The Keys to the White House in '08

Five platform planks = one Republican victory

Editor's note: Thomas's commentary is in blue, Marcie's is in purple.

This is not a knock on social conservatives, but they have to remember that they do not control the party, its message, or its representation. We work as a party--one voice together; strength through unity. Right now we do not seem too united, though. Social conservatives are splitting the party along a variety of invisible battle lines, and all because a couple of candidates do not fit into their mold of what a president or a congressman should be. That is a mistake that we can ill afford to make right now. We need a leader for America if we are to survive and prosper now, and for the future. We do not need a panderer. A compromiser will not do either. We need leaders who will fight for this nation, and her security. Most importantly, the GOP needs a platform not only to run on, but to govern from. We believe we have that elusive idea. (We would be remiss if we did not give credit where credit was due. It was Hugh Hewitt that came up with the platform. We are simply carrying it over from the midterms because the message--the stand against the Left--never ends.)

1) Win The War - This nation is still involved in a war not of its own choosing. I know a lot of people have shrieked to almighty God (Gaea for you Al Gore nutters, if you'd like) that we should've talked with our enemy after they murdered 2,996 innocent men and women on 11 September. They wanted us to understand our enemy's gripes. We were happy to see we had a president that understood what an act of war was and reacted appropriately. President Bush could've taken the same road President Clinton did, but he reminded us that the attacks were more than a crime, and they required a proper response. That's not talk, folks. That's action. Our operations have removed two despotic regimes from the face of the planet, and have freed over forty-five million people. Winning the war is the most important part of this platform for the sheer fact that if we don't win it, then nothing else on this list, or on the minds of social conservatives will matter. If we lose, cutting taxes and overruling Roe will be the LEAST of our problems.

2) Confirm The Judges - It is imperative we regain control of the courts. Right now on the United States Supreme Court we have justices that believe it is time we start injecting international law into court decisions. They have completely ignored the Constitution in the realm of States' rights. They have quashed the notion of people having a right to own private property. They have stated that we have a broad "right to privacy," and that there is a wall "between church and state." This goes beyond the Supreme Court; the inferior courts in the judiciary are nearly as bad. Remember Judge Anna Diggs Taylor? She ruled that the president's NSA Terrorist Surveillance Program was unconstitutional, trumping the powers of a President during wartime, and making an unprecedented decision. Such a decision had never been made by the federal courts; the primary reason why the Sixth Circuit Court stepped in, staying her decision. The courts had always upheld the powers of the president when it came to national security. Bad decision like these have emphasized the need for originalist jurists to be appointed to the federal bench. The Left will never appoint such a judge to the bench. Our side will.

3) Control The Spending - The GOP was booted from power because those in Congress had literally turned into little Democrats, spending taxpayer money like a sailor on shore leave. It wasn't just in programs that already existed. The amount of pork-barrel spending in Congress was extortinate. That's one of the reasons why Porkbusters was created by a group of well-meaning bloggers that were fed up with the lack of transparency from Congress. Apparently, the Republicans in Congress missed this memo because Senator Ted Stevens is still pushing for his "Bridge to Nowhere," a boondoggle that would benefit a minority of people in Alaska alone, rather then the country as a whole. Taxpayers--you, me, Marcie, etc.--are sick of watching our money disappear down the bottomless rat hole known as Congress. Candidates must stress fiscal responsibility lest they find themselves wandering in the darkness for many years to come. Should we settle for second best, we will condemn the nation to economic disaster.

4) Cut The Taxes - Tax cuts work. President Kennedy, President Reagan, and President George W. Bush have proven this. More money in the taxpayer's pockets means they can spend more of it and when they do, they fuel the economy. That is why we have a record-breaking economic surge right now. When President George W. Bush took office, we were sitting on the slow slide into a recession. When 9/11 occurred, the gradual rebound that had occurred from his initial tax cut threatened to collapse. The tax cuts he proposed, and Congress passed, helped bring the economy back from the brink. It has rebounded in ways that many could not predict, including the Dow breaking the 12,000 mark on the anniversary of the 1987 "Black Monday" crash. President Clinton rode the Reagan tax cuts and economic revival, squandering it the moment he passed his tax hike. At the time it was the single largest tax increase in the history of the nation. The Bush tax cuts not only kept this nation from going into a depression after 9/11, but they also fueled other economic achievements, such as the housing boom.

5) Control The Borders - This is almost as important as winning the war, and it's actually connected to that primary point of the platform. If we don't have control of both our northern and southern borders, we have no idea who or what may be coming into this nation. There's no arguing that the border patrol faces a serious problem with drug runners from Mexico impersonating Mexican military forces. More than a few such engagements have been recorded. Additionally, if we don't have control of our borders, we're not going to get a handle on the illegal immigration problem we face right now. Estimates right now on the population of illegal aliens here right now range from seven to twenty million, and we have no idea where they all are. Nor do we have a clue about how many of them are criminals. We can deal with "regularizing" them once we have control of our borders. That means building a fence (preferably the triple-layered one approved by Congress last year), and integrating a "virtual" one through surveillance. We don't want to discourage immigration in the United States. That's what made this nation what it is today. But we want it done legally, and before we can address the internal problem, we must have a firm grasp of the external one. That means controlling the borders.

Again, this platform must not only be run on, but adhered to. There can be no lip service given to this, and then have it be ignored. For us to succeed in 2008, we need to remake a new "contract" with America, and this could be it. Every measure is important to this nation right now. Many social conservatives understand this, and that is commendable. (Many who are pulling for Rudy Giuliani are setting aside long held beliefs for a seemingly solid and determined leader.) Abortion, for example, is in the purview of the courts right now. We, as voters, have no say in the matter aside from our opinions. Gay rights will also end up there, unless we get jurists on the federal bench that respect States' rights. But the time has come to rally around a common idea. That would be ensuring the safety and prosperity of the nation. We need people in Congress and a president that will adhere to these principles. There will be plenty of time to focus on other issues, but these five trump the others right now. They are similar to the ones President Reagan espoused when he ran for president in 1980.

While Reagan did reach out to the social conservatives, he kept them at arm's length. He was not detached from them, per se, but he did remind the nation that there were more important issues at the time that were of the utmost importance. Then, it was the Soviet Communists. Today, it's Islamofascists. And while they don't have nuclear weapons pointed at us like the Soviets did, they have shown a willingness and wiliness to do great harm to this nation. They hate us and want us dead. The Left may act like 11 September didn't happen, but it did, and we're obligated to protect ourselves. We know what these people are capable of and that they haven't given up the fight. The terror cell broken up in Britain last year that was planning to try another hijacking operation was real; those people were ready to die for what they believed. We need leaders that will remind the nation that this war is far from over, and it is the number one issue of the upcoming elections. If we forget that, or settle for less, then this nation will be put in serious peril.

He is a scholar of history, especially American history, and the United States Constitution. She is finishing her undergrad studies before moving onto law school where she will specialize in Constitutional Law. Together, Thomas and Marcie form the vanguard of conservative opinion at Running the Gauntlet--a blogging site devoted to advancing the conservative cause by challenging the liberal lies and deceit spread by the media, and espoused by the Left in general. Both are expert debaters, and have beaten many liberals into submission with their collective wit, and unmatched knowledge. The pair resides in Arizona.

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