Now Is The Time…

By Marion Algier – AskMarion

Do not listen to the nay sayers and doomsday predictors… Now is the time to stand-up and fight.  A coalition of conservative voices, fiscal conservatives, Constitutionalists, independent thinkers and Libertarians are on the verge of taking over the Republican Party and the taste for freedom is in the air around the world, like in Egypt… Yet OBAMA OFFICIALS to Offer Muslim Brotherhood Top Positions in Egyptian Government (Video)

Video:  We Are On The Verge Of Taking Over The Republican Party

The Republican Establishment, the RINOS, who are part of the power elite system that run both parties, are split; half think Average Americans are stupid and the other half fear Conservatives, Libertarians and all common sense thinking Patriotic Americans to the point that they will go to any measures to spy on Americans, manipulate the law and judicial rulings, subvert investigations, manipulate the media and entertainment industries, and destroy anyone who shows the slightest ability and glimmer of possibly becoming a rising star or strong voice of reason and opposition in the GOP or the media, especially if they are conservative minority voices. Opposing voices in the Democrat party tend to become Independents or Republicans rather than fight the leadership within their Progressive party.

The fight and focus for the revitalization of the Republican Party and to save America must be on the forefront and begin with the 2014 Election and then be continued through the 2016 Election.  The Democrat party is very aware of that and preparing for those battles and all the smaller ones leading up to the elections is at least part of what has caused many of the scandals plaguing the Obama Administration… as more and more people are speaking up and in-turn waking up every day.  The IRS investigations, auditing and holding up of ‘tax exempt status’ of hundreds of conservative and religious groups, as well as already existing groups like the Leadership Institute and the Claire Booth Luce Organization, that affected the outcome of the 2012 Election ‘was not’ an accident, just as the subversion of information regarding the Benghazi Attack including the purposeful hiding of witnesses is not a accident.  And sadly some of this comes from support of members in both parties.

It is time to clean house in the Republican Party and as Beck says, we have never been closer to taking over the reins.  It is time for every concerned American to step up their efforts or start getting involved  in the name of truth, honest and fair elections, the Constitution, a government that represents the interests of the people and a clear choice between two parties of differing ideologies.

As Beck mentions in the video, we are at the point where the Republican Party replaced the Whigs, resulting in the election of the first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln.

The Whig Party: In 1834 political opponents of President Andrew Jackson organized a new party to contest Jacksonian Democrats nationally and in the states. Guided by their most prominent leader, Henry Clay, they called themselves Whigs-the name of the English antimonarchist party-the better to stigmatize the seventh president as 'King Andrew.' They were immediately derided by the Jacksonian Democrats as a party devoted to the interests of wealth and aristocracy, a charge they were never able to shake completely. Yet during the party's brief life, it managed to win support from diverse economic groups in all sections and to hold its own in presidential elections.

Although unable to unite behind a single candidate in 1836, thus permitting Jackson's handpicked successor Martin Van Buren to obtain an electoral majority, the Whigs won a popular vote for their candidates that was close to the popular tally for the Democrats. And in 1840 and 1848, the party captured the White House. Their only loss in a presidential election during the decade occurred in 1844 when Clay lost by a hair to the Democrats' dark horse James K. Polk, who had greater appeal to voters favoring the expansion both of territory and slavery. But in 1852, as slavery's expansion became the great issue of American politics, the Whigs suffered a drastic decline in popularity. And by 1854 they had given up the ghost, no longer able to hold the support of 'cotton Whigs,' who found a more congenial political home in the Democratic party, or of 'conscience Whigs,' who helped form the new Republican party.

Historians have interpreted the Whigs in strikingly different ways. They have been seen as champions of banks, business, corporations, economic growth, the positive liberal state, humanitarian reform, and morality in politics, and as opponents of expansionism, executive tyranny, states' rights, labor, and the democratic suffrage, among other things. These dissimilar assessments are unsurprising given the heterogeneity of the party itself, in its leaders, policies and programs, political style, and rank-and-file supporters.

The Whig party was founded by individuals united only in their antagonism to Jackson's war on the Second Bank of the United States and his high-handed measures in waging that war and ignoring Supreme Court decisions, the Constitution, and Indian rights embodied in federal treaties. Beyond that, however, there were Whigs and Whigs. Some played the demagogic anti-Catholic game; others scorned it. Some spoke critically of working people; others, admiringly. Detailed studies of the Whig party in the states and biographies of such Whig leaders as Clay, William Seward, Daniel Webster, and Horace Greeley reveal dissimilar policies from one state to another and important differences in the character, beliefs, and actions of the leaders. Thurlow Weed was much more opportunistic than his New York State colleague Seward. Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania was more high-minded and not nearly as pragmatic as Clay of Kentucky. For all Clay's political flexibility and his lust for the presidency, he could still inspire the young congressman from Illinois, Abraham Lincoln.

The tendency of Whig officeholders to vote as a bloc on certain issues, in opposition to Democratic blocs, helps account for the tendency of some historians to exaggerate the extent and depth of Whig single-mindedness. In Congress, Whigs supported the Second Bank of the United States, a high tariff, distribution of land revenues to the states, relief legislation to mitigate the effects of the great depression that followed the financial panics of 1837 and 1839, and federal reapportionment of House seats (a 'reform' likely to enlarge Whig representation in Congress). Studies of voting patterns in the states reveal Whig support of banks, limited liability for corporations, prison reform, educational reform, abolition of capital punishment, and temperance. Although the Whig party was hardly an antislavery party, free blacks and abolitionists overwhelmingly preferred it to more ardently proslavery Jacksonian Democrats.

