links for 2010-05-20

In short, the libertarian philosophy of Rand Paul and the Supreme Court of the 1880s and 1890s gave us almost 100 years of segregation, white supremacy, lynchings, chain gangs, the KKK, and discrimination of African Americans for no other reason except their skin color. The gains made by the former slaves in the years after the Civil War were completely reversed once the Supreme Court effectively prevented the federal government from protecting them. Thus we have a perfect test of the libertarian philosophy and an indisputable conclusion: it didn't work. Freedom did not lead to a decline in racism; it only got worse.
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Read it all. Wonder if DeMint and Palin regret their endorsements?

In the mid-1950s, the danger of an ever-expanding state was clear, but conservatives could not agree on an appropriate response, including whether the greater danger lay at home or abroad. The three main branches of conservatism—traditional conservatives appalled by secular mass society, libertarians repelled by the Leviathan state, and ex-Leftists alarmed by international Communism led by the Soviet Union—remained divided. Noting that “The few spasmodic victories conservatives are winning are aimless, uncoordinated, and inconclusive…because many years have gone by since the philosophy of freedom has been expounded systematically, brilliantly, and resourcefully,” William F. Buckley Jr. resolved to change that. His vision of ordered liberty shaped and guided American conservatism from its infancy to its maturity, from a cramped suite of offices on Manhattan’s East Side to the Oval Office of the White House, from a set of “irritable mental gestures” to a political force….
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Read it all

That’s so ridiculous, it’s laughable. First of all, everyone agrees Chuck DeVore is the most Conservative candidate in the race. Secondly, everyone should agree that Carly Fiorina is the second-most Conservative candidate in the race, followed by Tom Campbell, who’s the most Liberal candidate.

The only people who don’t believe this are DeVore supporters, who think Fiorina and Campbell are equally as Liberal. This is nonsense, of course, as Fiorina is solidly pro-life, pro-gun, pro-traditional marriage, and has raked in a slew of Conservative endorsements from prominent Conservative figures and groups. I don’t know of ANY prominent Conservative figures or groups that have endorsed Campbell.

Is Erick Erickson really suggesting that if Chuck DeVore dropped out of the race, his supporters would shift their allegiance to Campbell instead of Fiorina, when Fiorina was just endorsed by Sarah Palin? I mean, really?
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Erick Erickson = insane in the membrane

GOP U.S. Senate candidate and former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina said Wednesday that the latest Public Policy Institute of California poll shows that she is gaining advantage over former South Bay Rep. Tom Campbell. And coming on the heels of this week's election results, she said, it means that incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer should "be afraid, be very afraid."

The latest poll shows Boxer leading all GOP comers, and gaining significantly with independents — details below.

But Fiorina had her view of the GOP primary race, in which she has inched ahead of Campbell with a 25-23 percent lead. "We're moving forward, and he's moving back,'' she said of Campbell. Meanwhile, Assemblyman Chuck DeVore of Irvine, while doubling his support from March, is at 16 percent, the poll showed.
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Carly is continuing her upward surge in the polls

For the past four months, Republican Senate candidate Tom Campbell has managed to weather a barrage of attacks on his conservative credentials, buoyed by his superior name recognition among voters and the likelihood that not many people were paying attention.

But with the June 8 primary less than three weeks away and voters beginning to cast ballots by mail, Campbell's good fortune as the apparent front-runner-by-default may be running thin.

A new poll by the Public Policy Institute of California finds that former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina has a narrow 25 percent to 23 percent lead over Campbell, a former U.S. House member from Silicon Valley and law professor, with conservative state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore gaining ground at 16 percent. Although Fiorina's lead is within the 5-percentage-point margin of error, the poll highlights Campbell's vulnerabilities as Election Day approaches: He is underfunded compared with Fiorina..
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The surge for Fiorina begins