Trump Takes “Super Tuesday”: The Rebellion Continues

Trump-Pheno-600-nrdBoys and Girls, the Results of the “Super Tuesday” Political Primaries have shown us that Americans have opened their proverbial windows and are screaming at the top of their lungs,

I’m mad as hell, and I won’t take it anymore.

According to The Washington Times,

Republicans continued to shatter turnout records in their presidential primaries and caucuses Tuesday, while Democrats lagged behind in what analysts said was a clear indication of an enthusiasm gap heading into the general election.

Virginia’s GOP primary tallied more than 1 million votes, shattering the record set in 2000 by more than 50 percent. Democrats, meanwhile, were 200,000 votes shy of their own record, set in the contested 2008 primary.

In Tennessee, GOP turnout crossed the 800,000-vote mark, leapfrogging the previous record by nearly 50 percent.

Records were also likely to be set in Georgia, Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Massachusetts.

Democrats, though, were struggling, seeing turnout drop by massive levels in all of their races Tuesday night. That included Vermont and Arkansas, where their two candidates had home-state advantages of sorts, yet still couldn’t match the enthusiasm of the 2008 contest.

GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump said he’s the chief reason for the shifts in both parties, saying he’s drawn Democrats and independents into the Republican process this year, boosting his party at the expense of Democrats.

So, is this true? Or, simply some of Donald J. Trump’s World-Renown Braggadocio?

As the late Professional Baseball Player and member of their Hall of Fame, Jay Hanna “Dizzy” Dean, used to say,

It ain’t braggin’, if you can do it.

The Professional Politicians, on both sides of the aisle, and the Liberal Lapdogs, known as the Main Stream Media, have become victims of their own sensationalism…used against them.

Why do I believe that Donald J. Trump is still the frontrunner among all the Republican Presidential Candidates?

This brash, unabashedly American, business entrepreneur and quintessential showman has dominated the media for the past several years.

The popularity of his reality program on NBC and the catch phrase that came leaping out from it, “You’re fired!”, spread across America like wildfire.

Now, his Presidential Campaign continues to do the same.

It is not just his flamboyance that has caught the eye of Americans.

The fact is, after almost two terms of an Administration taking the greatest country in the world on a scenic tour of the Highway to Hell, Donald Trump is the only Republican Candidate shouting, “Hit the brakes, you idiots!”

Trump’s straightforwardness has struck a chord in the hearts of average Americans, tired of the wussification of America, being so relentlessly pushed by both modern political parties.

This is what I don’t understand about the Republican Establishment:

They run around telling everybody how Conservative they are, when in reality, they actually hold the same beliefs as Liberal Democrats.

Ronald Reagan gave a famous stump speech about the fact that the Republican Party at one time, needed “bold colors, not pale pastels”, which I posted an excerpt from, last week.

Back in the day, that political strategy propelled Ronald Reagan to the Presidency of the United States.

Per learnourhistory.com:

Through the 1970s, the United States struggled through a terrible recession and government became much more involved in Americans’ lives. Additionally, America showed significant weakness globally, as the Soviet Union flexed its muscles and smaller nations began to lose both fear and respect for the United States. It was clear the country needed a change.

Ronald Reagan was the right man for the job and was elected in a landslide. He swiftly changed the course of the nation, lowering taxes and reducing regulations to stimulate the economy and standing up for America’s principles and beliefs around the world. In addition to his changes to foreign and domestic policy, Reagan was an “American Exceptionalist”, meaning that he understood that there was something special and different about America that set it apart from all other nations. During his time in office, Reagan reduced the intrusive role of the government and helped the nation re-discover its greatness, power and economic growth.

The Political Strategy of “Bold Colors” is the reason that Trump is still leading all of the Professional Politicians, who are currently seeking the Nomination for the Republican Presidential Candidacy.

From what I’m seeing, from both sides of the Political Aisle, Professional Politicians are not even presenting Americans with pale pastels.

…Donald Trump is.

The Vichy Republicans have shown their color to be Liberal Blue, while they claim to be Conservative Red.