The old notion propagated by the party's enemies-that the Whigs drew their support primarily from the rich and the well-to-do-has been sharply modified by modern scholarship. The relatively few rich men in the country did prefer Whigs to Democrats, but by a modest margin. Whigs fared well at the polls among people of all classes in economically dynamic communities heavily engaged in commerce. Jacksonian propaganda did induce many people to regard the Whigs as an upper-class party (not organized working men, however, whose leaders dismissed both Democrats and Whigs as 'humbugs'). Yet Whigs could win presidential elections, governorships, and state legislature majorities only because they attracted mass support. Although they received the votes of many small farmers, shopkeepers, clerks, and artisans, they appear to have appealed particularly to what some modern historians call distinctive ethnocultural groups: evangelical as opposed to liturgical Protestants; moralists and abstainers; persons unhappy with brutal treatment of blacks and Native Americans. In some states Whig leaders seemed so critical of political parties that they appeared to be religious zealots rather than party leaders. Yet for all their antiparty rhetoric, Whigs were as realistic and efficiently organized as their Democratic opponents.

American major parties develop their own distinctive auras that are no less real for being intangible and unmeasurable. In that time, Whig and Democratic leaders were strikingly similar in such significant characteristics as wealth, occupational prestige, a fundamentally conservative social ideology, materialism, and opportunism. These similarities help explain why both major parties were attractive to moneyed men. But it is unwise to discount the significance of the unique blending of moral values and social philosophies that some imaginative historians have recently discerned in Whig leaders, a blending that helps account for the Whigs' special appeal to one rather than another kind of individual.

Ultimately, however, the Whigs are best understood as an American major party trying to be many things to many men, ready to abandon one deeply held 'conviction' for another in the drive for political power. The party died not because its unique aura no longer appealed to voters but because it could not cope effectively or persuasively with some of the issues of the time.

The Democrat Party has already undergone its own change, morphing from the Democrat Party of our grandfathers to the Progressive Party that it is today.  But because the fresh voices on the right have been thwarted from both sides and were delayed in breaking out of their cocoon, leaving the Republican Establishment, that is all too much like their Democrat counterparts, in power, the opportunity of a real election choice has been stolen from the American people for several cycles now.

And it is the fresh voices within the Republican Party that are rising that the Progressive left fears, because they are an honest alternative choice for Americans.  It is why both the left and the GOP leadership fear (feared) and demonized the Tea Party.  It is why they feared Sarah Palin and why the biased left media created Palin Derangement Syndrome, based on lies, manipulation, and distortions, that little by little have bubbled to the surface in various forms of exonerations proving that Palin was purposely set-up by the left as well as GOP leadership.  It is also why the mainstream media ignores, minimizes coverage and distorts the words and accomplishments of other politicians like Senators Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, and Mike Lee; Mayor and Congressional candidate Mia Love; Representatives Michelle Bachmann, Jason Chaffetz and a long list of others; plus most anyone who speaks out against the machine that is in place.

It is also time to put the in-fighting behind us.  The bitter 2012 primary debates on the Republican side certainly didn’t help anyone.  And the arguments between people who are generally on the same side need to stop as well.  Time to see and focus on the bigger picture.  For those not aware, there has been an on-going, mostly one-sided feud between Mark Levin and Glenn Beck.  This past week Mark Levin recognized on-air that he got a nice note from Glenn Beck the other day and called it an “absolute class act”. He went on to say:

“I think it’s long over due that Glenn Beck and I do what we can in our own roles to help save the country and restore the Republic.”

Side Note: The one sided feud began in 2010 over the direction of the conservative movement. Glenn was bashing progressive republicans and Mark Levin was focused on winning back the House. They just saw things differently. It took off after Glenn Beck’s CPAC speech. But it was mostly Mark Levin ranting about Glenn. Glenn never went after Levin.

None of us agree with anyone all of the time.  If we can agree most of the time there is room for compromise to focus on the bigger issues and common enemies, a concept that President Ronald Reagan firmly believed in.  He was a master of constructive compromise. Far too many Conservatives, Libertarians, Evangelicals, Independents, and just plain concerned patriotic Americans forgot this in 2012.

Get-involved!! Educate yourself and then share what you have learned… not what the mainstream media is feeding you… with friends, family, neighbors and anyone who will listen, however hesitantly.  Get involved in a campaign.  Support issues and candidates locally, statewide and nationally with funds, volunteering or just sharing their message. Run yourself.  Start a blog.  Be present in the truth and if you are so inclined.. pray.

Now is the time to stand-up for choice, freedom, America and fresh voices within the Republican Party!!

New Book: Collusion: How the Media Stole the 2012 Election---and How to Stop Them from Doing It in 2016/Kindle

Technorati Tags: Victory,Beck,Glenn Beck,political parties,change,Tea party,Levin,Reaganesque,Conservative Voices,Constitutionalists,Whigs,GOP,Republicans,elections,politics,knowledge,choices,2012 Election,2014 Election,Palin Derrangement Syndrome,Palin,Rand Paul,black conservative voices,Mike Lee,Ted Cruz,Mia Love,Jason Chaffetz,Collusion,MB,Progressives,Jacksonians,Abraham Lincoln,Muslim Brotherhood,ruling elite

Palin Not Speaking at GOP Convention in Tampa… Huge Disappointment to Many – Mistake or Smart by Romney Campaign?

