There had to be a Carter before there could be a Reagan.

This sentiment is the only thing keeping me going at this point, as it looks more than likely that we will face a Barack Obama presidency. Yes, that scares me. We will see the Federal Government inflate to unheard of levels and we will, indeed see taxes rise and liberties like the Second Amendment erode.

But there is hope (sorry) on the horizon.

My prediction is this: that Obama—assuming he wins—will only get one term. America tends to lean traditional, and doesn’t like an inflating government in Washington. So who will the next Republican be? If the Republican Party straps on its balls and stops pandering to the Left and the big-government conservatives that currently inhabit Washington, then it will be the best Republican president since the 80s.

Here’s what has to happen on our side, though. 1) Stop the pandering. Republicans have become as good at shelling out cash and entitlements as the Democrats. This must end. 2) We have to acknowledge that, when the opportunity arises, we have to exercise it fully. That means no moderate nominee. We will need a Mitt Romney, a Fred Thompson, or even a Ron Paul. Someone who is not afraid to stand up and actually be a Republican in the vein of Barry Goldwater or Theodore Roosevelt or even Ronald Reagan. If we go the centrist route again, we will lose again. It’s that simple. 3) We need coalescence. We can’t—however unlikely—be a party divided.

If we pull off all of these things, 2012 will be ours. Four years of Obama might actually be just enough to shock the Republicans into action. It might just be enough to make independents realize just how dangerous a Democratic Super Majority in Washington actually is.

Now, all of this is assuming one thing: we lose the 2008 race on Tuesday. Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t lost faith, and I still believe that McCain has a shot. But it’s a long shot.

Good things come to those who wait. And we have to remember that if Barack Obama is elected president. We can at least hope that the Bush administration pops all the letter “O”s off the White House keyboards, much like the Clinton Administration did with the “W”s in 2001. At least we’ll get to chuckle a bit. 

Tonight is make-or-break night for Obama. Not just because it’s the second presidential debate, not just because it’s a town hall-style format—which John McCain loves—but also because Obama leads McCain by just shy of 6% in the RealClearPolitics polling averages. Why is that bad for Obama? Let’s explore.

Obama peaked much earlier than his campaign expected to. These things are cyclical, and Obama reached a legitimate victory margin with a month left for voters to decide the election. That’s bad for the Democrats because people will have a chance to reexamine Obama’s stances, which will invariably lead to some voters becoming disenfranchised rather quickly. Democrats face a huge problem from an electability standpoint: their policies tend to sound good on quick inspection, but rarely hold up to real scrutiny. Case in point: Obama’s 95% tax cut claim. With $850 billion in new spending proposals, he simply cannot cut as many taxes as he says he would.

Second, the debate bar tonight is set impossibly high for Obama tonight. His debate style is to recite his talking points and regurgitate the same old “Here’s what we’ll do, but don’t ask me how,” lines. That will hurt him tonight. With a poll lead like Obama has, people will want to hear something new tonight. I guarantee that something will never come. He has nothing new to say. This debate is Obama’s to lose, and barring some huge gaffe from McCain—which, knowing McCain is very unlikely—he will.

The third reason that Obama will likely suffer tonight and in the coming week or so is an oldie but a goodie: Ayers and Wright. The McCain campaign is bringing back the issue of Obama’s radical ties. At first, I thought that this was a borderline suicidal move from the McCain camp, but as it turns out, it was brilliant to do this when they did. With just a month left to decide, swing voters will get another look at Bill Ayers, the unrepentant Weather Underground terrorist, and Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the loony pastor who thinks that America invented AIDS to eradicate black people, and the people will swing back away from Obama just in time to vote.

Bear in mind, readers; McCain wins tonight by a similar formula to Biden’s victory in the VP debate. He must seem knowledgeable in contrast to Obama’s inexperience and he simply has to avoid any screw-ups. McCain isn’t prone to major gaffes, but the possibility is always there in the realm of politics. But this is a format where the candidates are held accountable to the American people, not to the moderator, so McCain should theoretically have an advantage. Unless Tom Brokaw gets in the way, which I’m not expecting—even if he is an NBC guy, he’s usually pretty fair—Obama has a lead that will not withstand the scrutiny of the American people.

