Tim Pawlenty: He’s Really a Real Conservative (this week)

I really want to like Tim Pawlenty, but so far he’s making all the same mistakes that soured me on Mitt Romney when he ran for President the first time. T-Paw is a blue-state Republican Governor who has a successful record to run on, is conservative without needing to be a dick aboot it, and started off with a great message by a) pointing out to people that they are more conservative then they realize, and b) while liberals have a great message of telling voters they’ll give them all this free stuff, you and I both know nothing is free.

But instead of running job creation, the economy, and other kitchen table issues that Governors deal with on a regular basis (like Romney should have), he’s trying to turn himself into the “real conservative” in the race (like Romney tried and failed miserably at) by attacking Olympia Snowe, attacking Mike Huckabee on his latest clemency blow-up, and even attacking Romney on “RomneyCare.”

And though while my original excitement for Pawlenty has turned into a sense of “meh,” he appears to have picked up one key endorsement…kinda. I give you Dick Armey

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Progressive Conservatism (with Apologies to Mark Radulich)

My favourite moment in the health care “reform” debate was when John Mackey, the CEO of Whole Foods, wrote an editorial supporting free market health care, resulting in open minded and tolerant progressives going apeshit over him expressing an opinion they disagreed with (and who frequent Whole Foods). This led to liberals and the Democrat Party’s employers in the labor unions calling for boycotts, while conservatives called for a “buy-cott” to show support.

The punchline here was the Mackey outlined the heath care plan he provides his employees globally, and who all seem to love it, but that’s a minor detail.

Anyway, this led to another silly subgroup of voters we’re calling “Whole Foods Republicans,” voters who embrace a progressive lifestyle but not necessarily progressive politics. Sounds silly, but author Michael Petrilli makes some interesting points…
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Country Muzik Tuesday: The Truth

Who is John Galt…I Mean John Thune?

I was over the sister’s house celebrating the fact that she was two years older than her husband last night, and because everyone knows I follow the politics, I usually wind up fielding between one to three questions on vital political issues n’ stuff. The most common question is who I think is going to run against President Hopeandchange in 2012. My most common response is ::shrugs shoulders::

None of the people in 2005 who were supposed to be the nominee in 2008 were, and the guy who won nobody really heard of in 2005. So while you have your usual names thrown around (Romney, Palin, Huckabee), lesser known names (Pawlenty, Mitch Daniels), and names thrown out there by people who it makes you wonder how seriously they take it (Joe Scarborough, General Petraeus), shrugging you shoulders is really the only way to answer the question.

One name that constantly gets thrown around conservative circles is a cat named Sen. John Thune (R-SD), best known for knocking off former Democrat minority leader Tom Daschle in 2004. He was recently the subject of a profile piece on Politics Daily. So sayeth Matt Lewis…

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Conservatives vs. Big Business

George Bush was an utter failure as a fiscal conservative. Whenever there’s a criticism of Obamanomics, the President’s followers follow his lead by deflecting blame to George Bush, so let’s just do it right off the bat. Bush was a failure as a fiscal conservative, the House GOP dropped the ball by not speaking out against him, and don’t get me started on John McCain not taking a stand against TARP while he had the chance.

That said, after the financial sector donated more money to President Obama than any other candidate and while “too big to fail” has become too bigger thanks to policy started under the last President and made worse with under the current, the evil “big business” has become the boogie man everyone attacks when people are upset over the economy.

But while “big business” is usually tied to the Republicans…could it be that they should really be tied to the Democrats? Let Rep. Paul Ryan explain. No time, let me sum up…

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Music Monday: Designs on You

Newt to Obama: I Got Your Jobs Summit Right Here, Sparky

I’ve made it clear that when it comes to “the Base vs. Newt Gingrich,” I’m clearly on the side of the former Speaker. Did I disagree with his endorsement in the NY-23? Yes. Am I happy that he’s hanging with Al Sharpton? No, but I consider that penance for conservatives not being more vocal when it comes to education reform. At the end of the day, Newt Gingrich has things called “intelligent ideas” and “policy prescriptions” while most of his more vocal critics sit in their parent’s basement eating Cheetos and twittering about how he’s such a RINO. #beck #912

And that was on display this week. While President Obama had his “jobs” summit where he invited his employers in the unions, professors, and CEO’s who have supported him, Newt Gingrich with his “American Solutions” held their own jobs summit the day before, providing some of those conservative alternatives people like to claim we don’t have.

Some snippets

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Th-Hers-Day: Stephenville Tx

[VIDEO]: Erick Erickson is Saving the GOP from Itself

On “The Right Hook,” at least once a week we kibitz aboot the “establishment vs. the base,” which being the New York State Young Republicans has come up regularly in the past month thanks to the debacle known as the NY-23. Personally I’ve always considered myself to be more a conservative than a Republican (one’s a series of beliefs, the other is just a job) and while the party dropped the ball eight ways from Sunday in choosing whatsherface, that was more of a drastic example.

And I still say my conservative brethren may not have been singing the praises of the NY Conservative Party had they known aboot them endorsing liberal Democrats cross endorsed by the WFP (aka ACORN) in Nassau and Westchester, and in the case of Nassau tried to sabotage the county executive’s race in favor of the Dems just so that the local conservative chair could keep his job in the administration, but I digress.

The question remains when to fight and when not to fight, and in the case of cats like Erick Erickson from Redstate.com (the most influential conservative website on the Internets), it always seems time to fight. Erik, along with many others believe, that the principles always come first, especially in dealing with a Republican establishment that continues to let conservatives down. Two points he made in a recent interview that I feel need repeating. The first concerns the race between JBdotC fav Marco Rubio and Charlie Crist…
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The Who Wednesday: I’m a Boy