It is almost as if they believe that the Political Tsunami, which resulted in Republicans holding both Houses of Congress, came about because they made themselves look like Democrats.

They need to come down off of Capitol Hill every now and then.

And, visit Realityville.

Liberals, from both sides of the Political Aisle, are beside themselves trying to figure out why Donald Trump is leading all of the other Republican candidates, several of whom more closely mirror their own political ideology, as I mentioned earlier.

Daonald J. Trump has struck a resonding note with the majority of American people, simply because he is saying the things which we would like to say to these professional politicians, who have forgotten who gave them their phony baloney jobs.

Liberals, during the Presidency of Barack Hussein Obama, have had their way in the course of a great many things.

Plain talk and forthrighteousness have been replaced by weasel words and political correctness.

The fulfilling of promises made to constituencies by Republican politicians, has been replaced by “Vichy Republicans” “going along to get along” with their drinking buddies from across the Political Aisle.

Just as the colonists revolted against taxation without representation, I believe that we are seeing a rebellion by average Americans, like you and me, living here in the Heartland of America, who have had enough of lies and broken promises, given to them by politicians who are supposed to be serving them and not the other way around.

Average Americans, like you and me, living from paycheck to paycheck in America’s Heartland, are fed up with the Washingtonian Status Quo.

If we wanted to continue to put up with their Liberal Stupidity, we would have left all of them in office.

Instead, in the Mid-term Election of 2014, we showed them the door.

In summation, the American people are tired of Political Correctness and anti-American political expediencies being forced down our throats by both political parties and trumpeted by their lackeys in the Main Stream Media.

Donald Trump, for all of his brashness and braggadocio, is a breath of free air and, quite frankly an anomaly. He’s not a professional politician. He is a businessman who wants to become a public servant.

Now, where did I hear that before?

Oh, yeah.

That’s the way the Founding Fathers envisioned our system of government, led by citizens, who served their terms as public servants…AND THEN WENT HOME.

But, I digress…

You know what tickles me the most about “The Donald”?

He reminds me of one of my favorite movie characters.

He actually has a backbone.

Just remember what ol’ Jack Burton does when the earth quakes, and the poison arrows fall from the sky, and the pillars of Heaven shake. Yeah, Jack Burton just looks that big ol’ storm right square in the eye and he says, “Give me your best shot, pal. I can take it.” – Jack Burton, Truck Driver (Kurt Russell) “Big Trouble in Little China”

…and that, boys and girls, regardless of how you feel about “The Donald”, is a refreshing change.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Allergic to “Bold Colors”, Vichy Republicans Investigating Viability of “Independent Candidate”, If Trump Wins Nomination.

High-Ground-600-LAHeading toward the conglomeration of State Primaries, known as “Super Tuesday”, it has become evident that the possible inevitability of “rank amateur”, successful businessman and entrepreneur, Donald J. Trump’s, victory in the Republican Primaries, is beginning to manifest itself in acts of desperation…on BOTH sides of the Political Aisle.

Politico.com reports that

Conservative donors have engaged a major GOP consulting firm in Florida to research the feasibility of mounting a late, independent run for president amid growing fears that Donald Trump could win the Republican nomination.

A memo prepared for the group zeroes in on ballot access as a looming obstacle for any independent candidate, along with actually identifying a viable, widely known contender and coalescing financial support for that person. The two states with the earliest deadlines for independent candidates, Texas and North Carolina, also have some of the highest hurdles for independents to get on the ballot, according to the research.

“All this research has to happen before March 16, when inevitably Trump is the nominee, so that we have a plan in place,” a source familiar with the discussions said. March 16 is the day after the GOP primary in Florida, a winner-take-all contest that Marco Rubio supporters have identified as a must-win to stop Trump’s early momentum.

“It’s critical some serious attention is given to this,” the source said.

The document, stamped “confidential,” was authored by staff at Data Targeting, a Republican firm based in Gainesville, Fla. The memo notes that “it is possible to mount an independent candidacy but [it] will require immediate action on the part of this core of key funding and strategic players.”

Data Targeting did not respond to a request for comment on the memo.

