Endorsement Watch 02-11-08

Gary Bauer has announced for McCain.

Paul Weyrich, who formerly endorsed Romney, has come on board for Huckabee.

So Long, Mitt

I was watching National Review's blog, The Corner, as the story broke this afternoon during lunch. So now we're down to McCain, Huckabee, and Paul -- which I certainly never expected. Jon Sanders had the first poetic tribute posted, actually before the announcement -- rats! --

Adios Romney?

Slightly more conservative

But it's McCain's time

But I had mine up soon after it was official:

Poor Hugh Hewitt had claimed it was crucial
That we give Mitt our full faith fiducial;
But Huck's current day saints
Said of Romney “He ain’t” --
So if not Mitt nor Fred leads, then who sh’ll?

After a few more minutes' thought, I posted a follow-up:

Reagan’s three-legged stool will be stable
If the nominee's tactics are able
To knit GOP hearts --
But as Romney departs,
I’m afraid the right wing’s off the table

Readers know I have never been enthusiastic about Romney, even though National Review swung their support behind him -- and defended it constantly -- several weeks ago. But really, where are the conservatives going to go now?

Arthur Branch, please call your office ...

Endorsement Watch 02-06-08

The long awaited statement from Focus On The Family's Dr. James Dobson came yesterday, in two stages. The rocket's red glare was his anti-endorsement of John McCain, as Dobson announced on Laura Ingraham's show:

"I am deeply disappointed the Republican Party seems poised to select a nominee who did not support a Constitutional amendment to protect the institution of marriage, voted for embryonic stem-cell research to kill nascent human beings, opposed tax cuts that ended the marriage penalty, has little regard for freedom of speech, organized the Gang of 14 to preserve filibusters in judicial hearings, and has a legendary temper and often uses foul and obscene language.

"I cannot, and will not, vote for Sen. John McCain, as a matter of conscience," Dobson said.

However, he told Dennis Prager later in the day, that he would support Mitt Romney:

"My theology is very, very different, obviously, and I would not find myself in agreement with the ways he sees Scripture, and, of course, their own interpretation and extension of Scripture. I'm not in any way minimizing that; it's a very important issue.

"I think we're facing such a point of crisis in our country, that we're going to have to have the strongest leadership we can. And I think I could deal with that in the polling booth."

Not exactly a formal endorsement statement, but pretty close. Story on Citizen Link here.

Maybe there won't always be an England

The London Daily Mail reports a survey of 3000 Britons found that 25% believe Winston Churchill is a fictional character, but 60% said Sherlock Holmes was real.

Somehow, I don't think Churchill would be surprised.

Edwards Deserves More

More than three lines. He announced the end of his campaign today, too, and while others had offered metrical comments earlier, I raised the bar and the syllable count:

His ambition too blatantly crass,
Long he played on resentment of class;
But Americas Two
Have rejected his view
For the Hil or Obama, en masse

Jon Sanders, never one to turn down the challenge, responded:

The poor lost "their voice" today. Drat!
Who'll "speak" for them next? The old bat?
John can't "pimp" now (read: "care")
But he still has his hair,
His mansion, his gym, and all that!

Literary Efforts To Commemorate Departures

A few selected bye-ku from this morning's announcement that Rudy Giuliani is bowing out of the Republican nomination race - Paul Chesser got the first licks in:

Late state strategy
Like skipping the game's first half
Losing was foregone

Likeable Rudy
Wasn't going to get nod
Too many Christians

Jon Sanders extended the meme:

Rudy's dropped out, too
Can't be president if you're
"America's Mayor"

Romney's on the ropes,
(For what it's worth) — Looks like
McCain v. Clinton

So: Rudy, Edwards,
And conservativism —
They're all sunk this year

My humble suggestion:

Unlike Democrats
We don't often move ahead
Driving on the left

Exit Poetry (Updated)

Jon Sanders at the John Locke Foundation is a practitioner of the minimalist poetry commemorating the departure of political figures, dubbed the "bye-ku". He unleashed it mercilessly on my [former] candidate yesterday:

Fred Thompson's campaign,

Like the Law & Order theme,

Simply went "Clunk, clunk."

