2012 Update: Haley Barbour Out, Ron Paul In?

Keeping with the theme of posts regarding the 2012 presidential election, here's the latest news.

Haley Barbour - out

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, long rumored to be considered a run for president, announced today that he will not seek the Republican nomination, and will instead focus on his job as Governor, and as the head of the Republican Governor's Association (where he will still be involved to a great degree in the 2012 election).

Ron Paul - sorta in

Texas Congressman, physician and former presidential candidate Ron Paul is set to announce the formation of a presidential exploratory committee tomorrow afternoon in Des Moines, Iowa.

Paul will join exploratory-committee candidates Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Tim Pawlenty, Buddy Roemer, and Mitt Romney. Gary Johnson skipped the exploratory phase, and is a full-fledged, announced candidate.


Just a reminder to check out the blogs I've linked to on the right sidebar, both at the top and toward the middle of the page. In particular, for 2012 news you can hardly beat Race42012.com - a blog I've followed since the "old" days when it was Race42008.com. R4'12 is written by a diverse team: supporters of
practically every major candidate or potential candidate, and is well worth the read.

Did You Get an IMC Polling Call?

I got a call today from "IMC Polling". Unfortunately, as I was scrambling around to find a paper and pencil, I didn't respond in time to continue with the poll, but I did catch a few things.

1. The poll was from IMC Polling. I have received calls from them before - see this post of mine from September, and this post from Race42008 (cached copy here).

2. The poll was on the 2012 election. The automated pollster started off with something like this: "Given the passage of landmark health care reform by Congress last week, who will you be voting for in the 2012 presidential election?"

3. They listed off eight or nine different choices. Tim Pawlenty, Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, Mike Pence, Mitt Romney, re-elect Barack Obama, Other, Undecided... and I think I heard all of them.

Unfortunately, as I mentioned previously, I did not complete the call, since I was scouring the dining room for something to write with. I was hoping they would have a "press 9 to repeat" option, but they didn't. Instead, I got a "thank you for your time" message, then a hangup.

I'm really kicking myself for not just picking an option, and going through the poll without something to write. I could have remembered most of what they would have asked, I'm sure. Maybe they'll call me again...

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Cross-posted at RightOSphere

Adam Andrzejewski for IL Governor

There's a solid, grassroots conservative running for governor in Illinois that needs our help. Adam Andrzejewski (and-jee-EFF-ski) is running in a tight 6-way Republican primary, with the vote coming up on February 2nd.

I first heard of Adam Andrzejewski on the Race42012 blog, where Adam Brickley started talking about this sterling candidate in Illinois. Brickley was the first person in the blogosphere to really start pushing Sarah Palin for Vice President; how he finds gems like Palin and Andrzejewski before anyone else does is beyond me.



Andrzejewski is running on a platform of reform, transparency and fiscal responsibility. You can find several posts on him here at R4'12. Adam is a stellar, rock-solid conservative with strong anti-corruption credentials - just what Illinois, and the rest of the nation, needs.

Erick Erickson at RedState has picked up the Andrzejewski banner, and other bloggers are trying to rally the conservative 'troops' for a moneybomb to take place tomorrow for Andrzejewski (Give2424.com).

So, Adam Andrzejewski for Illinois Governor!

RightOSphere - Coming Soon!

Kavon Nikrad at Race42012.com (formerly Race42008.com) has announced that the conservative blog will be transitioning to RightOSphere.com sometime in the near future.

From R4'12:

As many of you know, we will be transitioning the Race42012 Community to our newly redesigned site in a matter of weeks (though a firm date is yet to bet set.)

Part of this transition is that we are changing the name of the site to Rightosphere.com. This was a big decision for me, as the “Race4″ sites have been a huge part of my life for so long now. But I felt the time had come for a couple of reasons.

First, it is becoming increasingly costly to own all of the “Race4″ URL’s needed to protect the brand I have built. I already, of course, own Race42008.com & Race42012.com, as well as Racefor2012.com, Race42016.com, Racefor2016.com, Race42020.com, Racefor2020.com, Race42024.com, and Racefor2024.com! So it was becoming increasingly difficult for me to decide where to draw the line as long as I stuck with the “Race4″ identity.

Also, it would become increasingly difficult to have the site consistently identified with one name as time went on (some people still refer to us as “Race42008.com”!) I foresee this becoming an even greater problem as time goes on. Having one name that does not change with each cycle alleviates this problem.

