A Time for Choosing

Today the Republican Party has taken the first step towards ensuring its continued existence and success in the future.  Michael Steele was elected the first African-American Chairman of the Republican National Committee this afternoon by a 6th ballot of 91-77.  I feel that this was a great move for our party and will give us the opportunity to be competitive.  We cannot simply rest on the fact that we have matched the Democratic Party's diversity.  We must recommit ourselves not only to diversity but to rejuvenating the party by recruiting younger candidates.

I was further encouraged by the fact that Chairman Steele singled out some of the most contested and Democratic regions of the United States as focal points for Republican expansion.  Specifically Steele directed the following comments to the northeast: "get ready to turn it on baby, we are gonna win in the Northeast"

NoStimulus.com

So things have really quieted down in good old Washington, DC since the inauguration craziness. No longer do crowds of millions fill the national mall, fleets of street vendors peddle cheap Obama merchandise to eager tourists, and the sense of post-inauguration euphoria is fading quickly. Reality is setting in for Republicans and all measure of conservatives as we confront the cold truth. This administration is not even close to in line with the ideology we represent. Although we knew this during the campaign season, it was somehow not real until January 20th when Senator Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States.

However with the recent passing of HR 1 by the House of Representatives the gravity of the situation is apparent. I was very encouraged by the stand taken by every Republican and even 11 Democrats who chose to vote in opposition to the 860 million dollar Obama stimulus package. This sign of solidarity as well as strength on the part of the Republican Party is encouraging especially after the pundits predicted a cataclysmic end to the Republican Party after the results came in from the 2008 election. If you would like to support the Congressional Republicans and oppose the stimulus package I reccomend that you visit nostimulus.com and sign the petition developed by Americans for Prosperity.

As a young conservative in Washington,DC and originally from Massachusetts I understand how it feels to be out numbered by people who do not look at things the same way that you do. Being a minority and standing up for what you believe in requires a certain level of tact, in order to not be percieved as the fly in the ointment. The last thing the GOP needs right now is to be villifed as the group merely opposing Obama for the sake of opposing Obama. I am truly interested to see how the Congressional Republicans take on this new role. Especially promising is Eric Cantor, who seems to have taken to this role with renewed vigor. Perhaps I will have to put him on the list of office I would be interested in interning with. Either way true, consistent conservatism with be the key to keeping the conservative movement alive until 2012.

That Time I Met Justice Antonin Scalia's Wife

So while on the campaign trail for Pat Herrity, a bussinessman running for the position of Chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in Virginia, I ended up dropping some information off at the home of a legal giant. Thats right I went door to door at Antonin Scalia's house. Although Justice Scalia was not home I did have the opporutnity to meet his wife Margaret and discuss with her the candidate and even a little bit about myself. She was an incredibly nice woman who reminded me alot of my own grandmother. What struck me most about the home was that it was so very normal. Although a very nice property the house was by no means the largest in the very wealthy McLean community. The term the comes to mind is understated elegance.

Reflecting on this experience led me to the conclusion that the true, lasting legacy of George W. Bush will be the strict constructionist judges he appointed to the Supreme Court. Not only have these men proven themselves to be capable of sitting on our highest court, but in all liklihood they are not going anywhere for quite some time. It is likely that for the next twenty years these judges will exert a decidedly conservative influence upon the Supreme Court. Moreover, these justices give the Republican Party some much needed wiggle room while they retool for the contests in 2010 and 2012. On the other side of the isle 2008 was a do or die year for Democrats in regards to the Supreme Court. Three of the staunchest liberal leaning justices have expressed an interest in retiring from the bench and unconfirmed reports state that John Paul Stevens passed away two years ago and is merely being operated by Justice Ginsberg. In all seriousness the Republican Party and the conservative movement in general missed an incredible opportunity to put a nail in the coffin of the liberal and loose constructionalists on the Supreme Court. Now we are back where we started and will to fight long and hard in 2012 to see if a Republican gets the opportunity to appoint a replacement for one of the liberal leaning justices

Back On The Horse

So tomorrow morning begins my part of the fight to help the Republican Party reclaim the United States. I will be campaigning in Northern Virgina on behalf of current Attorney General and candidate for Governor Bob McDonnell. May the force be with all of us. 2009 is an off hear for elections in general however we cannot afford to wait to win back crucial seats. Republicans will attempt to take the NJ Governor's seat from the extremely corrupt Jon Corzine as well as make a run at the VA Governor's seat vacated by now DNC Chair Tim Kaine.

