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Here’s an idea I can get behind.  I was thinking about this recently, Fred Thompson would provide great leadership and vision to the rebuilding of the Republican Party.  This would provide a quick answer to those who will want to move the party away from conservatism.  A focus on federalism wouldn’t be a bad thing either.

Republicans don’t just need a manager. Republicans need a communicator and a visionary. That’s Fred Thompson.

So, what if the Republican Party split the role within the RNC, tasking one of the potential candidates with the Management role, while Fred Thompson took the Leadership role? If there is any figure on our present stage who can credibly and powerfully take on Democratic leadership, it is Fred Thompson.

The progressives and netroots did not take over the Democratic Party by nominating Howard Dean for Presidential; they did it by putting Howard Dean in charge of the Democratic Party. If Republicans want to take back the Republican Party, then we may need to draft Fred Thompson again.

h/t: Instapundit.

Visit FredPAC for a longer, more detailed address.

Fred Thompson spent his time in the primaries calling for a return to the “first principles” of our government and encouraging the idea of “citizen servants” who are regular people who rise from private life into public service and back again, always putting country first.  I guess he sees some of that in Sarah Palin (no surprise there).  During his speech to the RNC tonight, Fred had this to say about Governor Palin:

She is from a small town, with small town values, but that’s not good enough for those folks who are attacking her and her family.

Some Washington pundits and media big shots are in a frenzy over the selection of a woman who has actually governed rather than just talked a good game on the Sunday talk shows and hit the Washington cocktail circuit. Well, give me a tough Alaskan Governor who has taken on the political establishment in the largest state in the Union — and won — over the beltway business-as-usual crowd any day of the week.

Let’s be clear … the selection of Governor Palin has the other side and their friends in the media in a state of panic. She is a courageous, successful, reformer, who is not afraid to take on the establishment.

Sound like anyone else we know?

She has run a municipality and she has run a state.

And I can say without fear of contradiction that she is the only nominee in the history of either party who knows how to properly field dress a moose … with the possible exception of Teddy Roosevelt.

She and John McCain are not going to care how much the alligators get irritated when they get to Washington, they’re going to drain that swamp.

I posted this over at WriteInFred.com:

With Mitt Romney suspending his campaign, it is a foregone conclusion that John McCain will be the Republican Party’s nominee for the Presidency. If your state’s primary is on the horizon, DON’T STAY HOME. It is crucial that we not show McCain or the party acceptance through silence. If Conservatives want to have a voice in a McCain White House or the Republican Party in the future, we must stand tall and be heard. Go to your primary and vote for Fred Thompson. If you have to write him in, do so. Now more than ever, it is imperative that we unite together and stand firm before our party is lost to liberalism forever.

John McCain came out and made an effort at mending fences with Conservatives yesterday. To all Conservatives, I remind you of a familiar phrase from Ronald Reagan, “trust, but verify”. Those words could never be more poignant. We failed to unite and rally around one Conservative who values our Constitution, Sovereignty and Freedom. We failed to promote a candidate who truely believes in Free Speech, Secure Borders, Constructionist Judges, and the cause of Federalism. But all is not lost.

If we make our voices heard in the rest of the state primaries, McCain or the party can not dismiss our common cause. The Reagan Revolution and the Conservative Movement are not dead! Make McCain need our support in November, and make him EARN it. When he is in the White House and supporting Conservative issues, we should be his greatest supporters. But when he fails us, we should be his strongest critics. On every issue, every policy, every nuance and every speech… we must make the Conservative position heard. The President and the party must be accountable. Then in 2010 and 2012 we can begin to take back the Party that has left us and the country that is becoming lost.

For the good of our Constitution and our Country, we must continue to fight. We can take our country back!

If Romney drops out of the race, or it becomes painfully obvious that McCain is a lock, it will become even more important to Write-In Fred Dalton Thompson if your state’s primary is coming up. Almost half of the country has voted, but there is another half to go. If the Republican Party is leaving its Conservative voice behind, then we must take it back. We must stand tall and reclaim the high ground. We must be steadfast in the face of a party moving to the left and a Democratic Party moving towards socialism. If ever there was a time for a Conservative Revolution, it is now, before its too late.