Fellow Locker Room denizen Paul Chesser's reply was even worse:

Sunken, hollow eyes
Vacant much like his campaign
Will he blame Jeri?

I expressed my dilemma this morning:

Since Bill Buckley said

"Vote rightwardmost viable"

and Fred's not it -- whom?

To which Paul agreed:

Mitt flips; McCain, ugh;
Big tax Huck; Rudy pro-choice
None of the above

The root of the problem seems to me:

"Conservatism",

for voters, has Gaussian

popularity

UPDATE: The Boston Phoenix (HT: Real Clear Politics) raised an interesting historical point: This may not be over yet. My link from the Locker Room:

Brokered convention

May resurrect the morbid

Fred-shade of Harding!

And as I'm reading A Team of Rivals, I might add that Lincoln was nominated under similar circumstances in 1860.

!!!

Okay, it's a few hours old, but I just read it.

Fred Thompson has withdrawn from the GOP nomination race.

I'll post more later if I feel like it. I'm disappointed.

Everyone for Fred - It's Tactical

Quin Hilyer makes the case for voting for Fred Thompson in South Carolina - even if you support Giuliani, Romney, or Huckabee.

If I were a South Carolina Republican voter on Saturday, then for parochial, tactical, and philosophical reasons, I would vote for Fred Thompson.

This doesn't mean that I would not have voted for Mitt Romney in Michigan on Tuesday, if I were a Michigander, or that I would not vote for Rudy Giuliani in Florida later this month. Voting in each state, especially in a drawn-out nomination battle, involves particularly local considerations as well as national ones.

But for South Carolinians who are mainstream conservatives, those local considerations seem to cry out for a boost for Fred Thompson.

From The American Spectator

GOP Candidates on School Choice

The Club for Growth (the ones who got in a tiff with Huckabee) actually did a full series of white papers on all the candidates' records and positions. School choice was one area surveyed, and here are their findings; most have shown support, though some more consistently than others.

Their introduction: "The Club for Growth supports broad school choice, including charter schools, voucher programs, and tax credits that create a competitive education market including public, private, religious, and non-religious schools. More competition in education can only lead to higher quality and lower costs."

Fred Thompson: ... a faithful supporter of school choice, arguing in 1995 "that our elementary and secondary educational systems need to be restructured ... [which] can be achieved by privatizing a major segment of the educational system" ... support for vouchers that are "universal, available to all parents, and large enough to cover the costs of a high-quality education." ... voted for a 1997 school voucher program in D.C. ... and pilot voucher programs in 1999 and 2001.

Mike Huckabee: ... record on school choice is mixed. On the one hand, he fought hard to protect the rights of parents to home school their children ... a vocal proponent of charter schools ... supported a proposal that would expand charter school eligibility ... signed legislation allowing charter schools to be established in Arkansas. On the other hand, ... is on record opposing voucher programs that allow poor students in failing public schools to attend private schools ... called No Child Left Behind "the greatest education reform effort by the federal government in my lifetime" .... [CFG] Update: As mentioned above, Huckabee's education proposals put greater emphasis on government intervention in the education system instead of calling for greater choice and competition. According to the Sioux City Journal, "Huckabee said he would make arts and music education tested curriculum and provide federal funds to do so."

Rudy Giuliani: ... became one of the country's leading advocates for a competitive education market. ... in 1995, opposed school vouchers ... by 1996, though, Mayor Giuliani began to have a change of heart ... by 1997 had created a widely popular program called the School Choice Scholarships Foundation ... and in 1999, made the leap to a self-proclaimed "prophet" of school choice, proposing a $12 million pilot school choice program even as his school chancellor threatened to quit over the matter. Giuliani even went so far as to argue that "the whole [school] system should be blown up, and a new one put in its place." ... also campaigned on behalf of charter schools, in the hopes of inspiring a "more innovative, performance-driven, entrepreneurial vision of schooling."

Mitt Romney: ... on record supporting charter schools, school vouchers, and home schooling ... charter school expansion rather than a voucher program ... He pushed to eliminate the state-mandated cap on the number of charter schools and successfully vetoed a moratorium on the opening of new charter schools. ... Once advocated abolishing the Department of Education but has since said he supports No Child Left Behind and has seen as a governor that "the Department of Education can actually make a difference."