Chris Christie in, Sarah Palin out Unveiling the Romney-Ryan 2012 Republican National Convention Party/Campaign Strategy

by Marion Algier – Ask Marion

The final GOP Convention speaker announcements came quickly after Mitt Romney announced his vice presidential running mate.  Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is out, even though Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus had said earlier that he hoped she would have a speaking role, and her absence leaves many very disappointed! But New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is in, giving the keynote address on Tuesday night, making many across all sectors of the party happy!  And popular Florida Senator Marco Rubio will be introducing Romney at the Convention. Texas Representative and two time GOP presidential primary candidate Ron Paul, who will be holding a Rally for his Liberty Delegates on Aug 26th in Tampa, will not appear leaving many of his followers shocked, but his son, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, will take the stage (a deal that many feel was made months ago between the Paul and Romney camps on the campaign trail).  And just like the unconventional early Paul Ryan VP announcement this is a bit of a shake-up and surprise, especially for those who consider Mitt Romney and his team predictable… perhaps not so much after all!?!

Having waited to write this for a few days, still hoping there might be a few additional changes (I am one who really hoped Palin and Allen West would still be added), the full slate of convention speakers for the Republican National Convention in Tampa later this month now appears to be set and it reveals a careful attempt by the GOP and Team Romney to highlight voices that will excite party loyalists in the campaign hall while excluding those that could possibly turn-off independent voters watching on television at home, possibly giving some credence to the rumor that Palin was asked to speak during the day… when fewer people would see her. (As Rush Limbaugh has often said, “Wow what power we have given the independents!”)

So unless things change, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and the first women ever to be on a Republican Presidential ticket, who just four years ago was the first Republican female vice presidential candidate ever, will apparently not be speaking at the Republican National Convention.

Palin made her announcement through a statement released to Greta Van Susteren, after according to a report on RealClearPolitics.com, “Two Republican sources with knowledge of discussions between the Palin and Romney camps told RCP that Palin made the decision not to attend the convention after not receiving an invitation to speak in prime time: "This year is a good opportunity for other voices to speak at the convention and I'm excited to hear them.", she said. It remained unclear whether Palin would be attending the convention at all. Palin not being asked to speak at the 2012 convention by Mitt Romney’s team is considered a BIG MISTAKE by many and a bit disrespectful to the first GOP female ever to be part of a their ticket!!

Sarah Palin is a galvanizing force among many Republicans, but she was critical of Mitt Romney during the primary; her husband Todd Palin, who is presently appearing on the new high-profile reality show, “Stars Earn Stripes” even stomped for Newt Gingrich. (Eldest Palin daughter, Bristol, who is featured with her son in “Bristol Palin: Life’s a Tripp” is also returning to Dancing with the Stars’ (DWTS) 15th season as part of their first “all-star” cast beginning soon and running through the campaign season).  And Sarah has yet to ‘officially’ endorse Romney, but offered strong words of support on the Sunday after the Ryan VP pick was announced.  Palin wrote: “As I've repeatedly said, I support Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in their efforts to replace President Obama at the ballot box, and I intend to focus on grassroots efforts to rally Independents and the GOP base to elect Senate and House members so a wise Congress is ready to work with our new President to get our country back on the right path."

And through it all Palin is still in spotlight despite passing on the convention

Just because the former vice presidential candidate isn’t speaking at the GOP convention in late August, it doesn’t mean Palin will be out of the spotlight!

In the annuls of former vice presidential candidates, Palin now 48, remains the exception rather than the rule. Most former VP candidates on losing tickets just faded away or returned to their previous jobs in politics after their tickets’ defeat.  But, four years after John McCain surprised the electorate with Palin’s selection, after which she soon overshadowed McCain on the campaign trail, Palin certainly shows no signs of disappearing as a political figure and she may just show up at the convention anyway.

But instead of Palin rocking the Convention house, like she does every time she speaks, a roster of other young, conservative types such as Paul Ryan (Romney’s VP choice), Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, Nikki Haley, and Ted Cruz will be on the podium in Tampa along with a few veterans like Condi Rice.

The Tampa Bay Times said Palin had already rented hotel space in Tampa down the street from the convention and will be in close proximity to about 15,000 journalists, which has also been corroborated by several pundits on Fox News, where Palin is still working as a contributor as she supports candidates around the country who espouse her same ideas.  In the statement released to Greta Van Susteren, Palin said she was looking forward to doing grassroots campaigning:

“As I’ve repeatedly said, I support Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in their efforts to replace President Obama at the ballot box, and I intend to focus on grassroots efforts to rally Independents and the GOP base to elect Senate and House members so a wise Congress is ready to work with our new President to get our country back on the right path.”

While Palin’s critics say her convention absence is another sign of her political decline, her supporters would say it is a sign of her strength, still feared by many in the GOP establishment, sentiments that recently emerged through former VP Dick Cheney’s remarks causing a media uproar as well as within the Republican party and among those outside the party that were swayed by the leftist rhetoric which created Palin Derangement Syndrome that sadly seems to continue. 

In historic terms, Palin is one of the most high-profile ex-VP candidates in decades. Since 1912, not many losing vice presidential candidates have come back around to have significant public roles. Little-known fact however, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was on the losing Democratic ticket in 1920 and obviously bounced back in a big way with his subsequent four terms in office as president. Earl Warren lost as a VP candidate in 1948 and then later became the Chief Justice of the United States. Bob Dole, Lloyd Bentsen, Estes Kefauver, Joe Lieberman, and Walter Mondale resumed their careers after their unsuccessful races for the vice presidency. Other former candidates, like John Edwards and Geraldine Ferraro, the first Democrat woman on the presidential ticket, struggled with legal issues. But the Dems did not forget their first female VP nominee and capitalized on having the first women on a national ticket ever, whenever possible.

