I stumbled upon a pretty darn good essay by David Mamet at the The Village Voice.  I certainly do not make a habit out of reading The Village Voice unless Drudge finds something there.  I didn’t know who David Mamet was either (still don’t) but this was too perfect.  You have probably heard the saying, “A young conservative has no heart, but an old liberal has no brain.”  It seems that David Mamet is living proof of that statement.

So many are down on being a conservative at the moment and the truth is, few leaders for the last eight years have modeled / pushed true conservatism.  For some reason the Republican Party continues to stray from his core principles and embrace elements of ideas that we simply do not believe in.  Reading essays like this make it a little easier to support McCain even though this article has nothing to do with him.

Enjoy, or not.

David Mamet: Why I Am No Longer a ‘Brain-Dead Liberal’

Well, we get what we pay for. We have officially paid for George W. Bush. McCain is no conservative but he is a heck of a lot better than Obama or Clinton. It is surprising that polls show Obama only slightly behind McCain among Republicans. That clearly shows how disillusioned our party is. Obama is a socialist, but he is a nice socialist. He has the charisma and the ability to articulate and sell the extreme socialist, liberal agenda like no one else. I must admit he is impressive. In reality, we as a country might need an Obama figure to show us the “Clinton” years again. It will then swing back our way, but probably not for another 8 years. That is my assessment and it is obviously open to criticism.

McCain will have to answer too many questions about his record. He will be fighting his way out of a hole the entire election as he tries to cover up / repair his record to make him palatable for the right wing (which he needs a good percentage of to even have a chance). On the flip side, he will go into the election with a lot more cash on hand. The current battle between Clinton and Obama will suck them dry. I have not looked into this but I bet many have maxed out to either candidate and will be unable to help the Democratic winner in their final push. Obama’s fundraising ability scares me more because a lot of his base is young and idealistic and will chuck money at him to beat McCain (McCain wears the scarlet letter R next to his name; R = W). Obama’s average donation is pretty low which leaves more room to nickel and dime his way to a hefty campaign coffer.

Here is a list of things that McCain will have to explain / punt on.

1.) Bush’s Tax Cuts: He voted against them in 2001 and for them in 2006
2.) Immigration: He supports amnesty
3.) Iraq: Supports the war and has made fairly bold statements about the length of time he is willing to remain there
4.) Campaign Finance: McCain-Feingold – I will say no more

On top of these pretty big issues, he will need to defeat Obama’s (assuming the Democrats do not bite the hand that feeds them; a.k.a the African American vote) anti-war, pro-socialized medicine, populist message of hope.

I think this may be too much for the 71 year old man.

CONGRATS ANDY!!!
A lot has happened in the last eight months. Something about blogging really takes it out of you. You’re constantly reading and talking to people and you just get burnt out. It has been great to unplug during the last primary season. I stayed on the outside and just observed. I wasn’t sure if I was even going to start writing again. Watching the Harris vs. Gilchrest vs. Pipkin battle has restored some of my fervor for all things Republican. The 1st District will finally have a Representative that is a true conservative. Gilchrest’s RINOism will soon be a thing of the past. I was not happy when Pipkin jumped in the race but it looks like it was Harris’ saving grace. Splitting the Eastern Shore vote was key and his campaign was the only visible campaign in Harford and Baltimore Counties. I have not had a lot of time to look at the numbers but it was certainly a convincing win. When I saw Gilchrest’s mailer “Defender of Taxpayers” that was printed at taxpayer expense, I knew he was in trouble. Harris had a lot of money and organization and Gilchrest has duped too many people for too long for them to continue to believe he was a conservative. Good riddance.

Since I stopped writing Senator Hooper passed away. He will truly be missed. I was thinking of the farm fair and I just can’t imagine him not being there. It just won’t be right.

Delegate Glassman became Senator Glassman, and rightfully so.

Nationally, John McCain has become the front runner for the GOP. I read a few posts I had that talked about the problem this group of Republicans would have uniting conservatives and that has certainly come true. Giuliani had a tremendous crash and burn. Fred Thompson was a colossal bust. The only real conservative in the race, Ron Paul, sounds more and more like the Lorax of the conservative movement. I’m still not behind McCain but I don’t have much of a choice do I?

