By former Texas State Rep. Rick Green
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas After less than half a presidential term of the most socialist occupant in White House history
Americans are saying enough is enough" while making it clear their new hope" is for a change" of president. So why am I so confident of the swing back to conservatism when were still 14 months from the General Election?
Yes the President will have an unprecedented amount of money to try and repackage his track record in an effort to cover up his glaring results of economic misery and generational theft. But Americas love affair with socialism once they saw it up close and personal was very short lived.
As I write this I am on the plane heading back home from the Iowa where I was honored to give a talk on the Constitution to the supporters of Michele Bachmann prior to the vote she won in the recent Iowa Straw Poll. I was also able to watch Gov. Rick Perrys announcement speech and see the reaction of a room full of non-Texans cheering at every unapologetically conservative statement by Perry.
Its impossible not to notice the conservatism of the 2012 republican candidates for president compared to those in 2008 or any republican primary of the last 40 years for that matter. Even in Reagans 1976 and 1980 primary races he was the lone conservative voice against a moderate middle (much like Huckabee in 2008).
Not so in this years field.
All of the serious candidates are trying to out conservative credential each other. The amazing thing is that all of them except Romney actually have conservative credentials…there is no need to pad their records or twist history to sound like conservatives (except of course Romney). All of them are fiscal conservatives with strong records of cutting taxes (Gingrich Pawlenty Huntsman Santorum Perry
Paul & Bachman) reforming entitlements and balancing budgets (especially Perry & Gingrich) solid pro-life and pro-traditional marriage records (except Huntsman) and strong pro-growth & jobs creating policies (Perry most of all).
Herman Cain too is a clear conservative with private sector credentials and powerful conservative rhetoric.
The point is that anything even close to a moderate position is the rare exception not the main candidates or the people creating a buzz. Other than Romney (and he will ultimately win fewer delegates in 2012 than he did in 2008 no matter how much of his personal wealth he spends on the race) we are guaranteed a nominee with solid conservative credentials.
And just as important we have candidates who are good communicators with the ability to win hearts and minds not just votes. Its like having half a dozen Huckabees with Reagans track record.
Best of all with Bachmanns victory today and Perrys inevitable surge to first place in a matter of days the most conservative and truly genuine candidates are leading the pack (Romney is gone before February…hear me now and believe me later). While there was only one conservative candidate in 2008 I could vote for now I have the wonderful challenge of choosing between two great conservative leaders.
This showing of conservative strength in the republican primary bodes well for the conservative cause and is a leading indicator that Congress will soon follow.
All of this is simply a reflection of the nation moving back to our founding principles of limited government individual liberty free enterprise and traditional values.
That shift back to conservatism bodes well for the future of freedom in America and it means the days of the Obama Presidency will soon join the buyers remorse ash heap of the Pelosi Speakership.
Former Texas State Representative Rick Green speaks nationally on the Constitution & Americas Founding Fathers. He also hosts the national daily radio program WallBuilders Live: With David Barton & Rick Green." For more information visit www.RickGreen.com