As for Palin, she is still making headlines, has the unwavering support of the Tea Party, and is frequently mentioned as a potential 2016 presidential candidate if Mitt Romney doesn’t capture the White House, and a 2020 possibility if he does.

Recent estimates put her net worth above $10 million, thanks to her reality TV deal for Sarah Palin’s Alaska, her books including America by Heart, and her speaking engagements.

The web site The Hill says Palin’s recent endorsements in Senate primaries helped four of five candidates win in tight elections.

Rather than Sarah’s star power fading… Palin's absence From GOP Convention May Expose a Romney-Palin Rift… Or Perhaps an Establishment-Grassroots Rift

Palin stomping for Ted Cruz in Texas

Real Clear Politics noted if one of Mitt Romney's goals in choosing a running mate was to mine the same mother lode of conservative excitement that John McCain tapped by picking Sarah Palin four years ago, there's one additional dilemma for Romney to address: Palin is still around. However we will acknowledge that the Ryan announcement has definitely boosted the Romney campaign.

Only a day after Romney unveiled House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan as his vice-presidential pick, Palin suggested in her statement posted by her Fox News colleague and friend Greta Van Susteren that she would not speak at the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa which tells us that perhaps Sarah was on the short least for a VP re-run shot and we are in for surprise appearance, she decided to be the grown-up in the room and do the right thing for the unity of the party and step back to stop anymore friction and speculation, or she is looking ahead to 2016 or even 2020 and figures perhaps absence will make the hearts grow fonder and the voices of those who miss her grow louder?!?

Palin’s apparent decision to steer clear of this year’s convention came almost four years after she took the 2008 presidential race by storm with her speech accepting the GOP vice-presidential nomination in St. Paul, Minnesota, a performance that electrified the party faithful and received almost universal praise from previously skeptical pundits, a fact the has been conveniently forgotten or spun over the past four years. For those who either don’t or choose not to remember that McCain-Palin were ahead in the polls after Palin joined the ticket, Greta Van Susteren recently pulled out the old polls.

Within days the McCain/Palin ticket had surged to the lead in the RCP Average before a series of questionable public stumbles and the near-collapse of the nation’s financial system causing McCain to temporarily suspend campaigning, which ultimately led to the Republicans’ defeat.

And though the differences between that vice-presidential rollout and his own are innumerable, Romney’s selection of Ryan has likewise generated a surge of enthusiasm in the conservative base that had previously rallied to Romney largely by default.

According to Romney spokesperson Andrea Saul, the Republican campaign raised $3.5 million online in the first 24-hours and over $7-million total in the first 3-days following Romney’s selection of Ryan, and the GOP ticket was greeted over the weekend by the largest crowds of the former Massachusetts governor’s candidacy, though the numbers have been less massive than the tens of thousands who regularly turned out for Palin’s 2008 appearances. It was at her first rally in Cali in October 2008 that this writer first saw Sarah Palin speak to a crowd of 23,000 in Carson, CA.  I have been a supporter ever since and so are most who hear her speak live and actually listen!

Though she has faded from her once commanding perch on the national political scene, Palin’s role in the Republican Party heading into the campaign’s final stretch remains a consequential matter for the Romney team and not having her speak at the convention may turn out to be something they wished they had addressed and handled differently.

The former Alaska governor has not only demonstrated a continued ability to wield significant influence, particularly in Senate and House primary races, but her penchant for doing things her own way has left the lingering possibility that she could either boost the standard-bearer or become a thorn in his side. For this reason it was notable, at least to some, when she initially offered only a lukewarm reaction to Romney’s selection of Ryan.

On Saturday night, the former Alaska governor posted on her Facebook page, often her venue of choice to communicate to her fans and followers, a statement that clocked in at over 1,100 words, in which she attacked President Obama’s policies and compared the nation’s fiscal mess to California’s, but offered only cursory congratulations to Romney for choosing Ryan and declining to praise specifically any of the Wisconsin congressman’s positive attributes as a running mate. Then the following morning, the aforementioned Republican sources, with knowledge of discussions between the Palin and Romney camps, told RCP that Palin would not attend the convention after not receiving an invitation to speak in prime time. We can only speculate what is and has gone on in this situation on both sides…

“They’ve got Ryan now, so they think they’ve got the Tea Party covered,” one of the sources said.

Two Palin aides did not respond to requests for confirmation that she would not speak in Tampa, leaving room for hope for her followers, but the 2008 VP nominee appeared on Fox News later on Sunday and offered up a far more full-throated endorsement of the GOP ticket than the one that she had provided earlier. 

“With Paul Ryan, who’s known for his conscientious concern for our budget and for getting America out of debt, this makes it tougher for Obama to continue to do his distracting and dividing and pivoting off the economy because this ticket representing this campaign is about the economy,” she said. “There’s a lot of us who will have his back.”

In the interview, Palin was not asked why she had declined in her initial statement to join other national Republicans in heaping praise on Ryan, but her newly effusive tone surely must have come as a relief to the Romney campaign.

Shortly after her Fox News appearance, Palin released her statement to Van Susteren indicating that she would not speak at the convention, but the question of how prominent a role the Romney campaign had been willing to grant her remained unanswered.

A Romney campaign spokesperson declined to comment on whether Palin had been offered a prime-time speaking window in Tampa, rather than a less coveted daytime slot, which considering Palin’s standing in the party would have been an insult.

“Governor Palin is an important voice and leader in the Republican Party,” Romney campaign manager Matt Rhoades said in an emailed statement to RCP. “While she will be missed in Tampa, Governor Romney looks forward to working with her to defeat President Obama, turn our economy around and strengthen America’s middle class.”