Secondly, I have received many requests throughout the years from the members of our community as to features they would like to see the site have. Some people would like to have the ability to from groups or tribes within the site, e.g., “Team Mitt” or “Team Huck.” Other wanted to have a list of the campaign stops that each candidate would make during campaign season. Others wanted the ability to create their own polls. Many thought it would be nice to have a fully functional social network added to the site so that they can connect with other like-minded conservatives.

About a year ago, Kris Lorelli and me were discussing these requests and we asked each “why not?” Why can’t the Race42012 Community have all of these features to have some fun with?

So we set out together to make this kind of community a reality. The results, I feel, speak for themselves. Rightosphere will have all of the features that anyone has ever asked for plus, much, much, more. In fact, I believe that there is no political website, Right or Left, that will have the features and resources that each member of the Rightosphere family will have.

I encourage everyone to head on over to the new site, register, and take a look around. If you are already on Facebook, you can login via your Facebook account (once registered) to keep your social networking profiles in sync.

Of course, I know that some people will miss the old site, and change of any kind is always somewhat scary. However, what is not changing is our community! Everything that made Race42008 & Race42012 great will be what makes Rightosphere great as well. Think of it this way, when a community builds a new town hall, they do not change the people in the city along with the building. They simply provide new, modern facilities to make community get togethers more fun. This is exactly what this redesign is meant to do.

The frontpage of site will still function in the same way as it has before, and will feature articles written by our tremendous staff. The comments sections will still feature the insights of the best conservative community out there. The only difference is that you will see essays that were posted on a commenter’s personal blog (yes, everyone who registers gets their own personal blog that everyone can subscribe to!) promoted to the frontpage, along with our Twitter feed, and a running scroll of all of the blogs written by the Rightosphere Community (entitled, “Right Now.”)

The transition of our little corner of the Internet from R4′12 to ROS represents the work of a little over a calendar year for Kris and I. It was a labor of love meant to give our little family great new digs. I sincerely hope that you all enjoy it as much as I think you will. Please feel free to email me at kavon_w_nikrad@yahoo.com with any questions.

P.S. One little suggestion… If you haven’t yet, please consider downloading Firefox. Firefox is a free Internet browser that is faster, more secure, and more fully-featured that any other browser out there. R4′12, Rightosphere (and any other Internet site you visit) both work and look their best in Firefox.

FF is also highly customizable. I surf the ‘Net using the Aero Fox Theme. Give it a shot and see.

I've registered over at RightOSphere - how about you?

What Do Gay Marriage and Jim Crow Laws Have in Common?

A great post from Race42008's Mike Devine:

What Do Gay Marriage and Jim Crow Laws Have in Common?

They only win popular support where blacks don’t vote and after all, its only a regional thing.

Since the GOP is fast becoming an insignificant regional party of only white male southerners?

That is the refrain liberal Democrats and their useful idiots in the Republican Party have sung since the 2006 election to suggest that conservatives must move left to be a relevant national party once more. No matter that the Democratic Party regained majorities in Congress primarily by running to the right in Southern and other “blue dawg” districts.

Since when did contiguousness of the like-minded matter so much and doesn’t the size of the region matter more? Is truth confined only to appeals affirmed by diaspora?

Or is the claim anti-Southern bigotry disguised? See recent attacks on dreaded white, male Southerner, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL).

Yet, we are told that national gay marriage is inevitable based on its recent recent successes primarily confined to a puny region of the Lower Forty-Eight (pictured in green) where sitings of black folks are more rare than UFOs.

Given the size of the Southern region (pictured in red), wouldn’t it be more prescient to say that tea drinker opposition to government bailouts and tax hikes on businesses are going the way of the dinosaur?

And let’s look more closely at these New England (and other blue state) “successes”:

States where gays may marry now: MA, CT, and IA

Judicially imposed gay marriage: Massachusetts, Iowa, Connecticut

The number of states where gay marriage has been approved by votes of the people: 0

Prominent Blue states where the people have rejected gay marriage when given the chance: California, twice and Massachusetts

State Legislatures that have approved gay marriage not yet overturned by referendum: NH, VT, and ME

Pretty puny evidence of an inevitability especially when compared to this evidence:

States with laws prohibiting same-sex marriage: 45

30 states have constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage most of which have been passed within the last 15 years.

What is inevitable is that the Drive-by media will continually tell us that universally recognized and accepted gay marriage is inevitable.

But its not.

Another inevitability is the ObamaDem Left’s ongoing effort to criminalize speech opposing gay marriage.

Beware.

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Mike DeVine’s Charlotte Observer, Examiner.com and Minority Report columns

“One man with courage makes a majority.” - Andrew Jackson

Originally published @ Examiner.com, where all verification links may be accessed.