Sign the pledge at WriteInFRED.com.

UPDATE: Romney is out. DON’T GIVE UP. DON’T STAY HOME. If your primary is coming up, Write-In Fred for President. When November rolls around, even if you can’t/won’t vote for McCain, make sure you vote for true conservatives running for other offices.

Today, virtually half of the nation has the chance to do something for the country. Half of our country is called on to be patriots. Half of our citizens have the option of sacrificing a brief moment of their time and perform their civic duty for the greater good. Its Super Tuesday, and if you are in one of 24 states, today it is your right, duty, and it should be your honor to vote (24 states have primaries today with 43 primaries in total - 21 republican primaries and 22 democratic primaries).

Those who are so fortunate will be a part of something great. For today its not every vote that counts, its every vote in a little less than half of the country that matters. And that half will likely decide who our presidential candidates will be. It may not be over after tonight, but it will be a lot closer. Half of the populous gets to be heard while only a few already have been. The rest of us may not even matter. I won’t. In North Carolina our primary isn’t until May 6th… by then this contest will likely have come to a close. I hope not, but history is not in my favor.

And those in that half that care about our country and the purpose of its founding… those that value smaller government, lower taxes, personal responsibility and free will… those that think we are in a monumental fight against Islamic extremism and terrorists who seek to destroy our next breath… those of you who want to protect our borders, our sovereignty, and our honor…. I beg of you to vote for a true Conservative in this race. We have to take our country back before we lose ourselves to socialism and global greed. We have to take our nation back before our sovereign rights and Constitutional guarantees are gone forever.

I can’t tell you who to vote for, but if you agree with the above than I can tell you who doesn’t deserve your vote. John McCain certainly does not. Mike Huckabee does not. Ron Paul does not. Obviously Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama do not.

That leaves only two choices:

1. Vote against John McCain and cast your ballot for Mitt Romney
2. Write-in Fred Thompson and send a message to the party and the American people that we want to return to our Federalist foundation and take our country back.

Ideally, I’d like to vote the later, but fearing a John McCain Republican nominee as much as any Conservative should…. if I were to vote I would probably vote Romney. Romney is the closest thing to a Conservative left in the race. He has the business and economic credentials to set our fiscal policy on the right track and he’s also closer to being the citizen servant that our founders envisioned running for office. He’s not a career politician who has spent decades attacking conservative ideals and he’s not beholden to special interests or politicians across the aisle.

He’s no Fred Thompson… but he’s no John McCain either. And for that reason alone, he is worthy of your vote.

Stopped by IMAO and found a link to this piece by Kathryn Jean Lopez at National Review. As Frank J says, its a “must read for Fred Thompson supporters”. I’d like to add that its a must read for anyone who is curious why so many of us so passionately wanted Fred Thompson as our next President. Finally, we had someone who gets it and who was above the typical political nonsense. The framers didn’t intend for career politicians but rather citizen servants who spent their time in private life but served when called… citizen servants who knew it wasn’t about them or their ambitions, but the country we so dearly love. Fred Thompson was and continues to be a citizen servant, and we all saw a bit of hope for him to return our country to its prior glory.

I saw some blog comments mentioning putting a bumper sticker like this on your own red trucks. I thought it was a great idea. So here you go.

It does bring up a serious question though. What are conservatives going to do? Are we going to stay home and not vote? Are we going to choose between the lessor of two evils? Are we going to choose the most conservative of the rest and try to influence them? Are we going to write-in Fred’s name and hope to send a message to the party that seems to be leaving us?

I haven’t been able to find a copy of the statement, but I heard one of the talking heads on FoxNews read a piece of it. They must be overjoyed knowing they had a hand in controlling the process. I still plan on voting for Fred in the primary, although now it will be by write-in. I encourage other FredHeads out there to do the same. I might write-in his name in the general election too, we’ll just have to see what happens between now and then.