The Romney campaign has long maintained an internal policy of speaking only glowingly of Palin in public settings, but their concern remains evident that she is a polarizing figure in an election that will be decided by voters with whom she is not popular.

BuzzFeed.com reported on Saturday that in alluding to the differences between the Ryan pick and McCain’s choice of Palin, one senior Romney adviser sarcastically referred in an email to “the number one policy wonk in the country . . . Sarah Palin.”  Shame on them!

Commenters on the pro-Palin website Conservatives4Palin.com reacted angrily to the news that she would not speak at the convention, and a prominent GOP strategist with close ties to the Tea Party told RCP that he blamed the Romney campaign for not fully appreciating what Palin brings to the table.

“The Romney campaign from day one has missed her draw to the Tea Party,” the strategist said. “Even with Paul Ryan, they still miss that she’s been there from the beginning.”  They also miss that she is a historic figure in the Republican party.

How Palin handles the spotlight, if she decides to make any public statements from this point on, will undoubtedly make headlines.

Palin: Tea partiers have 'no choice' but Romney… 'Of course they're going to go with anybody but Obama (ABO)'

(Fox News) After a long and sharply contested GOP primary battle, many Republicans, conservatives and tea-party types have been left questioning whether they can, in good conscience, vote for Mitt Romney in November.

Romney’s statements as a former advocate of legalized abortion, his hotly contested record on same-sex marriage and his health-care reforms while governor of Massachusetts – sometimes maligned as “Romneycare” – have left conservatives uncertain if the presumptive Republican nominee is really one of their own.

Tea-party darling and former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, however, is basically dismissing the concerns, telling Fox News Channel’s Shannon Bream that Romney has the Republican Party’s conservative base in the bag.

On “America’s News Headquarters” over the weekend, host Bream asked Palin if Romney’s choice of Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., as running mate would help persuade those “not completely sold” on the name at the top of the GOP ticket.

“A lot of maybe Tea Party patriots have understood, wisely, that they’ve had no choice,” Palin answered. “Of course they’re going to go with anybody but Obama (ABO), and now, yes, I believe that there will be a strengthening, more enthusiasm, because [of] this ticket.”

When asked how Romney needs to “coalesce” his message to communicate with voters, Palin doubled down on the notion that the GOP base is secured.

“It’s all about the independents, Shannon,” Palin said. “We don’t have to just keep on preaching to the choir, there, of the hardcore base of fiscal conservatives within the Republican Party – we got ‘em; Romney’s got ‘em. We’ve got to reach the independents.”

According to the latest polling data from Rasmussen Reports, however, Palin’s claims may be more predictive of voting in November than descriptive of the current divide within the Republican Party.

Rasmussen’s most recent poll on the question of voter enthusiasm found that only 16 percent of Republicans believe Romney and Obama are the best two options to be running for president, only 35 percent will affirm excitement about the match-up and a sobering 46 percent of all voters believe they “will simply be voting for the lesser of two evils this November.”

Nonetheless, according to the most recent Gallup polls, 90 percent of Republicans say they would vote for Romney if the election was today, and 92 percent of those who voted for GOP candidate John McCain in 2008 say they plan to vote for Romney in 2012.

When asked if she would endorse and stump for the presumptive GOP ticket, Palin responded, “Oh, 100 percent in support; I’m all in for Romney and Ryan.”

Shannon Bream’s interview with Palin can be seen below:

So while as of now Palin won’t be a featured speaker in Tampa, if she decides to go to Florida, which seems fairly probable after her political action committee spent $4,500 on hotel rooms, her presence there will draw a lot of media attention.  And who knows, the GOP could have last minute thoughts about having her speak after all or Fox News could put her to work.  And depending how the winds shift Sarah Palin may be the special gift received and opened in 2008 but not truly enjoyed or utilized to full potential until 2016 or maybe even 2020 (Sarah will only be 56-years-old in 2020; 4-years younger than Hillary was in 2008 when she ran for the Democrat nomination).

Related:

Palin Derangement Syndrome Continues – Lots of Palin background links here

Romney-Ryan: America’s New Dream Team and a Clear Choice – Updated

Kevin Fobbs: For those not willing to hold their breath to see if they surprise us with Sarah as a guest speaker, speak up now to let the GOP know how you feel: to let Sarah speak:

In 2008, after Sarah Palin became our vice-presidential nominee, she instantly became the most prominent woman in the Republican Party. Since then, she has relentlessly supported the Tea Party and in 2010, she was one of the most valuable players in the best year the GOP has had in half a century. During that election cycle, she endorsed candidates like Nikki Haley, Renee Ellmers, Kristi Noem, Susana Martinez, Chris Christie, Sean Duffy, Bob McDonnell, Tim Scott, Rand Paul, and Allen West and she is back at is again this election cycle.  Additionally, there are few people who would dispute that Sarah Palin is a dynamic speaker with a large fan base in the Republican Party.  Donald Trump was on ‘On the Record’ the other night again stating how much he likes and respects Sarah Palin… so why aren’t they all speaking up for her now?

What this all adds up to, as Ed Morrisey noted over at Hot Air, is that Palin deserves a chance to speak at the convention.

Palin electrified the convention in 2008, and it’s just good manners to have the #2 from the last ticket and the 1st GOP woman on a presidential ticket to speak at the next convention. Few people in the party can fire up the grassroots like Palin does, and few people will draw the attention she gets. There is always room to offer her a good speaking slot at the convention, even if they have to juggle people around and they should do so, and do so quickly!

