Valid Criticism

Since you claim to be a conservative, how about writing some posts on the great republican congressmen that are now serving. How about a comment on the great speech President Bush gave our nation last night. How about a post about the great conservative candidates running for President. How about trying to be less divisive and more positive by posting about conservative values. Your posts are the kind of partisan stuff that is tearing our country apart

This note was from anonymous in response to my Obama/Kennedy piece, and I thank this person for pointing out something that I will try to remember in the future. I'm not sure if the person was a conservative asking for representation, or a liberal who was being facetious, but in any case I find their criticism has some validity.

Having accepted and acknowledged this observation on my writings, let me say that I will probably never be able to completely stop poking fun at liberals. In addition to more sanguine observations, using humor to make a point is such an integral part of my personality that it just naturally flows over into my writing.

The Clinton/Obama piece was meant primarily as political observation, not humor. I have not decided who will get my vote in November, but I can assure you it will probably not be a Democrat. Just because I probably won't vote for a Democrat doesn't mean I can't make observations on their activities.

I honestly believe that Senator Kennedy's endorsement means next to nothing for Senator Obama, and was intended as a slap in the face to the Clintons. As Democratic strategist Bob Beckel has noted, Senator Kennedy's endorsement has served to split the Democrat Party in half. Loyal Democrat's need not fear however, because once the nominee is chosen, the party will again unite.

My prediction for the Dem slate: President Hillary Clinton / Vice President Barack Obama. Improbable? Jack Kennedy couldn't stand Lyndon Johnson, and vice versa, and Ronald Reagan was not very fond of George the first either. FDR thought so little of Harry Truman that Truman had no idea that an atomic bomb was under construction until he became President. I understand the need for security, but you'd think a President would let his Vice-President know what's going on wouldn't you?

On the Republican side, if you're like me, you're not at all thrilled with your choice of candidates and you don't really know who offers the best chance of success in November. It is between McCain and Romney, all the others are ancient history even if they don't know it yet.

So where does that leave us?

John McCain is an honest-to-God American hero, and if he were a true conservative there would be no doubt as to who would win the nomination. Mitt Romney has business acumen, he did a great job with the Olympics, but he got elected as the Governor of Massachusetts, and you don't get that job without pulling in a lot of Democrat votes. He got those votes because he has demonstrated an ability to be on both sides of an issue.

Both McCain and Romney have shown an ability to work with the opposition and deliver things such as campaign finance reform and health care in Massachusetts. My deepest concern: McCain's apparent willingness to concede key conservative points just to get a deal. I won't even get into how bad a piece of legislation campaign finance was, but its the kind of legislation you end up with when you're willing to abandon your principles.

So there you have it - an honest evaluation of both sides from the perspective of an upstate New York conservative. You may recall that I did a piece sometime ago after my son had asked me who I would vote for if I had to vote for a Democrat. My answer at that time was Hillary Clinton, and it still is for one very simple reason:

Hillary Clinton, as divisive as she is, will protect this country with an aggressiveness normally associated with a mother bear and her cubs. I trust very little else about her, but I would trust her to protect the country. I'm not being facetious - she disgusts me in many ways, but my primary concern is the safety of this country, and there I have no doubt that she would be a pit bull.

Anonymous: I will try to focus more on conservative values and principles - it's sometimes hard to remember that you can't change someones mind by denigrating their point of view (regardless of how much fun you have doing it), you need to provide the information and let them reach their own conclusions. Thanks for your insight.

One final note regarding the media. The photo showing Obama looking away as Clinton reaches to shake Kennedy's hand is being used to try and create a story where none exists. Leave it to our stalwart journalists to focus on the inane - and that includes Fox News.