claimed was unacceptably conservative, and who had all the conservative bona fides. He was right there, and asked conservatives if they would like him to become their President. And we answered him. No.

We didn't just reject one principled man in favor of three others who could not unite the party. We rejected the sum total of core conservative principles, as embodied by the only man who was truthfully espousing them all. The likely result will be a candidate who is the very least conservatively satisfactory, and who espouses the very least conservative principles.

This demonstrates pretty succinctly the notion that we get the leaders we deserve. If the electorate as a whole is shallow enough to pass up the opportunity to unite the party under one candidate who is acceptable to all, in favor of their own choice based on their own issue preference, knowing full well that there are chunks of the electorate that will not support and unite around said given candidates, then the party is doomed to fail. It has ceased to function as a coalition, and morphed into a vehicle being pulled in several different directions by people who do not have the party's or the country's best interest in mind, but rather their own.

In retrospect, it almost seems as if the entire purpose for Thompson's candidacy was to demonstrate for us exactly how badly we as a party are slapping down conservative principles by chasing our own agenda as individual constituency groups.

I lament the loss of Fred Thompson as a candidate. But I more sharply lament what his loss indicates for conservatism in America, and for the role conservatism will play in the Republican party moving forward."

News

Please take a look at these two websites: consequences.org and Neverfindout.org and letfreedomringusa.com.

We are very happy that John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate. You can find out more about them at johnmccain.com. Also, if you want to sift through some of the distortion and spin by the media, especially in their attacks against Sarah Palin, you can go to medialsd.blogspot.com.

After February 5 Primaries ...............

Well, now Romney is out. It looks like McCain will win the nomination. Therefore, it makes the voting easier for the rest of the states. If you want to send a message to McCain that he needs to respect conservatives, you can vote for Huckabee, who might not be very different from McCain on policy but who would be construed as a pro-conservative vote. If the others are still on the ballot, you can vote for the candidates who have left the race. I still encourage you to read some of the positions, principles and policy plans of Fred Thompson. He focused a lot on substantive issues and his policies would be good for the country. You can take them up and encourage your House and Senate representatives to adopt those issues. You can focus on supporting and developing leadership of a new generation.

After January 29th Florida primary...............

McCain winning Florida means that the race now is between him and Mitt Romney. Huckabee will not pull out but is likely out of the running. If you are a Fred Thompson kind of conservative, and not supportive of McCain, you'll have to vote for Romney in the primaries (unless you vote for Fred anyway to send a message). I have big doubts (see here and here) about McCain because of his Senate record of support of big government and amnesty bills.

After South Carolina's primary..........

Fred Thompson has withdrawn from the race. I am very disappointed. I might take some time to write about the significance of what happened and why.

I'll be putting up some links as I find good articles analyzing the significance of things here:

Here's a good article to summarize Fred's withdrawal.

On Fred's campaign style

Here is some analysis on the remaining candidates in the race: citizenlink

After Fred Thompson entered the campaign.........

In case you were interested, we wanted to let you know that after much reading and watching and listening to debates and policy statements, Judy and I support...

Fred Thompson

...for President of the United States.

The media set-up these days almost creates a buzz about slick campaign moves as if we are supposed to be betting on a sports event, or picking a lottery number.

U.S. voters should not do either of these things.

The question is, "Who will make the best president of the United States?"

If you leave all of the types of hype aside and just ask yourself -- who should be sitting at the President's Desk in the Oval Office? That is what you need to do when you vote in the primaries and the general election.

Then vote for that person.

I think many of you will reach the same conclusion Judy and I have reached: Fred Thompson. Here is a site with his record of accomplishments.

We are not voting for who we think has officially done the best campaign. We are not voting for who officially got into the race at the conventional wisdom pundit's best time or who supposedly got in "too late". Even if according to pundits he did not spend enough time in your state, choose him because he would be the best for your state if he is president.

We are Americans and we are selecting our next president, nothing less, nothing else but our Next President.

So I want to encourage you to go to Fred Thompson's website: fred08.com and listen to him on the YouTube links, and read his policy statements and see how he delivers his message and how consistent and clear-thinking he is.

You'll notice on foreign relations, on security, on the economy, on social issues -- right down the line, every one of them are good positions, substantive and clear.

Here's another link to the endorsement by Human Events. If you liked Ronald Reagan. Fred Thompson is the only candidate that matches Ronald Reagan's conservatism.

Lower and simplified taxes. Limited government. Right to Life of Unborn Children. Scalia, Thomas, Roberts and Alito type judges who do not invent laws, but limit their interpretation of the Constitution to its original intent. Strong military. Fighting against terrorism. Protecting the Border and Dealing with Illegal Immigration. Dealing with Social Security. Facing all of the issues of our day.

You'll find that Fred Thompson has thought through the issues and gives concrete proposals dealing with them.

I've never been quite satisfied with candidates of past Presidential Elections after Ronald Reagan. Since I became eligible to vote, I've always had to somewhat hold my nose, because the candidate I voted for I disagreed with on at least one major issue. But Fred Thompson lines up so well that I am excitedly and actively supporting him. The other candidates have glaring, multiple issues that I would have to hold my nose on.

Thanks for taking your time to read this.

I pray that God blesses our nation's decision process.

May every American vote with their minds and not just with the feelings so much more easy to be manipulated by the scheming campaigners or hyping media. You remember the "no fire-in the belly" label put on Fred Thompson. Take a look at the South Carolina Debate and you won't think that any more. "He got in too late." That only matters if you think it does and do not cast your vote on who would be the best president.

I think those negative labels are just there because the opponents basically have nothing else to say. They cannot attack Fred Thompson on his record in the Senate. He beats them in the debates. His policies are more substantive and he knows what he is talking about.

And I am quite happy that Fred Thompson is not in this race to get power -- but just because he thinks he has to be in this race if the conservative principles of Ronald Reagan are to be defended and because he will make a better president than any of the other candidates in either party, and so that would be best for the nation that he loves. The late entry and "fire-in-the-belly" labels actually show that he has not spent years of time imagining himself as Mr. Bigshot.

Thanks for taking the time to read my thoughts. God bless you all (even those voting for someone else).

- Joel Linton

discussion board: Fred Thompson

some blogs: fredthompsonnews.blogspot.com fredthompsonconservative.com

A clear perspective on: What now after South Carolina

Why the other candidates (McCain, Huckabee, Romney, Giuliani) could lose the general election.

Here's some video and audio:

Listen to two clips from a speech Thompson made in a small town in South Carolina. This is the message he keeps focusing on. It really crystalizes the message. played on Rush Limbaugh's radio show

Fred Thompson and his wife Jeri on Sean Hannity

Fred Thompson's campaign ad - the Consistent Conservative

Fred's bio

interview on CNN regarding economy

on the contrast between Fred Thompson and Mike Huckabee

--

transcript: Rush Limbaugh on Thompson's conservative principles, echoing the Reagan Coalition.

Here's a short article from ABC News about how Fred is different from all the other Republican candidates: Fred Thompson

---

Record of Accomplishments

51 Pro-Fred Thompson Quotes

Pinnaclecascade.com has aggregated a lot of good links and video on Fred Thompson.

Some of my friends have asked about Thompson's opinions regarding Taiwan and China. I think he should come out more strongly in support of Taiwan and the truth of their de-facto independence from China, but here are some of his comments on the issue. He definitley states that the U.S. is obligated to defend Taiwan if China attacks.