Winning America Back with Sarah Palin, JC Watts and Fred Thompson!!

I had a great time at the Independence Events Center this past Saturday at the Winning America Back Conference!

I got to hear some great speakers:

~~Jeri Thompson
~~Fred Thompson
~~Marjorie Dannenfelser (President of the Susan B. Anthony list)
~~Kris Kobach (Constitutional Scholar)
~~JC Watts
~~Sarah Palin

Also, both Darla Jaye from 980 KMBZ and Chris Stigall spoke and did question and answer sessions. I have heard Chris speak many times and am a huge fan and am always impressed. Yet, I had never really heard Darla Jaye much, and I have to say I really enjoyed her.

Fred Thompson did a better job than I expected and I really enjoyed getting to see him in person. He reminds me of Dick Cheney with his dry wit and he was very endearing and had great things to say.

Kris Kobach really blew me out of the water. He has been so demonized by the left (which is what the left does when they are scared of someone) that I didn't know what to expect. He knew exactly what he was talking about (without a teleprompter) and he was so captivating that you enjoyed every minute of it. I hope Kansas is smart enough to vote him in as their next Secretary of State.

I am such a huge fan of JC Watts that I was really looking forward to getting to hear him speak. However, I was fortunate enough to snag a VIP ticket the day before the conference which enabled me to get my picture with Sarah Palin. I was ecstatic, but that ended up meaning I was in line for that while Watts was speaking. I got to hear the end of his speech and the Q&A, but it was worth it to meet Sarah and the 1st Dude and to get my picture with her.

Sarah Palin did a great job in her speech and was so encouraging. One of her best lines:

“You don’t need an office. You don’t need a title. And, you don’t need a TelePrompter to make a difference.”

Related Links:
~~Thousands Line Up to See Sarah Palin in Kansas City
~~Fred Thompson on Obama: When His True Thoughts & Feelings Come Out, That Concerns Me More Than Anything Else (Video)
~~Republican Congressional Candidate Stephen Broden: “Michael Steele, You Are Wrong!” (Video)
~~Sarah Palin: You Don’t Need an Office, Or a Title, Or a TelePrompter To Make a Difference (Video)
~~Winning America Back Conference With Sarah Palin
~~Pastor Stephen Broden on Michael Steele: “Michael Steele is Wrong.”
~~Key to U.S. prosperity is energy security, Palin says during speech in Independence
~~I will post pics of the event soon

Who Will McCain pick for VP and What Message Will it Send?

"In sum, with an ill conceived pick McCain can pour salt in the wounds of the conservative base. With a solid one he can signal a willingness to build a bridge to the GOP base, enhance his domestic policy credentials and electoral prospects and select a plausible #2 in a time when all presidents must be concerned about a successor.

Conservatives will be watching carefully -- and making their preferences clear -- as the presumptive nominee makes his first major decision."

--from How Will McCain Choose his Running Mate by Jennifer Rubin

I did a bunch of research for the radio show this week on who McCain may pick for VP and for what reasons. There are several theories and many names.

Of course, as I have mentioned, J.C. Watts is my top choice and I also named a couple others who would make good choices.

Here are some of the names that are circulating. I've split them up into 4 different categories--Great, Don't Work for Me (most of these are people who are just too old or who wouldn't add anything to the ticket), Too Moderate, Horrible.

Great Picks:
--J.C. Watts
--Senator John Thune (SD)
--Congressman Mike Pence (IN)
--Senator Jim DeMint (SC)
--Governor Haley Barbour
--Frank Keating
--Michael Steele
--Governor Mark Sanford (SC)(I've heard mixed things about him so not totally sure he belongs in the great picks)

Don't Work for Me Picks:
--Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson
--Phil Gramm
--Steve Forbes

Moderate Picks:
--Governor Charlie Crist (FL)
--Governor Tim Pawlenty
--Governor Rick Perry

Horrible Picks:
--Mike Huckabee
--Colin Powell
--Senator Olympia Snow
--Senator Susan Collins
--Senator Joe Lieberman

"On the one hand, he badly needs to fire up an apathetic conservative base that even now has not warmed up to his candidacy. For a long time, he’d been assuming that Hillary Clinton—perhaps the most reviled figure among the conservative grass roots—would win the Democratic nomination and accomplish this for him.

But if the vastly less polarizing Obama is his opponent, McCain may find his VP choice to be his best remaining means of mobilizing the G.O.P.’s base."

