The GOP In 2008: Overview and Analysis (Last of Three parts)
VI.
"THE RIFLEMAN"--JOHN McCAIN One of the most popular shows of the 1960's was the western drama, "The Rifleman.
" It was the story of rifle-wielding Lucas McCain (played by Chuck Connors).
When peaceful efforts failed, McCain used his rifle to settle disputes, literally shooting from the hip.
In American politics there's another McCain with that same philosophy, Former Presidential candidate and Republican Senator from Arizona, John McCain.
McCain has been accused of being brutally honest, which has alienated some GOP members who also don't see him as a true conservative.
His quest for the 2000 GOP Presidential nomination introduced him to much of the electorate, and of the potential Republican candidates for the 2008 nomination, he has more across-the-board support.
This support comes not only from middle-of-the-road Republicans, but Democrats who are displeased with their recent choices of Presidential nominees--Gore, Bradley, Kerry, Edwards, Sharpton, Moseley-Braun, Kucinich, et al).
In December 2002, Mr.
McCain was given a score "0" by the ACLU on his Civil Rights voting record.
While the ACLU may not be the most impartial institution in America, the score they give McCain is a cause for concern.
(McCain's state, Arizona, was the last state to make Martin Luther King's birthday a national holiday).
The organization's position was, That is issue covered America's original civic values--the Constitution and the Bill of Right.
(Also) equal protection under the law...
regardless of race, sex, religion or national origin.
" The ACLU also included, "Segments of our population that have traditionally been denied their rights, including Native Americans and other people of color; lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgendered people; women; mental-health patients; prisoners; people with disabilities; and the poor.
" Furthermore, in January 2000, McCain noted that South Carolinians refer to the Confederate flag as "a symbol of heritage.
" Holly Ramer of the Associated Press countered, "That phrase is used by some who want the flag to continue flying over the Statehouse.
" The Senator also voted NO on adding sexual orientation to the definition of hate crimes, but without analyzing the particulars of his entire voting record, the ACLU's analysis appears to be rather broad and misleading.
The Senator's position has always been, Affirmative action is fine for specific programs, as long as it doesn't set quotas.
He added, "The federal government should consider affirmative action programs if ordered by a court to rectify specific programs.
" (Project Vote Smart, 1998).
The Republican right sees McCain in a less than flattering light.
Not all of these conservatives would support his candidacy.
McCain offered this explanation: "Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and a few leaders of the pro-life movement call me an unacceptable presidential candidate...
because I don't pander to them.
We embrace the fine members of the religious conservative community.
But that does not mean that we will pander to their self-appointed leaders...
(who) are corrupting influences on religion and politics.
Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left, or Robertson or Falwell on the right.
" McCain has fought to eliminate so-called "soft money" contributions to political campaigns, writing "Our campaign finance laws have failed our country.
Until we abolish soft money, Americans will never have a government that works as hard for them as it does for special interests.
" (The Boston Globe, p.
A19, Jan 28, 2000).
The Senator supports the military efforts in Iraq, even though he has characterized the strategy there as "whack-a-mole.
" The success of the insurgency campaign illustrates how unprepared our soldiers are for prolonged combat.
McCain recognizes that this problem is exacerbated by low levels of new recruits.
He believes Congress is at fault, saying it has failed to provide better pay & benefits for soldiers.
"The military is not seen as an attractive option," he said.
"There are 11,000 military personnel on food stamps and that's a national disgrace.
" McCain believes a better missile defense strategy can be devised, and that the military wastes money on unneeded weapons--including the C-130 military transport aircraft and the B-2 stealth bomber.
The country is shifting to the middle, and there stands McCain.
If the Democrats don't realize this, I see another ten years of Republican leadership.
VII.
POSSIBLES: JEB BUSH & RUDY GUILIANI Despite his father's urgings, 52-year old Jeb Bush, 43rd Governor of Florida has expressed no desire to become the 44th President of the United States.
Few believe him, citing the fact that as a two-term Governor, he will be ineligible to seek reelection in 2005.
In 1973 Jeb graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Texas at Austin.
He earned a Bachelor's degree in Latin American Studies.
He campaigned for his father during the 1980 campaign, who lost the Republican nomination to Ronald Reagan, who chose him as his Vice-President.
