Live from the RNC... tomorrow

Well, after a lengthy hiatus, I've decided to dust off the keyboard and begin blogging again.

This week I will be at the Republican National Convention and plan to keep you updated on my thoughts, opinions and observations throughout the week.

After today's shocking announcement by John McCain about his VP pick, I expect this trip to Minnesota to be quite an experience. Will party faithful finally warm up to the maverick with newly tapped conservative Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin at his side? Can the GOP manage to have a successful convention while a hurricane is hitting the Gulf Coast? How many contacts will I make?

...Stay tuned to this blog to find out the answers to these questions and much, much more.

Stuck in the past...

Is it 1960?  No, it must be 1980.  Of course not! Apparently it's 2008.

Not that you- or anyone else who has been paying attention to presidential primary race- would know.

I was listening to sound bites of Ted Kennedy's endorsement of Barack Obama today on Rush Limabaugh's radio show.  After listening to the clips I realized that the Republicans aren't the only ones who are running on a platform of their forefathers.  While the GOP field is clinging tightly to Ronald Reagan, it seems that the Democrats are hanging ever so steadfastly onto John F. Kennedy.

Neither of these men are bad choices for presidents that current candidates should cling to.  In fact, it is probably fair to make some comparisons between JFK's ability to bring together this country and Barack Obama's rally of mainstream America.  Mitt Romney may be doing a standup job of molding himself into the candidate that can unite the old three factions of the Conservative Coalition.  Both of the latter, though, are also running on a campaign of change (albeit one long before the other).

But change is not a theme that stops with Barack and Mitt.  Hillary Clinton is advocating for change.  Mike Huckabee says that hope can bring change to his White House.  John McCain wants to change the way the federal government doles out money.

Can any of these candidates actually deliver?  Is change actually on any agenda?  I don't believe so, not when that change is going to come through presidents who served decades ago.

If there is one message I wish the candidates to glean from this point (because I'm sure their senior staffers are glues to this blog), it is that their messages should synchronize.  Or, if all else fails, the Romney camp should realize that one can only say "I'm going to re-unite the Conservative Coaltion" so many times before America gets tired of hearing it.

Gone... and forgotten

I've spent most of the day driving through South Carolina on the way to my friend's beach house- where I'm spending a few days during my week off of school.  In the three or so hours that I spent traveling down the state's stretch I-95 and various other back roads in route to the secluded getaway, I noticed an eery emptiness about the Palmetto state.  

Just last week I made a similar trip from Elon University to Columbia.  As I drove along the roads I noticed campaign signs for various candidates scattered hither, tither and yon.  The volume of signs was evenly matched- if not outnumbered- by the amount of attention the state received (from both the candidates and the media) because of the pending primary contests.

The attention is not surprising, nor is it unreasonable.  In past elections South Carolina has been a make or break state- with no GOP nominee having won their party's nomination without approval of South Carolinians.  I don't believe, however, that the same can be said this year.  Although John McCain certainly received a bump from his victory (and Mike Huckabee may have been dealt a deadly blow) it did not make him the party's poster child like a win would have in years past.  I find this particularly interesting and, as a Romney supporter, encouraging.  In fact, I believe we have Mitt Romney to thank for this year's dull response to the Palmetto primary.  

Mr. Romney is re-defining the way the Republican party chooses its candidate.  Instead of choosing based on the superficial momentum a candidate gains based on the vote of a handful of Iowans and frost-bitten folks in New Hampshire, Mitt's strategy has forced the party to choose its candidate based on substance (and convention delegates).  This strategy, partnered with the six wide-eyed candidates, will set the tone for the eventual nominee's performance in November, too.

This year the candidates quickly packed up their things (and yard signs) in South Carolina and hopped on the next flight to Florida.  Tomorrow's contest should prove to be interesting- with Romney looking to find the lead, McCain looking to keep the lead and Giuliani just looking for a miracle (that will give him the lead).

Regardless of who goes on to win Florida, they are all long gone from South Carolina- a state that is all but forgotten from their minds (unless you're John McCain).

I see a trend

A few weeks ago I got a phone call from my mom.  

"I've decided," she said somewhat begrudgingly, "that you are right."

She was talking about my choice of presidential candidate: Mitt Romney.  I have been a Mitt Romney supporter since he appeared on the front of the Weekly Standard in June 2005.  Yes, I longed for him to be our commander-in-chief before he changed (no, lets go with tweaked) his views on abortion and long before he was anything close to a household name.

My mom's reasoning, she explained, was that there just wasn't anyone else with better conservative principles and a realistic shot at getting the nomination than my boy Mitt.  She had reached this conclusion while working out with her personal trainer at the gym.

So there we have two wayward Republican party faithful who had momentarily lost their way until they caught the light of Mitt Romney.  Yesterday I got a call from another Romney-convert.

My grandpa called me yesterday.  "I've had to switch," he declared.  His original candidate, Fred Thompson, had just dropped out several days prior leaving him without a candidate to latch on to.  You see, by originally supporting Thompson, he overlooked what my mom took into consideration- the issue of electability.  There just isn't any way that someone who is more wrinkly than John McCain would get the nod from the throws of the rank-and-file GOP.  So, recognizing the fact that Mitt Romney was his only choice left if he wanted to nominate a conservative in September.  

There we have it.  In just a matter of weeks I know of three people that have hopped on the Romney train.  Am I shocked?  Not really.  It is just a matter of time before the rest of the Republican party realizes that Mitt is the only conservative still in the race.  It may happen sooner than you think, given the neck-and-neck poll numbers coming out of Florida.