--from The VP Stakes: If It's Obama Vs. McCain, Who Runs With Them? by Steve Kornacki

As I was doing the research something became crystal clear to me. McCain's VP pick is important for many reasons (much more so than it normally is) but the biggest one is it will send a huge message on how he is planning on leading.

If he picks a stellar conservative he will be sending a message to conservatives that he respects us and realizes that we play an important part of the Republican party. If he picks a moderate/liberal candidate then he will basically be giving conservatives the finger and saying he doesn't care what we think and he could care less if we support him.

I will lobby for a conservative pick but I'm not holding my breath. If McCain sticks to his maverick ways he will give us the finger and pick someone just as objectionable as he is. If he chooses to go that route I will wish him luck on winning the presidency without any help from the conservative base. And as if we didn't already have enough doubts, check out McCain's own criteria (below)for picking a VP and tell me if that sounds like someone who is planning on reaching out to conservatives???

“The process will begin and the fundamental principle behind any selection of a running mate would be whether that person is fully prepared to take over and share your values, your principles, your philosophy, and your priorities. I think that's the first and only real criteria for the selection of a running mate.”--John McCain

Happy New Year 2011!

Some of my favorite posts from 2010!!

1) A Conversation with President George W. Bush in Kansas City!!

2) Lunch with Condoleeza Rice!

3) 2010 Election Victories!

4) Women in the Civil War!

5) Ronald Reagan's Faith

6) I Heart Paul McRyan!!

7) Two Rock Star Republican Governors!!

8) Inspirational Woman #1--Liz Bohannon!

9) 2010 Clay County Republican Lincoln Days!

10) Winning America Back with Sarah Palin, JC Watts and Fred Thompson!! and the Pics

11) A Review of "I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced"

12) Taking Our Country Back w/ Sean Hannity and Karl Rove in KC!

13) Sudan--Global Day of Prayer!

14) Remarkable Women Profile #1--The Iron Lady--Margaret Thatcher!

15) Scott Brown makes history-wins U.S. Senate Seat in MA 52% to 47%


Previous Posts:
2009
2007

McCain Picks Sarah Palin for VP!!!!!

WOW!!! I am in shock!!! I hadn't turned the Tv on yet and a friend called and told me and I said, "No WAY!!!" Palin has been my favorite since giving up on J.C. Watts but I thought there was zero chance that McCain was going to pick her. Kudos to the campaign for keeping this a secret.

McCain just locked in the conservative base!!! He could not have picked any better. She is a stellar conservative, she's a Governor and she's a woman. Not only will I vote for him now but I might actually do some campaigning for him. I can't tell you how shocked and ecstatic I am about this pick!! I just boarded the straight talk express!

When you compare this to Obama's pick of Joe Biden, McCain hit a home run and Obama didn't even get to first base.

Others blogging:
Cajun Tiger
Gateway Pundit
Bloviating Zeppelin
Mike's America
Born Again Redneck
Right Think
Sane Political Discourse
His Own Private Possession

Winning America Back--Part 2-Pictures!

Darla Jaye does Q&A with Fred Thompson!


Marjorie Dannenfelser (President of the Susan B. Anthony list)


Kris Kobach (Constitutional Scholar)


Chris Stigall (710 KCMO Talk Show Host)


JC Watts


Darla Jaye (980 KMBZ Talk Show Host)


Singer Jon David


Sarah Palin


Chris Stigall with Q&A for Sarah Palin


Some of my friends and I at the conference!

16 Things

I was either going to do a serious post on the port deal or my next conservative profile on J.C. Watts tonight. But I've been busy with real life and didn't have the energy. So instead I'm going with a Calvin and Hobbes and a funny post by Dave Barry. He is a great humorist and ofcourse does a great bit on "24" each week. I loved some of these!! At least one of them should put a smile on your face :-)!!

16 THINGS THAT IT TOOK ME OVER 50 YEARS TO LEARN:
By Dave Barry, former nationally syndicated columnist

1. Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.

2. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings."

3. There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

4. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.

5. You should not confuse your career with your life.

6. Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.

7. Never lick a steak knife.

8. The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.

9. You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.

10. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.

11. There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age eleven.

12. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.

13. A person, who is nice to you, but rude to a waiter, is not a nice person (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.)

14. Your friends love you anyway.

15. Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.

16. Thought for the day: Men are like fine wine. They start out as grapes, and it's up to the women to stomp the crap out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.