Thursday, March 19, 2009

A Pence for your thoughts

THE SUMMIT COUNTY Republican Party apparently has not taken  seriously the voters' rejection of hard-core conservative "values" in the past presidential election.  How else can one explain the word from chairman Alex Arshinkoff that the headliner for this year's Lincoln Day Dinner (March 27) will be a red-meat right-wing Limbaugh-Rove-Gingrich-Palin conservative  Republican congressman from Indiana, Mike Pence?  It makes no sense for a crippled party to retreat farther into the depths of its own isolation from any semblance of mainstream moderation.  What could this political garrison have in mind, particularly in a county top-heavy with Democrats who have  shown little regard for the welfare of cliff-hanging conservatives?  

And who is Mike Pence?  Well, he describes himself as an evangelical Christian , or expanding on that, a Christian first, and a Republican afterward.  He will bring to the rostrum Friday night his well-pronounced  values of antis - anti-abortion, anti-stem cell and anti-stiff tax on Wall Street bonuses, having added the last one Thursday in his futile vote against the bill.  (Rushbo loved that one.)   But in all fairness, Pence is not entirely wedded to negatives.  He is , and was, pro-Iraq war and pro-Bush tax cuts.  There are guys like Pence running around today that you don't even have to ask their names.  Reconstruct the "values" model and a Mike Pence figure automatically pops up.  

Frankly,   I shouldn't care less if the party faithful gathered over their salads and entrees to  watch old films of the army-McCarthy hearings.   But they shouldn't do it in the name of America's greatest president.  No, not Reagan.  Abraham Lincoln. The  gulf between the celebratory  fiction of the event and the historical truth of Lincoln's unique stature in the presidency is shameful.  Guys like Mike Pence, who boasts of his 100 pct. approval rating from the American Conservative Union,  only make it a mockery.

Eat well, folks, as I know you will. 


8 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Mike Pence? Who? Wasn't he a part of the majority leadership team that has since become the minority? Yep, leadership right there! Where's Portman? Where's Rove? Where's Husted? Where's Steele? Where's George W. to thank Summit County for losing in such a manner that put him in office? Where's Kasich? No money and plenty of promises: Alex 2010.

Anonymous said...

Abe I respectfully disagree with your analogy on this.

Anonymous said...

Abe,
This is a fundraiser. While voters in the last election may have preferred a more moderate/liberal set of candidates, it is the conservative wing of the party that gives money and volunteers for candidates. Thus, it makes perfect sense to have a leader of the conservative movement speak at a fundraiser. It helps raise money and rallies the base.

You are way off in your commentary.

Grumpy Abe said...

It does appear that you should compliment me for rallying your base with comments to the blog. But you have yet to explain why your base, which failed to rescue the party in 2008, is worth a second chance. And I'm curious: Why has no one rejected my argument that a right-wing fund-raiser should not be held under the banner of Abraham Lincoln? .Nothing personal. Just asking.

Anonymous said...

The Lincoln Day dinner is not a fundraiser, over 60% of the people that go have received complimentary tickets from party headquarters(i.e. Right to Life, College Republicans, any warm body etc.) The party breaks even at best on the dinner, sometimes they draw a profit from the VIP reception that is held before the dinner. A profit is not likely this year, not only because of the poor economy, but also because no one knows who the hell Mike Pence is.

As a conservative Republican, I can appreciate the irony Mr. Zaiden is expressing. We should think about renaming it "The Limbaugh Day Dinner." The Summit County Republican Party better represents the class of a Rush Limbaugh far better then that of President Lincoln...Oh how far we have sunk..

Anonymous said...

Actually Abe, I do compliment you for rallying the Republicans on this blog. The Summit County Republican Party sure doesn't have a place for Conservatives/Republicans to go to express their thoughts and opinions.

The Summit County GOP has virtually no presence on the web... It's 2009 Alex....Seriously??

Anonymous said...

Your douchey bashing of Republicans proves your role as a moderator for the Akron Press Club events was a partisan sham.

Why Arhinkoff ever financially supported you scumbags is beyond me.