Mike Pence now the "conservative's" choice.

[Anti Federalist]

Memo to Conservatives and Tea Partiers

http://www.conservativehq.com/node/1052

From Richard Viguerie

January 25, 2011

The conservative movement, the Republican Party and America, and not in that order, suffered because there was not a top-tier, principled, small-government constitutional conservative candidate in the 2008 presidential election. Americans rejected a big-government establishment Republican and elected an inexperienced liberal Democrat.

It has been many years since a movement conservative was a top-tier major contender for the presidency.

The lesson for 2012 is very clear. The chances of Barack Obama being re-elected are greatest if the Republican Party fields another big-government establishment candidate.

There are, in my mind, only three top-tier, principled, small-government constitutional conservatives who have been mentioned as potential candidates. Jim DeMint has stated rather convincingly that he will not run. And I seriously doubt Sarah Palin will run either.

The other is Mike Pence.

If Congressman Mike Pence were to announce his candidacy for president, it would electrify the entire conservative and Tea Party movements. Within a very short period of time, Pence would be one of the leading candidates, and by the beginning of 2012 would be the candidate to beat.

Congressman Pence would be able to assemble a grassroots donor base in excess of 500,000 – far exceeding anything any Republican has ever accomplished.

Whatever good attributes of form the top-tier establishment Republicans have, Pence has them, but he differentiates himself by having true conservative substance and he walks with conservatives.

So, if not Mike Pence, who? We know the “when” part.

Mike is weighing (with his family) whether to run for governor of Indiana or for president. My friend, Ralph Benko, a principled conservative well known to conservative leaders in the Washington, D.C. area, has undertaken an effort to urge Congressman Pence to seize this once-in-a-life-time opportunity. If you agree, please go to www.theconservativechampion.org and add your name.

Thanks,

Richard A. Viguerie
9625 Surveyor Court
Suite 400
Manassas, VA 20110
[email protected]


P.S. Morton Blackwell, Jim Ryun, Brent Bozell, and Dick Armey, among others, have signed. I hope you will do the same. It is widely expected that Mike will make his decision in the next few weeks. So it’s important to quickly show him there would be a groundswell of conservative support if he were to become a candidate for president.

 

[sailingaway]

He's been being pushed for a while and hasn't taken off, looking at google trends. I haven't looked in a couple of weeks, though. They are making a big push for Pawlenty, as well.

 

[Sola_Fide]

P.S. Morton Blackwell, Jim Ryun, Brent Bozell, and Dick Armey, among others, have signed. I hope you will do the same. It is widely expected that Mike will make his decision in the next few weeks. So it’s important to quickly show him there would be a groundswell of conservative support if he were to become a candidate for president.

I think it is rather significant that Dick Armey is endorsing Pence, imo.

 

[Bruno]

"There are, in my mind, only three top-tier, principled, small-government constitutional conservatives who have been mentioned as potential candidates."

How does he come out of nowhere with no name recongnition and become "top-tier"? Oh, because the media says so. I get it.

 

[Brett85]

I would vote for Mike Huckabee before I voted for Mike Pence. At least Huckabee is opposed to stimulus spending in Afghanistan. Pence supports Obama's overseas stimulus spending.

 

[Sola_Fide]

Pence supports Obama's overseas stimulus spending.

I liked the way you phrased that. I might steal it and use it in some Tea Party conversations next week


Although I do believe, on balance, Pence would be better on fiscal issues than Huck. But who knows...

 

[Brett85]

I liked the way you phrased that. I might steal it and use it in some Tea Party conversations next week


Although I do believe, on balance, Pence would be better on fiscal issues than Huck. But who knows...

I agree that Pence is better on domestic fiscal issues than Huck. But honestly if I had to choose I would rather spend a few billion dollars on a healthcare program for children then spend it overseas on endless war. Obviously I'll support Ron if he runs, but if Ron doesn't run I think Huckabee is the only other GOP candidate who I could possibly support. I simply won't vote for anybody who wants to use our military for nation building.

 

[JoshLowry]

Controlling the narrative again? Yep.

After the first debate in 2007:

(Note the headline: "Romney: The conservative's choice") That article has been scrubbed from the web.

Dick Army will spend FreedomWorks on Mike Pence. That's fantastic for the real tea party.

 

[Romulus]

I would vote for Mike Huckabee before I voted for Mike Pence. At least Huckabee is opposed to stimulus spending in Afghanistan. Pence supports Obama's overseas stimulus spending.

Well done. lol

 

[Sola_Fide]

Controlling the narrative again? Yep.

After the first debate in 2007:


Dick Army will spend FreedomWorks on Mike Pence. That's fantastic for the real tea party.

What do you mean by that Josh?

 

[JoshLowry]

FreedomWorks.com will be and is used to elect candidates that do not support true freedom (which goes hand in hand with liberty and small gov)

 

[Romulus]

With a name like FreedomWorks, it has to be Statist.