The research points to Texas and North Carolina as early tests for running an independent, conservative candidate against Trump and the Democratic nominee. The candidate would need to gather over 79,900 valid petition signatures in Texas by May 9 and over 89,000 in North Carolina by June 9.

Only two other states have thresholds that high, and gathering petitions can be an expensive and time-consuming process. What’s more, the Texas signatures would have to come entirely from voters who did not vote in this year’s Democratic and Republican primaries.

But “with 38 electoral votes in play in Texas and North Carolina’s true swing state status, failing to qualify in either or both states would render any independent candidate non-viable,” the report’s authors wrote. “This is logistically possible but will require immediate action.”

By July 15, the independent candidate would need more than 460,000 voter signatures to make the ballot in 11 states. Assuming an April 1 start date, the campaign would have to gather 4,345 valid signatures per day to maintain a steady pace.

Correct me if I’m wrong but aren’t the Republicans supposed to be the opposition party?

Just like this slavish mainstream media believe that President Barack Hussein Obama walks upon the water, the Establishment or “Vichy” Republicans, must idolize or at least respect the Democratic Party because they seem Hell-bent on copying them in their actions, words, and deeds.

Just look at their track record over Obama’s tenure n the Oval Office.

As we say in Dixie, they ain’t done squat.

And now, like a bunch of Democrats, they expect us to forget their lack of intestinal fortitude, while in office, and elect those who are just like them to the Presidency in November 2016.

Oh, we  remember them all right. But, not in the way they want us to. We do not remember them as leaders. Oh, no. Rather, Americans, here in the Heartland, remember them with all of the fondness that the French Resistance remembered the Nazi collaborators, or Vichy French, after World War II.

What slays me is the fact that the Establishment Republicans seem to be quite content, in their moderately left-leaning stupor, to be totally oblivious and tone deaf of their Base, average hard working middle-class Americans like you and me.

You know, the people who actually put them into office.

They keep on making bad choices.

They have pushed for maintaining the Washingtonian Status Quo because they erroneously believe that new citizens, provided through amnesty, will vote for them instead of the Democratic Party, who are ready to be their own personal Santa Claus and buy their votes with free admission to the Welfare State.

Spineless Vichy Republicans have been a barrier to Republican victory for as long as I can remember. Like Quakers, Establishment Republicans seem to believe that passive resistance and reaching out to their sworn enemies as “friends”, is the way to defeat those who oppose you.

It has been especially bad during Obama’s reign, as the House and Senate Republican Leadership apparently cherished their friendship with the Democrats more than they did the wishes of the folks back home. Yes, they talked a good game, but so did Jon Lovitz in those “Liar Sketches” during the old days of Saturday Night Live, back when they were actually funny.

Yeah,  my wife Morgan Fairchild. Yeah, that’s it. That’s the ticket!

In 1975, Ronald Wilson Reagan gave a speech which sums up our present situation and average Americans’ visceral disdain for the Professional Politicians, who value the Washingtonian Status Quo, above US.

Americans are hungry to feel once again a sense of mission and greatness.

I don ‘t know about you, but I am impatient with those Republicans who after the last election rushed into print saying, “We must broaden the base of our party” — when what they meant was to fuzz up and blur even more the differences between ourselves and our opponents.

It was a feeling that there was not a sufficient difference now between the parties that kept a majority of the voters away from the polls. When have we ever advocated a closed-door policy? Who has ever been barred from participating?

Our people look for a cause to believe in. Is it a third party we need, or is it a new and revitalized second party, raising a banner of no pale pastels, but bold colors which make it unmistakably clear where we stand on all of the issues troubling the people?

Let us show that we stand for fiscal integrity and sound money and above all for an end to deficit spending, with ultimate retirement of the national debt.

Let us also include a permanent limit on the percentage of the people’s earnings government can take without their consent.

Let our banner proclaim a genuine tax reform that will begin by simplifying the income tax so that workers can compute their obligation without having to employ legal help.

And let it provide indexing — adjusting the brackets to the cost of living — so that an increase in salary merely to keep pace with inflation does not move the taxpayer into a surtax bracket. Failure to provide this means an increase in government’s share and would make the worker worse off than he was before he got the raise.

