April 14, 2006

More Notes From The Eagle Publishing Family

First -- we've learned a bit more about the Evans-Novak Political Forum. Another confirmed speaker: Commerce Sec. Carlos Gutierrez. And the $495-a-pop event is all sold out.

Second -- and more interesting to us, at least -- is this piece on Human Events Online by Matt Lewis. Lewis is a young conservative consultant who was mentored by Morton Blackwell; We're told that Blackwell considers Lewis one of his proteges.

Lewis, thinks that whereas Sen. John McCain has run a fairly "flawless" pre-primary campaign to date, AR Gov. Mike Huckabee, in failing to organize for the Southern Republican Leadership Conference and in "doing his best to alienate fiscal conservatives," has stumbled, perhaps even fatally.

Traditionally, there has been room in presidential campaigns for a movement conservative candidate to carve out a nice niche in the primaries (think Pat Robertson or Alan Keyes). Many thought Huckabee would fill this void. Let's be honest, this position is usually less about winning than it is about building a national organization, making contacts, and helping make sure the Republican frontrunner stays conservative.

But Huckabee's recent missteps -- coupled with Sam Brownback's immigration position -- have conspired to leave this position vacant.

We give weight to Lewis's opinion because of his pedigree and his role in 'the movement.'

BTW: here's a presidential/vice presidential pairing to chew on: McCain/Brownback.

Both depart from the settled political conservative orthodoxy at points, and they are temperamentally different. But both have an affirmative, rather broad, view of conservative governance. Brownback and McCain are natural allies on immigration; both are concerned about global warming (though McCain is far more active on this issue); both support democracy promotion abroad (though differ in tone and focus.) Brownback is as close to moral conservative gatekeepers (both Protestant and Catholic) as one can be.

Discuss...

Posted at 10:49 AM

Comments

Does anybody else see a strong resemblance between this pairing and the Vinnick/Sullivan ticket?

It's not hard to imagine Brownback sitting down with Richard Land or Tony Perkins to assure them that on judicial nominees McCain will listen to him.

Andrew Albertson | 04.16.06 02:45 PM

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