            Congratulations ­­­­to Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Even though I pulled strongly for Senator McCain to pick former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney as his running mate, I feel confident that McCain made the right choice. Palin is an intelligent, capable, conservative woman; she will be excellent as the next Vice President of the United States.

            Already, however, I have been hearing Liberals try to attack her “inexperience,” or they attack the fact that she’s a woman, or they attack her age. How progressive. As usual, the Left likes to claim the moral high ground, but then proves that they don’t deserve it.

            We’ll start with the “issue” of her gender. Liberal critics have claimed that Senator McCain is merely trying to snatch up the disenfranchised Hillary vote. While I’m sure that this was a factor in McCain’s decision, it was likely a small one. It’s more important that Governor Palin has done great work in her state and has advocated strongly against issues such as abortion.

I’ve had to listen to so-called “feminists” gripe all day. “How stupid does McCain thin we are?” they ask, “he thinks that women are so stupid that they’ll just vote for the woman.” It is safe to say that John McCain dos not feel this way. Neither do I, for that matter, but let’s be realistic. There were many Hillary supporters whose entire basis for their support was “I think its time for a woman.” Just like Senator Obama has secured 90 percent or more of the black vote. Now try to tell me that there’s no racial component involved, either.

Attacking Governor Palin’s age makes no sense at all. She is merely two years younger than Senator Obama, so age is absolutely not a factor in this. If the Left tries to attack Palin’s age, they are simply highlighting the age of the man at the top of their ticket. If the Liberal critics are smart—and that’s a big “if”—they’ll keep their mouths shut on this one. Meanwhile, let’s not forget that Richard Nixon became Vice President at age 39, and he executed the office admirably, both in the foreign relations arena, as shown in the Khrushchev debate, and as a substitute chief executive, during Eisenhower’s health issues.

And finally they tout Governor Palin’s “inexperience.” She has been Governor of Alaska for two years. Senator Obama has been in congress for three and a half years, and he spent about two of those years campaigning for President. Remind me again who has more experience. Moreover, Governor Palin is the only one of the four people running for executive office with any executive experience at all. She’s safe there.

I’ve looked over her record, I’ve listened to her acceptance speech, and I’m incredibly comfortable with her. I wish Governor Palin all the best for the campaign and the future. And I offer my congratulations to John McCain. With your first executive decision, Senator McCain, you’ve done extremely well.

“Hello, friends! Welcome to Honest Barry’s used politics. Have I got a model for you. This one has a beautiful exterior and runs completely on ‘hope’ and ‘change!’ Believe me, this one’s a beauty. But you have to act now, or you’ll be stuck with that older-looking model on the right.”

Sound familiar? Obviously, the above quote is fiction. Senator Obama never called himself “Honest Barry.” But, you must admit, it would be a fitting name. More and more, I see similarities that can be drawn between Barack Obama and a used car salesman. He’s very good at convincing young, inexperienced voters that his politics are brand new. The problem is that his policies and beliefs are little more than “Carter… the sequel” repackaged into a shiny, flashy, new exterior. Really, Honest Barry offers nothing but rehashes of old failures, he just looks new.

The “hope and change” rhetoric sounds nice, and it fits well with college students who are more interested in “ideals” than practicality. Obama’s politics are like the old car on the lot that has a fully refurbished exterior, but has an engine that has broken down several times before. And, just like a used car salesman convinces inexperienced buyers to spend money on the pretty car that will break down a matter of weeks after the sale, Honest Barry is successfully convincing inexperienced voters to buy absolute junk politics that happen to have nice packaging.

Meanwhile, John McCain offers a trusted, reliable brand of politics. We may not always like what he’s done, but we know who and what he is. McCain’s politics are tantamount to the used car that has a lot of miles on it, might have some dings and scratches, but it’s reliable, it’s predictable. The car isn’t as pretty, but it won’t break down.

Fortunately, as of 7/30, Obama’s poll lead is dropping. According to the Realclearpolitics.com average, Honest Barry’s poll lead has fallen from 5% on 7/27 to 2.6%. In three days, that’s impressive. People are beginning to see Honest Barry for what he is, and “hope and change” rhetoric doesn’t pass for real discussion of real issues. Obama has tried that, but he’s also failed miserably at it. His positions shift with the wind, and the few issues he’s consistent on are too radical for a rational Liberal.

