Wednesday, September 13, 2006

A Day full of Mike Pence

A Day Full of Mike Pence

It is not easy being a conservative South Carolina Republican. Our party has more rivalries and infighting than I could list in an hour. Everyday one elected Republican attacks another, some party leader gets into it with a donor, some "consultant" attacks another one, and the sad part is most of it tends not to be ideological but rather about personal beefs and power.

The one bright spot is Gresham Barrett who no doubt will be our Governor in 2010, but after him it is curtains. When thinking about the future of our party and this nation it is hard to find any kind of vision and integrity. For the last several months I have been looking elsewhere for that Reaganesque Leader who will provide the vision to lead America forward and I found in an (then) obscure Congressman from Indiana named Mike Pence.

Mike Pence is Chairman of the Republican Study Committee and he describes himself as "a Christian, a Conservative, and a Republican in that order".

There is a Draft movement to get Pence to run for President in 08 and I have been watching with great intensity the begining efforts to put Pence on the map here in South Carolina. You can imagine my surprise when last Friday it seemed I could not escape Mike Pence anywhere I went.

My morning started off with a meeting with the head guys of Draft Pence as we were to discuss possibly bringing me on in a official capacity next semester. Right now I am just a supporter and I have let the guys contribute to the blog at times. I need to do more. Right off the bat this meeting was unlike any other I have had in my political career. No cursing, no gossip. We simply discussed a vision for the future of America and we discussed the integrity and Character of Mike Pence.

This renewed my hope that this would be different.

After the meeting I then headed down to Clemson for a speech by Congressman Tom Tancredo. To my surprise when I walked into Brackett Hall all I saw was Mike Pence for President flyers, and they were everywhere. I found out that Tancredo was not speaking at the auditorium but rather teaching in a classroom so I didn't get to hear him speak. As I walked by the classroom to get a glimpse of the "Tank" entering, I saw a girl with a Mike Pence for President button sitting in the front row. I immediatly began to smile.

Before noon I was listening to some local talk radio as they discussed immigration.
They were talking about the need to seal the border and what compromise would be acceptable to them. Without saying Pence's name they went on to list the Pence plan verbatim "seal the border, pass sanctions, send the illegals home and make them sign up legally" Both of the guys on the air agreed this was the best deal possible.

As they went to break I was thinking "man, Pence is everywhere" so you can imagine my surprise when they came back and did a segment on the future of the party and where the heck is the next Reagan? They again listed all of Pence's traits without mentioning him by name.It is clear to me that Mike Pence is the next Reagan.

I then was able to have three Pence-free hours before I called my moderate buddy and politics came up. He thinks we have to go with Rudy or McCain because "retaining 1600 is the only thing that matters." He didn't even know who Pence was before I told him a few weeks earlier. He called me a couple hours later to tell me (in a half yelling way) he just viewed Pence's LIBERTY ad online and it was the greatest he ever saw and he thinks Pence is the man.

What did this day tell me?
One, that moderates base everything on their emotions and that good campiagn ads can get their votes.

Two, that there is a small flicker of support of Mike Pence in 2008 and it grows everyday. There is a sweeping brushfire of support for the return of Reaganism and no one emodies Reagan more than Pence.People are searching for and demanding a new leader with vision and intergrity to lead our nation in the future.

Can Pence win in South Carolina? Certainly yes. Will he? The odds are long but each day that passes things are looking good. I know for certain that no other candidate will excite this South Carolina conservative base. Pence has the total package: Strong on defense, stalwart Fiscal conservative, and strong on moral questions. Pence is the only guy I have seen who can play to both the Upstate Christians and the Low Country coastal Libertarians.

Mike Pence's message will play here is SC, it did in '80 and '84 and it will again someday!
These next two years could get real interesting here in South Carolina.
Next I will do a blog speculating on whether Pence even wants it in 08.



Mike Pence for President and Gresham Barrett for Governor!