American Icons
Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty hang out with the American Bald Eagle right off convention floor.
September 1, 2008
August 31, 2008
Palin a Great Pick by McCain
The suspense over John McCain’s selection of a running mate is now over. While Governor Palin is unknown to many of the beltway pundits and talking heads I think she is going to resonate well with the people of Alabama. Her down to earth people skills and experience as an outdoorsman make her someone who people in Alabama will be able to relate to.
To begin with the 44 year-old Governor will compliment McCain’s reformist politics well. She rose to prominence in Alaska by taking on the political establishment. When she saw unethical behavior by those of even her own party she did not hesitate in confronting them head on. First, as a member of the oil commission she called out the Alaskan Republican Party Chairman for what she felt was an abuse of power. After that she went on to challenge an ethically challenged Republican governor in the primary and beat him because of her crusade for better ethics is state government. In short, she has the courage to take folks on regardless of the political consequences much as John McCain has done over the years by confronting Democrats and Republicans alike when he saw something he disagreed with.
I think as Republicans we have lost our way because we have neglected this style of governing. We need more leaders who are willing to stand up to unethical behavior, fiscal irresponsibility and the abandonment of our conservative values. Governor Sarah Palin does this.
Speaking of conservative values, Alabamians are going to find that Governor Palin is very close to the majority of people in our state. Her pro-life, anti-tax and strong support for energy independence for the United States make will make her a popular candidate in Alabama.
One final note- Democrats will crow about Palin’s experience, but do they really want the election in the months ahead to be about who has less experience Palin or Obama? If that conversation dominates the political battle ahead then the Obama campaign has steered off course. Interesting side bar- Palin has two more years of executive experience than Barack Obama.
Business Only
Tomorrow’s first day of the convention will be business only with no political speeches. It will be shortened due to the impending threat from Hurricane Gustav. It sounds like the RNC has decided to go ahead with the full convention but the celebrations will be greatly scaled back.
Delegates Pumped About New Poll
Alabama Delegates to the Republican National Convention are enthusiastic about a new poll released this afternoon showing John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate negated any post convention bounce enjoyed by Barack Obama. The latest nationwide Zogby poll which began Friday after John McCain announced Sarah Palin as running mate and completed mid-afternoon today, shows McCain/Palin at 47%, compared to 45% support for Obama/Biden.
Of all the issues being discussed here at the convention it seems like the selection of Palin has excited people more than anything else.
Gustav Scrambles Convention Agenda
While we prepare for a convention here in Minnesota everyone has their eyes on Hurricane Gustav and the potential danger it poses for the gulf coast. We should know sometime today what the rest of the convention will look like and if we will have to cancel part of the week. Although I am ready to see John McCain and Sarah Palin accept their nomination before the convention like everyone here, I think we all realize that the lives and possible tragedies from the hurricane take a bigger priority right now than politics. I think the Republican National Committee will let us know how the rest of the week will proceed sometime this afternoon when we have our first Alabama Delegation meeting at 3 p.m.
August 30, 2008
GOP Convention by the Numbers
With the Democrat Convention over the public will now have the opportunity to turn their attention the Republican gathering in Minnesota. I have a link on my web site at www.camward.com where I have added pictures from the last four conventions under Republican History. Every time I look at it I see how old I am getting in this business. I look forward to blogging on the happenings at the convention but first here is a little background information on the convention, by the numbers-
This will be the 39th Republican National Convention.
This will be the 2nd GOP Convention to be held in Minneapolis, the first being in 1892.
This will be my 4th convention including my time on staff at the 1996 Convention in San Diego.
There will be 4,607 delegates and alternate delegates to the convention.
There are 48 delegates and 45 alternate delegates in Alabama’s delegation.
Governor Palin will be the 1st woman nominated for Vice-President on the Republican ticket.
August 28, 2008
Hope is Great But Where is the Substance?
I remember watching Barack Obama give his speech during the Democrat National Convention in 2004 and I was truly impressed with his style. Anyone who doubts his ability to inspire a crowd just has not heard one of his speeches. The guy is good. Period.
Inspirational speeches however do not necessarily make for a good president. I respect the historical moment of the nomination and it is hard to disregard the flowing style of the address and the promises he made. The main question I have is this- after the wonderful rhetoric is gone and the historic moment of his nomination is behind us, what does he really stand for? Sure, he said he wants to “help the poor, bring health care to all, and make sure everyone has a living wage.” Those are great ideas but how do you pay for them? How do you make these things happen?
