McCain Bandwagon Stops in Michigan

As you know by now, John McCain is running for President in 2008, and has been for at least the last ten months (closer to two years now, actually). Lately, College Republicans in South Carolina and Alabama have hopped onto the bandwagon; today 27 "Michigan Republican young leaders" joined on with Straight Talk America, McCain's Leadership PAC. Michigan State CR Chairman Dan Carlson headlined the group, but it also included several of his state board and many chapter chairs. This isn't quite saying, "I support John McCain for President in 2008," but it is the next closest thing. In South Carolina, there were checks involved; I have heard of money being tossed around in other states, as well, not that there is anything wrong with that. I have no problem with people endorsing someone and putting their good name behind a candidate, but I also do think that a primary is desperately needed to refocus, and even to reestablish, debate on the important issues (immigration, spending, foreign policy, energy independency) that we have collectively skirted as a party over the past few years. I would hope that these young GOPers who have joined up with McCain lately will exercise some ethical sense in not forcing their CR chapters to volunteer for just McCain and let them make their own decision. We will see how this unfolds, as more of the early primary states will be following with similiar announcements, to be sure. It will also be interesting to see if other potential candidates (Romney, Giuliani, Allen, Gingrich) unveil supporters some time soon, too. It will also be interesting to see how other potential candidates for CRNC Chairman handle the issue of joining up with a horse in the Presidential race. Of the three state chairman who have joined Straight Talk, Dan Carlson is the only one whom I have heard tossed around as a potential CRNC chair; Blake Harris is definitely a key player in the Opposition side of things, but not someone I have heard as a top-of-the-ticket name. We will see in the coming weeks how the chairs from Washington, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Maine, California, and our own Chairman here in Ohio, Brian Siler, handle the situation. In my personal opinion, I see it as a bad move for someone running to lead CRs nationwide picking a candidate, at least publicly. Impartiality would become a big issue, and we certainly do not need to add that to the laundry list of problems currently with the CRNC.
On a side note, let me plug former Speaker Newt Gingrich's new book, Rediscovering God in America, upon which you can actually take a guided tour of Washington, D.C., with. The audio version is forthcoming; I plan to take it around the Capital City on my iPod this coming March during CPAC downtime. Newt knows his stuff, to say the least, and I think that his previous work, Winning the Future, would be a great starting point for the next GOP platform. Anyhow, go read the new book; it is eye-opening to see just how integral God was to our Founders.