Palin Promotions

I took this photo of a prescient Manhattan Mini Storage billboard at 44th Street and Route 9A (West St.) on November 5, 2011. Though the billboard is no longer on this building, the same billboard can be seen further down Route 9A in the Chelsea section of Manhattan. Yes, the owners of Manhattan Mini Storage are liberals and routinely lampoon Republicans and our values in their ads. Why would I use this billboard as a Palinista? Sometimes, we need to listen to the warnings our enemies give us. Nancy Pelosi after all said the exact same things we have been saying. According to Conservative Byte, in an article published January 18, 2012, Pelosi said the following:

“If the far right thought that Romney could win, they might be more enthusiastic about him,” Pelosi told POLITICO’s Mike Allen during Tuesday’s Playbook Breakfast. “But they question what he stands for and they don’t think he’s going to win. So what’s the sell? I’m not sure he knows what he stands for, and that makes it harder too.”

“I don’t know who knows him,” she added of Romney. “Does he know him?”

About the field of candidates, Pelosi said “not exactly what you would call the first string of the Republican Party.” Have not all the candidates’ campaigns save for Romney’s and Paul’s come to an ignoble end? Though Pelosi is a detestable enemy, most conservatives would agree with her comments about Romney and the GOP field of candidates as a whole. Though the owners of Manhattan Mini Storage posted the billboard as part of a snarky, edgy ad campaign, it is a very large and loud canary in the mine warning us of an impending disaster if we proceed on our current course.

Much ink has been spilled on why Romney can’t win and the point does not require much belaboring. It all boils down to pale pastels versus bold colors.

So, how did New York Republicans feel about their choices presented by this field of candidates?

According to the New York State Data Center, the state’s total population as of July 2011 is: 19,465,167.

According to the Press Republican, 5.6 million New Yorkers are registered Democrat and 2.8 million are registered Republicans. From these numbers, we can surmise that the remainder are in no particular order: enrolled in a small third party; not enrolled in any party, too young to vote, or are foreign nationals.

Voter Turnout in April 24, 2012 NY Primary: 5.82%

According to the Wall Street Journal Delegate Tracker, which uses the Associated Press’ calculations in determining which candidates have how many delegates, 162,990 Republicans voted in New York’s closed primary.

Voter turn-out was 5.82% of New York’s 2.8 million Republicans.

Of the 162,990 who bothered to vote, 103,142 voted for Romney.

Romney Gets 95 Delegates with less than 4% of NY’s GOP Base

The number of people who voted for Romney is only 3.68% of the entire state’s base of 2.8 million registered Republicans. On the strength of 3.68% of New York’s Republicans, Romney walked out of New York with the entire motherlode of 95 delegates (92 for now, because of some vote counting issues, but it will ultimately be 95).

Romney with his 103,142 votes carried 63.28% of the 162,990 who voted. This is a landslide majority of the votes, which triggered a Winner-Take-All. New York State is proportional unless there is a majority. While less than 6% of New York’s Republicans voted, Romney carried a landslide of their votes.

Disgust

Where was 94.18% of New York’s Republicans on the 24th? Not at the polls. When 94.18% of the party’s base does not vote, that is not “lack of enthusiasm.” It is not “enthusiasm that will build” at some later time. Romney is not going to start giving people that “warm and fuzzy feeling” overnight. What this voter turnout reflects is absolute, complete, and utter disgust.

GOP Establishment Offers Pale Pastels, Rank Incompetence…

Our GOP race consisted of one strong candidate who only offers pale pastels with failed candidates as his alternatives. The others tried to offer bold colors to varying degrees, but what voters got instead was appallingly rank incompetence and disturbingly unprofessional campaigning. We had candidates who could not enunciate simple positions on issues; could not get their names on ballots; could not do basic opposition research; could not file delegate paperwork in key states; and who flubbed debates with amateur-hour performances followed by the proffering of pathetic excuses and childish demands. Shall I mention one candidate who failed out before the first primary due to a combination of major gaffes, two settled sexual harassment suits, and the still unresolved accusation of a 13-year affair? Yes, the outcome of these primary campaigns was predictable and inevitable. Now, aside from Romney, the only one left standing is Ron Paul with less than a whopping 10% of Romney’s delegates and not a single state to his name.

