What a Journey!

Where has this year gone? That's what I asked myself the other day when I was at work. I had brought in some hand lotion from the Amway Grand that I had gotten when I attended the 2007 Michigan Republican State Convention, last February. I still have some of that sample size lotion sitting at work. I needed to use some hand lotion and grabbed that bottle. As I was applying the hand lotion I was thinking about the political journey I have gone through in the past year.
I was thinking about the bus ride on the way down and up, with fellow First Districters. I was thinking about the nice people I met at the convention. I was thinking about the energy level at the 1st District Caucus meeting, the first night. I was thinking about the Friday night parties. I was thinking about the energy level at the State convention.
But mostly I was thinking about what drove me into seriously paying attention to the Primary Campaign. During the caucus meeting and convention Mitt Romney, Sam Brownback and speakers for candidates spoke at one or the other. There was such an energy in those rooms. At the time I swooned for Mitt Romney, being the son of a former Michigan governor, saying how much he cared about Michigan. His Michigan supporters had the slogan "Michigan for Mitt." During his speech at the convention he said "It should be the other way around, 'Mitt for Michigan." It really was a moving speech. It was the most animated I have ever seen in Mitt Romney.
I came back from the convention energized. I checked out Mitt online. I checked out the other guys. There were things I liked about Mitt, but was not impressed enough about him to think he would make a good president.
By pure accident I came across info about Mike Huckabee. I had really liked what little info I read about him. I had decided to blog about him. I ignored a good amount of the negativity that I read about him. Actually, now that I think about it, there was more negative than positive about him out there, during that time. From the beginning until about June, he had a rather shoddy website. Early on I had been contacted by the campaign. In June I was contacted by the campaign to see if I would be willing to be a contact person in my area or county, of course I said yes. The guy I talked to on the phone said he would send a chairman's packet and said that Michigan would be a major state in the Primary. I never did receive my packet.
The campaign wasn't very organized from the beginning. But that didn't matter. At the time I thought Mike Huckabee was the best candidate. Not only was I willing to blog for him, I was willing to take a 22 hour, each way, bus to the Iowa Straw Poll. Thank you to the kind person who payed for part of my trip. When the straw poll took place, the First District also was hosting a picnic and meeting in my town. I chose the Mike Huckabee over local politics.
During the last weekend of September the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference was about to happen. When the campaign first got a hold of me I told them about the convention and told them I thought it would be good for Mike Huckabee. Because he was a low tier candidate he was one of the last candidates to be confirmed as attending. When I first heard that he would be attending I contacted the campaign and told them I would be willing to volunteer for his campaign on the island. I never heard from them. I thought for sure that since I live so close to the island that I would finally be recieving my chairperson's packet. Never did. I figured that they weren't going to to have volunteers on the island. Well, imagine my surprise when I showeD up and found out they did have volunteers. These were people who never heard about Mike Huckabee. They were recruited by their pastors. They said they didn't know anything about Mike Huckabee, but liked that he used to be a pastor. I will be honest, that still hurts that the campaign didn't think I was good enough for them.
He was one of few candidates who cancelled out on his appearance. There was a few stories about why he didn't show up. Afterwards I found out that Pat Toomey of the Club for Growth is a Fair Taxer. And he was on Mackinac Island at the Fair Tax meeting. I still wonder if this had something to do with why Mike Huckabee didn't show up. Considering that the two of them have been enemies. Was Mike Huckabee afraid to come up against Pat Toomey? If Mike Huckabee is such a Fair Taxer why wouldn't he want to be at a Fair Tax meeting and confront someone who is allegedly lying about his tax record in Arkansas?
At some point Mike Huckabee's campaign turned cartoony and was gaining supporters who are from "the off" Evangelicals. He started touring with Chuck Norris, Tim LaHaye, some wrestler dude and others. Now in Michigan he is strictly courting Evangelicals and home-schoolers.
I had been getting disappointed with him on illegal immigration and crime and foriegn policy. I had been thinking about giving up support of him, but I would always come back. Eventually I just gave up on him.
I was disappointed because I didn't think there was a better choice. Then I checked out Fred Thompson. Fred Thompson is better. He knows what is going on. He is more about the border and economy than family values.
This election is more than just who is more religious, who can tell the best jokes, who "looks presidential", who "feels your pain", "let's have a first black president", "let's have a first woman president", who is a war hero or any other media perfect sound bites. It is about who can control and stop spending. Who can keep out illegals and send them back. Who will keep this country safe. The only one who can do that is Fred Thompson.
It just makes me sick that people are not following up on the issues. I am sick about the fact that the election will be in just a few hours and the Michigan front runners are worthless. I even got a comment to this blog from a Huck supporter trying to get me to come back to Mike Huckabee support. He was talking about how Mike Huckabee is all for social values. He even said that there are things that bother him, but it is the social issues that matter. Social issues are on the back burner for me. I am wondering why it is that if Mike Huckabee is for all Americans why did he meet in a private rally with over 100 Evangelical pastors. Where were the Rabbis and Priests? In fact, where were the mainstream protestant pastors?

MICHIGAN VOTE FOR FRED THOMPSON!