Mike Huckabee has supported at least 3 different Constitutional Amendments during his campaign for the Presidency. He wants a Constitutional Amendment banning abortions, a Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage, and lately a Constitutional Amendment denying citizenship to people who were born here if their parents are here illegally. He apparently also wants to change the 16th Amendment as its current form would prohibit his Fair Tax proposal.

Let me make clear that I agree that we should stop abortions and that marriage should only be between a man and a woman. I also think that our current tax code needs to be repealed and something like a flat tax or the Fair Tax ought to replace it.

But agreeing with the principles does not mean I agree with the idea of Constitutional Amendments whenever we see a societal ill that needs repair.

Our country was founded to be a group of independent states that were joined together by a common defense and a restrained federal government that was representative of each individual state to act on behalf of the whole. It was formed like a co-op of businesses who group together to gain greater bargaining power, improved trade ability, and increased protection from external forces.

As such, our Constitution was written to grant only a limited number of necessary powers to the federal government, retaining most of the powers and rights to each individual state. That is why our union is called the United States of America. Even in our name we proclaim the value and power of the individual state.

It is with that history and those principles of limited federal government in mind that while I support stopping abortion I reject the idea of proposing a Constitutional Amendment at this time to do so.

It is liberal idea to increase government powers and write new laws to regulate behavior. It is a liberal idea to legislate in order to prevent activity. It is a liberal mindset that thinks the answer to all ills is increased legislation and a reduction of state’s powers and personal liberty.

Just because I agree with a principle doesn’t mean I agree with the means. Suggesting Constitutional Amendments to correct every principle we hold dear will lead to an even stronger federal government and a weakening of states’ rights. And what happens when our principles are in the minority? Once we have set a precedent to use Constitutional Amendments to correct everything we think is wrong… what happens when people we disagree with are in the majority and create their own Amendments to protect against us?

A true conservative does not suggest a Constitutional Amendment to solve every problem, because a true conservative is serious about limited government and reduced federal powers. No matter how bad Huckabee and others want to convince you otherwise, the term “conservative” means something, and a limited federal government is at its core. Its not lip service, and its not something that can be dismissed on a whim… limited government is the central ideal on how all issues should be addressed.

Its sad that Mike Huckabee himself and his surrogates have misrepresented Fred Thompson’s view on abortion and same sex marriage because he holds to his conservative principles. Its even more sad the many people calling themselves conservatives didn’t see right through it.

Fred Thompson wants to stop abortion, protect the traditional definition of marriage, secure our borders and fix our tax code. He just doesn’t want to sacrifice his principles and our Constitution to do so.

Make no mistake, the liberal precedent of legislating every issue is what needs to be stopped. Just because we like the issue doesn’t mean we should turn a blind eye to the method. Anyone who doesn’t consider that before suggesting changes to our laws or Constitution is no conservative.

Fred Thompson is the only conservative in the Presidential race tonight. I pray that statement holds true tomorrow. The others remaining are unacceptable on the premise of conservatism and unworthy of our nation’s highest post. And if we lose candidate Fred Thompson tomorrow because of this money and media controlled process, than it is Conservatives and our Constitution that have truly lost.

Stevan Stevlic posted this today on Fred08.com.

Here is another reason for Fred to stay in through the convention. In the election of 1860 the candidate that was fourth (fyi that’s worse than third) in delegate count became the nominee. He only won one state going into the convention, his own home state. He won at the convention because he was the only candidate that was acceptable to all the wings of the party. That candidate was Abraham Lincoln.

Granted Lincoln didn’t have to deal with the MSM.

Mark Levin has written a wonderful piece about John McCain and why Conservatives need to speak up now. Below is an excerpt, read the whole thing here.

