E!! The True Conservative Story™

I highly recommend this long but excellent piece, “Wall Street Lays Another Egg,” by Niall Ferguson in Vanity Fair. You’ll be smarter if you read even half.

Hat Tip: Ralph Hancock on the Postmodern Conservative blog @ Culture11

CEI’s Iain Murry corrects (UK) Times‘ writer Danny Finklestein on our recent election and American politics.  Worth reading no matter which side of the Pond you reside on.

As Jay Nordlinger would say, some pointlets:

Joe the Plumber, forget owning your own business:  you are now teed up for your own hit reality show.

Obama is now “Senator Government.”  Brit Hume said he thought it was a slip.  If so, what a great slip.  If not, brilliant.

Schieffer asked a couple of pretty good, hardball questions tonight.  And stayed quiet when he should have.  He was way better than the other two moderators, I thought.

Loved McCain’s “I am not George Bush” bit.  About time.  But too little too late?  Why has the McCain team been so poor at communicating?  Ironically:  they share that failure with the Bush administration.

On economics and taxes, why didn’t McCain mention his new thing this week:  cutting the capital gains tax to 7.5% from 15% plus a bigger capital loss write-off – ?  They are pro-growth policies and important.

Obama gave ONE example of something specific he would cut, and I can’t even remember what it was now.  McCain listed at least half a dozen things.  Brownie points there for having thought about it.

Loved it when McCain bashed the very bashable ethanol subsidies.  He did well on energy, I thought.  Liked the detail on nuclear energy and reprocessing plants.  Liked that he called Obama out on “we’ll look at it” comment re: drilling (which in polspeak means we’ll do absolutely nothing).

McCain FINALLY hit Obama on all the false/negative ads on his health care plan.  A $5,000 tax credit is more than anyone’s getting now, and the benefits tax would be nominal in comparison.

Why did Obama keep smiling and laughing when McCain was hitting him hardest?  It seemed odd.  A serious, indignant look would have been more effective.  And normal. 

McCain listed a few of Biden’s wrong judgments on foreign policy including the “cockamamie” idea of splitting Iraq into three parts; good.

McCain brought up ACORN, and that was good.  But he should have given more specifics.  ACORN has been investigated, and has had employees indicted and incarcerated, for the same kind of voter fraud they are perpetrating this year, yet Obama’s camp still gave them big bucks, and still defends them.  There are other ACORN ties as well, and I bet most voters don’t know about them.

I wish McCain were better at narrative.  There are connections that could be made, a story that could be told, of who Obama is and where he came from and where he will surely lead us.  It’s clear to most of us who have been reading and doing our homework, but the average American probably does not have a cohesive picture of the whole thing.  (I’ll try to find that flow chart thingie I saw the other day.)

Sum up:  McCain did much better than in the other debates because he had some fire and said things we hadn’t heard umpteen times and went after Obama more on legit points; and Obama did a little worse than previously because he reverted to talking points when flustered and because of the weird laughing thing. 

I think McCain won by a little, but not sure it’s enough.

And now for a serious look at this year’s campaign season (turn speakers on; page load time is worth the wait).

6:13 a.m. (PST)

In re: to the Obama speech, Jay Nordlinger has some insightful pointlets (as usual).

Jonah Goldberg, too.

Well, I don’t relish raining on conservatives’ celebratory parade after Tuesday’s primary victories here in Nevada, but a commitment to fair analysis requires that I do just that.

Those acquainted with me pre-E!! know I was a Fred Thompson supporter before he dropped out of the presidential race.  I believed then (and still think) he was the most reliably Conservative of all the GOP candidates in all the areas that matter most. 

One of my favorite things about Fred was that he wasn’t overtly enthusiastic about getting The Job.  This annoyed a lot of people and probably cost him a spot in the top 3, but I considered his reserve – i.e. his lack of zeal for politicking - a big plus.  It was (and will continue to be) my contention that our pick should always be the man most qualified to lead but least lustful for power and the public eye.

Thompson’s analysis on the Russian invasion of Georgia and other international issues today is just excellent.  Be sure to read his conclusion, with which I thoroughly agree and would add:  the White House driveway is a dangerous place for Obama to practice his driving skills. 

My Inbox is full of joyous emails from Nevada conservatives.  Here’s what they’re so darn happy about:

GOOD-BYE TO YOU:  Everyone is just delighted that incumbent Republican Assemblywoman Francis Allen - who refused to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge and also embarrassed herself and her supporters by recently stabbing her husband in a drunken rage - lost to Republican challenger Richard McArthur (who not only signed the Pledge but campaigned on it).  McArthur stomped Allen by a 2-1 margin.

BOB “LITE” BEERS IS OFF THE SHELF:  Mr. Beers reluctantly signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge after he was elected in 2006 – and then immediately broke it during the 2007 legislative session.  Beers lost by a 2-1 margin to Republican Jonathan Ozark (who signed the Pledge).

JUST MARVELLOUS:  Another victory worth noting is that of former Republican Assemblyman Don Gustavson who defeated incumbent Republican Assemblyman John Marvel.  Marvel also broke HIS Tax Pledge by flip-flopping and voting for the gigantic tax hike in 2003.

Everyone’s glad that three Pretend Republicans have been replaced (subject to general election wins) by fiscally conservative Republicans.

SQUEAKER:  In the State Senate, Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio pulled out a close one over Republican challenger and former Assemblywoman Sharron Angle.  Despite 30 years of service to his district, his strong leadership position, and outspending his opponent by more than 10-1, Raggio only won by around 500 votes.  (”whew!”)

CHAOS AVERTED:  In a closely-watched county commission race, GOP leaders dodged a proverbial bullet when former Clark County Chairman Brian Scroggins beat longtime Commissioner Bruce Woodbury…whose name was still on the ballot despite being ruled ineligible by the state’s new term limits law.  Had Woodbury won, debates would have raged over who would replace Woodbury on the general election ballot.  Now the party can just unite behind Scroggins.

KIDS AND PARENTS - VICTORY #1:  Many of you may know that the Nevada State Board of Education voted last December to slap a moratorium on the approval of any new charter schools, despite Very long waiting lists.  Under pressure, the Board lifted its moratorium at their meeting last weekend. 

#2:  Four of the nine Board members who voted against charter schools opted not to even seek re-election – including Harry Reid’s daughter-in-law, Cindy Reid.  And then yesterday Board member Barbara Myers lost to challenger Dave Cook in a three-way primary fight.  The two will meet again in November with Myers the likely loser.  Which means the Board could end up with six new members who, hopefully, won’t be as anti-school choice and anti-education as the last one. 

Does all this bode well for Conservatives in November?  Perhaps.  For today, we’ll enjoy the Victory – and continue to Hope. 

Literary ref from header:  “And, has thou slain the Jabberwock? Come to my arms, my beamish boy! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!’ He chortled in his joy. …”