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View Full Version : 9/20 Sowell Column--Great Ammo for GOP Voters




erowe1
09-24-2007, 12:40 PM
This column by Thomas Sowell describes the problem with nation building foreign policy:
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2007/09/20/mugged_by_reality_part_iii

This is valuable because Sowell is a an excellent mainstream conservative columnist (whom I've seen support Giuliani for president as recently as last Spring). Educated core Republican voters should be familiar with his work and probably like him.

A big stumbling block for many Republicans is Paul's insistence on quick withdrawal from Iraq. I've found that one strategy is too admit that his view on that won't suit all conservatives, but that it at least shows that he's committed to getting away from a foreign policy based on nation-building, something you can't say for any other candidate. And when we look forward to the next four years, we can't just worry about Iraq, but also other unforeseen conflicts. There are a lot of GOP voters who supported and still support the Iraq war but who really don't want to continue following the kind of philosophy that has gotten us to the place we are there.

When we can get these conservatives to tolerate Paul's Iraq views, then when we get them to look at the 90% of what he says that they strongly agree with, we stand to pick up a lot of GOP primary votes.

bcmiller
09-24-2007, 01:40 PM
According to John Agresto, in Iraq "the 'democratic' government now entrenched is as sectarian and incompetent as we ever could have feared." He is unwilling to say that the invasion of Iraq "as originally conceived" was a mistake but he fears that it has become "a tragedy."

This is not a plea for withdrawal. Whatever the situation when we went in, international terrorists have chosen to make this the place for a showdown battle. We can win or lose that battle but we cannot unilaterally end the war. It is the terrorists' war, regardless of where it is fought.

This makes no sense. How much longer? Very inconsistant in my opinion.

erowe1
09-24-2007, 01:58 PM
I agree it's inconsistent. But it also reflects where I think a lot of Republican voters stand. They want 2 things: 1) no immediate withdrawal, 2) no nation-building.
While they may focus on Ron Paul failing their first criterion, we can point out that every single other candidate fails their second criterion. That way, they might realize that it's worth looking at Paul's stances on the other issues and see how well he and he alone hearkens back to the GOP many of them want back.