There are other reasons to speak out now, and loudly, against a McCain candidacy — before it is too late for the movement and the party. Do we conservatives believe in the Constitution or not? Do we believe in as much open political speech as possible or not? The McCain supporters rightly point out that free speech has never been a pure principle. But wild swings of change, aimed at empowering the federal government (or more particularly, incumbent politicians) against citizen activism prior to an election, is exceedingly imprudent. And prudence is a hallmark of conservative thought, or at least used to be. McCain-Feingold is without question the greatest assault on free political speech since Buckley v. Valeo, and is far more draconian. And, once again, McCain’s rhetoric as its leading advocate was dishonest. He repeatedly used the word “corruption” to describe those “forces” who aligned against his effort. As with Rumsfeld, he targeted a member of the Federal Election Commission, Bradley Smith, for disdain and worse. McCain filed a brief in the Supreme Court with several Democrats against the Wisconsin Right to Life organization challenging its right to run informative ads prior to an election. Wisconsin Right to Life won. Ironically, as best I can tell, this is the most aggressive action he has taken in all his years in Washington on the right-to-life issue, which probably explains why the vast majority of these groups have endorsed other candidates. The point is that McCain’s easy disregard of first principles, in this case political speech, runs deep with many conservatives and is not easily downplayed. (And the fact that President Bush signed the bill is no justification.)

Much has been written about the three legs of the conservative movement and how Mike Huckabee’s campaign has resonated with the family-values folks. Well, he doesn’t appear to have won over a majority of those voters. But I’ll leave that for another day. Much has been written about the national-security leg of the movement, including by VDH (albeit with its selective attention to aspects of the McCain record). But not enough attention is given to the economic leg, which has much to be concerned about in McCain. Some define McCain’s as a spending hawk for his efforts in ending earmarks and opposition to certain spending programs. But the McCain record is much more than that. As mentioned earlier, the McCain-Kennedy amnesty bill was among the most irresponsible and reckless budgetary and economic legislative efforts of all time. Moreover, McCain has repeatedly demanded that federal power be used to tame perfectly legitimate private enterprises, from energy and pharmaceutical companies, to media companies and anything else he considers “corrupt” or “the enemy” or what have you. And as I first noted here, McCain’s claim during recent debates that he opposed the 2001/2003 Bush tax cuts because Congress refused to cut spending is highly misleading. Time and again McCain resorted to class warfare propaganda, asserting that he opposed the tax cuts because they “favored the rich.” He has embraced the same approach in the McCain-Kennedy-Edwards bill, a phony “patients’ bill of rights” that would essentially empower further the trial bar to sue insurance companies and other businesses involved in the provision of health care, including employers. And his “re-importation” of drugs position, which he claims will reduce the cost of prescriptions in our country, comes straight from Hillary Clinton’s heath-care task force. He would drive much needed research and development from those American companies that are inventing and producing most of the world’s life-saving and life-extending drugs.

McCain’s position on the environment is every bit as radical as any of the most liberal Democrats in the Senate. He would empower the federal government to regulate and tax the private sector in ways that it has never before. He is convinced that man is responsible for global warming, such as it is, and consequently the federal government must act to control man. McCain has proposed everything from a massive database of carbon emitters, capping carbon emissions, trading carbon emissions, taxing carbon emissions, and so forth. Of course, like most big-government politicians, little concern is paid to the Constitution or economic outcomes, including forcing more smoke-stack industries and their jobs offshore.

I’m concerned. I just popped by Fred08.com and the Red Truck is gone from the front page. With the calls for donations not as pronounced on the front page, is the only worthy man in the race actually calling it quits? I hope not. I sincerely hope not.

If Fred decides to hang it up, then I fear all is lost and the Reagan Coalition that has been talked about so much in recent weeks is truly dead. There is no one left to carry the mantle for true Conservatives in 2008. No one left worth fighting for who will fight for us.

Its sad. If Fred is gone then the win goes to the media and the liberals. We’ve let them dictate what’s relevant. We’ve let them decide what’s important. We’ve let them control the debate and alter the original intent of our democracy. Friends, we have had one man in the race, Fred Thompson, who stands for what the framers stood for and if yesterday was his last stand than we have all let him and our country down.