 

[Ethek]

Pawlenty is being pushed hard. They've been floating a video 'Courage to Stand' on YouTube. Stand for what remains undefined.

 

[Brett85]

Pawlenty is being pushed hard. They've been floating a video 'Courage to Stand' on YouTube. Stand for what remains undefined.

I don't really have any idea where Pawlenty stands on the issues. I don't know much about him.

 

[ctiger2]

Mike Pence should run for prime minister of Israel. Every legislative decision he makes is in Isreals best interest already...

 

[JoshLowry]

I don't really have any idea where Pawlenty stands on the issues. I don't know much about him.

But you do know that he is pushed by the media.

 

[Anti Federalist]

The Conservatives’ Awful Choice for President

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/

Posted by David Franke on January 25, 2011 01:00 PM

Well, now we know who Morton Blackwell, Brent Bozell, Dick Armey, and Richard Viguerie are supporting for president.

I’ve seen Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) described as “a great conservative” so many times without checking him out, so I spent 5 minutes going to his website–didn’t have to spend any more time. Trying to figure out where he stands on “foreign affairs,” I saw discussion of nothing but Israel, and predictably that was a paean to the Likudniks. Well, at least give him an “A” for honesty–that’s what an establishment conservative position on foreign policy amounts to today. Just give that plank to AIPAC to write, as Pence has. Pence also brags that he supported Bush’s invasion of Iraq, that “I helped craft” the Patriot Act, and “I supported creation of the new Department of Homeland Security.” I could not find anything about invasions of civil liberties under the Patriot Act and by the Department of Homeland Security, nothing about getting out of the no-win invasion of Afghanistan, and nothing about cutting the dole for the Military-Industrial Complex.

That’s all I needed to see and not-see. Obviously he is a member in good standing of the ruling establishment, representing its big-government-conservative wing. I hope he decides to run for governor of Indiana, where he might actually do a teeny bit of good, rather than for president of the United States.

There is no hope that the “conservatives” will nominate anyone who takes a serious stand against Big Government. You cannot fight Big Government by supporting interventionism around the world. It’s all conservative smoke and mirrors.

And, although I have a little hope for a few of its members, there is also no serious hope that the Tea Partiers will work to nominate anyone who takes a serious stand against Big Government. (Note that their Republican Pied Piper, Dick Armey, signed this petition for Pence.)

We all have a limited amount of time–the clock does not have a flexible number of minutes or hours–so any time spent on the “conservative movement” or Tea Party is a waste of a valuable resource. Ron Paul still stands alone. Let’s spend our time trying to convince him to run again for president in the Republican primaries and debates.

 

[lester1/2jr]

I'm unimpressed with alot of these guys because they seem to have no broader vision of a new type of country, one different than the 20th century america. To me Ron PAUl is the only who sees that. The military stuff is a big part of that because it's so symbolic. The bases everywhere and everything. It's a relic of a bygone era.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

You mean Mike "Let the world know this if it knows nothing else, America stands with Israel" Pence?

He claims to be fiscally conservative and for small government, but that would not apply if you are talking about spending on the warfare state, the surveillance state or the military-terrorism-industrial complex...

Pence would most likely give up essential liberty for the illusion of safety at every turn. (No doubt at a very high fiscal cost.)

His speech at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference gained him a lot of supporters, but the 5 - 8 minute section in the following video may cause concern:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Dsc35sIU9U

 

[georgiaboy]

There are aspects of Pence that are good; others not so much. Eight years ago he probably would've had my vote no question. Now, things are different.

Mike seems genuinely interested in smaller government. He voted against the bailouts, and also the stimulus. He voted against Obamacare. I think he also voted against Medicare Part D and the McAmnesty bill.

All this said, I've yet to hear him speak though about what types of real cuts he wants to see in order to really reduce the size of the federal gov't, and he's been in office what, 8 years now? How many times has he voted to raise the debt ceiling?

Additionally, he voted for the wars, the surge, and the Patriot Act. Back then, I was afraid, ignorant, and naive, and I went along with the GOP and was quite the hawk during Afghanistan -- it was Iraq that wrinkled my brow, and the lack of WMD that got me really questioning things; after hearing Ron Paul in the 2008 debates, I've repented of these foreign policy positions and am now proudly in the national defense not offense camp. Mike continues to stand by these prior votes; it's the major disconnect I have with him, and it's a huge disconnect.

I just don't get these empire-building police the world types who think that national offense is the same as national defense, or that it's a conservative position, because it isn't. And I used to never even factor in foreign policy in my candidate selection.

So unless Mike has some major turnabout in really turning back the size of gov't including the empire, he becomes another also ran establishment GOPer.

Ron Paul has definitely spoiled me. For the better.