Yes, we want Mitt Romney to win, but we also want to make sure that everyone knows the bad old days of the Republican grassroots suffering in silence while our “leaders” in D.C. made decisions we didn’t agree with, are over. And Sarah Palin represents that. Right Wing News alone can’t generate enough signatures to make a difference. If it’s going to happen, it will be because YOU think they should “Let Sarah Speak”. So, if you agree that Sarah Palin should be given a speaking slot at the convention, then send a message by signing this petition (or contacting the Romney campaign or the RNC directly… or all three). If you really feel strongly about it, email this suggestion and petition out to some friends. Add the petition to Facebook, Twitter, or G+. Stand up, get the word out to let Sarah Speak!

Petition by iPetitions

PS: Some people claim Palin was offered a speaking slot and turned it down. However, that’s not what her gracious public statement about the matter actually said. Moreover, not only has the Romney campaign refused to comment, I reached out to the RNC yesterday and it also had nothing to say. I was referred over to Pam Stevens, who’s the Deputy Press Secretary for the 2012 RNC. She didn’t respond to an email about the subject. When this many people are deliberately staying silent when they could just say, “We invited Palin to speak and she declined,” it tells you all you need to know.

This article is absolutely not an anti-Romney-Ryan piece… They are the right team for the times, certainly compared to the alternative, but they would be helping themselves and the party in letting Sarah Palin speak!

Technorati Tags: Sarah Palin,Palin,GOP Convention,strategy,Romney-Ryan,Republican National Convention,Christ Christie,the Palins,GOP,Election 2012,Let Sarah Speak,Let Palin Speak at GOP Convention,speeches,Palin Derangement Syndrome Syndrome,fear,Romney-Ryan strategy,Independents,2012 Election,Mitt Romney,Republican Establishment,fear of Palin,tea party,tea party favorite,grassroots politics,Ron Paul,GOP convention speakers

Santorum Wins in Kansas… Romney Racks-Up Delegates in WY, Guam, Northern Marianas and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Santorum campaigns in Lenexa, KS Mar. 7 (Eric Gay/AP)

Rick Santorum has won the Republican presidential caucuses in Kansas.

Santorum captured an overwhelming 51 percent--although that constituted only about 15,300 people-- of the vote. Mitt Romney took second with 21 percent, followed by Newt Gingrich with 14 percent and Ron Paul with 12.5 percent. Those results mean Santorum stands to gain a substantial number of Kansas' 40 delegates.

Santorum made clear he had to win Kansas in order to remain competitive in the race for his party's presidential nomination.

"We have to do well here in Kansas," Santorum said this week in Lenexa, Kan., a suburb of Kansas City, Mo. "No, we have to win here in Kansas, and win big."

In the 2008 Republican primary, Mike Huckabee carried Kansas with 60 percent of the vote. John McCain received 23.5 percent, Paul received 11 percent and Romney, who had already dropped out of the race, received 3 percent.

Romney and Gingrich largely skipped Kansas in favor of states voting next week. Gingrich canceled an all-day swing Friday in Kansas to campaign in Mississippi and Alabama, where voters head to the polls Tuesday. Romney also didn't focus on the state, although he did win an endorsement from Bob Dole, the former Kansas senator and presidential candidate, in December.

[Watch: Rick Santorum addresses supporters after his win in Kansas (Video)]

But Romney picked up delegates elsewhere for himself on Saturday.

In what might be a record for delegates per individual vote, Romney won nine delegates Saturday when 207 Republicans in Guam endorsed his presidential candidacy. And then he won another nine delegates by winning the Republican caucuses in the Northern Mariana Islands.

Romney also carried Wyoming's county conventions Saturday, winning six additional delegates. Santorum won three Wyoming delegates and Paul received one. (One additional Wyoming delegate remained uncommitted, and another remained to be decided.)

And Romney also picked up seven delegates in the U.S. Virgin Islands Saturday. Paul won the support of one U.S.V.I. delegate and one additional delegate remained uncommitted.

[Watch: Romney picks up delegates in Wyoming, Virgin Islands (Video)]

Romney began the weekend in the lead with 339 delegates, compared to 107 for Gingrich, 95 for Santorum, and 22 for Ron Paul, according to the Republican National Committee. The RNC totals do not reflect any wins in contests where delegates are not bound to the winning candidates.

Update 9:10 p.m. ET: Story updated to include vote results from Wyoming and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Election Map

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Sarah on the Cover of Newsweek… I Can Win!!

Yes you can!

“Of course she is running. She just is refusing to play by the “rules” the establishment and the media have set. There isn’t the slightest reason to announce yet, all that would do is give the enemy a fixed target. It would force every aspect of every thing she does to fit into campaign law.

The bus tour would have been impossible.

If this was the 1980 election, Reagan’s announcement would still be several months away.  November 13th.

She is Sun Tsu, refusing to march onto a battlefield that her enemy is standing on, fully prepared, in a location they chose. And she is attacking elsewhere.

It is driving them bats*^t insane. They are running this cover to goad her. They exclude her from every poll to goad her (“see, we excluded her until she announces”… Guliani is in some polls but not Sarah)

Meanwhile, she is touring the primary states in the NE, Touring Iowa… etc

Oh yes, she is running. But she is employing asymmetrical warfare.”

By: Andrea Shea King  - The Radio Patriot

The Extraordinary Sarah Palin

by Dan Riehl  -  Big Government

When it comes to former GOP Governor and Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin, if any ordinary Republican politician could generate as much contemporary free media coverage, including a new high profile cover story from Newsweek, while a positive full length documentary on their legitimate political career, The Undefeated, was opening nationally on July 15, the Republican establishment and most all of the base would be clamouring for him or her to enter the race for President in 2012. But Sarah Palin is no ordinary Republican politician.