Jeb lost in his first bid for Governor to Lawton Chiles (1994), but won in his second try (1998), defeating Buddy MacKay; this after serving for two years as the state's Secretary of Commerce.
His ability to speak Spanish and form alliances has made him immensely popular among Latinos and the large number of Independent voters, in a state that is largely Democratic.
This would make him an attractive addition to the ticket.
Prior to George W.
Bush's official reelection campaign in 2004, many Republicans felt Vice-President Dick Cheney should be replaced on the ticket by former New York City mayor Rudolph (Rudy) Giuliani.
Rumor was that Cheney, who because of age and well-documented health problems, sat in on the meetings debating whether or not Rudy's presence could strengthen the ticket.
Rudy Giuliani was once a Democrat, then an Independent before finally settling on the Republican party.
In 1981, Giuliani was named Associate Attorney General, the fourth highest position in the Department of Justice.
Two years later he was appointed U.
S.
Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
In 1989 Giuliani lost his first mayoral bid to David Dinkins, but derailed Dinkins' bid for reelection in 1993, winning by 82,000 votes of nearly 2 million cast.
Giuliani's leadership was praised as he led New Yorker's through the aftermath of the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
Time magazine called him, "...
the gutsy decision maker, balancing security against symbolism, overruling those who wanted to keep the city buttoned up tight, pushing key institutions--from the New York Stock Exchange to Major League Baseball--to reopen and prove that New Yorkers were getting on with life.
He was the crisis manager, bringing together scores of major players from city, state and federal governments for marathon daily meetings that got everyone working together.
And he was the consoler in chief, strong enough to let his voice brim with pain, compassion and love.
" But his background is not free of scandal, which includes an affair and a very public divorce.
Furthermore, black leaders despise him for protecting police officers involved in the Diallo shooting, wherethe unarmed victim--who was shot 41 times--was portrayed as a criminal and his record cited publicly.
Furthermore, he remained silent after the police broomstick sodomizing of Abner Louima.
While serving as U.
S.
Attorney, he was criticized for orchestrating several high-profile arrests only to later drop charges for lack of evidence.
Another contender for the Veep position is New York Governor George Pataki, though he would be considered a long shot.
VIII.
THE ISSUES Like the Dems I believe the GOP should also address an issue that's off the beaten path, One such issue is the issue of rebuilding America's infrastructure.
America's sewers, bridges and roads are in bad shape.
Estimates for fixing the problem have ranged from one to four TRILLION dollars.
This is not a burden that can be shouldered solely by the states.
But other issues that will have to be addressed will be the U.
S.
military presence in the Middle East, assuming we are still in Iraq or even Iran.
Education, the issue as to whether or not there should be drilling off the California and Florida coasts or the Arctic National Refuge; changing the tax code, fixing social security, stabilizing rising health care costs, immigration and homeland security.
The 2008 campaign therefore, must not be so much about parties, or even personalities per se, but issues and who is best qualified to address those concerns.
Sources: Robert Parry & Norman Solomon, "Behind Colin Powell's Legend: Dodging Peace," The Consortium "Colin Powell on Iraq, Race, and Hurricane Relief," ABC News, Barbara Walters Interview, September 8, 2005 Biography of Colin Powell, http://www.
wikipedia.
com Suzanne Malveaux, "Powell Resigns with Three Other Cabinet Secretaries," November 15, 2004, CNN/com Fred Kaplan, "The Tragedy of Colin Powell--How the Bush presidency destroyed him," Slate, Thursday, February 19, 2004.
P.
J.
O'Rourke, "A Conversation With Colin Powell," The Atlantic Monthly, August 2, 2004 Harry Amana, "Colin Powell: House Slaves and Sacred Cows," SeeingBlack.
com November 16, 2002 Peter Noel, "The Uncle Tom Dilemma: Are Blacks Like Colin Powell Asking African Americans to Sell Out?" The Village Voice, August 16 - 22, 2000 Harry Belafonte, "On Colin Powell," The Black Commentator, October 15, 2002 Earl Ofari Hutchinson "Rice and Powell: Bush Racial Window Dressing?," The Black Commentator, April 22, 2004 Alan Keyes, "Why Bush picks stealth nominees," WorldNetDaily, October 29, 2005 People For the American Way: Presenting Alan Keyes, "In His Own Words," October 2005 Liam Ford and Rudolph Bush, Chicago Sun Times, "GOP wooing Keyes to take on Obama," Chicago Sun Times, August 3, 2004 Jake Tapper, "Alan Keyes called me a racist," Salon News, Dec.
