The World is a Strange Place

Today Fred Thompson ended his campaign for the Republican nomination.

Apparently Heath Ledger was so shocked and dismayed that he promptly fell over dead.

Huckabee Endorsed by Republican Sportshooters Association

I'm a few days late seeing this one but according to Mike Huckabee's website, he recently received the endorsement of the Republican Sportshooters Association. (heck, I didn't even know there was such an association but I like it)

You may ask yourself "Why is he checking out Huckabee's news releases?" Well I'm still trying to make up my mind.

What I've figured out so far:

Guiliani - lots of name/face recognition ("America's mayor" for one) but a LOUSY record on abortion, immigration and gun control. I'm really hoping that a true conservative gets the GOP nomination.

Thompson - lots of name/face recognition (Law & Order, several movies, a stint in Congress) and from what I can tell, Fred is solid Pro-Life, solid anti-amnesty and a solid supporter of the 2nd Amendment.
[ Here is my more thorough analysis of "Rudy vs Fred" ]


Huckabee - some name/face recognition (as former Governor of Arkansas he claims that he has "beaten the 'Clinton machine' twice"). Mike states that he has "been in the pro-life camp since [he] was a teenager" and his record as Governor supports a strong Pro-Life position. Some have debated this but his quotes need to be taken in context.
From what I can tell, Huckabee is anti-amnesty when it comes to people who broke the law to get and/or stay here BUT NOT their children. Some have taken his remarks and actions to be a "soft" position on immigration but not when you see the whole picture. (The "drive-by media" is so good at twisting soundbites)
And, according to the Republican Sportshooters Association and ontheissues.org, Huckabee's position on the 2nd Amendment is right on target. (i'm allowed the occasional pun, yes?)

Romney - some name/face recognition (former governor of Massachusetts - how did a Republican get elected governor of "Kennedyland"?) One of my friends is quite vocal about the fact that he won't vote for the man simply because he's a Mormon. I have to agree that if a person can be duped by Joseph Smith I'm not real comfortable with that person being the one on the business end of "the red phone". That being said, I think it is frankly contrary to the principles that our country was founded on to vote for or against someone simply on the basis of their religion. Not to worry - I believe there are several (non-religious) reasons that Romney is not the right candidate for the GOP.
Mitt claimed that he said he was "personally against abortion" but his record as Governor was decidely wishy-washy (at best). His ads make him out to be a firm, "black and white" Pro-Life candidate but his change to a Pro-Life stance has been a recent one. Romney was not as tough on immigration as he would like for us to believe. And all the quotes that I find for him on the subject of gun control are just vague. I could argue any one of these for either side (so he's NOT clearly a defender of the 2nd Amendment). And don't even get me started on his use of the useless phrase "assault weapon".

McCain - quite a bit of name/face recognition (he's been a senator for as long as I can remember and chaired a few important committees). What can you say about John McCain on the issues? The ONLY thing that is consistent about John McCain is that, given any issue (abortion, immigration, gun control, etc), he will consistently make every effort to straddle the fence and take no solid stand on anything. Yes, McCain has made some good statements but his statements kowtow to his audience - not the kind of guy that we need in the White House.

Will the real Conservative please stand up?

Rev Donald Wildmon, founder of the American Family Association, has endorsed GOP candidate Mike Huckabee.

Former Arkansas governor Huckabee has, from what I can tell, consistently maintained conservative points of view. That's not to say that I am endorsing him. As yet, I have not picked a horse in this race. (Give me a break - it's not even January 2008 yet)

And while Guliani has been endorsed by Pat Robertson, some have stated that Robertson's action is "beyond the pale" and he has "abandoned the beliefs he supposedly defends". Robertson has been losing support (and he's not even running for anything) for quite some time. One commentator has stated that Robertson's decision is just business - follow the money.

Brownback, who was looking good to social conservatives, dropped out of the race and announced his support of McCain. In an unrelated but interesting note, supposedly McCain has referred to Robertson as "an agent of intolerance" and has said that Robertson's support of Guiliani has left him "speechless".

And (I'm always the last to find out things like this) Fred Thompson is "bleeding staffers". There has to be a better way to put that.

Fred vs Rudy - ontheissues.org

This information is from ontheissues.org
They list Fred Thompson as a "Moderate Conservative" and Rudy Guliani as "Moderate Libertarian Conservative"

Here are some one-line summaries of statements the fellas have made on four issues:Abortion, Gun Control, Immigration and War & Peace. Go to each man's ontheissues.org page to get the full quotes they made on these issues. I have put my opinion of the candidate's stance in italics following each set of issue statements.

Fred Thompson on Abortion:
Roe v. Wade was bad law and bad science. (Jun 2007)
Appoint strict constructionist judges. (Jun 2007)
Has never been pro-choice despite 1994 news reports. (Jun 2007)
Voted YES on maintaining ban on Military Base Abortions. (Jun 2000)
Voted YES on banning partial birth abortions. (Oct 1999)
Voted YES on banning human cloning. (Feb 1998)
Fred is strong Pro-Life.