These seats are so important to the Republican message of limited government, low taxes, and individual freedoms because thus far state governorships are the only variety of seat that Republicans have been able to hold with any effectiveness. The Virginia seat is especially important because of the heavily liberal trend VA is experiencing. Northern Virginia is the battleground that Republicans must compete in to allow for the party to be viable once again in Virginia

Dear President Obama

Dear President Obama,

Congratulations on your elections.  I feel compelled to tell you that I did not vote for you... In fact I worked for the other guy, put my heart and soul into a losing effort.  With that aside I have to be honest I felt kind of left out during the campaign season.  Somewhere deep down I knew that I was not on the winning side.  Senator McCain is clearly an honorable man, however his campaign did not have close to the impact on the culture of this nation that yours did.  If I had to guess I think McCainiacs such as myself were the modern equivalent to Carter supporters in 1980.  Sometimes there is no opposing the full force of human history.

Despite my political affiliation I am giving you a shot.  Sincerely, I wish you the best of luck as you confront the grave problems facing our nation.  Like you, I believe that there is something special about the United States of America.  That we have a unique destiny limited only by our imagination and willingness to put in the hard work to achieve it.  I applaud the campaign that you ran and your ability to involve people of my generation in politics.

I hope you will take this great opportunity to unite our nation and focus on being a President to both parties and not merely a patsy for the DNC, Pelosi, and Reid.  As a country we cannot afford a poorly run executive branch.  So far you have proven yourself a capable manager and executive and you appear to understand the challenges we now face.  Don't take your eye off of the ball.  All too often Americans lose interest in the most pressing issues facing us, easily distracted by celebrity gossip and the latest reality TV.  I truly hope that you were sincere in speaking about bipartisanship in your administration (and that you will consider Republican White House interns *hint*hint*).

Just a few thoughts to keep in mind on your first few days.

Sincerely,

Ryan

PS I hope shutting down Gitmo doesn't come back to bite you!

The Mall on Inauguration Day

Republican Events in DC

To all who may be interested there are several great free speaking events coming up in the DC area.  

January 23rd Senator Mitch McConnell at the National Press Club Ballroom

April 2nd Frm. Senator Chuck Hagel at Politics and Prose

April 12th Author Howard Zinn at Politics and Prose

June 10th Scott McCellan at Politics and Prose

June 30th Salman Rushdie at Politics and Prose

Some Sights from the Inauguration Weekend

The Day After

The inauguration is over yet I cannot help but feel that the effects of this weekend and Obama's campaign has somehow changed the way politics will be run from this point on.  Obama changed the game by talking about ideas such as Hope and Change rather than focusing simply on the issues at hand.  Without hope for a better life in the coming years no President can be successful.  Now President Obama is looking to mobilize a volunteer force one million people strong to perform service to our nation.  In addition to the good works done by these individuals keeping the people he cultivated as volunteers active will allow him to draw upon them in four years for a reelection campaign.

We have been out classed.  The Republican Party has been out thought, out manuevered, and out played.  So where do we go now?  Thats a great question, and unfortunately there is nothing easy about its answer.  We need new leaders of course but we also need people on the ground level to build our state parties.  But more importantly we have to give the American people a rational case for why this party deserves the pubic trust and what we are offering.  Next we need to open the doors of this establishment and air it out.  The old guard has to set back and make way for new leaders to rise.  This party is bigger than any one man and no one man should stop it from becoming the best that it can be.  If Barack Obama's story tells us anything it is that we need to cultivate our leaders and rising stars.  Do you think it is any accident that now President Obama gave the keynote address to the 2004 Democratic National Convention?  I do not, this was incredibly well planned.  The fact that Obama is such a great politician obviously did not hurt him either.

Inauguration

What a day.  Its hard to fully explain what it feels like to be in a crowd of some four million people and have near silence when a man most of us couldn't even see was speaking.  Inauguration 2009 was an impressive sight.  I left late last night with a few friends and we went to dinner on Capitol Hill and stayed over with a CUA grad who works in the area.  After a bit of a late start we left for the Capitol and entered the mass of people.  There truly was nothing that could have been done to make that process smooth, yet everyone was in high spirits and clearly very excited to be taking part in such a historic event.  I ended up standing in an area reserved for ticket holding visitors only (for the record I was not one of those people, Jim McGovern must have seen the R next to my name).  The spot was good and I had a clear view of the capitol building and could hear the speech pretty well.  Other than almost botching the oath of office President Obama did not disappoint.  His speech was poignant and interesting, showing his understanding of the unique times in which he has come to lead.

The thing that struck me the most though was wondering, "what is he thinking?"  As Obama stands there as President of the United States what is going through his mind.  How incredible must it be to stand in front of the entire nation, and the world at large and hear four million people scream your name?  It is moments such as these that I appreciate where I go to school and that I live in a nation where I can say that I want to be the President.  Although that dream may be a longshot it is nice to know that the only limitation on my progress is myself.

