Twittering conservatives

All the cool conservative kids are using Twitter, according to Sean Hackbarth at the American Mind. He recommends this article with its list of the 200 conservatives to follow (and not just because he made the list).

If you don't know what Twitter is, Cnet News has a guide for people new to Twitter.

Meanwhile, I Twitter at #jwigderson, and you can follow the blog on Twitter at #Wiglibrarypub.

Sarah Palin's critics are a bunch of wimps

Ann Althouse even calls them "candy-asses." The Huffington Post is having an attack of the vapors because Governor Palin is answering questions from reporters while turkeys (you know, next Thursday's dinner) are getting slaughtered in the background.

I think Sean Hackbarth may have a small point about needing a Mike Deaver to better set these photo ops. But the fainting spells are just a little silly.

I've never understood squeamishness. How do these people live their lives the rest of the time?

RIP Dean Barnett

Sean Hackbarth at the American Mind remembers Dean Barnett. Barnett was 41 years old.

In the primaries while I toiled away for Fred Thompson Dean tapped away for his guy, Mitt Romney. Dean was fair and honest for his guy which made it really easy to read him.

Conservative blogger to Mitt Romney's driver to a gig at the Weekly Standard, and a life cut too short. RIP.

Cheesehead refugees

I had hoped to be in Minneapolis/St Paul myself next week, but a sequence of events this summer conspired against me. It's a conspiracy, I tell ya! Unfortunately family and work priorities had to come first.

As someone who has been to a Republican National Convention (New Orleans '88), I can tell you they are a blast. Just to show I'm not bitter or jealous of those local bloggers that are going, let me assure their spouses that I'm sure there won't be nearly as many hookers in St. Paul as there were in New Orleans.

Anyway, it looks like Owen Robinson, Lance Burri, Christian Schneider and Sean Hackbarth are going. (Looking at the list, I'm hoping we'll all be spared the live-blogging from the front row of Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion.)

No wonder he fit in so well at Air America

Comedian Al Franken, who was once funny, is showing that he may not be good enough, and people might not like him. His race for US Senate in Minnesota has not been too smooth, and now his business practices are coming into question. As Sean Hackbarth notes,

The Franken campaign failed to do the most basic of research: vet their candidate. These tax problems could have been handled months ago. Instead, the Minnesota GOP has turn them into potent political bullets.

That's the problem with celebrity candidacies. The staff spends more time asking the candidate for autographs then they do asking him, "Oh, by the way, any skeletons in your closet?" Unfortunately for them, the RNSC probably has some staffers that have never thought Saturday Night Live was funny.

Time for the other Thompson to withdraw

There are only three, possibly four likely winners of the Republican nomination at this point. After losing in South Carolina, Fred Thompson is not one of them.

Of the remaining choices, Romney, Huckabee, McCain and Giuliani, only former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has a chance of carrying the conservative standard in November. None of the other three candidates are capable of pulling together all the fragile strands of the Republican Party and still present a conservative program. None of the other three would want to.

Senator John McCain is the front runner. Within the GOP there is a certain sense of "It's his turn", always a strong sentiment with Republicans. There is also a sense of gratitude for the senator's long service, his military record, and his willingness to stand firm in support of sending more troops to Iraq before even the White House had the idea.

If resume alone were the determinant of the Republican nomination, McCain would have to be the Republicans' first choice.

However, McCain has been wrong on so many issues, and has been willing to put his personal vanity ahead of that of the conservative movement and the Republican Party. Conservatives fear less that he'll be another Eisenhower than he'll be something else entirely, maybe an Andrew Jackson. McCain's stands on immigration, tax cuts, health care, global warming and even judicial nominations would make most conservatives wary to support him. But there should not be one conservative supporter for the senator given his disdain for the First Amendment, especially his continued support for suppressing free speech in the name of "campaign finance reform."

I have no doubt Senator McCain would willingly die for his country if it was asked, but who could speak up for our country if he was elected?

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is a strong voice for the unborn. Huckabee also has appeal in that he is a strong voice for returning religious values to the public arena. But Huckabee demonstrates the limits of one faction within the GOP trying to succeed without the others. Abandoning economic conservatives in the hopes of getting Democratic populist voters is not a winning coalition and undermines the very ideas of American conservativism.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has finally decided to contest a primary, only to see his national standing gone and real alternatives to his candidacy emerge. If Fred Thompson is to be criticized for a lackluster campaign, Giuliani should be disqualified for squandering every advantage he had.

Setting aside the issues for a moment, Giuliani's personal scandals are not the personal story of a president. Even Ulysses S. Grant's drinking and Grover Cleveland's child out of wedlock pale in comparison to Giuliani's story.

Giuliani's strength is his commitment to the War on Terror. Perhaps more than any other politician he understands how much the world changed on September 11th. However, if foreign policy were the only issue, why wouldn't Senator McCain be the first choice?

Giuliani's commitment to lower taxes is admirable. His record on crime unsurpassed. But when it comes to the social issues, Giuliani would be a disaster to the Reagan Coalition. While he has committed to supporting strict constructionists to the Supreme Court, that is not the only role of the President when it comes to defending life and standing for traditional values.

Which leaves us as Governor Romney. While Romney is a recent convert on the issue of being Pro-Life, his record in Massachusetts is one of a sincere conversion. Romney fought for traditional marriage. On economic issues, Romney is a fiscal conservative. And on the War on Terror, Romney also has a mature world view that sees the war as ongoing and necessary. No candidate is perfect, but Romney is one candidate capable of bringing the whole of the Republican Party together in time to win in November. Romney is also the once candidate remaining that could defeat McCain, Huckabee and Giuliani, all of whom would be counter to the interests of the conservative movement.