6, 1999 Matt Kaufman, "Alan Keyes is Making No Excuses," Citizen Magazine, Alan Keyes, Senate debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters in Illinois -- October 21, 2004 Ken Thomas and Juan-Carlos Rodriguez, "Without Parks' Bravery, Rice 'Would not be standing here today'," The Associated Press, Monday, October 31, 2005 Nicholas LeMann, "Has Condoleezza Rice Changed George W.
Bush, or Has He Changed Her?," The New Yorker, October 21, 2002 Condoleezza Rice, "9/11: For The Record," The Washington Post.
com, March 22, 2004, pg.
A21 "Condoleezza Rice: The Devil's Handmaiden," The Black Commentator, Issue 26 B.
Denise Hawkins, "Condoleezza Rice's Secret Weapon: How Our National Security Adviser Finds the Strength to Defend the Free World," Today's Christian, Grugyn Silverbristle, "Bush Betrays America, Part II: Condoleezza Rice," American Patriot Friends Network, February 10, 2001 Biography of Condoleezza Rice, http://www.
wikipedia.
com "Rice spars with Democrats in hearing," CNN.
com, January 19, 2005 Sarah Warn, "Condoleezza and the Comic Strip Controversy," AfterEllen.
com, October 2003 Dick Morris and Eileen McGann, "Dear Ms.
President," Mmegi Online, October 25, 2005, excerpted from "Condi vs Hillary: The Next Great Presidential Race," Harper Collins, 2005 Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen, "A Domestic Policy in Sharp Focus.
" The Washington Post, December 10, 2004; Page A01 Biography of Jeb Bush, Wikipedia "Elder Bush says Jeb should seek White House," USATODAY.
com, June 1, 2005 Joseph Farah, "Giuliani to replace Cheney on ticket?," WorldNetDailyJune 9, 2004 Eric Pooley, "2001 Person of the Year: Rudy GiulianiProfile," Time Magazine, December 2001 Biography of Rudy Giuliani, Wikipedia
"THE RIFLEMAN"--JOHN McCAIN One of the most popular shows of the 1960's was the western drama, "The Rifleman.
" It was the story of rifle-wielding Lucas McCain (played by Chuck Connors).
When peaceful efforts failed, McCain used his rifle to settle disputes, literally shooting from the hip.
In American politics there's another McCain with that same philosophy, Former Presidential candidate and Republican Senator from Arizona, John McCain.
McCain has been accused of being brutally honest, which has alienated some GOP members who also don't see him as a true conservative.
His quest for the 2000 GOP Presidential nomination introduced him to much of the electorate, and of the potential Republican candidates for the 2008 nomination, he has more across-the-board support.
This support comes not only from middle-of-the-road Republicans, but Democrats who are displeased with their recent choices of Presidential nominees--Gore, Bradley, Kerry, Edwards, Sharpton, Moseley-Braun, Kucinich, et al).
In December 2002, Mr.
McCain was given a score "0" by the ACLU on his Civil Rights voting record.
While the ACLU may not be the most impartial institution in America, the score they give McCain is a cause for concern.
(McCain's state, Arizona, was the last state to make Martin Luther King's birthday a national holiday).
The organization's position was, That is issue covered America's original civic values--the Constitution and the Bill of Right.
(Also) equal protection under the law...
regardless of race, sex, religion or national origin.
" The ACLU also included, "Segments of our population that have traditionally been denied their rights, including Native Americans and other people of color; lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgendered people; women; mental-health patients; prisoners; people with disabilities; and the poor.
" Furthermore, in January 2000, McCain noted that South Carolinians refer to the Confederate flag as "a symbol of heritage.
" Holly Ramer of the Associated Press countered, "That phrase is used by some who want the flag to continue flying over the Statehouse.
" The Senator also voted NO on adding sexual orientation to the definition of hate crimes, but without analyzing the particulars of his entire voting record, the ACLU's analysis appears to be rather broad and misleading.
The Senator's position has always been, Affirmative action is fine for specific programs, as long as it doesn't set quotas.
He added, "The federal government should consider affirmative action programs if ordered by a court to rectify specific programs.