While I think it is admirable to point out the differences between the two candidates I have to question the attempt to say that John McCain is just an extension of George Bush. Does anyone remember the fact that John McCain was battered and beaten by George Bush in 2000? Do these same pundits recall that McCain was the loudest critic of how George Bush initially handled the war in Iraq? No, McCain and Bush are very different and to try to tie them together is a way of avoiding any debate on the real issues our country is facing.
Barack Obama said, “I look forward to the debate with John McCain on the issues.” So do I, because at least then we can talk about the real issues this country faces as opposed to abstracts that flow well with the guidance of a good wordsmith.
Biden Set the Stage for Campaign
Joe Biden seemed to set the stage for the foreign policy debate in the upcoming general election. He was enthusiastic before a crowd that obviously was already quite enthusiastic after the Bill and Hillary Clinton had spoken this week. While he was a bit long winded in typical Joe Biden fashion he still laid out some interesting points of debate for the days ahead.
I agree with Joe Biden when he said, “it will require a lot more than a military record to be commander in chief.” Despite the fact that I do think McCain’s military service says a great deal about his character I do not believe that alone makes anyone automatically qualified to be commander in chief. McCain’s service is a good foundation for being president but it’s the decisions one makes that will determine how good of a commander in chief they are.
Throughout the primary election Joe Biden said he supported the surge of troop deployment in Iraq along with John McCain. He also voted with John McCain for funding the troops in Afghanistan and Iraq when 14 senators including Barack Obama voted to cut off funding for troops still in the field. Joe Biden criticized Obama during a debate last January as someone “who has great ability to make a speech but just doesn’t have the experience to lead our country.” Biden was even critical of Obama’s comments that “Iran is just a tiny country that poses no threat to anyone.” All of these are points I agree with Joe Biden on although I think he sidestepped those differences on Wednesday night.
Even with all of these contradictions from Biden it is still going to be a campaign of who has the vision to lead our nation not only domestically but also in foreign policy. Depending on whose foreign policy ideas are put forth by the Democrats, either Obama or Biden’s, it should make for an interesting debate in the final three months of the campaign.
August 26, 2008
Keep on Going…
Hillary Clinton spoke well tonight. Before all of my Republican friends start throwing stones please allow me to explain. The convention in Denver today started off with Congressman Dennis Kucinich screaming “WAKE UP AMERICA BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!” I cannot imagine why he was asked to speak before prime time television began but I suspect if it had been up to those of us in the Republican Party we would have begged him to speak in prime time. But enough of that, Clinton was the show tonight.
Everyone has been talking about the unity or disunity of the Democrat Party after their tough primary election. There is no doubt that there is some lingering resentment from the Hillary Clinton folks but I have to agree with my legislative colleague Merika Coleman when I say ‘so what?’ We have the same thing to an extent on the Republican side. I can remember Pat Buchanan giving a speech in 1992 that was well, not necessarily all warm and fuzzy on the unity front. Primaries are often hard fought and often leave some bruised feelings in the end. This issue of disunity is interesting for party insiders like me but the general public just doesn’t care. In short, give the Democrats a break on this, people are tired of hearing about it. Most people want to hear more about the issues. There was plenty of that in Hillary’s speech.
Clinton said “America’s military always keeps on going when faced with adversity.” Yes, our military does keep on going and unlike some of the policies proposed by Barack Obama our military is going forward with the surge in Iraq instead of cutting and running. She then said “when faced with the threat of terrorism, Americans keep on going.” Thank goodness we do keep on going because Dennis Kucinich opened up the convention earlier today by saying we made a mistake going into Afghanistan and risked antagonizing Russia over their invasion of the Republic of Georgia. Sounds like he would rather us keep going to some UN committee instead of the United States being more direct in our opposition to Al-Qaeda and Russian aggression against a democracy.
Hillary Clinton’s passion for the issue was quite evident. It is hard to knock her campaign skills but the tactic of saying John McCain is a clone of George Bush is just not true. Trust me once we have our convention you will hear many Republicans complain that McCain is not enough like George Bush. In fact, when McCain disagreed with George Bush on the war in Iraq and called for Don Rumsfeld to resign, many Democrats supported McCain’s position. A twin of George Bush, not hardly, but he does keep on going when it comes to staying the course on foreign policy.
August 25, 2008
Hope You Can Listen To
The Democrat National Convention began today in Denver. After listening to the first night of speakers it is clear that the theme for the convention is the same of Senator Barack Obama’s campaign- hope and change you can believe in.