Let our banner proclaim our belief in a free market as the greatest provider for the people. Let us also call for an end to the nit-picking, the harassment and over-regulation of business and industry which restricts expansion and our ability to compete in world markets.

Let us explore ways to ward off socialism, not by increasing government’s coercive power, but by increasing participation by the people in the ownership of our industrial machine.

Our banner must recognize the responsibility of government to protect the law-abiding, holding those who commit misdeeds personally accountable.

And we must make it plain to international adventurers that our love of peace stops short of “peace at any price.”

We will maintain whatever level of strength is necessary to preserve our free way of life.

A political party cannot be all things to all people. It must represent certain fundamental beliefs which must not be compromised to political expediency, or simply to swell its numbers.

I do not believe I have proposed anything that is contrary to what has been considered Republican principle. It is at the same time the very basis of conservatism. It is time to reassert that principle and raise it to full view. And if there are those who cannot subscribe to these principles, then let them go their way.

I believe that the Republican Party is stuck in a cycle in which their desire to protect their own hindquarters and cushy “jobs” have lead to a self-imposed isolation from the very American Citizens who were responsible for their having those cushy “jobs” in the first place.

I believe that average Americans, like you and me, have the power to relieve them of the burden of such a stressful job, and send others to Washington, who will listen to their “bosses”.

And, no “Independent Candidate”, pushing their “Go-Along-to-Get Along” Political Philosophy, known as the “Washingtonian Status Quo”, will win the White House.

Ask “Jeb!”

Just as Ronaldus Magnus said those 41 years ago, it is time to “let them go their way”.

Until He Comes, 

KJ

 

The Republican Debate: Rubio Attacks! Cruz Attacks! Trump Responds! Did Anything Actually Change?

Fliped-Off-600-LAAfter the debate last night, when the dust settled, according to CNN, there were 6 things that we learned about the Republican Candidates for that Party’s Presidential Nomination.

In today’s blog, I present their analysis and then, I analyze their analysis.

Hey, us “rubes”, here in “Flyover Country” are entitled to our opinion, too. Aren’t we?

CNN.com reports that

Donald Trump is leading the race, but Marco Rubio owned the stage — finally turning against Trump in a late effort to block the real estate mogul from running away with the Republican nomination.Rubio attacked Trump’s character. And Ted Cruz followed up by questioning Trump’s conservative credentials. 

The big questions of the night: Which senator did a better job convincing voters they can best take on Trump? Did Rubio’s attacks and interruptions show a new side of himself? Did Cruz do enough to persuade people he’s worth another look? Or did Trump’s dismissive counters — Rubio is a “choke artist,” while Cruz is a “liar” — leave him looking like a strongman swatting away the sorts of politicians that turned his supporters furious in the first place?

Here are six takeaways from the final Republican debate before Super Tuesday:

Rubio stands up to Trump 
From the opening minutes, Rubio mercilessly prodded, slammed and taunted Trump, talking over him in the sort of sustained way that Jeb Bush never could.

Rubio called the real estate mogul’s Trump University “a fake school.” He invoked Trump’s business record to question his sincerity on immigration, saying: “You’re the only person on this stage that’s ever been fined for hiring people that worked on your projects illegally.”

When Trump dismissed those allegations as old news, Rubio shot back: “I guess there’s a statute of limitations on lies.”

Later, as Trump insisted that the crux of his health care plan would involve allowing insurance purchases across state lines, Rubio pressed for more specifics, saying that “now he’s repeating himself” — an ironic response from a candidate who has been mocked as robotic for repeating talking points at speeches and debates.

“I don’t repeat myself,” Trump said.

“He repeats himself every day,” Rubio answered, adding that Trump’s refrains are all familiar: “Everybody’s dumb, we’re gonna make America great again, we’re gonna win, win, win…”

Rubio also got in a memorable retort on Israel. Even as Trump called himself “totally pro-Israel,” he said he didn’t believe there was any reason for labeling Israel and the Palestinians as the “good guy” and the “bad guy.”

“The position you’ve taken is an anti-Israel position,” Rubio said.