Finally I am struck by how poorly the Republican Party read the pulse of this nation over the past year.  We attempted to disqualify a man due to a lack of experience, ego, and race the very things this nation is supposed to enfranchise people to act regardless of.  Barack Obama elevated the level of game play from the mud slinging battles that were fought in 2000 and 2004.  This left the GOP and McCain in particular just the idiot was still sitting in the mud.  If the Republican Party is serious about becoming viable once again in national elections we first must decide what we believe.  In the words of Ronald Reagan we cannot be "all things to all people," as a collective group we need to stop being afraid of losing.  If we represent the ideology in which we believe than we have one.  Further we need to stop being the party of hate and focus on real issues instead of stressing what we are NOT.  Lastly we need to engage people in conversation on the real problems facing the nation: the economy, the environment, and national security.

We Are One

I just returned from Barack Obama's Inaugural Celebration on the Lincoln Memorial.  This event was incredible.  I left campus around 9am with some friends and we took up our positions on the left of the stage and hunkered down for the six hour wait until the concert.  The show featured musical acts from Bruce Springstein, Mary j. Blige, Beyonce, John Mellancamp, Pete Seger, James Taylor, Shakira, John Legend, Usher, and many more.  With appearances by Denzel Washington, Tom Hanks, Steve Carell, Martin Luther King III, Rosario Dawson, Vice President-elect Biden, and President Elect Barack Obama.

This event appropriately titled "We Are One" showcased the best musical, theatrical, and athletic talents of the United States of America.  What was more impressive for me was the fact that each of these incredible acts nodded their heads in respect to the President-elect at the conclusion of their acts.  The respect these talented individuals showed for the President-elect and his ability to inspire people was a unique sight, and seriously helps to remind me that politicans can be focal points of positive energy from the arts instead of simply negative ones. 

Another aspect of this event which struck me was the fact that everyone at this show, some estimates say there were nearly one million people, was so proud of our country.  Black, white, and every color in between stood out in the bitter cold just to participate in the cause they truly believed in.  As you may have guessed from the title of this little blog, I am in fact a conservative who in fact worked for the McCain campaign in Virginia and later in PA.  Despite this I was proud to be a part of this event and wish President Obama all the best as he moves forward with his administration. Our nation can nil afford to avoid the problems that now confront us and this sentiment was echoed by Obama in his address to the crowd.  For what it is worth I will be sporting an Obama pin to the inaugural parade on Tuesday.  More importantly I love that I live in a nation that allows me to whole heartedly oppose a candidate during the election yet embrace him as the fairly elected leader of our nation.

Senator Obama's Decisive Victory Sheds Light on the Rising Electoral Importance of the Latino Vote in National Elections

Published on Nov. 13, 2008 in the Attleboro Sun Chronicle

The Presidential Election held last week was historic and important for the political landscape of the United States in a number of different ways.  In addition to the election of the first African-America President the 2008 election also illuminated the power of the Latino vote and the importance of cultivating this voting bloc for future Presidential Candidates.  According to an article posted in La Opinion just two days after the election, one of the key factors in the rise of electoral importance Latino and Hispanic voters is the nearly thirty percent increase in their turnout from the 2004 Presidential Election.  In addition to the economic crisis and the major divide between the two candidates on the issues of immigration reform as factors behind the increased turnout of Latino voters, over 1.5 million Latino's were granted citizenship and registered to vote.  Further CNN exit polling shows that out of an estimated twelve million Latino's who are registered to vote, nearly 83% or ten million people voted, far out performing the national average of 67% among other ethnic groups.

The increased turnout discussed above turned what New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson described as a "sleeping giant" into an "actual giant."  Ironically enough, Richardson attributes this rise in the prominence of the Latino voting bloc to President-elect Obama "spoke to them not as an ethnic group but as American voters pursuing the American dream, focusing on mainstream issues like the economy and the war in Iraq."  Nationally CNN exit polls indicate that Latino and Hispanic voters favored Senator Barack Obama over Senator McCain by a margin of thirty-six percentage points.  Mark Hugo Lopez of the Pew Hispanic Center's study of exit polling data from Tuesday's election attributes the significance of these numbers to the simple fact that it represents a 10% drop in support of the Republican Party from the 204 election, where President Bush garnered 40-44% of the Hispanic vote.  Even more telling of the ability of Latino voters to, in the words of Governor Richardson, "determine the destiny of the country," is that of the thirteen states that have Latino communities totaling over ten percent of their total populations Senator Obama won all but three (TX, AR, and UT).