Sitting here watching the convention on television I have heard the word hope and change mentioned dozens of times by at least as many speakers. I hear a lot of great words but I still have not heard what this hope and change really mean. Now don’t get me wrong I like a good speech as much as anyone, but some of the speakers were no where near what I would call hope I could believe in. Jimmy Carter talked for a while about Obama being in favor of helping the little man and if we could just elect him then finally “people would get help.” Wow, that is something! After listening to a one term president from 1976, tell me that his candidate represents real hope and change for the future, I kept waiting for the punch line. As Democrat Gary Hart once said, “where’s the beef?”
Inspirational speeches are great but at some point you have to actually talk about real issues. I hear a lot of grand rhetoric about the need for change and hope for the future. That sounds all good and well but what do you mean when you say hope and change? Surely not leadership from the likes of Jimmy Carter and George McGovern.
In the end, Democrats are in trouble if they cannot match their rhetoric with real policy substance. Inspirational speeches are good but in order to have real hope for our future you have to be able to see the vision and understand it, not just listen to it.
August 22, 2008
Joey Paulin Inspires People
The first thing that people ask when they see the title above is, who is Joey Paulin? Well, yesterday I had the fortune of spending some time with this young man and I have to say that he is an inspiration to everyone he meets.
Joey suffers from Mitochondrial Disease which causes molecular damage to all parts of his body. The disease confines the five year old to a wheel chair and over time the energy from his body has but been drained due the effects of the disease. His life expectancy is short. He suffers from seizures on a regular basis that cause him to spend a good part of his life in the hospital. Despite all of this his parents, Larry and Roseanna Paulin are the most passionate advocates for a cause that I have ever met. While many of us would look at these circumstances with gloom and despair they look at it as an opportunity to educate the rest of the community about this disease.
Yesterday the Paulin’s and I traveled to Montgomery where Governor Riley proclaimed September, Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Month. It was obvious from the Governor’s extended conversation with the family how inspired he and the entire crowd were with little Joey’s life and his strength to survive despite the overwhelming odds.
This proclamation should remind us that while governing often involve lofty philosophical debates and sometimes old fashion hard ball political tactics, it is the advocacy of a young child and his family that make can make just as big of a difference in the lives of thousands of people in our community.
For more information about the story of Joey Paulin visit the family’s web site at: www.thepaulinfamily.com.
August 17, 2008
Politics is Not Personal
Yes, that title might be hard for some to stomach. I have met several political leaders and the best of them always say “don’t take it personally.” Well that is easier said than done.. While I have never had the urge to punch someone out on the floor of the House I can honestly say that there are moments when I left the chamber to just cool down.
One of the more difficult times to maintain “politics is not personal” as a code of honor is when you are on the last night of the session. These sessions tend to get very long and therefore you find people who, well let’s just say don’t do so well after their bed time. There were a couple of occasions when I have heard someone say something so irritating that I have wanted to just speak out from my chair. In the end though politics is not personal or at least it shouldn’t be.
Politics is defined by Webster’s as “the opinions, principles or policies by which a person orders his participation in such affairs.” Wow that sounds pretty noble. In fact it is supposed to be. Unfortunately over the last 20 years politics has become very personal and ignoble. Why? Good question that I am sure many people smarter than me can answer. I just know that it has become so personal that the debate of issues has been lost in the fight over process. It shouldn’t be this way but it is and it needs to change.
Recently I was at a forum in Huntsville to speak on behalf of the McCain Campaign. It was a big group that was pretty non-partisan. There were a couple of folks though that talked with me that made me pause and think about writing this blog. The first was a nice lady who I have known for a while. She came up to me to tell me about the internet rumor she had heard about Barack Obama and his anti-Christ tendencies. I assured her that while I do not support Sen. Obama, I certainly don’t believe he is the anti-Christ. I turned to move in another direction when I was confronted by a person who was currently working for the Obama campaign. We introduced ourselves and she mentioned how she thought George W. Bush was not just a bad president, but he was evil and deserved to burn in hell. After listening to both of those perspectives I could not help but think- how are any of these comments bringing about a better discussion of the problems in our state or country?
The solution to this personal political battle is not easy and I have to confess one I will not likely see in my lifetime. The answer lies in making the issues we are debating important again. Taxes, the housing crisis, foreign policy, they are all important but for some reason the prevailing debate is substituted for personal anger. Now I am not naïve enough to believe that political attacks should not take place in politics, in fact I believe they should, they just need to focus more on political differences in the arena as opposed to personal animosities. To all candidates I say this- it’s not personal, it’s just a hard fought battle that is a contact sport, but in the end it is still a battle of ideas and not personal animosities.
It is going to be a fun election season!
