Obama=Most Liberal Senator in Congress

As sort of a follow-up to the last post, this also highlights the importance of putting forth a conservative for the GOP nomination.

I think Allahpundit says it best:

In case you were wondering why his message is 10 parts gassy “change” to every one part specific policy proposals, here's why...How doctrinaire is he? He’s to the left of Russ Feingold. And moving leftward every year relative to his colleagues: He was the 16th-most liberal senator in 2005, 10th-most in 2006, and number one with a bullet now. Election year pandering to outflank Hillary among the base or is he really “evolving” in office, as the left likes to say of politicians who drift this way? Whatever the answer, it ain’t good. In fairness, he’s only very marginally worse than Hillary, the difference coming in her commendable willingness to take a hard-ish line on the Revolutionary Guard.

I've heard some people say they might just vote for Obama out of spite for both Hillary and the GOP, usually citing an argument along the lines of, "Well, if we're going to have a liberal president no matter what, I'd rather it be a Democrat. At least they're predictably liberal and if things go badly, we can blame their party instead of ours. Then we'll blow them out of the water in 2012!"

I heard similar arguments during the 2006 midterm elections, and frankly I think they're absurd. People seem to forget that election years aren't the only times important things have to be dealt with. September 11th wasn't during an election year. The Bush tax cuts weren't. The amnesty bill this past summer wasn't either. The idea is to vote for somebody who you think will do what is best over the course of four years as President, not just who seems interesting right now. If another terrorist attack happens, if the country falls into a recession, if a tax cut (or tax increase, for that matter) passes Congress...who do you want sitting in the Oval Office?

McCain't Get No Satisfaction

What to do about John McCain's surprisingly meteoric rise to GOP front-runner status? Is he really who he says he is?

McCain has cast himself as the stoic "straight-talker" who can help our troops win in the Middle East, stop pork-barrel spending in Congress, and stand up for America on the world stage. Unfortunately, he's also the Democrat-enabling Senator who help construct monstrosities like McCain-Feingold (curbing free speech via "campaign-finance reform"), McCain-Kennedy (the lovely amnesty bill Congress tried to ram down our throats last summer), and most recently, McCain-Lieberman-Obama (his newest effort to wring money from taxpayers to stop global warming). He's the guy who voted against the Bush tax cuts twice. He's the candidate who proudly touted his New York Times endorsement in the face of the conservative base. It seems as though he's thrown his "straight-talk" gimmick out the window, especially after Florida and last night's debate, when he insisted Mitt Romney wanted to withdraw troops from Iraq (despite nearly every single media outlet that investigated the issue calling him on the smear).

There's also this little chart, showing that McCain's lifetime conservatism ranking in Congress is lower than Chuck Hagel's. Granted, he wasn't always so liberal, but the longer McCain stayed in Washington, the less conservative he became. Inconceivable!

The newest charge McCain has to face, obviously, is whether or not he is a flip-flopping RINO--the same charge that has been leveled at Mitt Romney since he announced his candidacy. The difference, it seems, is that while Romney held liberal positions in the past, he now claims he has different views, and is asking America to let him prove his conservative bona fides; McCain, on the other hand, used to be more conservative, but claims to be one now despite his recent liberal voting and legislative record and dodging questions about his principles.

In the end, the question is not about who is or is not a flip-flopper (they are, after all, politicians). The question is this: do Republicans want to nominate a conservative? If the answer is yes, then I can't see how McCain is an acceptable candidate. Military valor and surge-support aside, he not only sponsors liberal legislation, he seems to have no problem spitting on the base whenever they dare question his principles. In my opinion, it's much more important to nominate a candidate you actually would want as president, rather than one you think might stand a better chance against the Democratic nominee. As the saying goes, be careful what you ask for because you just might get it.

UPDATE: Whatever happened to this guy?

State "Special" Session Looms

With the new edition of The Liberty about to hit newsstands, it’s time to get the blog back up and running. And the upcoming “Special” Session of the legislature is also looming upon us. Later this week the Oregon Supreme Court will review the Constitutionality of the upcoming Session, which could have all been avoided had the Governor simply declared an emergency. You can check out the full story here, as reported by Sen. Larry George, who originally sued to stop the session.