" (Project Vote Smart, 1998).
The Republican right sees McCain in a less than flattering light.
Not all of these conservatives would support his candidacy.
McCain offered this explanation: "Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and a few leaders of the pro-life movement call me an unacceptable presidential candidate...
because I don't pander to them.
We embrace the fine members of the religious conservative community.
But that does not mean that we will pander to their self-appointed leaders...
(who) are corrupting influences on religion and politics.
Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left, or Robertson or Falwell on the right.
" McCain has fought to eliminate so-called "soft money" contributions to political campaigns, writing "Our campaign finance laws have failed our country.
Until we abolish soft money, Americans will never have a government that works as hard for them as it does for special interests.
" (The Boston Globe, p.
A19, Jan 28, 2000).
The Senator supports the military efforts in Iraq, even though he has characterized the strategy there as "whack-a-mole.
" The success of the insurgency campaign illustrates how unprepared our soldiers are for prolonged combat.
McCain recognizes that this problem is exacerbated by low levels of new recruits.
He believes Congress is at fault, saying it has failed to provide better pay & benefits for soldiers.
"The military is not seen as an attractive option," he said.
"There are 11,000 military personnel on food stamps and that's a national disgrace.
" McCain believes a better missile defense strategy can be devised, and that the military wastes money on unneeded weapons--including the C-130 military transport aircraft and the B-2 stealth bomber.
The country is shifting to the middle, and there stands McCain.
If the Democrats don't realize this, I see another ten years of Republican leadership.
VII.
POSSIBLES: JEB BUSH & RUDY GUILIANI Despite his father's urgings, 52-year old Jeb Bush, 43rd Governor of Florida has expressed no desire to become the 44th President of the United States.
Few believe him, citing the fact that as a two-term Governor, he will be ineligible to seek reelection in 2005.
In 1973 Jeb graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Texas at Austin.
He earned a Bachelor's degree in Latin American Studies.
He campaigned for his father during the 1980 campaign, who lost the Republican nomination to Ronald Reagan, who chose him as his Vice-President.
Jeb lost in his first bid for Governor to Lawton Chiles (1994), but won in his second try (1998), defeating Buddy MacKay; this after serving for two years as the state's Secretary of Commerce.
His ability to speak Spanish and form alliances has made him immensely popular among Latinos and the large number of Independent voters, in a state that is largely Democratic.
This would make him an attractive addition to the ticket.
Prior to George W.
Bush's official reelection campaign in 2004, many Republicans felt Vice-President Dick Cheney should be replaced on the ticket by former New York City mayor Rudolph (Rudy) Giuliani.
Rumor was that Cheney, who because of age and well-documented health problems, sat in on the meetings debating whether or not Rudy's presence could strengthen the ticket.
Rudy Giuliani was once a Democrat, then an Independent before finally settling on the Republican party.
In 1981, Giuliani was named Associate Attorney General, the fourth highest position in the Department of Justice.
Two years later he was appointed U.
S.
Attorney for the Southern District of New York.
In 1989 Giuliani lost his first mayoral bid to David Dinkins, but derailed Dinkins' bid for reelection in 1993, winning by 82,000 votes of nearly 2 million cast.
Giuliani's leadership was praised as he led New Yorker's through the aftermath of the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
Time magazine called him, "...
the gutsy decision maker, balancing security against symbolism, overruling those who wanted to keep the city buttoned up tight, pushing key institutions--from the New York Stock Exchange to Major League Baseball--to reopen and prove that New Yorkers were getting on with life.
He was the crisis manager, bringing together scores of major players from city, state and federal governments for marathon daily meetings that got everyone working together.
And he was the consoler in chief, strong enough to let his voice brim with pain, compassion and love.
" But his background is not free of scandal, which includes an affair and a very public divorce.
Furthermore, black leaders despise him for protecting police officers involved in the Diallo shooting, wherethe unarmed victim--who was shot 41 times--was portrayed as a criminal and his record cited publicly.
Furthermore, he remained silent after the police broomstick sodomizing of Abner Louima.
While serving as U.
S.
Attorney, he was criticized for orchestrating several high-profile arrests only to later drop charges for lack of evidence.
Another contender for the Veep position is New York Governor George Pataki, though he would be considered a long shot.
VIII.
