My Man Mitt

In 2008, I supported John McCain in his campaign for POTUS vs. Barack Obama, but it wasn't without reservation. He has always been unreliable, often discarding conservative principles in favor of currying favor from the press.

On balance, I thought, he was a far better alternative to the inexperienced, very liberal, Barack H. Obama.

And he was.

But there was a better one, and his name was Mitt Romney.

Sure, he had a few missteps, was mistrusted by some religious/social conservatives, but he was right on all the important things--foreign policy (Iraq, War on Terror, NKorea, Iran, etc.), fiscal policy (less government, lower taxes, less regulation, etc.), and the social issues (family, marriage, abortion, stem-cell research etc.).

So he was a "convert" on the last point (abortion), so what? So was Ronald Reagan. Don't we want to persuade everyone to value the rights of the unborn? Anyway, that's an old argument. Hopefully one we've moved past.

At CPAC, Romney gave an excellent speech. I wrote a bit about it in my review of CPAC Day 3.

You can read the full text of his speech here.

NRO's editor, Kathryn Jean Lopez, wrote an excellent article about the state of conservatism and some of the dustups between Michael Steele, Rush Limbaugh, and others. But most of the article is about Mitt and the possibility that he runs for President in 2012.

It's tough to look 4 years into the future; if we face the same problems we are today--that is to say, if we have yet to fully overcome them--Mitt could be part of the solution. I like Bobby Jindal and Sarah Palin. But how about Romney-Petraeus?

Does that sound like a ticket you'd be interested in?

I don't think anyone else could put forward two more qualified people to deal with all the many problems this country faces right now. Seriously, does anyone have any confidence that Obama can lead us out of this economic quagmire?

The markets sure don't seem to think so. Their daily tracking poll (a constant downward spiral) leaves little doubt. Mitt Romney made a career of this sort of thing. Balancing budgets, restoring profitability, rooting out waste and inefficiency--that's his niche.

And though the model has been derided, how confident would you feel if Petraeus, in the Dick Cheney mould of VP, helped to shape our long- & short-term foreign policy goals? Instead of a complete idiot--Joe Biden (God love 'im)--you would have the guy who literally wrote the counter-insurgent book and has spearheaded our warfighting effort in Iraq and now, Iraq & Afghanistan. Do you think anyone knows how to defend America better than General Petraeus?

Most of this is just rambling speculation and wishful thinking, clearly. Right now I'm focused on 2009--hoping for a Republican win in New Jersey--and 2010--House, Senate & nationwide gubernatorial races.

With any luck, 2010 will look a little like 1994, and 2012 will resemble 1980. Remember, Ronald Reagan lost in the 1976 Republican primary before finally winning it all in 1980.

Romney could do a lot worse than following Reagan's example.


If you have tips, questions, comments or suggestions, email me at lybberty@gmail.com.

Thomas Sowell On RNC Chairman Michael Steele

Thomas Sowell is one of my favorite thinker-writers. An economist by trade, he has applied his many skills and ability to explain things in simple terms to the problems that afflict America.

Also, he's African-American and conservative, so liberals hate him.

Either one of those reasons (wicked smart or enemy of my enemy) would be enough for me to read him regularly, it's nice that he has both of them on lock-down.

His recent praise and appraisal of Michael Steele, the newly elected RNC chair, is dead on.

Too many Republicans don't even seem to understand the need to talk. They seem to think it is something you have to go through the motions of doing but, really, they would rather be somewhere else doing something else. . . . Michael Steele not only knows how to talk, but also seems to understand the need to talk. In his appearances on TV over the years, he has been assertive rather than apologetic. When attacked, he has counterattacked, not whined defensively, like too many other Republicans. When criticizing the current administration, Steele won't have to pull his punches when going after Barack Obama, for fear of being called a racist.

I pulled for Steele to win the Maryland Senate seat back in 2006. It was a tough year for Republicans and Steele (obviously) lost.

2+ years later, he's making lemonade and I'm glad to have him as RNC chair.

(from WSJ Political Diary, h/t Scott L.)


If you have tips, questions, comments or suggestions, email me at lybberty@gmail.com.

Michael Steele, Conference Call

Listening in on a conference call with Michael Steele on Friday. Steele is the headline candidate for the RNC chairmanship. I've been impressed with him for a long time and became even more so impressed after interviewing him at the RNC and listening to his speech there.

