Foehammer’s Anvil

After watching part of the second Republican debate last night, things started to become very clear for me on at least one point: the Democrats shouldn’t win the White House.

Why?

The root answer is very simple, but still deserves explanation, so I won’t drag this out longer than necessary, but I will get into some detail: The only candidates that are talking about “Global Jihad” and “Radical Islam” and “Immigration” as being the most important issues reside on the Right, not the Left.

In addition to that, even Texas Congressman Ron Paul, who made his points last night on Iraq being a quagmire, wasn’t completely wrong. He’s wrong in reasoning that the “enemy” would have left us alone years ago, or would leave us in peace today if we suddenly became more empathetic to them and hadn’t ever dropped a bomb in Iraq prior to 9-11 or afterwards, but he’s not wrong in understanding that moving out of Iraq may very well be in our best interest. Colorado Congressman Tancredo, on the other hand, said basically the same thing as Ron Paul when it comes to leaving Iraq, but in less controversial language because Tancredo doesn’t perceive the United States as “starting” this war between the forces of Islam in the Middle East and the West. He simply sees what I and others (like Hugh Fitzgerald over at Jihad Watch) see — that trying to force a victory in Iraq by old rules isn’t going to work, and it if does, the cost will be too great in American, British and other Allied lives. And anyway, the Islamists aren’t ever going to leave us alone. They want the United States. They want Europe. The evidence of this pervades the news every single day.

The Republican candidates to watch right now are Romney and Giulliani. McCain won’t win.

John McCain means well, and I supported him strongly back in 2000, but I’ve since come to believe several things about John today. One thing I see is that he’s too old for the job ahead. He’s lost steam in his current campaign and it’s only going to get harder for him as the other candidates get stronger and more face time and as the really big dogs eventually enter the race (i.e. Fred Thompson, Newt). The biggest factor against McCain now though is that he’s simply not talking the strongest language on the War on Terror. He’s not willing to confront Islam like I feel Romney and Giuliani would. McCain uses terms like “radical Islamic extremists” and for anyone that’s been here long enough should know, I steer clear of such apologetic slogans when I talk about the Islamic enemy. There’s nothing “radical” about “good Muslims”, there’s simply something “lazy” and “disingenuous” about “moderate” ones.

McCain is also lackluster when it comes to Illegal Immigration and I can’t let that slide. I have a long memory.

And there’s something bigger about McCain that bothers me, something I can’t quite put my finger on but that I perceive none-the-less: I think that the former backers of Bush are now behind McCain. I know that this might seem crazy, but he’s the most likely dog for their “status quo” mentality. Yes, the very same “rich guys” that put out virulent campaign ads that smeared McCain back when he first attempted to get the Republican nomination back in 2000 are now most likely to be behind him for President before they’d support any of the other current contenders. I don’t want any strong Bush backers back in power in Washington with their fingers in the pie and their lobbyists at work. Sorry. It’s time to move on and it’s certainly time to cut ties with Saudi Arabian oil.

As for who looks the best right now? Once again, the surprise is Mitt Romney.

Mitt Romney is like the “ice-man” of the current campaign. He’s never ruffled, never flustered, never off-message and never breaks a sweat. He looks like an American President. The man is simply a professional campaigner, no bones about it. He’s come from relative obscurity to the front of the polls in a very short time and I’ve been admiring his language. He is the only person in the campaign other than Tom Tancredo that is currently addressing “Global Jihad” and “Illegal Immigration” as being his primary concerns. And he’s extremely consistent on these topics. Now, this is a fairly big deal coming from me, because I’m a big fan of Rudy Giuliani from back when I was going through the 9-11 experience with rest of the country. And honestly, I’m starting to think that the idea of a “Rudy McRomney” ticket really isn’t just a funny slogan, though I’m thinking that leaving out the “Mac” might make a better burger. But Romney has gotten my full attention thus far.

Now the truly ironic part here is that Romney is a Mormon — a branch of Christianity that by all rights is no-less cultist in its origins than Islam is. However, the big difference is, as I’ve pointed out in other discussions about attempts at equivalence between Islam and Christianity, is that whether or not some of us might have misgivings about the realities behind Mormonism, the fact remains that Jesus Christ and his teachings are the foundation of the Mormon Church, and Muhammad is the center of Islam. Perhaps it’s Fate at work that two heretical off-shoots from Judeo-Christian belief systems would now be possibly running straight at each other like steaming trains. Because, as you must see, it’s far better to have someone in Washington who believes in the peaceful and gentle “spirit” of Jesus than it ever would be to have a Muslim in charge. I think Romney gets that message loud and clear. He might not ever be able to wipe away the stigma of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young from Mormon history, but he certainly can prove that he’s a follower of the ideals of Jesus Christ, and that my friends, is never a bad thing.

No person needs to believe or disbelieve in a religion, God, Heaven or Hell to come to understand that the philosophies of Jesus Christ are worth emulating and that those of Muhammad are worth defeating.

The Democrats don’t have anything like we see on the Republican ticket. They don’t have any bulls in the ring or persons of solid values. They don’t have the fight, or the real conviction to fight against the Islamic threat. And this, gentle readers, is why the Democrats shouldn’t win in 2008.

Now, it’s up to us to make sure that the right people get into the White House. At this point it’s far too early to declare who I’m fully backing and hopefully most of you are still on the fence watching, too. But I hope that what I’ve written today helps you decide what you should be looking for. We have got to stop Islam from strangling the United States with its hidden agendas and openly hostile terrorist acts, and we also must seal the borders tightly against further incursions of illegals. These are the two greatest issues on the table, and anyone that says otherwise is a fool.

So, please, put aside some of your preconceived notions about these candidates and some of your own bias and listen to what they are saying. Listen to the issues and find those voices that ring truthful. And in the next few months, when you hear more of what I’m talking about today coming through those voices, you’ll know who to pull that lever for when the time comes. The very future of the country depends on our wise choice. You know it as well as I do.