Based upon my own observations, along with some recent conversations with friends, including Andrew Breitbart, who recently spent some time talking with Palin, my image of Palin has been becoming more well-defined of late. Take, for instance, the only real criticism I could find in the Newsweek piece. It jibes with another criticism I’ve observed, that she too often engages her critics directly, as opposed to allowing surrogates to do it for her. Are these valid criticisms of Palin? Along with providing some insight into her - she’s a fighter, it might also tell you much about how you view Palin. If you’re looking for an ordinary politician, Sarah Palin ain’t it.

This formula—bucking Republicans and counting on the situational cooperation of Democrats—made for a fragile governing model, one further attenuated by the fact that political insiders found Palin too sensitive to criticism and too eager to deal in payback. But to the public she was a heroine, with an approval rating above 80 percent two years into her term, making her by far the most popular governor in the country.

Once I put aside any notion of a mostly plastic, glad-handing politician and contemplated how I myself might actually react in this, or that, situation Palin has faced, a clearer image of her as an every man politician began to take shape. There’s a good chance I’d have handled a good deal of the criticism precisely as has she in this, a new media age. And she is far more in touch with the concept of new media, than is almost any other American politician – hence the reliance on Facebook and Twitter to get her message out.

“The mainstream press is becoming less and less relevant,” she said, adding that she would have no hesitation in shunning media outlets she does not trust.

As The Undefeated makes clear (my earlier review here), she’s not in politics because her daddy held office, or won, or was denied a Presidential nomination, or election. She entered politics as an individual because she cared about the relationship between government and the people and wanted to make a difference. Sarah Palin was not schooled by some mostly Eastern U.S. Preparatory and Secondary school system one might think is the only acceptable schooling for serious American political leadership today. In fact, in many ways, that monopoly has all but driven America off a cliff - including under the current administration.

Of course, Ronald Reagan wasn’t a product of it, either, as a matter of fact.

Still, even some of her biggest fans may have a mistaken notion of the kind of politician Sarah Palin actually is. True, she’s a Conservative … but she’s also a common sense pragmatist, not an uncompromising ideologue, as portions of the media would have one believe. As wonderful as conservative ideals are, rigid thinking can not always solve every problem. As her tenure in Alaska demonstrated, first and foremost, Sarah Palin is a problem solver.

The centerpiece achievement was a significant tax hike on the profits derived from Alaskan oil, which pro-industry Republicans opposed, and which passed only because Palin allied herself with the legislature’s Democrats (who insisted, to Palin’s acquiescence, on raising the tax even higher).

So, why are there not more establishment voices calling for such a visible and pragmatic Palin to toss her hat in the ring? My guess is, because she is more one of us, than any political establishment. If you begin to understand – and accept that – you may be beginning to understand Palin and what she represents to so many. Unfortunately, as shocking as it may seem, the fact is, more than fearing the political opposition in the form of Democrats, or Republicans, what America’s political establishment fears most of all is “we the people.” That, in large part, is what Ronald Reagan represented leading to such strong opposition to him from the GOP establishment, as well.

“You know, I rarely use the term ‘bipartisanship,’” she said. “I use the term ‘independent.’ Piper’s middle name is ‘Indie.’ That’s the Alaskan way of life. Seventy-three percent of Alaskans aren’t registered Republican or Democrat, they’re independent. Todd’s not a registered Republican. Most of the people I know, they’re independent people saying, ‘Just use common sense.’”

If there’s a conclusion to be inferred from the Newsweek item, it would seem to be that she is running. Her family seems on board with it and that is the only real obstacle she mentions, after all. However, that’s merely an inference and, as with some other potential late entries, the question remains open. What’s also true of Palin is that, until she says it, assuming otherwise is no guarantee of accuracy.

What is clear is that her road to any presumed GOP nomination would not be easy, or typical. It would likely require a far greater number of people to actually understand Sarah Palin apart from the many characters and caricatures the media has made her out to be. That said, if it did, or does happen, I do believe that, not only could she win the GOP nomination, but she could win the Presidency, as well.

At this point thirty-years ago, Reagan was thought to be both unelectable and unacceptable, even as a nominee. Not only did he go on to win the nomination and Presidency in 1980, his landslide re-election in 1984 remains as a testament to the success of common sense, mostly conservative-based politics capable of reaching across, if not erasing, party lines in America.

I wouldn’t want to have to assign odds as to the likelihood that Sarah Palin could repeat such a hallmark record of achievement in American politics. However, if one thinks it impossible at this point, then one may not know, or understand, Sarah Palin and her appeal, or the American people, at all. After all, both are extraordinary and have proven themselves capable of accomplishing rather exceptional things before.

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Specter, Snowe, Collins Anger GOP Base

Three liberal Republican senators — Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine, and Pennsylvania's Sen. Arlen Specter — who pledged their support this weekend to President Barack Obama’s massive stimulus bill are drawing the wrath of many conservatives.

As news filtered through the media that a "deal" had been cut with the defecting GOP Senators — giving Democrats the 60-plus votes they need to overcome a Republican filibuster — Republican officials and pundits expressed outrage.

The bolting senators cited soaring unemployment numbers, the country's worsening recession and the fact they cut about $100 billion off of the Senate Democrats' proposed plan as key factors for their decision to betray the GOP Senate caucus to join with the Democrats.

But critics note that the Democratic "compromise" plan comes in at $827 billion — $8 billion more in spending than the already bloated House bill that called for $819 billion in new spending. They also note the so-called stimulus bill offers little immediate relief to the economy. According to a Congressional Budget Office report issued last week, only a fraction of the stimulus will be spent in 2009.