With Duncan Hunter gone and now possibly Fred, the only people left are liberals verging on socialism, and liberals disguised as republicans. Either way, our country and its greatness are in peril. Never before have our ideals been challenged on so many fronts. From the war on terror, to socialized health care, to abortion, gun control, an overwhelming tax system, illegal immigration, an overbearing government, attacks on the institutions of family and marriage, the economy, and a collapsing federalist system… we are at a crossroads on multiple fronts.

Obama and the democrats are right… we do need change, but not the kind they are proposing. We don’t need to continue to venture down the dismal path of socialist propaganda, populist policies, or government theft of wealth, loss of responsibility and hope. What we need is to return to the ideals of which our country was founded: limited government, self-determination, personal responsibility, local governance, the rule of law, and inalienable rights as given by God All Mighty. Unfortunately, if Fred is gone, there will be no one left in the race who believes any of that.

The remaining choice will be between wolves or wolves in sheep’s clothing. Either way we’ve lost.

I pray today as I did yesterday and the day before… let a good man help take this country back in the direction it needs. Let us elect someone who can face our challenges on all fronts and bring us from the brink of societal collapse. Fred Thompson is the only man with the courage, character, consistency, and commitment to bring us there. I hate that we might have lost our chance.

Fred, please stay in the race. We need you.

and here are the words of a man worthy of your vote.

“The Founding Fathers had it right from the very beginning,” Thompson said. “The wisdom of the ages, the fact that our basic rights come from God and not from government, the notion that a government big enough and powerful enough to give you anything is big enough and powerful enough to take anything away from you…respect for the rule of law…the institution of the market economy…[the belief] that if a person earned a dollar, that dollar belonged in the person’s pocket…” Those should be our guiding principles, he said.

“We’re having a little discussion in the party nowadays about what that means for the future,” Thompson told the crowd. “Some people think we need to get away from the Reagan coalition, because it doesn’t exist any more.” The audience erupted into boos. “Some people seem to think that we need to be a little bit more what they called progressive…Well, I reject that concept with every fiber of my being.”

Thanks to Maritime Sentry for posting this video of Fred Thompson’s appearance on CNN yesterday. Fred continues to call the media out and rise above the nonsense. He is, by far, the best candidate to lead this country forward.

When I first was inspired by Governor Huckabee I submitted this site to his blog roll. I let the campaign and my visitors know that I was not decided on Governor Huckabee but was leaning his way. They not only included me, but mentioned American Elephant on Huckabee’s blog. I was honored at the time and a bit humbled. It said a lot to me about a campaign that would include someone who wasn’t in the bag, but was publicly on the fence and critical of Huckabee and was openly still deciding on a candidate.

Times have changed. The more I have learned the more I have backed away. I announced my decision to fully support Fred Thompson on January 3rd. But my change has gone even further. I have not just chosen the better of two candidates…. I am fully committed to one and feel betrayed by the other. It is with that sentiment that I sent the following letter to the Huckabee campaign, asking for them to remove American Elephant from their blogroll. I have never hidden my struggle with choosing a candidate, and I was admittedly very pleased when the Huckabee campaign linked to this blog. Therefore I find it only appropriate to also publicly display the e-mail I just sent their campaign asking to now be removed from that very blogroll.

Please remove my blog, American Elephant Blog (elephantusa.blogspot.com) from your Blogroll. I have been waffling about Governor Huckabee for a while, but his latest comments over the last few weeks have given me no choice but to completely withdraw my support. Governor Huckabee doesn’t seem to stand on any of his principles (like another former Governor from Arkansas). I expect more from my Presidential candidate and from a Baptist Minister. Huckabee should be a beacon of character and principles, someone we can all be proud represents us. But his latest change on the Constitution as a living document, his intellectual inconsistency on illegal immigration, his change in stance on a national smoking ban, wanting to close Gitmo, etc all leave me unable to honestly support the man who does not have the strength to maintain his convictions.

I feel lied to and betrayed by the man who portrayed himself as a conservative Christian with principles. I don’t question his faith but I do question his courage, character, conservatism and consistency. I can not support him for the Presidency and request that my link be removed from his blog roll.

Thank you.

American Elephant
elephantusa.blogspot.com