So far, I've been very impressed with his emphasis on the importance of how we communicate conservative ideas. Steele says, for example, that we need to be careful about saying that we want to "cut government." Government employees hear that and think, "these guys want to fire me." We need to say that we want efficient and effective government, because then those same employees will say, "the guy in the cubicle sitting next to me didn't do anything all day, he better watch out."

This is one example of the importance of communication.

Steele on communication: We are going to try every mode of communication open to us. We won't mimic the Obama campaign, but we will steal some of their communication strategies. Obama wasn't interested in communicating his VP choice, he wanted to get people's cell and email information. This kept them excited and interested and made them feel as though they were in the game.

Steele wants to actively engage bloggers to test ideas and see what things are animating people outside of Washington. Republicans don't feel a part of anything and connected to anything. That's not going to cut it. We only ask for their checks. We want them more involved than that.

Paraphrasing Steele: I want you guys involved. I want a free-flowing exchange of ideas. Those conservative bloggers can use these tools to go out and fight the good fight. This is an important opportunity for everyone who has good ideas to get involved.

[ed. note: Clearly talking about tapping into the democracy of ideas that is the internet.]


Ok, the call is done. Steele is smart--smart enough to know that he doesn't know everything. By all accounts he would be a good fundraiser, communicater, and organizer. He seems willing to listen to ideas from all sides. And, importantly, he seems to be a true conservative.

Given the social conservatism of the African-American community (see Prop 8), it's possible that Steele could reach out and begin building some bridges.


If you have tips, questions, comments or suggestions, email me at lybberty@gmail.com.

BYUSA Election Follow-Up, Michael Steele, &c.

Today at lunch we spoke with a friend of ours, one of the 5 BYUSA Executive Directors who serve under the BYUSA President and Executive Vice President. Our conversation with him confirmed what we concluded in our last post: it's unfair to expect BYUSA to be something it is not. It is not a student representative organization, it's a student service organization. And in that, they are extremely successful.

He agreed with us (and pointed out that Adam Ruri and Chance Basinger had Provo parking as part of their platform) that there is an opportunity for BYUSA President Adam Ruri to lead the way in parking negotiations with Provo City Council on behalf of BYU students.

We'll follow their progress, if any, again, so you don't have to.

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On Fox news, Michael Steele, former candidate for the Senate from the state of Maryland, weighed in on the Geraldine Ferraro kerffufle (which we first wrote about here).

He pointed out that in advance of his run for the Senate, his campaign polled Marylanders about race and politics. They asked two questions: first, "would you vote for an African-American for senate?" and second, "would your neighbor vote for an African-American?"

These polls were anonymous, so people had no apparent reason to lie. 78% said yes to the first question. 40% said yes to the second question. Steele and the Crash-crowd draw the wrong conclusion from polls like these--that racism is a big problem in America.

Sure, there's racism, but what this poll shows is that the problem is hugely overblown. What it shows is that a vast majority--78%, in this instance--are not racist, but that an almost equally large majority--60%--think their neighbors are racist.

The only disconnect is between public perception of racism and the reality.

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At FreedomsWatch.org, guest blogger Mark Mix writes about union's attempts to move away from unionization by secret ballot to unionization by peer pressure and intimidation. Unions have steadily lost membership for the last 30 years as their usefulness declined. This latest legislation is a last ditch attempt to maintain political clout.

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Our friends at the RNC are running a Blog Madness competition to name their official blog. Cue rabid netroots.

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The BYU Student Alumni Association is sponsoring a personal finance course on 22 March @ 10:00am in the Hinkcley Center. With subprime loans, inflation, the falling dollar and stock market all the rage, this is a valuable opportunity to learn how to navigate the financial storm.

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Steve Sweet, associate of recruiting and marketing, asked me to pass along information about the Koch Associate Program. After limited research into this program, it seems worth passing along:

"The Koch Associate Program is a year-long, paid program designed to develop promising leaders and entrepreneurs interested in liberty and the non-profit arena. During the program Associates work in non-profit roles four days a week, then spend one day a week at the Foundation learning Market-Based Management® in a classroom setting. You can learn more about the Associate Program, as well as the Koch Internship Program and the Koch Foundation at www.cgkfoundation.org. The deadline to apply is April 1, 2008."

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If you're looking for a cheap, stimulating intellectual experience this summer, we recommend applying for one of the free summer seminars sponsored by The Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University. They take place at universities all over the US with different topics at each. Housing, food, books, and lecture costs are all covered by IHS, you just have to figure out how to get there.

If you have tips, questions, comments, suggestions, or requests for subscription only articles, email us at lybberty@gmail.com.