And of course I can’t leave out our genius governor. Let’s raise taxes in a recession…..brilliant!

So, it’s good to write again. Let’s see if I can come up with something worth commenting on. See ya soon.

I’ll be back soon.

“Speaking as a Former Fetus…” at TownHall.com

For those of you who do not get The Aegis, there was an article about Harkins and his apparent close ties with O'Malley.  From the last few lines it sounded like Harkins didn't like the idea of the article.  Then again, it was good press for O'Malley; his boss.  Situations such as these really put people in tough positions.  Many people have resigned rather than participate in the O'Malley administration.  Others have been removed and many others, like Harkins, have been kept around for some reason.  I am not sure if Harkins could be fired anyways.  I remember something about a 6 year term.  That may not be correct.  Either way, Harkins has chosen to continue under O'Malley.  He must not be repulsed enough by Marty, he really loves environmental services, or he just really enjoys that paycheck.

Many back here have insinuated that Harkins still pulls the strings on the GOBN.  Every once in a while I will ask, "Who is behind candidate X?" and sometimes the answer is still Harkins.  This article may end the Harkin's Era in Harford County.  Opponents can now forever refer to his "close ties" with O'Malley.  I have also heard talk of Harkins coming back to be sheriff one day.  That actually sounds like the perfect exit strategy from the O'Malley administration in four years when Bane takes on Craig.

Anyway you spin this it is probably not good for Harkins political future back at home.  Then again, he has been in high paying jobs long enough; who needs work anymore. 

Many candidates are now coming to the surface on both sides of the isle. I have been speaking about this with several friends lately and I personally believe that George W. Bush has done such great harm to the Republican name that we may be forced to support a Pro-Choice Republican just to stay alive as a Party. I also think that this could be the beginning of the end of the Republican Party as we know it. If the Republicans are forced to support a liberal just to keep the Party afloat we will lose the far right. I would also say that we would lose more on the far right that we would gain from democrats who are just left of center. We have always been able to choose a conservative candidate. We may not have this choice in 2008. Sure we can vote for a conservative like Brownback, but can a conservative win in 2008. I would say no. Bush has painted himself a conservative. This could not be further from the truth. Bush is no conservative. The war is viewed as a conservative's war. Republicans were forced to support Bush or risked being viewed as pro-terrorist. Conservative after conservative supported the President with the "stay the course" garbage. We can't run from that now.

The Republican frontrunner's include McCain, Guliani, and Romney. Could someone help me find the conservative in that list? That's right, there isn't one. Many times people don't necessarily vote for the best person but rather for the person they think can win. Many Republicans will vote for the person that they feel has the best chance to beat Hillary, Obama, or Edwards. To be honest, I prefer Obama from that bunch. The other two are bad news in almost every way.

The major dilemma here is that we might not be able to support a true conservative. While conservatives like Newt Gingrich are now championing conservative causes like the abolishment of the 9th Curcuit, they have a huge uphill climb ahead of them. They will be outspent and out politicked. Imagine a primary where Republicans beat up on Republicans for not being liberal enough. We may see this over the next two years. Whatever they do, run far and fast from Bush.

Once again I hope I am wrong.

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Conservative Cathy sent me a link to a news clip on Senator Hooper.  For those of you who didn't know he is currently battling cancer.  I have always supported Senator Hooper and this is just another reason why.  Certainly keep him in your prayers.

http://www.wbaltv.com/video/11086301/index.html?taf=bal

For those faithful viewers and contributors out there I thought you might enjoy this.  I have set up an online store at Cafepress.com.  Cafepress.com is a site that allows you to sell merchandise without actually having it printed before you sell it.  For those of you who enjoy the site it is also a way to help keep it going.  I am open to suggestions as well.  If you want a shirt that says, "STOP HarfordRepublican.com" we can probably do that too.  Check it out.  The mugs make great gifts.  I am going to buy one or two myself.  I heard David Craig is a fan of the site so you might want to send him a present or two.

Go to www.cafepress.com/HarCoRepublican to see the store.  If you can think of some clever "sayings" to help promote the site, send them as a comment.