John McCain: ... record on school choice is very good ... consistently supported school choice programs, voting for voucher programs in 1997, 1999, and 2001 ... eloquently argued that "our children deserve the best education we can provide to them, whether that learning takes place in a public, private, or parochial school. It's time to give middle- and lower-income parents the same right wealthier families have -- to send their child to the school that best meets their needs."

Ron Paul: the perfect is the enemy of the good ... opposition to school choice stems from his opposition to the government's role in education ... arguing that federal voucher programs are "little more than another tax-funded welfare program establishing an entitlement to a private school education." ... He consistently voted against voucher programs ... but supported education tax breaks and introduced the Family Education Freedom Act (H.R. 612) that provides all parents with a tax credit of up to $3,000, available to parents who choose to send their children to public, private, or home school. ... his votes are a direct impediment to achieving high-quality school choice ... aligning himself with Democrats and the NEA in opposing progress towards a market-based education system ...

UPDATE: I'm not tracking the Democratic positions generally. Club for Growth does even bother to separate them, heading their report "One of These Candidates Is Not Like The Other", but here are their highlights of the Democratic side on school choice:

When it comes to school choice, all four Democratic candidates have the same plan: less choice, more federal government. ... talk about the need to help low-income students trapped in failing public schools, ... [but] reject the one education reform that can actually help ... All have voted against or publicly opposed school choice programs, proposed increasing federal money in education ... and called for universal preschool.

A theological link between the Democrats

I just finished reading The Preacher and the Presidents, a new book about the interaction of evangelist Billy Graham with twelve presidential administrations. Reflecting on this and some other reading, I realized there was a connection between the Carter and Clinton administrations -- both Jimmy Carter and Hillary Clinton have read and sought to apply the teachings of Reinhold Niebuhr, a modern liberal theologian who was quite critical of Billy Graham over the years. I also ran across Barack Obama's claim of Niebuhr as his favorite philosopher.

However, I wasn't the first to connect the dots. Benedicta Cipolla's September '07 article for the Religious News Service, posted here at the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, explains that "Reinhold Niebuhr is [the] unseen force in 2008 elections."

Good or bad? I haven't read Niebuhr, but from what I do hear of him, it doesn't advance any Democrats in my estimation. Tillich is in there, too. On the other hand, I have read Bonhoeffer and saw both some encouragement and some trouble spots. All three have been mentioned by or in connection with Carter and Clinton (Ms).

Reflections on the Caucus

What to think of Iowa, what to think ...

I was watching the commentary in The Corner Thursday evening, and Mark Steyn, speaking of Huckabee's win in Iowa that evening, raised a concern about the evangelical surge there:

It would be truer to say that for a proportion of Huck's followers there is no aisle: he's their kind of Christian, and all the rest - foreign policy, health care, mass transit, whatever - is details. This is identity politics of a type you don't often see on the Republican side.

I share that concern. Although I'm an evangelical Christian and a homeschooler, like many of Huckabee's supporters, I'm not one of his proponents, and I am concerned that his conservatism only goes as far as doctrine, not policy decisions.

If Steyn is right, and the Huckaboom is based on affinity for his doctrinal beliefs rather than his political principles, I doubt that Huckabee will be able to muster significant support outside the evangelical community. At the same time, if he leaves the race, this group of supporters is unlikely to swing its votes to Romney or to Giuliani, as either will be suspect on doctrine or on social issues.

So who would benefit if Huckabee folds? There is a strong libertarian streak in the homeschooling community, taking in both the evangelical and the secular sides of that movement, so Paul is a possibility; he already has home educators on board and working hard in his campaign, though he has other issues to address for the rest of the social conservatives. McCain has the war-hero status that attracts many in the evangelical world, but his maverick voting record has made many cautious about him and where he truly stands politically. Strangely, Thompson shares weaknesses with both Paul and McCain -- an unfortunate support for campaign restrictions, like McCain, and a strong federalist position like Paul, which some interpret as a lack of commitment to addressing moral issues from a federal level. On the other hand, I still think Thompson offers the most balanced platform and the most solid principles both philosophically and politically, so I have hopes he'll gain the attention and votes I think he deserves.

