That’s Elbert With An E

In all the discussion regarding McCain’s choice for Vice President, the names Bobby Jindal and Sarah Palin come up again and again. Bobby Jindal is the current governor of Louisiana. Sarah Palin is the current governor of Alaska. Both got into office promising real reform and real change for their respective states. Both governors are conservatives. Both would be an asset to McCain, who could use all the help he can get. While it would be very cool to have either one in that position, I think it would be very bad for them.

Personally, I think both Jindal and Palin need time to make the needed changes in their own states. They need to build their resumes. It would even be good if they would encourage other like-minded candidates in other states. While the nation as a whole needs their kind in high office, we would be better served by them at a later date.

So for Vice President, I will say no to Jindal and Palin… for now (actually, doesn’t Jindal/Palin or Palin/Jindal look like a good ticket?).

On a side note, Jindal is facing some trouble with change in his own state. During his campaign, Jindal promised to veto pay increases for legislators. Now it looks like he will sign a bill allowing those raises. In this post at Hot Air, it appears that the taxpayers are revolting. So Jindal is facing the difficult choice of angering the taxpayers that voted him in or angering the legislators that will help him get his reforms through. It is one of the tests of leadership. Hopefully he will do well.

Recently publisher Steven Strang wrote about a meeting with Barack Obama he and many other Christian leaders attended by invitation. Strang expresses that he was not comfortable with the meeting but curiosity drove him to attend. The “off the record” meeting included 43 leaders covering the spectrum of theological and political backgrounds. Prominent minister T.D. Jakes noted that in this AP article. Strang says that Obama took the time to meet with each one and shake their hand. Strang said that he was “warm and personable — obviously one of the reasons why people like him.”

The questions were mostly “softball” questions in my opinion. I was concerned after three or four general questions that we wouldn’t ask the most important questions. So I raised my hand and he called on me. I said, “Senator, I want to ask a question I’m sure you are expecting regarding your position on abortion. I represent a segment of the church where nearly everyone considers the issue of supporting life to be the most important issue and where nearly everyone would be opposed to abortion. I want to ask what your stand on abortion is and if you believe what I think you believe, how you justify that with your Christian faith and why you think we should vote for you.”

Since his response was “off-the-record,” I can say that the time he took to answer was probably 15 minutes. He came across as thoughtful and much more of a “centrist” than what I would have expected. He did not appear to be the crazy leftist that is being supported by George Soros and his radical leftist friends. Sen. Obama looked me in the eye as he answered my question, almost as if it were a one-on-one interview. I had already read the chapter on “faith” in his book the “Audacity of Hope.” If you want to know how he answered the question, read that chapter. In other words, other than his demeanor and obvious attempt to win over the Christian leaders in the room, he didn’t say anything new.

If Obama seems to have an attachment to a teleprompter then his answer to the abortion question isn’t really much of a surprise. Then again, it could speak to consistency in his beliefs. I’m more suspicious myself.

It’s certainly something worth watching. Obama wishes to at least include more conservative Christians in his outreach to the church in general. McCain seems to desire to push conservative Christians aside when it’s not convenient anymore. As Strang notes in another post:

When McCain wanted and needed to win both the Texas and Ohio primaries, he was happy to get these endorsements from Hagee in Texas and Parsley in Ohio. But then when Barack Obama’s radical former pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright became a controversial figure in the election, some liberals looked for controversial clergymen who backed McCain to use to blast him. They latched on to Hagee and Parsley.

Either way, if I were McCain I would be making sure that I got the Evangelical vote come November, unless he just assumes that we’ll vote for him because of our fear of the damage someone as left-leaning as Obama will inflict upon this country. Personally I wouldn’t bank on that. It’s more likely that they will stay home which to me is crazy. McCain isn’t going to make me stay home. He’s not that important. There are local issues much greater than McCain, like making sure the the Democrats don’t get more control over this state, and those will drive me to the ballot box.

Steven Strang’s blog entries are here and here.

I thought it would be worthwhile noting some other local comments on Senator Kennedy’s recent health issues. The Conservative Geek put up a post on his blog echoing some of what I wanted to say:

Cancer doesn’t care if you are a kindergarten teacher, as my mom was, a vagabond, or a United States senator that has served eleven years longer than I have been alive. It is an equal opportunity world wrecker.

That is what moves me to compassion. We will all die someday. It is just simply a horrible way to go, and I would not wish it on anyone.

Frank Knotts at Delaware Politics echoes these thoughts but points out WGMD’s Bill Colley making some rather disgusting remarks on his show. It would seem that Bill welcomes the man’s demise. Frank makes a couple of good points:

…we must not put our politics above our humanity…

and

…a prayer for someone who has done wrong does not condone what they have done , it is a prayer for God to save them , and we are all worthy of that.

Without a doubt, the left has been gleefully happy at any conservative’s demise, and have made that plain on sites such as Daily Kos. Conservatives are better than that. We don’t need to take ourselves down to their level and behave in such a base fashion. There are exceptions, mind you, such as Al Sharpton’s comments about Jerry Falwell after his passing. I know that kavips knows that. Glad that Hube called him on it too.