July 23, 2008
Be Educated about Autism
As Chairman of the Alabama Autism Task Force, I am outraged by the recent comments made by radio talk show host Michael Savage that children diagnosed with autism are “brats” and that the disorder is the “result of lax parenting.” Mr. Savage is certainly within his right under the First Amendment to say whatever he wants on the air. The First Amendment clearly protects the rights of even the most ignorant in our society however the corporate sponsors for his show also deserve to hear the feelings of many autism parents regarding this comment. I know I plan to personally let them know how I feel about this misinformed opinion they are supporting.
Michael Savage’s remarks are both irresponsible and inappropriate. Approximately one out of 150 children today have some degree of autism, and because of alert parents who pick up on certain behavioral traits, many of these children get the help they need at an early age. Savage makes the assumption that bad behavior in children is caused by a lack of parental discipline when, in many cases, it is the direct result of a neurobiological disorder known as autism. His ridiculous statements only add fuel to a fire that has been kindled over the years by bad information and assumptions rather than facts.
Michael Savage should spend some time visiting with those parents and families who deal with the challenges of autism on a daily basis before he makes such stupid remarks. I urge all who have been touched by autism to boycott his show and ask others to do likewise.
July 15, 2008
Alabama’s 9 Electoral Votes
Many people outside of the world of political junkies probably do not know that electors and not the electorate actually select who will be President of the United States. I have always been interested in the Electoral College and some of its history is truly fascinating.
Traditionally, each state has cast its electoral votes–equal to its total representation in Congress–for the candidate who receives the most votes statewide. The Electoral College is truly a unique creation in the western world. When it was created it was the objective of the founding fathers to ensure that candidate platforms and campaigns addressed the needs and concerns of every part of the country equally, with rural states receiving the same amount of attention as urban states. The Electoral College was created to ensure candidates would pay attention to every state’s needs, since some states obviously overwhelmed others in population, like Alabama versus California. For the most part this system has worked and mirrored the popular vote. Only four times in American history has the president-elect not won the popular vote, with the most recent being the election of George W. Bush in 2000.
In Alabama, each political party selects a slate of 9 electors to participate in the Electoral College on December 15th after the general election. Whichever party wins the popular vote in Alabama then that political party’s 9 electors cast their vote for president. Since 1976 Alabama has voted for the Republican candidate every time. Every state has their own system in place for selecting electors but Alabama’s is one of the best in my opinion because it guards against the so called faithless elector- that person who casts their vote in the Electoral College the opposite from the popular vote in their state. To my knowledge Alabama has never had a faithless elector but there have been some very limited circumstances where this occurred in other states although it did not affect the outcome of the election.
I write about all of this because I was fortunate enough to be selected by the Republican Party to be one of our 9 electors for the 2008 election. If Alabama votes for John McCain for President then I would get to cast one of the 538 electoral votes nationwide. I have had a number of friends in the past who have had the opportunity to do this in the past but this is first for me and I am pretty excited about it. Of course McCain still has to win in Alabama!
June 9, 2008
So what’s in a song?
With the legislative session(s) behind us for now, I thought this would be a great opportunity to talk about some of my totally useless information that tends to drive my wife crazy. Some kids grew up watching baseball games late at night, I always wanted to stay up late to watch the political national conventions that were going on. Yes, I was a disturbed little kid. To that end I have loved trivia about political national conventions. My favorite aspect of a convention is when each party nominee selects a theme song that at some point gets played during the final night of the convention. These songs typically are a reflection of the message that the presidential ticket is trying to convey. Here are just a few examples:
1984- Ronald Reagan had Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” to talk about how America had regained its pride in the world.
1988- Michael Dukakis had Neil Diamond’s “Coming to America.” As a greek immigrant he hoped this would wrap into his theme of attracting more immigrant votes to his campaign.
1992- Bill Clinton had Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop.” Probably one of the best campaign songs of all time because it wrapped nicely into the theme of a brighter future during bleak economic times.
1996- Bob Dole had Travis Tritt’s “A Sign of the Times.” This would go down for me as one of the worst political songs because Dole used as a reflection of his campaign being a “bridge to yesterday.” This just reinforced he was old as dirt.
2000- George Bush used Ricky Martin’s “Cup of Life.” This song was played not only at the convention but also at many rallies to appeal to Bush’s effort to attract more latino votes. The campaign was successful in the end in attracting 40% of the latino vote which was a record for a Republican presidential candidate.
2004- George Bush used Al Green’s “Put a Little Love in Your Heart.” Not sure how they came up with this except I guess they were trying to soften the party’s image with this happy song. They won the re-election in the end but I think I would have picked a different song.
In the end I am not how much a song actually effects a campaign but it is fun to watch how they wrap into presidential campaign themes.
