Select A Candidate Quiz 2008

I took another quiz on the Presidential candidates who best match my views and beliefs.

Tom Tancredo came out on top - huh? We agreed on 8 of 11 of the topics in the quiz. He'll never get the nomination.

Duncan Hunter came in next with Fred Thompson coming in third. As a total surprise, John McCain came in fourth and the dude I'm leaning towards, Mike Huckabee - and yes I'll blame it on the Chuck Norris fog, came in fifth; but we disagree on more of the issues than we agree so I may have to re-think this whole thing, yet again.

However, some of the questions were worded "weird"; for example, the question on Iraq went like this:



The last two choices, to me, are the same thing - I selected that we were going to be in Iraq for a very long time as a support force but the last option says the same thing, practically. I could go with either. But all of the candidates were in disagreement with me, which I found a little off. I'm all for us getting the job done so I don't know why we came out different on this very important issue.

Another thing I found interesting was that all of the candidates were against legalized abortion but they were for the death penalty. I've said it once, I'll say it again...if I am going to be pro-life I need to be pro-life all the way. This issue is not a political thing with me; it's more of my faith/religion. So don't tell me religion doesn't play in politics. It does. Oh sure, as an individual I'd love to be FOR the death penalty, especially to the evil doers to our children, and to be honest you won't hear, or see, me protesting a death penalty sentence either.


The most distraught and disturbing thing I took away from the test was the following -

My age group has gone up into the next category. Well, not officially until the 11th of this month, but still.

Technorati Tags: Politics, GOP, Quiz, 2008 Presidential Candidates

YouTube Debate

From al.com -

Huntsville woman's YouTube debate question spurs threats, insults
Friday, November 30, 2007
MARY ORNDORFF
News Washington correspondent

WASHINGTON - Yasmin Elhady of Huntsville initially felt lucky to be one of the few chosen to ask a question during Wednesday night's Republican presidential debate, carried live on CNN.

But within minutes, the online discussion at YouTube.com and CNN.com turned cruel, upsetting the young law student and causing her to second-guess her participation.

Read the full story....

Her question -

"What would you do as president to repair the image of America in the eyes of the Muslim world?"

I liked Duncan Hunter's reply the best - he doesn't ever apologize for the United States.

But it was Rep. Duncan Hunter's answer that Elhady most disagreed with. After noting the foreign and military aid given to countries that are "critics of America," Hunter said, "I will never apologize for the United States of America."

Elhady said she doesn't think the U.S. owes anyone an apology either. "It was a question about the goodwill that America has unfortunately lost in a lot of countries. We just need to be aware of what's going on," she said.

Muslim teenagers who used to admire American culture now reject it, and people who once criticized the actions of the American government without begrudging the American people are no longer making the distinction, she said.

"The intention of my question was that America is now seen as a, quote, imperialist invader, unquote, which is a scary picture," Elhady said. "We have to change that image. We have to combat that image."

Reading the whole article, I do understand where this young lady is coming from but I don't think she grasps the whole concept herself. She is one of those young wide-eyed utopia dreamers. There's nothing wrong with that but she certainly needs to open her eyes a little wider when it comes to America's image, and how exactly it got to be so negative with some people.

Elhady, who recently finished a year of study at the American University in Cairo, was encouraged, by the young girls she mentored in Huntsville, to submit a question via YouTube for the debate, and was one of 5,000 considered by CNN. As someone of North African descent and a frequent traveler to the region, Elhady said her question about America's deteriorating image was from personal observation and discussions with Muslims about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Last year she was named one of Glamour magazine's Top 10 College Women for her activism, and she was president of her class at Grissom.

She studied behavioral biology and Middle Eastern studies at Emory University and had an internship at the Carter Center in Atlanta, founded by former President Carter and dedicated to human rights.

"I've lived all my life in America," she said. "I'm an American girl."

Comments?

So why all the angst?

I have some bad news for all of you holding out for the "perfect" presidential candidate: He's not running. Only one perfect man has ever walked this earth and He certainly didn't run for political office. Oh and here's more bad news: Ronald Reagan is dead. I know you think I'm being harsh but it's time that some of you face reality. You can pretend to be taking the "moral high ground" and you can chatter about "not compromising your principles" all you like but when it comes time to support a candidate and cast a vote you need to do the right thing.

Not voting in this presidential election will be the equivalent of handing over our country, and the command of our troops, to Hillary Clinton. Do you really want to be responsible for putting that woman in charge of the lives of all of our fine fighting men and women? Not me. When it comes down to it, I'll hold my nose and fill in the bubble for whatever candidate the Republican party puts on the ballot. Not because I'm a blind follower of the right, nope, my eyes are wide open. I'll do it because I know exactly what kind of damage a President Clinton can do.

Charles Krauthammer has a rundown on the candidates and points out that things aren't nearly as bad as you'd like to think:

Major grumbling among conservatives about the Republican field. So many candidates, so many flaws. Rudy Giuliani, abortion apostate. Mitt Romney, flip-flopper. John McCain, Mr. Amnesty. Fred Thompson, lazy boy. Where is the paragon? Where is Ronald Reagan?

Well, what about Reagan? This president, renowned for his naps, granted amnesty to 3 million illegal immigrants in the 1986 Simpson-Mazzoli bill. As governor of California, he signed the most liberal abortion legalization bill in America, then flip-flopped and became an abortion opponent. What did he do about it as president? Gave us Sandra Day O'Connor and Anthony Kennedy, the two swing votes that upheld and enshrined Roe v. Wade for the past quarter-century.