When Trump said he was simply a “negotiator,” Rubio shot back: “The Palestinians are not a real estate deal, Donald.”

Through it all, Rubio kept a smile on his face — almost as if to say to the audience, “Can you believe this guy?”

Rubio finally showed a fire in his belly last night, because, as I reported last week, with Jeb! quitting and going “home to Mother”, Rubio, has been selected as the Republican Establishment’s “Guy”.

Why Rubio was relentless against Trump 

For Rubio, it was now or never. His attacks, and those of Cruz, weren’t necessarily new in substance — Trump isn’t a conservative, Trump is untrustworthy, and so on — but what stood out was Rubio’s sense of urgency to put himself center stage with the billionaire front-runner.

What it was about: Lighting a fire under the donor class and GOP establishment.

Rubio has to demonstrate that he’s worth a massive investment — right this minute — to try to block Trump from winning a nomination that the establishment grows more convinced by the day is his for the taking.

“We have an incredible decision to make, not just about the direction of America but the identity of our party and the conservative movement. The time for games is over,” Rubio said in his closing statement.

“I know you had a lot of choices to make, but now it’s time to narrow it down and I’m asking you to get behind me … so we can bring an end to this silliness, this looniness.”

The new “Chosen One” has a problem, however.

The Republican Voters don’t want to vote for him.

With 19 days to go until the Florida Republican primary, Trump has a 16-point lead over Rubio, according to the latest Quinnipiac poll. Even as the Junior Senator from Florida, Rubio has failed to win any of the early nominating contests, facing absolute must-win situation in the state he represents in the U.S. Senate. If Trump wins Florida’s 99 delegates, it would probably “all be over, but the shoutin”, as regards Trump’s securing the nomination.

Trump’s counterattacks draw blood

An underestimated Trump quality: His counterpunches often play extremely well with conservatives who distrust politicians and the media.

For instance, an early exchange, when Rubio asserted that Trump is “the only person on this stage that’s ever been fined for hiring people that worked on your projects illegally.”

Trump’s response: “I’m the only one on this stage that’s hired people.”

Another of his one-liners may have been the most damaging. “This guy’s a choke artist, and this guy’s a liar,” he said, turning to first Rubio and then Cruz.

Expect to hear more of that in the days ahead. Time and time again, Trump has proven that he owns the post-debate.

Whether it’s leveraging his massive influence on social media to wage a war against Fox’s Megyn Kelly or driving home his best lines of attack by calling in to every news television show on the air, he has a way of shortening the half-life of bad headlines.

As soon as the debate ended, he mocked Rubio’s perspiration.

“It looked like he just came out of a swimming pool. He was soaking wet,” Trump told CNN’s Chris Cuomo. “He’s a meltdown guy. I mean I look at him, he’s just pouring sweat. … We need somebody that doesn’t sweat.”

Boys and girls, Trump did not become a billionaire by being an idiot.

Remember, he is a master at “owning the stage”. He is also an American Businessman, who has negotiated multi-million dollar deals. He knows that perception is a powerful thing and a sharp, strong, effective comeback stays with the listener longer than the original accusation does.

Trump shows why he’s winning

He was hit from both sides of the stage Thursday night, but Trump managed to score some points of his own.

He consistently owns some issues that none of his rivals fight him for.

Trump laid into Mexico and China, blasting U.S. trade policies and giving Americans a direct outlet for their anger about job losses and wage stagnation.

He used former Mexican President Vicente Fox’s attack in a Fusion interview, when he said he’s “not going to pay for that f—ing wall” that Trump wants to build, to showcase his strength in the face of adversity.

“The wall just got 10 feet higher,” Trump said.

Yesterday, all across the Internet, Trump opponents from both sides of the political aisle, were posting a quote from him, in which he said that he liked “uneducated people”.

The quote came back to bite them in the hindquarters, because it was proven to have been an incomplete quote.

As I have written,

Trump is riding the crest of an ever-growing anger over the inaction of Professional Politicians, whom, after being voted into National Office by their constituents back home, have literally bitten the hand that feeds them, tossing Ma and Pa Kettle aside for Big Money Donors and the Political Prestige of “reaching across the aisle”, i.e.. “selling out”.