I should add this. Back about twenty years ago, I had some rather cruel remarks about a different liberal politician that had encountered health issues. This was back before the blogs, so you’ll have to take my word on it. God called me on it, and I had to repent and change my ways. After going through some tragedies and seeing friends walk through some difficulties, The Lord has given me a different perspective on these life and death matters. I hope I never act that way again. There is grace if I repeat that mistake provided I repent, but I don’t like sinning and grieving the heart of God.

Again, join me and many others as we lift Ted Kennedy and his family up in prayer. Honestly, it would really be cool if he were healed as a result of our prayer efforts.

Here at That’s Elbert, we pray for all men and women, political friend or foe. Over the weekend it was reported that Senator Ted Kennedy from Massachusetts had two seizures and as a result was hospitalized. Tests were run and it was reported today that he has a malignant brain tumor. Pray for him and his family during this difficult time.

Former Ku Klux Klansman and current Democrat Senator Robert Byrd has endorsed Barack Obama. That’s certainly weird. Hillary has got to be really annoyed about that, considering she won his state, West Virginia, by a wide margin. I have to admit that I didn’t hear about this until Jay Leno joked about this Monday night.

Mark Beverly got fired. Who is this guy? He used to work for SuperAmerica, a convenience store owned by Marathon Petroleum Company. Beverly was fired due to helping a fellow employee during a robbery at the store. SuperAmerica says he violated store policy by getting involved. Essentially in this situation he should have just stood there and watched another employee getting assaulted by a crook. I disagree in this case. Read the story and decide yourself.

Paul Smith, Jr. at Gazizza.net is live blogging the Delaware GOP convention today. The link is below:

http://www.gazizza.net/2008/05/liveblogging_the_gop_state_con.htm

He indicates that he had seen several other Delaware bloggers present. I was asked to attend but woke up with a headache this morning. Headaches are serious for me, so I opted out of going. Driving one hour from Laurel to Dewey Beach was not a good idea. It’s not even a good idea for me to drive across town like that. Anyway, considering all the activity over at this post regarding the Tim Smith campaign, it’s worthwhile to repeat what I was texted by an attendee and was posted on Paul Smith’s blog:

UPDATE (11:15): Christine O’Donnell won the endorsement with 60.7% of the vote just over the 60% requirement. Smith has promised to drop out and support the endorsed candidate.

So Christine O’Donnell is going after Biden. Godspeed!

UPDATES: There’s a couple of additional things worth pointing out from the GOP’s event:

• The results for the nomination for governor: Lee 250, Protack 60, Graham boycott. According to Paul, no one even nominated Graham.
• Bill Lee was in Disneyworld with family so his son accepted for him, and my friend Marlene Elliot-Brown gave second speech.
• Terry Strine is resigning from his post as chairman effective May 9. Tom Ross was chosen to replace him.
• No one nominated me for governor. Well, I only got about 4 supporters and one of them bailed on me.

I have to say thanks to Paul Smith, Jr. for his live blog and to Jim Brown and his son Mike for the text messages during today’s activities. It was greatly appreciated!

ANOTHER UPDATE: I was hoping Dave Burris would have something on his blog, and he does.

I thought this news story was worth some comments. WBOC has a story on their site called “Delaware’s Political Landscape is Changing.” They point out recent shifts in voter registration:

Political observers say the landscape in Delaware is changing and elections officials say the number of democrats is growing in the first state.

It’s safe to say that most of those shifts come from some residents wanting to have an influence in the Democrat primary in September, where Markell and Carney are fighting it out for governor. Let’s see how many shift back to the Republicans in the fall after the primary. That might tell quite a bit.

Brad Bennett (D) is running against Rep. Donna Stone (R) in the fall. In the story it says:

[Bennett] said on the campaign trial he’s noticed people want a change in leadership.

“Basically a lot of them are upset about the direction Delaware has been heading the last few years. So yes they are looking for change,’ said Bennett.

If voters were looking for a change, they wouldn’t be voting for democrats, who have been running the state senate and governor’s mansion for quite a while. If you want change in the state, you’d toss out the moderates and liberals in both parties. They are the ones that have been driving us into the ground. You will never bring any change by putting more of them in power. They are the problem not the solution.

If the Republicans want to regain or at least maintain the level of leadership they have currently, here are some of my ideas.

• Republicans need to gather behind a unified platform, like a “Contract With Delaware”, and every candidate run with this in mind.
• They need to run away with fear the tendency to be simply The Other democrat Party. Be different. If you give voters a choice, they would probably vote for a real democrat instead of voting for a democrat in Republicans’ clothing, also known as a RINO. That issue is the one thing that would make Mike Castle vulnerable.

If voters really want change, they will never get it from the Dark Side… err, I mean the democrats. It will come from the Republicans, the Constitution Party, the Libertarians, or The Independent Party of Delaware.

To get your week off to a good start, here are several funny posts from some local & semi-local bloggers:

Jeff The Baptist: Democrat, Republican, or Southerner

Talk of Delmarva/WGMD’s Blog: Ten Nice Things About The Governor

Salisbury News: For Those of You Who Missed History 101