This morning, I read a couple of opinion pieces that made me think a little bit differently about the upcoming Republican primaries and the November general election.
In Ann Coulter's weekly column, she identifies two issues she believes are critical in the 2012 elections, explains why, and goes on to break down the candidates' positions on those issues and arriving at the one candidate who she believes will do a good job with them as President. In a rebuttal of sorts, a fellow conservative by the name of Jen Kuznicki blasts Coulter for her endorsement, asserting that she must have lost faith in the conservative ideals she has long championed, and infers that Coulter's main concerns are staying in the spotlight and selling books.
In this painfully long run-up to the 2012 elections, I have been underwhelmed and disappointed by the field of Republican candidates. Herman Cain was my choice, but he's no longer an option. I have problems with each of those remaining, and have a feeling it will be yet another situation where I'm having to hold my nose while casting my vote in November. I really don't like that. But then again, if you read my last blog installment, you know there will never be a viable candidate that lines up perfectly with my views so I just look for one that comes the closest.
Getting back to the point, if you've read my blog over the years, you also know what my number one hot-button issue is with government, policy, and politics - illegal immigration. This happens to be one of the two issues Coulter talks about in her column, and what she says about it is spot-on. Not only is the government's perpetual failure and indifference towards securing the borders and punishing those who are here illegally just plain wrong on it's face, it also has the effect of fundamentally changing the voter base in border states (see California) and eventually, America.
While illegals don't have the right to vote, many of them have family members here that do have that right. And thanks to liberals fighting tooth and nail against any requirement to show valid identification in order to cast a ballot, along with help from liberal fraud machines like ACORN, illegal aliens DO vote. And because Democrats openly support amnesty for illegal aliens and are tepid in their support of tighter border security, they typically get the votes of illegals and their legal family members.
The second issue Coulter cites is Obamacare. We can debate the merits of this legislation until we're blue in the face, but the bottom line is that the vast majority of conservatives believe it to be a perfect example of government overreach. A government takeover is NOT the right way to address the problems with our healthcare system - or any other problems - and we absolutely cannot let Obamacare stand. The United States Supreme Court will hear the case against Obamacare in March, and a ruling is expected before Election Day. In the event that the Court rules even part of it to be constitutional, it's critical that conservatives put forth a candidate for president that can appeal to undecided voters and beat Obama in the general election - otherwise, Obamacare is here to stay. Forever.
The candidate that Coulter endorsed in her column is Mitt Romney. Shocking, indeed, to anyone familiar with Ann Coulter.
Yes, his state healthcare legislation while governor of Massachusetts was the model for Obamacare (often referred to as Obamneycare). But his position is that any legislation concerning healthcare should be taken up at the state level as opposed to the federal level, and he has promised to overturn Obamacare because of that. He claims that Romneycare is popular with residents of that state even today, and it was the right thing for Massachusetts.
I don't care, because I don't live there, but that's fine and dandy if liberal Massachusetts wants to have government run healthcare. Let them have it and pay for it, and leave me alone. He is absolutely right that healthcare mandates are not the federal government's business any more than car insurance is (auto insurance requirements are driven by states, not the feds).
Romney is also one of only two Republican candidates that aren't fellating the business and Latino lobbies when it comes to illegal immigration and border security. He has been steadfast in his support of E-Verify, the system that allows employers to validate prospective employees' eligibility to legally work in this country. Aside from the un-electable Michele Bachmann, every other Republican candidate opposes the use of E-Verify. Consequently, I automatically oppose the election of any of those candidates. Period!
An interesting inference that Kuznicki makes in her piece is that Ann Coulter has lost faith in the American people. This is a point that warrants some exploration, as decades of voter turnout records will tell you that the majority of Americans are apathetic about voting and politics; they simply don't care enough about what's going on around them to take a few hours every four years to study the candidates and then take fifteen minutes to cast their vote. The last presidential election produced hordes of young, new voters thanks to a shrewd strategy by the Obama campaign, targeting a demographic whose lives rise and fall based on the latest American Idol results and wouldn't bother to look too hard at the actual issues. While some of those voters have woken up over the years of Obama-driven misery, most have not and will likely return to the polls, blindly voting for their messiah once more.
Whether Ann Coulter has lost faith in the American people or not is irrelevant. The People gave us Obama, so I'm not inclined to have a whole lot of faith in the majority, myself. However, Coulter is right on the money in her latest view - it's critical to the future of this nation that we secure the border and stop illegal immigration in its tracks, or there won't be another conservative in the White House for decades. And if the Republicans don't beat Obama in 2012, Obamacare will live on and serve as the precedent for more, ever-deeper overreaches by the federal government into states' rights and into the daily lives of individual citizens. And not even the Supreme Court will stop that, since Obama will probably have an opportunity to appoint one or two more Supreme Court justices, shifting the balance of power to the left.
So, it's Mitt Romney for president, folks. Obama's got to go, and we just gotta hope Romney does what he says he'll do, and doesn't do what he says he won't.
Brilliant post. Brain food. Yummy.
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