More importantly however Latino voters were able to be the determining factor for Senator Obama's victory in several key western battleground states as well as in Florida.  According to an article published one month before the election, the Velasquez Institute of Latino Studies and Public Policy correctly predicted that Latino voters would provide Obama with margins of victory in Neveda, Colorado, and New Mexico.  For example without the Latino vote in Colorado Senator Obama and Senator McCain would be in a statistical dead heat with 44.24% and 42.41% of the vote respectively.  However with the support of the Hispanic and Latino community, as indicated by polling from the Pew Center, Obama was able to jump nearly six points for a 51% to 45% victory.  The influence of Hispanic and Latino voters was even more pronounced in New Mexico where both Pew and Velasquez polls show McCain with an estimated four point lead without Latino voters factored into the equation.  With these crucial voters however Senator Obama garners an eight point advantage over Senator McCain.  These three states constitute nineteen electoral votes all of which were cast for the Republican Candidate President George W. Bush in 2004, the switch from red to blue is best explained by Denver Mayor Federico Pena who stated "without the Latino vote, we would not have won those states."

Another state in which the emerging Latino voting bloc proved very influential in the 2008 Presidential Race was Florida.  Pew Associate Director Mark Hugo Lopez argues that the central factor in Obama's three-point victory in Florida were Latino voters, who favored him over his Republican opponent by a fifteen point margin.  Interestingly enough Senator Obama's numbers mirror those of President Bush in the 2004 race in which the Republican Party held Florida.  In total these four swings states have forty-six electoral votes and were an important component in Barack Obama's victory.  These numbers should not be underestimated simply because the difference in electoral votes was much wider than the forty-six votes controlled by these states.  In reality this group of states, and more importantly the Latino voters who hold such a powerful influence over them, could easily tip the scales in the modern era of extremely close elections (in terms of electoral votes).

While it is impossible to judge from a single election the future of any voting bloc, the data garnered from exit polling and research done in the aftermath of the historic 2008 Presidential Election shows that the Latino community is uniquely positioned to greatly influence future national elections.  Furthermore the increased turnout of Latino voters across the nation confirms the belief of Efrain Escobedo, director of a bipartisan voter registration organization, that "this is an electorate [Hispanic and Latino voters] that now understands the importance of voting and they made a significant shift in the political landscape."  Without question the number of Latino and Hispanic voters in the United States increase these voters will increasingly become more important to any candidate for the Presidency of the United States and reorient the polices of future candidates.

The Timeless Words of Ronald Reagan 3/19/08

Throughout the Republican Primaries of the past few months it has become increasingly clear that what the Grand Old Party desires above all else from its many candidates was a leader who offered them a true vision of the future, namely another President Ronald Reagan.  The party leadership, as well as the masses of College Republicans across the country, desire a conservative who can transform the individual issues into a cohesive movement for the betterment of America without apologizing for their beliefs as a conservative.  Ronald Reagan proved to be such a man in his private life, extensive career in public service, and during his time campaigning for and serving as President of the United States of America.

The main reason why there is such a yearning for and emphasis upon President Reagan and the way he led this country is very simply that none of the leading Republican Candidates have yet shown that they possess such a vision for the future of this nation.  Instead it often times seems that individual issues are all that characterize our candidates.  Even before he was elected President of the United States Ronald Reagan made it clear in his now famous "A Time For Choosing" speech that he believed this country to "have a rendezvous with destiny" and more importantly that the United States represents "the last best hope for man on earth."

While Reagan was discussing the necessity of standing up to the Soviet Union and winning the Cold War his words are still pertinent today.  Now, as then, we are facing an enemy in Islamic extremism the likes of which the world has never known.  Once again we are left with a choice.  Do we leave Iraq and bring our troops home before they complete there vital mission, or do we stay the course laid by the previous administration, despite the adversity and loss of life of the bravest soldiers in the world?  In times of such vital it is some times best to refer back to the timeless advice of leaders such as President Reagan.  In a televised speech delivered in 1964 Ronald Reagan stated that "you and I have the courage to say to our enemies, there is a price we will not pay.  There is a point beyond which they must not advance."

These words ring true to this very day, we must take a stand against Islamic terrorism and terrorists worldwide.  Like President Reagan, I too believe that our country has "a rendezvous with destiny" and it is our duty to ensure the freedom and security of American citizens worldwide.  It is my sincere hope that our generation will rise to the unique challenges presented to us by the 21st century and continue to make the United States a bastion for liberty and civil rights.

Conservatism in Hollywood

Welcome to A CUA Republican

Hey All,

Thank you guys so much for taking a look at my blog.  I will use this site as a resource to express my thoughts on just a few of the things going on in the world, the United States, and on campus here at the Catholic University of America.

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