’08 Update for December 16, 2006
- Senator Evan Bayh (D-Indiana) has told the Indianapolis Star he will not run for President in 2008 — as he the odds are not in his favor.
- Senator John Edwards (D-NC), the Associated Press says, will announce his candidacy later this month
- Thommy Thompson (R-WI) filed papers yesterday to form an exploratory committee. According to ABC News Political Radar Blog, both Thompson and Rep. Duncan Hunter will visit Iowa this month.
- New Hampshire Democrats have invited Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) to attend their annual “100 club” fundraiser in Manchester in the late winter/early spring.
- Ads aimed at persuading Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) to run will air in New Hampshire this week. Obama had a much-hyped visit to the Granite State last weekend.
Blue State Observer 
The real reason that the Democrats won, in response to Neal’s earlier comments, is that people are angry at how the war is going. Also, they’re wondering why on earth the GOP Congress spent so much time on a constitutional amendment against gay marriage and fighting any path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants (supported by most Americans) when healthcare is so expensive, energy prices are obscene, the environment is getting trashed, our national security situation is a mess, the middle class is shrinking, civil liberties are being eroded and corruption is rampant. I agree that this election was not a ringing endorsement for Howard Dean liberalism, but it was a slam against George W. Bush conservatism. Quite frankly, people are looking for pragmatism more than anything right now. We’ll see if this Congress can bring it.
That brings us to 2008. Due to their extraordinary civility, willingness to cooperate beyond party lines and bring incredible enthusiasm to Washington, pressing for positive change where it is badly needed, it is my hope that Barack Obama win the Democratic nomination for president and John McCain win the Republican nomination for president. I am undecided between the two, but both are more than capable of getting our country back on the right track.
Matt, what you didn’t mention is the out of control spending on Capital Hill. Now, this spending is pretty much entirely Bush’s fault along with the Republicans. Bush failed to use a veto, the Republicans failed to support a reasonable limit to fiscal spending. Also, in regards to immigration, McCain Republicans proposed, and Bush supported, a plan that would not have solved anything. It merely would have given Illegals in the country an easier way to escape with the hard earned Tax Payer dollars of U.S. citizens. Plus, the McCain Kennedy plan would have further disadvantaged the AMERICAN worker due to the influx of “Temporary Guest Workers” driving wages towards the floor. “But illegals work so hard, they EARN the Tax payer dollars Americans spend on them,” you might say. Well here’s my solution, and the solution pushed by many logical Americans left and right. Build a Fence, deal with the illegals here after our Boarders are SECURE. Only after we STOP the flow of illegals into the country can we focus on an easier path to citizenship and the 11 million illegals within our Boarder. McCain doesn’t get it and neither do many people on both sides of the aisle.
In regards to the war, something like 18% of Americans favored the direction the war was taking under Republican leadership. Only about 14% of Americans actually think it will go BETTER under the Democrats. This is clearly no mandate for the Liberals in congress to start a campaign to get Americans OUT of Iraq. It is a mandate; however, for GWB to rethink his war strategy. Personally, I think McCain actually understands the Iraq issue! WHOA!!! We need more troops in Iraq, not LESS! He’s been pushing this since the beginning and I give him “props” for that….
If the Republicans want a win in 08, here is my solution: abandon the High Spending of Bush and the Neo-Cons, abandon soft (PC) boarder solutions, and return to small government conservatism…
P.S. Obama is a pretty boy with NO experience at virtually ANY aspect of being a leader in government. Sure, I thought his little Monday Night Football thing was funny but his charisma in NO WAY qualifies him for the highest office in the Land. He is a partisan liberal (his voting record SHOWS this) but many Americans have already been wooed by the media who claim he’s a “Moderate”….
Oh yeah… I want the PATRIOTS TO GO ALL THA WAY BABY!!! DUH DUH DUH DAAAAAA!!!!!!!
I agree that Obama is not really a moderate. He is, however, more than capable of working with Republicans where he has to, and he can, as CNN put it, “Talk the Christian talk.” Basically, he’s a poster boy of how to be liberal and sensible without being Howard Dean.
Iraq probably does need more troops right now. An influx of troops for the time being may be the best solution, coupled with more diplomacy with Iraq’s neighbors, more embedded troops and more political pressure on Baghdad to get the job done. My only hesitations about the Bush plan here is that our own commanders are critical of it. It could just be a save-face move that’s better than a rapid withdrawal.
Spending is out of whack: people want spend-as-you-go government again, sans the outrageous earmarks, corporate handouts for big business and lobbyist payments. People are okay with tax cuts, in general. People are okay with more domestic spending, in general. People know that both combined kill a budget. Speaking of which, why did the balanced budget constitutional amendment die in the 90’s?
On to immigration. The McCain-Kennedy bill, co-authored by an Arizonan from the front lines of the fight, is hardly 80’s-style amnesty. Under the new bill, a person has to be here about 11 years working, paying taxes, obeying the law and learning English in order to even APPLY for citizenship. If they’ve been here about 5 years and have done all of the above, they have to go out of the country and hit a fast track back in. If they’ve been here even less, they go home and start over (or not, as they choose). The Temporary Guest Worker program simply acknowledges that we need people in this country to work our farms and do day labor. It’s economic reality that the deportation of 11 million people, mostly workers, would be crippling. That’s one of the big reasons why Governor Napolitano in Arizona won re-election against an anti-immigrant challenger. It was also a factor in the defeat of Rep. Hayworth from that same state, as he was a major opponent of immigrant rights. Congress would be wise to heed the polls and pass the comprehensive bill supported by a majority of Americans, mandating English as a national language, securing our borders, allowing 11 million workers to become American workers and setting up a reasonable Temporary Guest Worker program. Believe me, if Bush the Texan, McCain the Arizonan and the majority of the people of America support it, it ought to become our national immigration policy.
All right, so we agree on Obama’s “moderate” views (despite the fact that I largely like the guy), the war in Iraq and spending and disagree on immigration. Oh yeah, one more thing: as a loyal citizen of the state of Connecticut… go Patriots! Even though you lied to Hartford, you still rock.