The next contest is Florida on January 29th. A Romney win there, with all four of the major candidates in a contest for the first time, could give him the momentum needed to win a clear majority of delegates on February 5th.

By withdrawing now and endorsing Romney, Thompson's support could be enough to provide Romney the edge needed to win. But the key is to withdraw now so the endorsement has time to affect the voters' choice, especially as early voting has already begun.

It pains me to offer that advice. As regular readers know, Sean Hackbarth of the American Mind is on staff with Thompson and my wife is a "Fred Head."

But by supporting Romney now, Thompson will have done his part to advance the conservative cause and propel a conservative to the Republican nomination.

Fred Heads will not want to miss this

Brian Fraley profiled Sean Hackbarth of the American Mind and of the Fred Thompson national campaign staff.

Blogging has led you to… Washington, D.C. and getting a quick education in the art of eCampaigning. I’m weblogging for a Presidential candidate. For a political weblogger that’s a huge stage. Along with that I’m learning so much about all aspects of campaigns. I’ll be able to actually know what I’m talking about in future writing.

I know some bloggers (and some political science professors) won't believe it, but there's no substitute for actual political campaign experience when talking about politics. Unless you've been somebody wondering if you're going to be collecting a paycheck after the next election, you'll never know what a political campaign is really like. It's always too easy to criticize from the sidelines. Good luck to Sean today.

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2007 Weblog Awards

As you may have noticed from the big banner up top, this little blog is a finalist for a Weblog Award in its weight class, blogs ranked Best of the Top 6751 - 8750 Blogs as ranked by the TTLB Ecosystem. (The TTLB ecosystem tries to judge the popularity of blogs by the number of web links to the blog. You can see my current TTLB ranking at the bottom of the page.)

I’m not going to do a big campaign to win, but I would like it if all of you could stop by the Weblog Awards site every 24 hours and select my blog as your favorite. I’m currently behind in the polls, but it’s still early, and the polls close November 8th.

This is also a chance to appeal to my readers and ask in general what they like about the site, what they don’t like about the site, why is the sky blue, etc. Be specific. I may not agree, but I am curious what other people have to say.

I should also mention the other Wisconsin blogs competing in the higher weight classes.
Sean Hackbarth of The American Mind is competing in the Best of the Top 501 - 1000 Blogs.
Boots and Sabers are competing in the Best of the Top 2501 - 3500 Blogs.

Just because you vote for me doesn’t mean you can’t vote for the other guys. You can vote once every 24 hours in each category. Just remember to vote for me first!

(I forgot to add, thanks Steve for letting me know I was a finalist. I would've checked sometime after Christmas.)

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Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten.

Blog Net News came out with the list of the most influential blogs in Wisconsin. We can disagree with a ranking here or there, but it's nice to be considered near the top. By the way, I agree with their number one. Patrick at Badger Blogger has certainly built the most influential local blog in Milwaukee. (Likewise Fred Dooley with Real Debate Wisconsin in Racine, whom I am suprised wasn't ranked higher.) Congratulations also to Jessica McBride, 2nd on the list but certainly the number one target of liberal bloggers.


Rank
Blog
1
Badger Blogger
2
McBride's Media Matters
3
Texas Hold 'Em Blogger
4
No Runny Eggs
5
FREEDOM EDEN
6
An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
7
Dad29
8
Boots and Sabers
9
From Where I Sit
10
The American Mind
11
Wigderson Library & Pub
12
The World According to Nick
13
Charlie Sykes
14
The (Somewhat) Daily RAG
15
Paul Soglin: Waxing America
16
Uppity Wisconsin - Making Wisconsin Progressive Again
17
The Right Side of Wisconsin
18
Real Debate Wisconsin
19
Marquette Warrior
20
In Effect

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I only have one request

Sean Hackbarth from the American Mind has - well, not quite - taken the Boeing and joined the Fred Thompson team. What is the correct term for a blogger taking a job with a not-yet-running candidate for President?

I think Sean would do us all a big favor if he can somehow get Fred Thompson to say, "The Russkies don't take a dump without a plan."

Good luck to Sean and his candidate.

Meanwhile, until the candidate is really running, entertain yourselves with these fun Fred Thompson facts from IMAO.

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Those darn extremists

Owen Robinson and Sean Hackbarth offer some advice for bloggers. I would add one piece of advice, every word you type can and will come back to haunt you.

For example, sometimes you feel like a nut:

I thought Sommers was just some crazy guy running a protest campaign. Pro-Life Wisconsin has decided he's a crazy guy worthy of their crazy endorsement. I wonder if it was more contingent on the number of children he has or his "no exceptions" pro-life stance.

Sometimes you don't:
"How is he extreme?

1. He does not support gay marriage, something 60% of Wisconsin citizens agree with.
2. He is pro-life.

When looked at in combination with his extremist rhetoric regarding the marriage amendment, Van Hollen's statement regarding reproductive rights suggests that Roys is on target when she says the candidate is displaying "a callous disregard for the health and privacy of Wisconsin's citizens."

There are many social conservatives who offer principled arguments for changing laws regarding abortion.

J.B. Van Hollen is not one of them. He has placed himself outside the mainstream, and that ought to place him outside of consideration by responsible Republicans.

While this editorial is factually incorrect (none of J.B.'s views make him extreme, and he is by no means out of the mainstream), the CapTimes coming out against this candidate makes me all the more enthused to support him."

Pro-Life Wisconsin, you may remember, endorsed JB Van Hollen for Attorney General in last year's primary.

The lesson: Don't hurt your credibility by sneering at an organization just because they didn't endorse your candidate this time in this election, especially if you defended their principles in the past when they did endorse your candidate.



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