For example, his tax plan includes hikes of 50% or more, not to mention the absolute annihilation of small business through monstrous capital gains hikes. He also budgets $500 billion or more just to pay for his socialized medicine plans. He’s also predicted $12 per gallon gas prices, rather than suggest any solutions to gas prices. On foreign policy, he showed his naïveté on his tour through the Middle East and Europe, when he claimed that he would still oppose the troop surge, even though he admitted that the surge worked.

Let’s not forget his friends, Rev. Jeremiah Wright (“God d*mn America,” and “U.S. of KKK A!”) and the Weatherman Bill Ayers (“I’m sorry I didn’t bomb more government buildings,”). His associations with these two, compiled with his refusal to salute the American Flag or wear a flag lapel pin, and his wife’s statement that she has never been proud of America in her adult life, paints an alarming picture of someone who has no interest in preserving American values.

So, friends, let’s all remember that we need to step up the offensive, and we have to protect young voters—and America, in general—from Honest Barry. 

If john McCain was ever ahead of Barack Obama, he’s not now. And we, as a party are in trouble.  Senator Obama presents a dangerous combination for the world of politics: JFK’s personal presentation and media adoration, and political stances that make Jimmy Carter seem moderate. This could be detrimental to the future of America.

One Fox News analyst who appeared this week on The O’Reilly Factor claimed that the media loved the newly christened BHO more than they did JFK. So what can we, the Republican Party, do to ensure that there is never an Obama Administration? Well, first, we need to assess the situation from a campaign/PR perspective. And since the media wants Senator Obama to look like President Kennedy, we have to remember that Kennedy barely won the popular vote in 1960; he was only .1% ahead of Richard Nixon. Nixon had a “rough around the edges” manner about him, and he was less polished than Kennedy. But fortunately, our 2008 guy isn’t Nixon. He’s Eisenhower.

In the 1950s, everybody liked Ike. He had a public appeal that made him seem like everybody’s grandpa. America wanted to support the man in the wooden chair who had plenty of war stories, even if he didn’t necessarily want to tell them all. We have a personable, kindly, grandfatherly war hero on the ticket. That’s the side Senator McCain needs to play up right now. Because, sad as it is, most people couldn’t care less about politics. They vote for the candidate who seems relatable and can win their heart, if not necessarily their head. I truly believe that the new Ike can and will beat the new JFK, but McCain needs to snap to that transition quickly; voters will want time to adjust to a 1950s-influenced race.

Second, until Obama secured his party’s nomination, there was no rush for Senator McCain to pick a running mate. Technically, there still isn’t, but Ike needs someone who will clean up and polish the ticket, which means we can’t pick Dick. Also, if McCain picks a running mate soon (I know the convention isn’t until Sept. 1), he will temporarily upstage Obama and he will split himself in two. In this case, that’s a good thing. Two full-on campaigning machines are stronger than one. But whom would Senator McCain want?

Whoever Senator Obama picks to run with, the Democratic ticket will be polished and clean-cut. While Republicans will read this as elitism, the media will see it as presentation skills. Senator McCain already has somewhat of a coarser impression than most other politicians; he’s down to earth and real. McCain is eternally tangible. So the only thing that would logically balance that is a polished running mate. The best bet for this is Governor Mitt Romney.

Romney presents an element that no republican president or vice president has had in recent history: that same polished finish that our Democratic rivals have had a monopoly on for what seems like an eternity. Plus, Romney will win over the hard Right of the party and balance the ticket geographically. Northeast meets Southwest looks pretty good to the casual, superficial voter. I’m sure that certain elements of our party will have complaints against Governor Romney taking the VP slot, but this time, it’s truly what’s best for the McCain Campaign.

So these are the aesthetic choices that McCain has to tackle before September, and the sooner the better. McCain is an intelligent and capable man and the best choice for the next President of the United States. And it will take more than a few town hall meetings with favorable crowds to secure that position. Remember, the Dems think they’re running the new JFK. So we’ll show them that the new Eisenhower can do in 2008 what Nixon couldn’t in 1960. If McCain doesn’t take this advice (or any parallel advice), I’m willing to bet that his poll numbers will continue to fall, and victory will be impossible to ensure in November.