Dad found this while looking for something else….

…. probably his glasses

I was remembering that event and how much fun we had.

Chairman of the NCSU College Repubs, Hal Lusk, was next to me and you can see Rachel Collins (now, Suffern) on the edge. We had a great crew that year.

Now, as to why I am doing my best impression of Rodin’s Thinker…

On stage that evening there was:

Richard Vinroot, Patrick Ballentine, Bill Cobey, George Little, Fern Shubert, Dan Barrett, & one other fella.

His name was Timothy Cook.

Timothy Cook was a chemist & a Davie County Commissioner who very obviously was WAY out of his league. His answers really showed everyone present what the GOOBER in Gubernatorial Debate really stood for. Not much organization other than the 10-12 people he had statewide working for him with the “Badge-O-Matics” that he had provided to them free of charge.

So I was looking at this gentleman, and he seemed to leaning back in his chair (while on stage) and I was thinking to myself, “Just a little farther… a little farther…. that’s it.”

Thats when I got my picture taken & Timothy Cook fell on his butt.

He later dropped out of the race and decided instead to run for Lt. Governor unsuccessfully.

It shows not only that having a great candidate & having great organization is key… but making sure you listen to your mother and don’t lean back in your chair.

While I do not condone this, It is a testament.

The fiscal conservatives love Romney, but hate Huckabee for his spending & raising taxes in Arkansas.

The social conservatives love Huckabee, but hate Romney because of his religion.

That leaves both sides settling for McCain who is not loved or hated by either side as much.

If you elect a Moderate, then expect to be Moderately happy/Moderatedly disappointed with your decision.

Principles or People?

April 12th 1776. The good people of Halifax County, NC decided to declare their independence from Great Britain. Their encouragement led to the support for our nation’s Declaration of Independence. Our state led the charge of independence almost 3 months before the rest of the colonies stepped up. They decided that they wanted a government that was led, and had to answer to, the governed. Every person whose signature appears on that document believed they were signing their own death warrants. They decided to step up and give their reputations, fortunes, and even their lives for a cause they believed in.

Now, fast forward to the present. We have become accustom in North Carolina to seeing our elected officials involved in scandal, we have government condoned gambling under the facade of school funding, & we have undergrads at our universities that do not even know the turning point of the our Revolutionary War (yes, thats Saratoga).

The governed must hold the government responsible.

That brings me to my point: I am a lifelong Conservative. Fiscally, Socially, & even with Foreign Policy. My family taught me that national defense, foreign diplomacy, & interstate trade were the ONLY things that our federal government has been dictated to do. Everything else, we lost in our own dereliction of duty.

So as we come to 2008, I find myself without a candidate. None of the candidates that remain have been able to convince me of their conviction on the issues that mean most to me.

So, this year I will draw a line in the sand. There is only so far I am able to go with the party before I start forgetting the reasons why I am a conservative. Republicans are suppose to represent the best ideals our country has to offer: smaller government, free market capitalism, & private sector assistance, not government, for those less fortunate.

I find people telling me that the candidates on the national stage are “the best we have this year”.

No.

I find others saying that the party has to shift to new (or “neo-”) conservative direction in able to acclimate to a new America.

No.

I believe in what I believe not because some pundit tells me what to believe, my beliefs are based on the principles of conservatism.

Conservatism has not changed, the party has.