We're still 2 and a half years away from the 2012 Republican National Convention, but already I have come up with the perfect speech for whoever the candidate is (and here's hoping that nominee is Mike Huckabee). I mean, it is absolutely perfect! Just get a load of some of these awesome lines from it...
"The first Republican president once said, 'While the people retain their virtue and their vigilance, no administration by any extreme of wickedness or folly can seriously injure the government in the short space of 4 years.' If Mr. Lincoln could see what's happened in the last 3 1/2 years, he might hedge a little on that statement."
See? Good stuff, huh! I mean, just look at what Obama is trying to do here... national health care... national debt and deficit spending out of control (11 TRILLION!?!?!)... cap and tax... fake stimulous (a.k.a. porkulous). Things could be really ugly by the time the nominee reads this speech!
Here's another golden section from the 2012 Republican nominee's speech. I'm telling you... this stuff is good.
"The major issue of this campaign is the direct political, personal, and moral responsibility of Democratic party leadership, in the White House and in the congress, for this unprecedented calamity which has befallen us. ... [We] are not going to accept the notion that we can only make a better world for others by moving backward ourselves. And those who believe we can have no business leading this nation. I will not stand by and watch this great country destroy itself under mediocre leadership that drifts from one crisis to the next, eroding our national will and purpose."
OK, here's a little secret. This speech has already been delivered. It was delivered nearly 30 years ago. It was Ronald Reagan's 1980 acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. You know, history has a funny habit of repeating itself. We had a terrible president in Carter before Reagan came back from a failed run at nomination in '76. Now we have perhaps an even more terrible president in Obama. Hopefully Obama has awakened people once again to the real dangers of modern liberalism. And hopefully once again we will be fortunate enough to have a new Reagan for a new generation that can get us back on the right track; the track of freedom and liberty and strong but limited government. It sucks that we have to go through the 4 years of Obama to get to that chance, but it's no good to lament over the past. We need to look forward to our chance to be inspired once again. Is Mike Huckabee the next Reagan? I don't know. As much as I like Huckabee, I don't see the same fire in him that I saw in Reagan, but that doesn't mean it's not there. But we'll see I guess in 3 years from now when we have the next presidential election.
Here's one more parting quote for you:
"Our problems are both acute and chronic. Yet all we hear from those in positions of leadership are the same tired proposals for more government tinkering, more meddling, and more control, all of which lead us to this sorry state in the first place. Can anyone look at the record of this administration and say, 'Well done'? Can anyone compare the state of our economy when the Carter administration took office with where we are today and say (winks) 'Keep up the good work'? Can anyone look at our reduced standing in the world today and say, 'Let's have four more years of this'? I believe the American people are going to answer these questions ... in the first week of November and their answer will be, 'No, we've had enough!'".
Ahhhh... sooooo good!
Of course, the whole speech is available on YouTube. Everything I quoted occurs in the first 17 minutes, but it really is great the whole way through. It's so much better to hear it from Reagan himself than just reading it. So if you have 45 minutes or so and want to be inspired, I highly recommend watching the whole thing. Wouldn't it be awesome if the next Republican nominee sounded like Reagan did 30 years ago? I certainly hope that is the case!