Did Cruz do enough?

He spent much of his time attacking Trump, too — but Cruz was clearly Robin to Rubio’s Batman in going after the front-runner on stage.

The Texas senator’s line of attack was designed to undercut Trump’s conservative credentials. And if that was the goal, he had some success — with Trump asserting at one point that “millions of women are helped by Planned Parenthood,” a group that is anathema on the right.

Mostly, though, Cruz waited for openings that were never there — because Rubio had spotted them first.

Cruz did regain his footing late in the debate, laying into Trump for donating to Democratic politicians and deflecting Trump’s goading that he not “get nervous” by saying, “I promise, Donald, there is nothing about you that makes anyone nervous.”

But the most raucous debate yet was about personality, and Cruz showed less of it than Rubio and Trump.

His best line might have come at the start of the debate.

“In 2013 when I was leading the fight against the ‘Gang of Eight’ amnesty bill, where was Donald?” Cruz said. “He was firing Dennis Rodman on ‘Celebrity Apprentice.'”

Cruz’s problem — Rubio’s attacks showed a new side of the Florida senator, and that may get him more of a second look than Cruz gets.

It “may”.  But, then again, with the anger and resentment toward the Establishment (Vichy) Republicans by average Americans, here in “Flyover Country”, Rubio’s newfound “Establishment Creds” “may” stop his “surge” dead in its tracks.

Also, there are still a lot of Americans who still like Senator Cruz. I like him. I just don’t see any “coalition-building” happening in his campaign.

‘Can someone attack me, please?’ 

That was Ben Carson’s unsuccessful effort to work his way into an explosive exchange between Rubio, Trump and Cruz.

There were five candidates on stage. But Carson and Ohio Gov. John Kasich were both off to the side — their refusal to engage with other candidates, or criticize anything at all, turned both into afterthoughts.

Asked to judge his whether his opponents understand the importance of winning the support of Latinos, Kasich delivered a line that underscored his entire night, starting his answer by saying: “I’m not going to talk about that.”

But Carson may own social media for another line. When it comes to choosing a Supreme Court nominee, Carson said, he would look examine “the fruit salad of their life.”

It is a shame about Dr. Carson. He is a great American and a very good man.

However, it is time for both him and Gov. Kasich to call it a day and “suspend” their campaigns.

Going into Super Tuesday, it’s time for preliminaries to be over with. It’s time to separate the wheat from the chaff. It’s “Crunch Time”.

“This is it. Make no mistake where you are.”

“Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.”

“When the going gets tough…”

Oops, sorry. I got carried away on the Cliché Train…again.

Anyway, it is time to focus on the top three Candidates for the Republican Presidential Nomination.

Because, the way this campaign is shaping up, the Republican Nominee may be decided on Super Tuesday.

Until He Comes,

KJ

 

 

 

A Split Decision on Super Tuesday. A Conservative Light on the Horizon?

As I sit down to write this blog, Super Tuesday has turned out to be the split decision everyone thought it would be.  Romney won his “home state” (another one?) of Massachusetts, along with Vermont, Virginia, and, barely, Ohio. Santorum took North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Tennessee.   And, Newt Gingrich won his only home state of Georgia, decisively

Per the Associated Press:

Romney won at least 212 Super Tuesday delegates and Santorum won at least 84. Gingrich won at least 72 delegates and Texas Rep. Ron Paul got at least 22.

So far, Romney is winning 54 percent of the Super Tuesday delegates; Santorum is winning 22 percent.

A total of 419 delegates were up for grabs in 10 states Tuesday. A handful were left be allocated.

In the overall race for convention delegates, Romney leads with 415, including endorsements from members of the Republican National Committee who automatically attend the convention and can support any candidate they choose. Santorum has 176 delegates, Gingrich has 105 and Paul has 47.

It will take 1,144 delegates at the party’s national convention this summer to win the Republican nomination for president.

Does any one else see a regional pattern developing here?  Romney is hardly beloved in the Heartland, is he?