The session will go on, as the leadership will find a way to make it happen. Everyone will show up. A couple Liberty staffers will even be interning. But it is a dangerous road that state government is starting down. God help us if the US Congress is the model that the Oregon Legislature is morphing into.

Polls Are Like Bills...

they just keep coming, they all say something different, and it takes just a single odd one to turn everything on end.

Between Zogby, Rasmussen, and Gallup, you can pick and choose to get the picture of the election you really want (unless you are Rep. Ron Paul, in which case the picture rarely changes). I was already over this whole primary process, but I guess I can follow along and try to keep up with all the new numbers. In the meantime, here are my presidential picks for 2008.

Democrats: It's gonna be Sen. Clinton. Sen. Obama might have glittery poll numbers, but is still behind in fundraising by almost ten million dollars. And even with a Clinton slump, she still leads nationally by a wide margin. She's politically experienced, something which Obama still is not, and has an army of rich Hollywood liberals to help her along the way, another thing, Obama is lacking.

Republicans: This is more complex, as there are more people. Giuliani is the clear frontrunner nationally, but Romney, according to most polls, leads in Iowa and New Hampshire. If Mike Huckabee continues his rise to national prominence, the fact that he is a liberal with a fundamentalist Christian streak will come out. Exactly how much momentum he picks up after Iowa and New Hampshire will be the ultimate test. I think that Romney will be able to pull it out, and thus I predict Romney will win the nomination.

Independents: Mayor Bloomburg, with up to one billion dollars at his disposal, could still launch a center-left campaign as an independent. If Bloomburg does enter the race, everything is out the window. But I find this unlikely, as he will probably use the threat of his entry to try and influence the process.

In closing, elections are better than television. You know why.

Lott Leaves Senate In Suprise Move

In a surprise move, Sen. Trent Lott, the Republicans second in command int he Senate, will leave office by the end of the year. According to reports, despite the Senator's insistence that he is leaving to spend more time with his family and pursue private-sector opportunities, Larry Flynt is alleging that Lott had a relationship with a male escort.

If it is the former, then that's all good and well. But if it is the latter, then America has another instance of a smear king taking down a good man for no reason. Just like when Lott expressed support for the late Sen. Strom Thurmond's presidential run in 1948. Thurmond was by no means perfect, far from it, but Thurmond was a good man, and a bunch of latter-day feelings police tried to take a good man (Lott) down for saying something good about another good man.

Where Flynt is coming from with these allegations, I don't know. But I highly doubt they are true, and when they are proven to be false, someone needs to come out in public and decry him for what he has done. and somehow, the of America needs to learn that nothing good happens from dragging a good man down.

Whose Afraid of Student's With Guns?

Well, at least the way this story is slanted, The Associated Press is. Between the latent editorializing in the sixth paragraph, quotations from a girl who has no qualifications to speak on the subject other than being a student, and not even bothering to expound on the rational of a nonsensical old police chief, this is a pretty loaded story. But at least both sides are presented.

I honestly think it is positively silly that our society is so afraid of guns. When did this happen, and why? This country would have never began, expanded, or even still exist without armaments in the hands of citizens.

Happy Thanksgiving. I'm off to the range.

SHAB Pounces On Those Who Puff

The Student Health Advisory Board, which does not seem to be very good at publicizing it's meetings or seeking student input, has announced that it is prusuing an initiative to make the OSU campus Smoke-Free. That's right. If their goals come to fruition, nowhere on our large, scenic, open-air campus, would a person be able to have something as simple as a smoke break.

Here's a less restrictive suggestion. Take some of that huge wad of cash we, as students, give SHS every term, and commission a study to evaluate potential locations for "Designated Smoking Areas" on campus. Criteria could include areas with (curently) minimal pedestrian foot traffic, the ability for smoke to dissipate quickly, and an absence of opening first and second story windows.

Instead, SHAB has chosen to take the easy way out, as government tends to do. Government is good at two things: Banning things and taxing things. For a government, especially student government, to do anything else requires exceptional intelligence and character among the members of that government body. Let's see if the SHAB has got it.