Governor Palin is an ethnic escapist dream where simple rural girls best slick urban intellectuals.

If President Obama is serious about becoming the centrist he attempted to run as during 2008 and pull in his party’s extremism, he has a good chance of being able to gain some considerable legislative wins during 2010 and, perhaps, lessen the losses for his party in November.

For most Republicans the history of abortion extends back no further than the Supreme Court’s 1973 judgment in Roe v. Wade that struck down state laws banning the practice. A better sense of where we came from might help us understand where we are and why we have been unable to reach a legislative compromise on this issue.

Abortion has been practiced for millennia and we have literary evidence of it going back to ancient Egypt and India. Classical doctors and philosophers wrote about abortion and the early Christian Church wrestled with the practice. It has been variously banned, approved, encouraged and curbed at different times and among different cultures.

“Light-skinned” African-American; “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one” is what the accused, US Senator Harry Reid, admitted saying in reference to the current President of the United States. Members of the jury I want it noted that both the senator and the commander-in-chief are members of the political party ( Democrat ) which brands itself as African-Americans secular saviors. I want the record to reflect my shock ( yeah right! ) that a Democrat of such stellar standing would stoop to racist language more fitting a Republican. This imaginary opening statement is from a trial by public opinion envisioned to address these comments. As y’all can see, I’m no fan of racists or Democrats per se.

Memo to Black Folks and progressives: You’ve got your share of ideological Klansman too!! They just mask it better than counterparts on the political Right. We should welcome this revelation about the good Senator as proof that prejudice isn’t conveniently confined to White folks with ” R” for Republican after their names. Lest we forget, Southern Democrats met all 20th Century federal civil rights legislation with rhetorical pitch forks jabbing. These jabs were punctuated by police gunfire and billy club blows targeting down South civil rights protesters. Officers in these violent jurisdictions were proud ” yellow dog Democrats ” since that was the only party in the South at that time. I’ve seen too much racism from Dems local and otherwise to fall for their ” Black people’s best friend ” routine. The GOP has set new lows in modern racism itself but at least their racists are up front about it. I respect honesty over patronizing lies any day of the week.

I believe innocent life should be defended at all costs and the guilty should be punished. I believe this country has the right to defend itself preemptively, and I believe for the most part we make an effort to do so as honorably as possible without compromising our safety, and while that may not always meet the standards of international laws it meets the standard of the Constitution and that’s golden by me. I believe the money we earn is ours, and only what is absolutely needed should go into taxes for social programs that we know work or are incentive based. I believe charity should be a product of free will, and its best when it is a product of free will going where the individual intends it, doing what they designate, and going to those they believe deserve it. This is the core of conservatism. It is good. And I choose to live it.

This week “National Public Radio” profiled Marvin Rogers an urban Republican who has been featured on HHR many times.

Marvin is the type of Republican that Jack Kemp would have been proud of here is a guy who is truly ‘on the ground” in urban areas spreading a genuine message of personal empowerment.

Let me explain. I’m a fairly well-educated guy that lives in the city, drive a Prius, gives to public radio and likes organic food. But if you think that his means I’m some kind of lefty liberal, you are so wrong. I don’t support the President’s health care plan (even though I do think there is room for reform). I am upset at his high spending habits. That should be something that would want to make the GOP go after people like me. But as Michael Petrilli notes, many in the Republican Party are not interested:

If the Republican Party is genuinely serious about an urban Republican emergence, it must reject recent moves to create a litmus test for all candidates. The damage such a test will have on inner-city and urban Republican candidates will be irreversible.

Any Republican who wants to run for office in an urban area must stand up and speak up now!

In all the stories about former GOP candidate Dede Scozzafava and why she pulled out the race, there has developed a certain meme as to why she did not win in a three way race: she was a bad candidate.

In more than a few blog posts not only from her detractors, but from those who say they want a more expanded GOP, this meme has stuck and it even has an image, one of Scozzafava going to campaign in front of conservative challenger Doug Hoffman’s headquarters surrounded by Hoffman supporters. For many this is proof positive that Scozzafava was a dunce, a weakling, an all around inferior candidate.

If the Republican Party is to be effective, it can not wallow in negativism. Our responses to problems must not only feel the pain of our citizens but offer a healing balm which will allow bodies to heal from inside out.

We as a party need to recognize that one-size-does-not-fit-all when it comes to campaigns. It shouldn’t be an earth-shattering revelation, but the fact of the matter is that the type of candidate and campaign that can win in Alabama is not going to be the same type of candidate or campaign needed to win in New Hampshire.

If the Republican Party had just 25 more Ron Pauls we would be a saner, better party … it would actually be a political party of ideas and debate.

“I felt the GOP was a minority party in terms of numbers of registered voters and could not win unless they updated their social philosophy and sponsored candidates and principles to attract the young, the black, and the independent voter.

As this election season hits high gear new faces are emerging to take there place in the Republican Party. One such person is former NFL Star Damon Dunn. Born in 1976 in Arlington, Texas to a 16-year old single mother, Damon Dunn grew up in dire poverty; living in a three-bedroom trailer with ten people. Damon grew up hunting and fishing as means to provide food, and wore Salvation Army clothes. From these humble beginnings, Damon learned the value – and the rewards of hard work, which he has demonstrated throughout his life.

When people think of South Carolina, they think of . . . I know, Comedy Central. Given the state’s generosity in providing punch lines, Jon Stewart really ought to consider taking a pay cut. What people do not typically think of is black Republicans, a perception that could change soon if a young man named Marvin Rogers has his way.