While Mitt Romney may very well be “inevitable”, due to his unrelenting support for the GOP Establishment and his never-ending supply of Campaign Funds, he is hardly a “Consensus” Candidate.

Gosh, I wish that there was a candidate out there, who was a Reagan Conservative, who could relate to average Americans, and was so down to earth that they would even stop their campaign bus at a Walmart to pick up diapers for their baby.

Oh, wait…

Stand by for this “live” (last night) interview from CNN:

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Our Paul Vercammen is up there in Wasilla, Alaska. Remember, Wasilla, we heard a lot about Wasilla only a few years ago. Paul Vercammen is standing by with a very special guest – I’ll give you a hint, the former governor of that state. Paul, talk to her.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I will, Wolf. By the way, Sarah Palin says hello. She just voted here in Wasilla. They expect 1,000 people to come through here.

And I think, Sarah, a lot of people are asking, who did you vote for tonight? Who would you like to see emerge as the GOP frontrunner?

FORMER GOV. SARAH PALIN, R-ALASKA: I would not tell you who I voted for in this presidential preference poll. I want to say hi to Wolf, though, and thank you guys for being up here in Wasilla and covering this, because every vote counts, and every district, every state matters. And that’s why I wanted to see this process continue because I want more people to have a say in who the nominee should be.

VERCAMMEN: But while you won’t say who you’re leaning for, are there any trends or is there something that you think is extremely important to the GOP platform this year that you want to see come to fruition?

PALIN: Yes. I want to see the process continue, more debate about who it is who can bust through the Orwellian Obama rhetoric and pandering that we see in the incumbent, who can bust through that with facts, with history, with logic, with common sense, in order for American voters to understand we do have a choice. There is a contrast between the incumbent, Barack Obama, and any of the four on the GOP ticket. Who best can bust through that rhetoric and express their ideas and their solutions to get our economy back on the right track, that’s the nominee I want to see forwarded (ph).

VERCAMMEN: Is there any fear that if this drags on for a long time, you are going to sap war chests and you’re going to cause a situation where the party becomes too divided?

PALIN: I am not a believer in that, not at this point. I do believe that competition makes all of our candidates better. Remember, there are five men running for president, and I think Barack Obama is the worst choice, is the last choice. So the four in front of him, as they duke it out in the arena of ideas and solutions to propose, the more of that, the better.

VERCAMMEN: Sarah Palin for president 2016, is it possible?

PALIN: Anything in this life, in this world is possible. Anything is possible for an American. And I don’t discount any idea or plan that at this point isn’t in my control. Anything’s possible.

VERCAMMEN: But would you seriously consider a run?

PALIN: I would seriously consider whatever I can do to help our country to put things back on the right track. Our economy, the foreign policy, proposals that we have to see put forward in order to secure our homeland, and the Americans, especially our brave fighting men and women who are overseas right now in places that perhaps we shouldn’t be right now. Anything that I can do to help, I will be willing to help.

VERCAMMEN: OK, one more question, from Wolf, if I can hear him. Let me try to relay it to you.

BLITZER: All right, Paul, I know there’s a delay between me and you, but thank the former governor, the Republican nominee for all of us. A quick question for her. I’m just curious how she’s been reacting to this whole Rush Limbaugh controversy with this Georgetown University law student, because there were some vile words that were uttered by some liberal Democrats as far as Sarah Palin was concerned, and I wonder if she wants to weigh in on this controversy.

VERCAMMEN: Wolf wants to know if you want to weigh in on this controversy. He says some vile words were thrown around, some of them directed towards you actually, the controversy involving Rush Limbaugh, contraception and the Georgetown student? Your reaction to some of those words that were used?

PALIN: I think the definition of hypocrisy is for Rush Limbaugh to have been called out, forced to apologize and retract what it is that he said in exercising his First Amendment rights, and never is that – the same applied to the leftist radicals who say such horrible things about the handicapped, about women, about the defenseless. So I think that’s the definition of hypocrisy. And that’s my two cents worth.

I wish we had some straight talk from all of the current Republican Candidates like that.  

It would certainly be refreshing.  And Conservative.