We need a Candidate We can Vote FOR

The Etch-a-Sketch candidate has absolutely no interest in either Gov. Palin or her support. Though he is “severely conservative,” he has not been to a single Tea Party rally and he has not reached out to conservatives within the GOP – that is the GOP’s base. The Grandfather and ultimate architect of ObamaCare wants to run against the father of ObamaCare. As governor of Massachusetts, he was pro-abortion, and anti-Second Amendment. But, don’t worry. He’s running “as a conservative.” That is until he hits the reset button and shakes the Etch-A-Sketch. He is a blue blood and a plutocrat to the core – hopelessly out of touch with ordinary Americans – running against an incumbent who thrives on class warfare and race-baiting.

When there is little point of difference between the incumbent and the challenger, the incumbent wins. While anybody might do a better job than Obama, that “anybody” must first win the general election. Winning the nomination is not enough. There’s the rub. A campaign strategy rooted in voting AGAINST an incumbent historically has rarely – if ever – been successful.

People need someone to vote FOR. We need a standard-bearer to rally behind. That is why over 94% of New York’s Republicans got disgusted and did not vote.

A Sign of Things to Come?

According to the National Journal (H/T Josh Painter), fully 60% of Romney supporters are only there because they are voting AGAINST Obama. If over 94% of the GOP voters don’t vote like in the New York Primary, Romney cannot possibly win the presidency.

If voters don’t vote, all the down-tickets – some of whom are good, solid Reagan-Palin Conservatives – like Richard Mourdock and Anna Little – will lose along with Romney, because the very votes they need will not have been cast. A Romney nomination will require a monumental Get Out The Vote (GOTV) effort to ensure that our good Reagan-Palin conservatives do not suffer the consequences of his nomination. Part of that effort necessarily will involve reminding voters that it is Congress, not POTUS who makes the laws, and in this election cycle the down-tickets are even more important than the Presidential race.

Perhaps, a Romney nomination and voter disgust are what the Bush/Rove GOP establishment wants, because they only care about their own power. They do not care about either the party’s purported platform or the will of their own base. But, they demand our money and support.

Unless something radically changes in Tampa, the prediction made by Manhattan Mini Storage will be fulfilled.

We need someone we can believe in.

Because, “Mitt Romney? That guy couldn’t even beat Obama.”

The purpose of a primary or a caucus is for members of a political party to select their nominee for a particular office. Two or more candidates vie for the nomination and out of this process, the “cream rises to the top” – that is the strongest candidate gets the nomination. Once a candidate is nominated, party leaders, power brokers, pundits, and rank-and-file voters are then supposed to unite behind the nominee. Once a candidate is nominated all vets and bets are off. If something about a candidate – either known or unknown – is problematic – the party and its members are stuck, because the decision was already made. This is true for both Democrats and Republicans.

Our Republican primary here in New York came down to three candidates, though four were on the ballot.

Decisions, Decisions

As the months passed, I vetted the candidates’ records, but the best vetting tool was the ticking clock. I remember when today’s primary was over half a year away. Now, mere hours ago, I donned my red shirt, set my American and Gadsden flags on my house, and went with pen in hand to my polling place….

Simple process of elimination: Romney, Paul, and Santorum are off the table for me right from the start. Romney may very well become the nominee, but not by my vote. I don’t appreciate insincere “evolving positions,” and out-of-touch plutocracy. I don’t consider Ron Paul to be a serious candidate. Santorum is out of the race, but his self-righteousness and inability to manage his behavior on the stump were big turn-offs for me anyway.

That leaves Gingrich. He is a Reagan-era conservative who actually balanced budgets. For Gov. Palin, voting for Gingrich was her only logical choice. She chose not to run, therefore, she could not write herself in. Being a Reagan Conservative herself, Gingrich is the only candidate whose views come closest to hers. He is also the only one of the three who has consistently defended Gov. Palin and has had positive things to say about her. I did not have to ask “what would Sarah do?” because I already know as a matter of public record what she did do.

