Firearms & Freedom

But Cam did right before I was going to write this.

There has been a lot of talk about question 59 on the Obama job app questionnaire:

Do you or any members of your immediate family own a gun? If so, provide complete ownership and registration information. Has the registration ever lapsed? Please also describe how and by whom it is used, and whether it has been the cause of any personal injuries or property damage.

While the implications of having this question in the questionnaire are disturbing, showing a disdain for gun owners, I want to raise question 61:

Have you had any association with any person, group or business venture that could be used - even unfairly - to impugn or attack your character and qualifications for government service?

Because we wouldn’t want to have anyone with ties to unrepentant terrorists, hate-spewing anti-American preachers, groups tied to vote fraud, shady land developers, or anything like that in the highest levels of government.

If the Republicans want to regain control of Congress, and eventually the Presidency, I think they need to do a few things. First of all: You are Republicans, you are supposed to be the party of smaller Government, lower taxes, and smaller budgets. When you run on those principles, you win. When you don’t, you lose. If you want an example, I can provide 2. Paul Ryan, who is fairly hard Right, won big in areas of his district that went hard for Obama, and Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, who is another strong Conservative, who has won in Milwaukee County in landslides, the same year they voted heavily for Democrat Jim Doyle for Governor.

On that note, don’t think that running to the middle is going to get the mainstream media to like you. They won’t like you. Most of the media likes Liberal Democrats, not Republicans that try to act like Liberals. Furthermore, don’t confuse the mainstream media with mainstream voters. They aren’t the same thing. You need mainstream voters, the mainstream media doesn’t matter.

Secondly, you need a big vision. You need to take the Conservative ideals mentioned above, and craft a vision around them. Cutting taxes, balancing the budget, eliminating earmarks (which you have all become too addicted to,) and restoring liberties are good places to start.

You also need a person to spearhead that vision. An article in The Wall Street Journal recommends Paul Ryan, and I would agree.

Spending the next 2 to 4 years whining about the Democrats isn’t going to get you very far. You might luck out, and the Democrats might over reach themselves, and you will regain control of one or both of the halls of Congress. But if you want any certainty, you need to cast a vision that the American people can identify with. It needs to be big, it needs to be detailed, and above all, it needs to be truly Conservative. And you need to stick to it. The media is going to say bad things about you. You have to ignore them. Doing that, I believe you can win.

And once you have won, you need to remember the ideals that got you there, and not drift to the left like has happened over the last decade.