THE ISSUES Like the Dems I believe the GOP should also address an issue that's off the beaten path, One such issue is the issue of rebuilding America's infrastructure.
America's sewers, bridges and roads are in bad shape.
Estimates for fixing the problem have ranged from one to four TRILLION dollars.
This is not a burden that can be shouldered solely by the states.
But other issues that will have to be addressed will be the U.
S.
military presence in the Middle East, assuming we are still in Iraq or even Iran.
Education, the issue as to whether or not there should be drilling off the California and Florida coasts or the Arctic National Refuge; changing the tax code, fixing social security, stabilizing rising health care costs, immigration and homeland security.
The 2008 campaign therefore, must not be so much about parties, or even personalities per se, but issues and who is best qualified to address those concerns.
Sources: Robert Parry & Norman Solomon, "Behind Colin Powell's Legend: Dodging Peace," The Consortium "Colin Powell on Iraq, Race, and Hurricane Relief," ABC News, Barbara Walters Interview, September 8, 2005 Biography of Colin Powell, http://www.
wikipedia.
com Suzanne Malveaux, "Powell Resigns with Three Other Cabinet Secretaries," November 15, 2004, CNN/com Fred Kaplan, "The Tragedy of Colin Powell--How the Bush presidency destroyed him," Slate, Thursday, February 19, 2004.
P.
J.
O'Rourke, "A Conversation With Colin Powell," The Atlantic Monthly, August 2, 2004 Harry Amana, "Colin Powell: House Slaves and Sacred Cows," SeeingBlack.
com November 16, 2002 Peter Noel, "The Uncle Tom Dilemma: Are Blacks Like Colin Powell Asking African Americans to Sell Out?" The Village Voice, August 16 - 22, 2000 Harry Belafonte, "On Colin Powell," The Black Commentator, October 15, 2002 Earl Ofari Hutchinson "Rice and Powell: Bush Racial Window Dressing?," The Black Commentator, April 22, 2004 Alan Keyes, "Why Bush picks stealth nominees," WorldNetDaily, October 29, 2005 People For the American Way: Presenting Alan Keyes, "In His Own Words," October 2005 Liam Ford and Rudolph Bush, Chicago Sun Times, "GOP wooing Keyes to take on Obama," Chicago Sun Times, August 3, 2004 Jake Tapper, "Alan Keyes called me a racist," Salon News, Dec.
6, 1999 Matt Kaufman, "Alan Keyes is Making No Excuses," Citizen Magazine, Alan Keyes, Senate debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters in Illinois -- October 21, 2004 Ken Thomas and Juan-Carlos Rodriguez, "Without Parks' Bravery, Rice 'Would not be standing here today'," The Associated Press, Monday, October 31, 2005 Nicholas LeMann, "Has Condoleezza Rice Changed George W.
Bush, or Has He Changed Her?," The New Yorker, October 21, 2002 Condoleezza Rice, "9/11: For The Record," The Washington Post.
com, March 22, 2004, pg.
A21 "Condoleezza Rice: The Devil's Handmaiden," The Black Commentator, Issue 26 B.
Denise Hawkins, "Condoleezza Rice's Secret Weapon: How Our National Security Adviser Finds the Strength to Defend the Free World," Today's Christian, Grugyn Silverbristle, "Bush Betrays America, Part II: Condoleezza Rice," American Patriot Friends Network, February 10, 2001 Biography of Condoleezza Rice, http://www.
wikipedia.
com "Rice spars with Democrats in hearing," CNN.
com, January 19, 2005 Sarah Warn, "Condoleezza and the Comic Strip Controversy," AfterEllen.
com, October 2003 Dick Morris and Eileen McGann, "Dear Ms.
President," Mmegi Online, October 25, 2005, excerpted from "Condi vs Hillary: The Next Great Presidential Race," Harper Collins, 2005 Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen, "A Domestic Policy in Sharp Focus.
" The Washington Post, December 10, 2004; Page A01 Biography of Jeb Bush, Wikipedia "Elder Bush says Jeb should seek White House," USATODAY.
com, June 1, 2005 Joseph Farah, "Giuliani to replace Cheney on ticket?," WorldNetDailyJune 9, 2004 Eric Pooley, "2001 Person of the Year: Rudy GiulianiProfile," Time Magazine, December 2001 Biography of Rudy Giuliani, Wikipedia