New York Write-Ins: In Name Only

Though write-ins are supposedly permitted in the State and City of New York, the candidate who wants to be written in must fill out paperwork to become a write-in choice on the ballot. New York’s vision of a write-in is self-contradictory. If a candidate is listed on the ballot, the candidate is declared and not a write-in. A write-in is supposed to be a section on the ballot that consists of an oval and a blank line where the voter starts tabula rasa, because the voter is not satisfied with the declared choices. As a voter, I could try a “write-in” at the scanner without using the ballot, the inspector told me, but I risked having my vote invalidated and not counted. For practical purposes, write-in does not exist anywhere in the State of New York. You pick from the listed choices or stay home.

Having already eliminated three out of the four candidates as being anyone I’d vote for, Gingrich was the last one standing. To be kind, Gingrich’s campaign is in its death throes, and not what I would deem worthy of rewarding with a vote. If I was going to squander a vote, I wanted to at least squander it on someone I believe in. My options were: vote against my values by selecting Romney or Paul; try to force a write-in that would not be counted – tantamount to voting for Romney; disenfranchise myself and go home…or follow in Gov. Palin’s footsteps….

…I filled in the oval next to Gingrich’s name and walked to the scanner, and set the ballot in the feeder. The scanner registered it, and the cardstock ballot dropped to the bottom of the bin. My vote had been cast and counted.

No Pale Pastels, but Bold Colors….

“Our people look for a cause to believe in. Is it a third party we need, or is it a new and revitalized second party, raising a banner of no pale pastels, but bold colors, which make it unmistakably clear where we stand on all of the issues troubling the people?,” then Gov. Reagan said 37 years ago at the 1975 CPAC meeting.

In 1976 Reagan described the Democratic Party platform as, “nothing but a revamp and a reissue and a running of a late, late show of the thing that we have been hearing from them for the last 40 years.”

Our presumptive nominee – “presumptive” is the operative word here – only offers pale pastels. The late, late show has now been running for over 76 years. Now, our party establishment wants to offer the same late, late show, just with a different host.

Today’s Bold Colors

What I want is an open convention. On the next ballot, this is what I want to see: someone with executive experience who leads by example. I want someone who has commanded troops, elevated ranks, and has been present at deployment and home-coming ceremonies. I want someone who has experience managing major crises and disasters at the state and city level. I want someone who has experience working with world trade, foreign consuls and diplomats. I want someone with a solid understanding of energy production, generation, transmission and distribution. I want someone who has managed large budgets and has run a surplus. I want someone who has a long track record of accomplishments great and small. I want someone who has a proven ability to withstand media scrutiny. I want someone who resonates, who feels like a close friend, who has an impeccable character that inspires confidence and commands respect. I want someone with an absolute sense of justice and empathy. I want someone who has lived life and has a discerning sense of judgment. I want a strong leader who is not afraid to say it as it is and not afflicted with the cancer of political correctness. There are probably a few things I forgot, but this is a solidly comprehensive list.

Our Greatest Danger

Yes, Gov. Palin has said multiple times, “there is no perfect candidate.” True enough. But, excellence that resides in the realm of the extraordinary does exist. You can see, hear, and touch its embodiment in all areas of human endeavor. In politics, extraordinary excellence is rare, but it does get embodied once, maybe twice every century.

My state with its motto of “Excelsior” (Latin: “Ever Upward”) would not let me write in extraordinary excellence today, but I followed in her footsteps.

Romney may or may not be as “inevitable” as he and his supporters crack him up to be. We will not know for sure until the convention. If any readers are delegates, just remember: when you choose pale pastels and mediocrity, the outcome is also predictable and inevitable.

“The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.”

—Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni
1475 -1564, Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer

This small group of lucky New Yorkers stumbled upon former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as she exited Fox News yesterday. My city is a liberal bastion, and even here something very special was exchanged between Gov. Palin and each person she encountered. What Gov. Palin has cannot be bought, manufactured or contrived. Here is 2:21 of grace, poise, stateliness, leadership – wanting to be her people; and her people wanting to be with her. If you want something uplifting and inspiring to start your morning, watch….

H/T Ian Lazaran, Conservatives4Palin for story lead.