My feeling at the moment is that McCain or Thompson will benefit in the long run, but it's way, way too early to predict with certainty. Reagan lost Iowa in 1980, after all, and more than one ascendent campaign has fallen like Icarus in the warming days of primary season.

Endorsement Watch 01-02-08

Writing on Townhall.com, Christian public relations executive Mark DeMoss endorses Mitt Romney (again):

As an evangelical Southern Baptist and a social conservative, I like the leadership Governor Romney provided our movement in defending traditional marriage between a man and a woman and in opposing embryonic stem cell research. I believe his values are consistent with mine in every way, whether or not his theology is.

Endorsement Watch 12-31-07

The former head of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association Dr. Robert Wolgemuth endorsed Mitt Romney on Friday, per the press release from the Romney campaign:

"Governor Romney has demonstrated that he is the one candidate in both parties who can represent the three pillars of the Reagan coalition – a strong military, a strong economy and stronger families. Most importantly, he has laid out a vision for strengthening American families through championing a Federal Marriage Amendment and defending the sanctity of human life. Governor Romney has the experience, vision and personal values to lead our county as we face ongoing and new domestic and global challenges, and I am proud to support his candidacy."

Conservatism defined

Fred Thompson was asked by PBS's Charlie Rose what "conservative" means today. Thompson's reply was right on the money:

"It means things that are consistent with God's design for man. It's consistent with human nature. It's consistent with the lessons of history and the lessons of the ages. They found form in the Constitution, I think, and what our Founding Fathers believed. They understand that man can do great and wonderful things, but man is prone to err and times do terrible things, that too much power in too few hands is a dangerous thing. That power is a corrupting thing."

HT: Rush Limbaugh

Evangelical Endorsement Update 12/07/07

Presidential candidate endorsements from evangelical leaders in the news, as of Friday December 7, 2007:

For Rudy Giuliani:
Pat Robertson (Founder, Christian Broadcasting Network)

For Mitt Romney:
Paul Weyrich, (Co-founder, The Moral Majority)
Dr. Bob Jones III (Former president, Bob Jones University)
Dr. John Willke (Founder, National Right To Life)
Jay Sekulow (American Center for Law and Justice)
Mark DeMoss (Political strategist)
Dr. Wayne Grudem (Professor of Biblical Research and Theology, Phoenix Seminary)
Hugh Hewitt (Political commentator)

For Fred Thompson:
National Right To Life Committee
West Virginians for Life
Rhode Island Right to Life Committee

For John McCain:
Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS)

For Mike Huckabee:
Dr. Daniel Akin (President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary)
Randy Alcorn (Author, founder of Eternal Perspective Ministries)
Dr. Mark Bailey (President, Dallas Theological Seminary)
Phil Burress (President, Citizens for Community Values)
Rev. Keith Butler (Founding Pastor, Word of Faith International Christian Center Church)
Jerry Cox (President, Arkansas Family Council)
Rev. Jimmy Draper (Former president, Southern Baptist Convention)
Jerry Falwell Jr. (Chancellor, Liberty University)
Michael Farris (Founder, Home School Legal Defense Association)
Dr. Ronnie Floyd (Former Chair, Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention)
Janet Folger (President, Faith2Action)
Dr. Joe Fuiten (Founder, Positive Christian Agenda)
Georgia Right To Life PAC
Rev. Jack Graham (Former president, Southern Baptist Convention)
Bishop John Gimenez (International Overseer, Rock Ministerial Family)
Pastor Anne Gimenez (Co-founder and pastor of Rock Church, Virginia Beach, VA)
Thomas Glessner (Founder/President, National Institute of Family and Life Advocates)
Michael Heath (Executive Director, Christian Civic League of Maine)
Home School Legal Defense Association PAC
Dr. Jerry Jenkins (Co-author, Left Behind series)
Dr. Billy McCormack (Founding National Board Member, Christian Coalition)
William J. Murray (Chair, Religious Freedom Coalition)
Star Parker (Founder and president of CURE)
Jim Pfaff (President and CEO, Colorado Family Action)
Rick Scarborough (Founder and President, Vision America)
Kelly Shackelford (Chief Counsel, Liberty Legal Institute)
Mathew Staver (Dean, Liberty University Law School)
Dr. Jay Strack (President/ Founder, Student Leadership University)
Stephen Strang (Founder, Charisma magazine)
Karen Testerman (Founder and Executive Director, Cornerstone Policy Research)
Rev. Jerry Vines (Former president, Southern Baptist Convention)
Rev. Donald Wildmon (President, American Family Association)

Endorsement Watch 12/04/07

Mention made in this story that Mark DeMoss has endorsed Mitt Romney.

