HEROIC RHETORIC

Powerline has a post about Michael Gerson's book, called Heroic Conservatism. Powerline makes much the same points that George Will made in his article called "The Failings of Heroic Conservatism". Unfortunately, my dislike of the arrogance of Will's writing style and his speaking style caused me to ignore the excellent points that Powerline and Wills made. Read their articles. They really do explain a lot of the shortcomings of the Bush administration over the last several months.

PRO-LIFE THOMPSON NOD SPLITS COTERIE

This article was in the Washington Times today. I have not really had a lot of respect for Conservatives like Paul Weyrich for quite some time. He seems to think that he must prove his power by attacking conservative politicians. Well after reading these quotes he has zero credibility with me.

Paul M. Weyrich, president of the Free Congress Foundation, said the endorsement "makes no sense," and speculated that it had been motivated by money.

"I think in all probability the Thompson people were engaged with the National Right to Life people in financial dealing," said Mr. Weyrich, who has endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination.

"In the past, the Republican Party has funded National Right to Life, and while the committee can raise money on its own, it needs funding" from outside sources.

SMALL-TENT CONSERVATIVES

Tony Blankley has a way of putting things in perspective. If the Republican activists keep beating up on our candidates, we may very well end up with Hillary in the White House. Now that is a Halloween trick, for sure.

INTOLERANCE IN THE NAME OF TOLERANCE

One of the most respected conservative columnists, Cal Thomas has an excellent article in Real Clear Politics about the sham presented yesterday at Columbia University. As Mr. Thomas said, he would not be as bothered by the Columbia Administration's action if they and other like minded universities had a consistent policy toward those they invited to speak. Mr. Thomas has it right.

THE CLUB FOR GROWTH 2008

One of my favorite journalists, Salena Zito has an interesting post in Townhall.com. In her article Salena points out that for many conservatives the red meat is the economy, and their standard-bearer is the Club for Growth, led by it's president Pat Toomey. The Club for Growth focuses on spending, taxes, trade, regulation, school choice and tort reform. So who won't the Club for Growth back in the GOP Presidential race? For sure they won't back Senator John McCain or Governor Mike Huckabee. The flip side of that is that Toomey's group gives high marks to Rudy Giuliani

THE DEBATE ON THE THREATS TO CONSERVATISM

Patrick Hynes has written a thought provoking post titled "Identity Group Conservatism" at Ankle Biting Pundits and Patrick Ruffini has written a compelling response titled "The Threats to Conservatism". I believe that this type of debate is exactly what the Conservative movement and the Republican party needs to engage in. We must get back on track with all of the voters who call themselves Republicans, and this is a good start. An open and honest dialogue about where we want to go as a party is crucial.

ALLEN ROTH ON HOW TO BUILD A CONSERVATIVE WEB OPERATION

I have enjoyed reading Allen Roth for quite some time. His article on how to build a conservative web operation is a must read for every Conservative.

WHAT'S THE CONSERVATIVE BASE WAITING FOR

I don't usually agree with Bobby Eberle, who writes for GOP USA, but this is an interesting perspective on the Conservative Base.