Though weekends are noted for slow news cycles, Collins, Snowe, and Specter already are finding they are under hostile fire, lambasted on conservative Web sites throughout the weekend and the subjects of angry calls by many of their constituents, according to reports.

“Arlen Specter is DONE,” wrote a blogger named steelfish on the FreeRepublic Web site. “He won his last primary by less than 1 percent against a real conservative of Pat Toomey. And only because the President Bush came to PA and campaigned for him. He is DONE.”

Specter is up for re-election in 2010. Washington Republican strategists tell Newsmax this weekend that Specter's defection has sealed the deal: he will face a primary for the GOP nomination.

"We don't care if we lose the Pennsylvania Senate seat to the Democrats," one Washington strategist told Newsmax. "Better to remove Fifth columnists from the party."

The sentiment was echoed in chat rooms and blogs across the web.

“They are frauds. RINOS" Republicans in Name Only, wrote a blogger named Croupier101 on the Fox News blog site.

On TV news shows Sunday, their Republican colleagues distanced themselves from the defecting troika -- arguing that the small GOP support for the plan did not suggest Congressional Democrats or the White House sought a bipartisan stimulus.

"This agreement is not bipartisan," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told CBS' "Face the Nation."

"I've been in bipartisan agreements, many. This is three Republican senators. Every Republican congressman voted against it in the House, plus Democrats. And all but three Republicans stayed together on this. That's not bipartisanship. That's just picking off a couple of senators," McCain said.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said the trio’s support must have been disappointing to Obama, who has staked much on his ostensible ability to transcend the partisan divide.

"Having three Republicans, potentially, support it in the Senate out of 535 members of Congress is hardly a bipartisan effort. I think it's a disappointment — surely must be for President Obama," Cornyn told "FOX News Sunday." He added he fully expects the bill to pass "with almost exclusively Democratic support."

The three were the target of a furious national campaign by liberal groups, who besieged their offices with phone calls and emails urging them to support the stimulus plan. Without Democrats controlling a supermajority of 60 votes in the Senate, the trio's support was essential in advancing the contentious plan to a final vote next week.

Their help more than likely will result in pushing the stimulus over the finish line.

In a video posted on YouTube, Republican Rep. Ron Paul said the three “caved in and went with the Democrats.”

The former presidential candidate, who has a sizable libertarian following on the Internet, especially among college students, praised his fellow House Republicans for unanimously opposing the stimulus. But he lamented that after eight years of the massive spending done under the Bush administration, Republican opposition was too little, too late.

"It is like they're born-again budget conservatives," Paul said. "Where were we in the past eight years, when we could have done something? And you see our last eight years that has set this situation up. So we can't blame the Democrats for the conditions we have.

"We have to blame both parties and presidents of the last several decades to have generated this huge government."

The stimulus package, which is expected to come in at about $827 billion when the Senate votes, includes tax cuts and credits and spending on infrastructure, education and other projects that supporters say will create and save jobs.

But critics contend the stimulus is nothing more than a laundry list of political payback to groups that supported the Democrats in the last election. They note that less than 5 percent of the spending goes to infrastructure projects.

Collins said she broke ranks with her party because of the progress congressional negotiators had made on the bill.

"Well, I know that some of my Republican colleagues are unhappy with the position that I've taken," Collins told reporters Saturday. "I hope they will look at the fact that we were able to cut $110 billion of unnecessary spending from this bill. I think that's a good accomplishment. I also think that it's important that we do pass a stimulus bill to help turn the economy around."

But Snowe and Specter have kept a low profile since the deal was struck. Despite their huge role, none made the rounds of the Sunday talk shows. Specter said Friday night that the agreement wasn't perfect but it was necessary.

That assertion was greeted with wild derision on the Internet and with veiled scorn by other Republican leaders.

Julie Ann O'Brien, executive director of the Maine Republican Party, said she already has received plenty of e-mails from people across the country, the majority scolding the two Senators for their support of the bill.

"We have heard from both sides," she told FOXNews.com. "We've heard from those who are pleased that Sen. Collins, in particular, has been willing to play and negotiate. And there are others who feel strongly that they are not acting like Republicans are supposed to act."

O'Brien doesn't anticipate any local political fallout for Snowe or Collins, noting that both won't face re-election for several years and that voters are familiar with them.

"People know what they're getting when they vote for them," she said. "They lean conservative on most issues — that's why they're Republicans. But they really do, I feel, do what is right — not politically right but morally right."

On Sunday, a liberal, union-supported issue advocacy group initially founded in 2005 to rally against President Bush’s Social Security reform plan was praising the three in ads in Maine and Pennsylvania.

"Senators Snowe and Collins have worked with President Obama and other senators to reach agreement on a plan that has support from a broad range of groups, including the US Chamber of Commerce and organized labor," says the version of the ad in Maine.

"Call Senators Snowe and Collins today at 202-224-3121. Thank them for their leadership and tell them to keep fighting for a plan to get our economy moving again."

But Collins, at least, has left herself some wiggle room on the final bill that emerges after House-Senate negotiations.

"Well, I know that some of my Republican colleagues are unhappy with the position that I've taken," Collins told FOX News. "I hope they will look at the fact that we were able to cut $110 billion of unnecessary spending from this bill. I think that's a good accomplishment.”

Yet she conceded that if a bill comes back from the conference committee with the House "once again bloated with wasteful spending and it's too expensive, then I'll vote against it."

By: Tim Collie

Source:  Inside Cover© 2009 Newsmax