Mark DeMoss, a strategist for evangelicals who strongly endorsed Romney in an October letter to conservative leaders, said he believes the speech will help, and said he still believes born-again Christians would overwhelmingly favor Romney over Giuliani, who remains more liberal on social issues.

“Let’s say by late January or Feb. 6, it’s clearly a race between him and Giuliani,” DeMoss said. “I think there would a tidal wave of evangelical support to Mitt Romney, including countless numbers of evangelicals who would have told you before they weren’t comfortable voting for a Mormon. Suddenly, they’d be very comfortable.”

Another endorsement I just located: Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice, for Romney.

Presidential Candidates on Homeschooling

First and foremost, this is not a federal issue. I took issue with Rudy Giuliani earlier this year because he dwelt on educational solutions which he supported as mayor but which are not proper distribution of powers if carried on at the federal level. In this, I have to agree somewhat in principle with my liberal/libertarian counterparts in the homeschooling movement who bristle at any federal mention of home education for good or for ill. It's not the federal government's business. (I use italics, somewhat, because I also agree somewhat with HSLDA's position, that if the federal government is going to involve itself in this issue, at least let's make sure they are not undermining or denegrating homeschoolers in the process.)

However, a candidate's statements relating to homeschooling can indicate their commitment to federalism, individual liberty, and parental rights issues. It also shows who they're listening to, and whose support they are actively pursuing. In this case, even if the best thing they can do for homeschoolers is leave them alone, it is worth asking what their administration's position would be.

Fred Thompson includes homeschooling in his white paper on education. He says he intends to "Give parents the ability to choose the best setting situation to meet the needs of their children--whether in a public, private, religious, home or charter school setting." He supports vouchers and tax credits as a means to give parents that ability. While he doesn't say so explicitly, it might be assumed these programs would include homeschoolers. In another place (s.v. "Education") he supports "empowering parents by promoting voucher programs, charter schools, and other innovations that enhance education excellence through competition and choice". Would this include virtual school programs? Probably, though not mentioned here.

Overall, his statements on education call for reducing the federal government's involvement in education while promoting parental choice, local control of schools, and increased accountability for any funding decisions -- both in awarding funding, and in the results obtained from it.

Mike Huckabee is the only Republican candidate who spoke to the National Education Association convention this year and told them his children attended public schools from grades 1 to 12. That said, Huckabee picked up the enthusiastic endorsement of Home School Legal Defense Association's PAC early in the campaign; HSLDA's founder and chairman Michael Farris has actively campaigned for Huckabee in Iowa and is a founding member of his Faith and Family Values Coalition.

Huckabee says on his website "I have been a strong, consistent supporter of the rights of parents to home school their children, of creating more charter schools, and of public school choice. ... As Governor, I fought hard for more charter schools, with their strong parental involvement and their unique ability to serve as laboratories for education reform, and for the rights of parents to home school their children."

Arkansas' homeschool law (HSLDA summary here) is similar to North Carolina's in some respects. Parents file a notice of intent, not an application for permission; while testing is required, there are no rules about minimum acceptable scores. Record keeping is actually less in Arkansas, since there is not a requirement to keep attendance nor a records inspection clause. On the other hand, standardized testing must utilize the state's achievement tests (provided at no cost), and the NOI requires not only children's names but also the curriculum planned and parents' qualifications to teach ("for statistical purposes only"). The NOI is submitted to local public school officials, who may choose to waive certain requirements and deadlines.

There was a sharp reaction in some circles to HSLDA's early endorsement, such as several postings on a grassroots blog promoting Duncan Hunter, suggesting that Huckabee's interest in homeschooling is purely political. Well, maybe that's no surprise, if true.