Rudy Guliani on Abortion:
Ultimate decision by woman, her conscience & her doctor. (Aug 2007)
Allowing choice keeps government out of people's lives. (May 2007)
Seek bipartisan ways to reduce abortion & increase adoption. (May 2007)
Giuliani donated to Planned Parenthood throughout 1990s. (May 2007)
Ok to repeal Roe v. Wade, but ok to view it as precedent too. (May 2007)
Allow states to fund or not fund abortion. (May 2007)
Encourage adoptions; ban partial-birth abortion. (May 2007)
Embryonic stem cell research ok if limited properly. (May 2007)
FactCheck: Encouraged adoptions; but over-stated results. (May 2007)
Pro-choice; no ban on partial-birth abortions. (Dec 1999)
Rudy is Pro-Choice but is trying to appear "centrist".

Fred Thompson on Gun Control:
Allowing concealed carry could have limited VA Tech massacre. (Apr 2007)
Voted NO on background checks at gun shows. (May 1999)
Voted NO on more penalties for gun & drug violations. (May 1999)
Voted YES on loosening license & background checks at gun shows. (May 1999)
Voted YES on maintaining current law: guns sold without trigger locks. (Jul 1998)
Fred is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment.

Rudy Guliani on Gun Control:
Focus on criminals, not on guns. (Sep 2007)
NYC gun control laws made NYC safest big city in US. (Sep 2007)
Gun control reduces urban crime; no effect on hunting. (Feb 2007)
NYC sued two dozen major gun manufacturers and distributors. (Jun 2000)
All gun owners should pass written test. (Mar 2000)
Rudy supports Gun Control.

Fred Thompson on Immigration:
Opposes amnesty in any form. (Jun 2007)
Nation loses sovereignty if it cannot secure its own borders. (Apr 2007)
Voted YES on allowing more foreign workers into the US for farm work. (Jul 1998)
Voted YES on visas for skilled workers. (May 1998)
Voted YES on limit welfare for immigrants. (Jun 1997)
Fred is a supporter of Border Security (but he could have done better).

Rudy Guliani on Immigration:
Declared NYC a sanctuary city, and crime fell. (Sep 2007)
Need tamper-proof IDs, and database for immigrants. (Jun 2007)
Reform bill fails to document who left US and who's here. (Jun 2007)
Shouldn't be debating LEGAL immigration, only ILLEGAL. (Jun 2007)
Allow immigrants to work, with tamper-proof ID cards. (May 2007)
Change rule barring immigrants from running for president. (May 2007)
Supports Senate guest worker plan & path to citizenship. (Nov 2006)
Rudy seems to support Border Security but he needs to understand - there is no such thing as "tamper-proof" only "tamper-resistant".

Fred Thompson on War and Peace:
I would do essentially what the president's doing in Iraq. (Jun 2007)
Take any chance to not get run out of Iraq. (Jun 2007)
Internationalizing war effort will not win the war. (Jun 2007)
President must decide on war based on unclear evidence. (Jun 2007)
Prophets of doom are wrong--we can't cut-and-run. (Jun 2007)
Goal of Iraqi enemies is to demoralize us. (Jun 2007)
Serious & painful international sanctions on nuclear Iran. (Jun 2007)
Voted YES on authorizing use of military force against Iraq. (Oct 2002)
Voted YES on allowing all necessary force in Kosovo. (May 1999)
Voted NO on authorizing air strikes in Kosovo. (Mar 1999)
Voted YES on ending the Bosnian arms embargo. (Jul 1995)
Condemns anti-Muslim bigotry in name of anti-terrorism. (Oct 2001)
Move the US Embassy to Jerusalem. (Nov 1995)
Fred is strong on finishing the job we started in Iraq.

Rudy Guliani on War and Peace:
We've never won a war while discussing how to retreat. (Sep 2007)
Negotiate with Iran, but fully prepared for force. (Sep 2007)
Winning in Iraq is one battle in overall terrorist war. (Aug 2007)
Keep option open to attack Al Qaeda in Pakistan unilaterally. (Aug 2007)
Iran's danger is handing nukes over to terrorists. (Jun 2007)
Keep option for tactical nukes to prevent Iranian nukes. (Jun 2007)
Take on nation-building in Iraq, to reduce US terrorism risk. (Jun 2007)
Democrat timetable for retreat "fundamentally irresponsible". (May 2007)
We did not invite the 9/11 attack by attacking Iraq. (May 2007)
FactCheck: Did say GOP is fundamentally irresponsible on war. (May 2007)
Only thing worse than invading Iran is Iran having nukes. (May 2007)
Withdrawal from Iraq encourages future terror attacks. (Nov 2006)
Liberating the Iraqis is something we should be proud of. (Aug 2004)
The terrorists have heard from us. (Aug 2004)
Removing Saddam needed to be accomplished. (Aug 2004)
You are either with civilization or with terrorism. (Oct 2001)
No need to understand reasons for terrorism-just stop them. (Oct 2001)
Iraq: More inspections; counter OPEC’s oil production cuts. (Feb 2000)
Rudy is strong on finishing the job we started in Iraq.

Fred is looking better to me but I'm not quite ready to join the Friends of Fred just quite yet.

Thompson vs Dobson ?

I was kinda stunned when I saw this article on NewsMax. Hopefully this will turn out to be nothing more than "grist for the mill" and not actually a serious conflict between two men that I respect.