What Would Ronnie Say?

Recently Michael Reagan was quoted as saying that if his father were running for the presidency today, he probably wouldn't get elected. Have we changed that much as a country?  Has the Republican Party he loved so well changed so drastically?   Ronald Reagan has always been our hero, and we wish he were here today to share some of his eloquence  and wisdom.  Would he give us his opinion on this  eclectic GOP field we face.   Those of us who have the freedom and the time to do so, spend a good part of the day reading. Here are some samples of the many articles published today.  It really is difficult to read all these journals without thinking, "What would Ronnie say?"
TWO SISTERS

Why I Support Rick Perry

By Dr. Melissa Clouthier 

Rick Perry will be the next President of the United States if I have anything to do with it.

Who am I? I’m a mom, a doctor, a business owner, a former Michigander, Californian and New Yorker, a conservative with a libertarian streak, a Tea Party attender and reporter, a blogger, an activist, and for 14 years, a Texan.

For the last four plus years, I’ve been howling in dismay at our national political catastrophe. It started under President Bush who I believed was a good man (still do) but possessed of the soft, big government ease driven by noblesse oblige. I didn’t ascribe to “compassionate conservatism” because I believe conservatism to be inherently compassionate and loathed ceding rhetorical ground to leftists who are anything but compassionate.

Unlike many big government Republicans, I believe the government itself, when too big, too unwieldy, is a force for evil. Good intentions cease to matter. The government, like a glioblastoma growing out of control strangles the life out of the brain and then body of the country.

President Obama came into office and shot the system through with estrogen (trillions of money), thus growing the tumor, and squeezing what little life remained out of the patient politic. I’ve been appalled at how quickly it’s happened. How easily. How mercilessly. Heaven help us.
Heaven helps those who help themselves. No savior comes in the guise of American president. Christ will return when he sees fit. Until then, we make do with humans. We filter through the possibilities and decide.

That means eliminating choices. Many of them. A positive choice means leaving others behind. So, I’ll explain why I’m leaving others behind. Some I won’t mention because it’s never going to happen. Read more here..

Herman Cain on Killing Awlaki and the 9-9-9 Plan

By JOHN MCCORMACK

Herman Cain continues to surge in the Republican presidential primary. A new national Washington Post/ABC poll shows Cain tied for second place with Texas governor Rick Perry, and Public Policy Polling finds Cain leading in North Carolina, Nebraska, and West Virginia.

But with greater success, Cain is also facing greater scrutiny. During a brief phone interview this afternoon with THE WEEKLY STANDARD, Cain responded to questions that have been raised about his positions on the war on terror and taxes.

Asked why he had backed off his opposition to the U.S. military's targeting Anwar Awlaki, the al Qaeda terrorist and American citizen who was killed Friday by a drone strike in Yemen, Cain denied that he had ever opposed taking out Awlaki.

“I never said that [President Obama] should not have ordered [the killing]. I don’t recall saying that. I think you’ve got some misinformation," Cain said. "Keep in mind that there are a lot of people out there trying to make me sound as if I am indecisive."
“I don’t know all of the compelling evidence that the intelligence agencies and the military had. I’m convinced—I’m convinced that they have enough intelligence information that said he’s a threat to the United States of America,” Cain said. “You don’t try to prosecute or capture him simply because he’s a United States citizen.”

But in May, Cain was asked: "Do you think it's legal to issue a shoot-to-kill order in [Awlaki's] case?" Read more here..


Christie Demurs
By Robert Costa

“Now is not my time.”

Trenton, N.J. — Gov. Chris Christie is finally and definitively out of the presidential race. Some think it was, given his long history of denials, a highly predictable “no.” But in behind-the-scenes talks with National Review Online, Christie aides, confidants, and donors said he was much closer to launching a candidacy than he let on. Here are five reasons why, at the eleventh hour, he decided to stay in the Garden State.

Time
 There was never enough of it. In private chats, Christie backers often spoke of Bill Clinton’s October 1991 campaign launch, but that was never a real model for the governor. He and his allies knew that with Mitt Romney and Rick Perry already on the ground in early primary states, time was of the essence — and they didn’t have it. As Christie mulled for weeks, his team was under instructions to sit on their hands, and to do nothing that sniffed of actual political activity. His campaign contributors were told the same. Instead, they watched, often with regret, as early states moved up their election dates. By early this week, when Christie briefly reconsidered, the clock didn’t make sense to his team. They certainly had media buzz, but that was all that was guaranteed — a big risk in a compressed period when staffers, operatives, and activist organization are crucial.  Read more here...

Huntsman, Romney to outline foreign policy views

by Amanda Carey

Two Republican presidential candidates are scheduled to give major foreign policy speeches during the coming week.

On Friday former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will speak at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina. Romney announced his speech during an interview on Sean Hannity’s radio show. He was vague on details, but said his vision is very different from President Barack Obama’s.

“I think our president has pursued a series of strategies that have lead to our decline economically and militarily, and so in that context I’m going to be talking about a very different vision,” Romney said during the interview.  Read more here..