Mitt Romney specifically proposes a federal homeschooling tax credit in his position statement. "Governor Romney believes that parents who want to home school their kids should be able to do so. To help them, he will provide a tax credit to help defray the educational expenses of parents who home school their kids." He recently promoted the idea campaigning in South Carolina.

This support is in addition to his position that "when parents and kids are free to choose their school, everyone benefits. That's because competition and choice in educational opportunities – whether it comes from private schools, charter schools, or home schooling – makes traditional public schools better and improves the quality of education for all of America's kids." (Link)

Rudy Giuliani website seems sketchy on details, at least when it comes to education. He states strongly a preference to follow the wishes of parents over school bureaucrats. He supports "empowering parents"

John McCain says nearly nothing about education policy on his 2008 campaign website. In the 2000 campaign he proposed a voucher program. UPDATE 6/10/08: His website says a lot about educational choice now, and homeschooling is specifically supported. See my post elsewhere in this blog for details.


On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton established her legal reputation as a child advocate, and on the "Issues" section on her website, education is subsumed under "Supporting Parents and Caring For Children". She would support programs to train and support new parents to help them give developmental help to their children; whether this would include homeschooling is debateable but not unthinkable. There is no mention here of parental rights or educational choice.

Clinton proposes federal matching funds to provide pre-kindergarten programs. "As President, I will establish universal pre-kindergarten education through a federal-state partnership, based on state flexibility that ensures every four-year-old child in America has access to a high-quality pre-kindergarten program." Education officials and teachers' unions are praising her call for "highly trained" teachers in programs for 4-year-olds. Her proposal is built to expand to younger ages as well, meaning federal funding for classes for three-year-olds and, perhaps, even younger children.

The only references to homeschooling on the Clinton website are occasional comments from supporters in the blog and forum sections. However, the expansion of federal programs for new parents and educational programs for children four and under does not augur well for the freedom of individual choice and responsibility represented by homeschooling.


=====

I plan to update this section as time and announcements permit. One other resource with numerous historical positions and quotations from candidates on educational issues appears on the website, On The Issues.

Endorsement Watch 11/30/07

Breaking the recent string of Right-To-Life endorsements for Fred Thompson, today Mike Huckabee picked up the Georgia Right To Life PAC, which called him "the only candidate which qualified ... [based on] the positions of the candidates on the life issues, their records on the life issues and their ability to win."

Endorsement Watch 11/28/07

Well, that was quick. Jerry Falwell Jr. has endorsed Mike Huckabee.

Also this week, Huckabee announced the formation of the Faith and Family Values Coalition, which includes a number of evangelical leaders in its starting line up.

While Giuliani's endorsement from Pat Robertson has dominated the discussion for two weeks, seconded by Thompson's collection of right to life endorsements, Huckabee is gathering quite a list of supporters, and not all of them fellow Baptists, either.


New names coming with this announcement:


Randy Alcorn, author and Founder of Eternal Perspective Ministries
Dr. Mark Bailey, President of Dallas Theological Seminary
Phil Burress, President of Citizens for Community Values
Rev. Keith Butler, Founding Pastor of Word of Faith International Christian Center Church
Jerry Cox, President of Arkansas Family Council
Michael Farris, Chair of Home School Legal Defense Association
Dr. Ronnie Floyd, Former Chair, Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention
Janet Folger, President of Faith2Action
Dr. Joe Fuiten, Founder of Positive Christian Agenda
Bishop John Gimenez, International Overseer of Rock Ministerial Family
Pastor Anne Gimenez, Co-founder and pastor of Rock Church, Virginia Beach, VA
Thomas Glessner, Founder/President of the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates
Michael Heath, Executive Director of Christian Civic League of Maine
Dr. Jerry Jenkins, co-author of the Left Behind series
Dr. Billy McCormack, Founding National Board Member of Christian Coalition
William J. Murray, Chair of Religious Freedom Coalition
Star Parker, Founder and president of CURE
Jim Pfaff, President and CEO of the Colorado Family Action
Rick Scarborough, Founder and President of Vision America
Kelly Shackelford, Chief Counsel, Liberty Legal Institute
Mathew Staver, Dean of Liberty University Law School
Dr. Jay Strack, President/ Founder of Student Leadership University
Karen Testerman, Founder and Executive Director of the Cornerstone Policy Research