The point is not to denigrate Reagan but to bring a little realism to the gauzy idol worship that fuels today's discontent. And to argue that in 2007 we have, by any reasonable historical standard, a fine Republican field: One of the great big-city mayors of the past century; a former governor of extraordinary executive talent; a war hero, highly principled and deeply schooled in national security; and a former senator with impeccable conservative credentials. So why all the angst?

Read the rest of Dr. Krauthammer's column "A Fine Field of 4 1/2" and share in the serenity.

Who Has the Highest Paid Campaign Manager?

Which of the 2008 GOP Presidential contenders do you think has the highest paid campaign manager? I would have guessed Michael DuHaime of Rudy Giuliani's team or maybe Beth Meyers from Mitt Romney's camp. Nope. The payroll winner is Chip Saltsman who collects about $15,000 per month, after taxes, from Mike Huckabee.

Whether or not Saltsman is worth his paycheck only time will tell. Meanwhile I see that Huckabee has raised $450,000 in the last 22 days.

The Florida Republican Debate - A Look at the Candidate's Supporters

Eight Republican Presidential candidates took to the stage last night in Orlando, Florida. The candidates battled it out in front of 4,000 Republican activists, over 50 elected officials, and 300 credentialed media (including yours truly).

You've had the opportunity to watch the debate, analyze the transcripts or even read any number of other bloggers opinion of the events. I doubt that I have anything earth shattering to add to what you've already learned on that front so what I'm going to give you glimpse at is the supporters of each candidate. Most candidates had tables set up where supporters and campaign staff handed out literature, bumper stickers, yard signs and pitches for their guy with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Here are my impressions:

Mitt Romney - Romney's supporters seemed oddly comfortable, as if his people feel secure with his position in the various polls. Asked about Romney's perceived weakness as a social conservative they were unruffled and unconcerned. They pointed to the recent results from the FRC Straw Poll as proof that their candidate has what it takes to win over values voters.

Rudy Giuliani - By far Giuliani had the largest number of supporters. Where most other candidates had small clusters of supporters here and there with the occasional sign, large crowds of Giuliani supporters were present in every public area of the venue. They waved their printed and homemade signs enthusiastically and cheered almost constantly. His candidate table had the most goodies to pass out, the most printed literature and they were the best organized. His people were passionate.

[Another interesting note, last night I spoke to very few people who were undecided but I pressed those that were into picking a candidate. Almost every single one picked Rudy Giuliani.]

Fred Thompson - I'm a Fred supporter so I was eager to hear what the Thompson people had to say, too bad they weren't more eager to tell me. Maybe I'm being more harsh on them exactly because I want too root for their guy but I was, let's just say, underwhelmed by their presence and their enthusiasm. They knew their stuff, they could quote polling statistics right back at me but there just didn't seem to be any attempt to fire up support for Fred. I caught a glimpse of Jeri Thompson but she was swamped by people and I couldn't get near her for a comment.

John McCain - Cindy McCain doesn't believe in polls. Period. So don't bother trying to ask her about them. According to her John McCain is the only true and proven Conservative in the field, he's the toughest on the War on Terror and he's learned his lesson on immigration reform. Really! McCain's campaign people are quick and business like, they want your support but they aren't going to beg for it. They're convinced that the smart voters will vote for their guy.

Mike Huckabee - Mike Huckabee was represented by one lonely soul, an enthusiastic yet clearly overwhelmed young gentleman who passionately believes that his candidate is the only true Conservative in the bunch.

Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo - I'm lumping them together because at this point, support-wise, they're one and the same. Support and enthusiasm for both was minimal and consensus among most people at the event was that it's time for them both to drop out and free up resources for viable candidates. Note that with the other candidates I've linked to their site and their camp's summary of comments around the web about the debate last night. As of now Hunter's site hasn't updated with any summary or reaction from last night's debate. As matter of fact it looks as thought the site hasn't been updated at all since Oct. 15th. Tom Tancredo's site is only concerned with, what else? Illegal immigration.

Ron Paul - Ron Paul had huge printed presence at the debate. The street on the drive in was lined with Ron Paul signage and there were quite a few signs up in the hotel. So where were his supporters? It took me a while but I finally found two. One was Jessie Benton, a spokesman for the Ron Paul campaign, he was young, smart, articulate and friendly. Jessie wanted to talk primarily about Ron Paul being a Libertarian and fiscal conservative and he was passionate about his candidate. The other fellow I ran into, well let's just say he was a different sort. His primary beef was what he called the MSM's suppression of Ron Paul's popularity which he thinks should be clearly evident from all of Paul's online and telephone poll wins. When I asked him why, if Paul is so popular, there weren't more supporters in attendance he assured me that there were "legions" of supporters outside. I commented that it was currently pouring rain and he told me "That just shows how devoted they are." Okay. When he tried to convince me that all of the other Republican candidates are communists and only running to ensure a Hillary Clinton win I pulled my tinfoil cap more firmly onto my head and retreated to the media room.

~ For More ~

More photos, peeks behind the scenes and fashion commentary from The Radio Patriot.

[Photos here thanks to Ken Anthony of Rainfall.com. Thanks Ken! Ken is undecided, leaning towards Ron Paul and surprisingly normal!]

FRC 2008 Straw Poll Results

In the Family Research Council's Straw Poll Mitt Romney wins (27.62%). The pleasant surprise here is Mike Huckabee's performance, second place by 30 votes (27.15%). Ron Paul came in third with 15% of the vote and Fred Thompson was fourth with 9.77%.

Results of note: John McCain 1.40% (81 votes out of 5,775). That's 10th place, just ahead of "not voting" and Barack Obama.