The other day I heard a comment made by Sean Hannity that struck a nerve. A caller had called in and mentioned the name of Mike Huckabee. Sean’s reply was basically the Mike was probably a wonderful guy but he did not stand a chance and he should just pull out of the race as should candidates like Paul or other 2^nd and 3^rd tier candidates.

Since I am a fourth tier candidate, this struck me as offensive. Imagine that, a GOP candidate being offended. LOL Anyway, I guess the point was, here I am clawing and scratching to get notice and here was this big bad talk show host shooting down a potential candidate. With his audience he was basically driving a nail in the mans coffin. A man who has stepped up and offered his services to be the President of the United States. I believe any candidate deserves respect. Yeah, I was a little ticked.

I mentioned this to a very trusted friend of mine, who is a blogger, and he pointed out that is was Hannity’s show and he could say what he wanted. After all, this is a free country. That really put me in my place. Then the obvious hit me, like a freight train. This is a free country and we can say what we want so I am going to exercise my right to voice my opinion.

Now a real politician would speculate or take a poll or even consult with his staff before stating an opinion, and I do consult with people, but on this one I am going to do what is in my heart to do and that is speak my mind. Whatever the ramifications are, I just have to live with. So here we go.

In my opinion, Sean is an “American” just like all of us. Is he a “Great” one, I will leave that up to the individual listener. Many of his fans have him high on a pedestal and many of his detractors think of him as evil. The fact is he is an “American” and has lived the American dream. He has worked hard and now is one of the highest rated talk show hosts in the US. I listen to him myself and enjoy many of his shows.

He is articulate and definitely a conservative. He does his party justice and does everything he can to entertain his base. His success is hard earned and should be a model for the rest of the country, through hard work and diligence, you can succeed.

Now on the other side. Sean is insulated in his conservative world. Most of us cannot afford to eat at Ruth’s Chris on a regular basis, in fact, most of us cannot afford to eat there ever. I have once. Besides the wonderful building, the pleasant service, the dirty wine glass on my table from a previous customer, the dried food stuck in the fork, the overcooked streak that had to be sent back, and the $250+ bill for a party of two it was a nice evening. In the future I will stick with the Victorian Fillet and the Onion for a big night out.

2006 shook up Sean’s world. The loss of the House and Senate was blamed on the apathetic voter. It was our fault that we did not support the GOP. It was our fault that Pelosi and Reid are in power. We were supposed to vote for the GOP even though they did not perform as we wanted. Even though we were disappointed and they offered nothing new or offered change we were supposed to support the GOP not because we believed they were right but because of fear of the liberals.

I don’t think Sean or the GOP gets it. We need ideas, we need change, we need conservative politicians who will do the job that we want. We are the ones hiring them to do a job and we are hiring them to do the job we want. To tell us that we should support the GOP because the alternative is worse is not much of an inspiration. Yes, voters are apathetic and YES they are mad. We are tired of not having a candidate that we believe in.

Now to the nuts of the issue. We have a humongous field of candidates. We have all kinds of choices and right now we are doing what we are supposed to be doing. We are active, we are researching, we are learning, the politicians are debating, the political process is rolling.

The first primaries are 6 months away. That is a lot of time to get out the issues. Personally, I don’t think the field of candidates is creating too much noise, in fact it is causing a lot of passion. People are getting fired up and they are talking. The net is filled with blogs, websites, and commentary. Voices are being heard, people are seeing that they can make a difference. Actually, to me it is quite exciting. People are talking about politics. I think ’08 will be another record turnout.

Now to my problem. Once again I acknowledge Sean’s right to speak his mind but I do have some questions. What is wrong with this large field? Why is it a bad thing that so many people are getting fired up? Why do you think it a good thing that we should limit the field this early? Would you support a filing deadline? Your favorites, Newt and Thompson have not even filed so should they even be let in now? Sure, they have name recognition and they are getting numbers but what happens if they get in and they start getting examined and their numbers go down?

Sean, yes you have the right, but what it sounds like to many people is that you are telling us we should limit our choices. We don’t like that. We are not the stupid herd you think we are. We are bright people who are passionate about picking our leaders. We want the chance to debate and learn. We will limit our field when we are ready. When the man we are supporting bows out, and you know he will, then we will support the next best candidate in our opinion. Do you really think this field will be this large in Feb of ’08? By the time of the convention, the process will have worked and we will choose a candidate and that candidate will have EARNED it by proving he is the best of the best. So you really believe we should be choosing from a field of 3-4? We will have done our homework, we will ask our hard questions, and in the end we will pull together when WE find the candidate that we like. Sir, with the utmost respect, you have but ONE vote and as an American Voter, I WILL DECIDE when and who to support.

Respectfully,

Raymond McKinney