Morgan Orlins At RPOF's Presidency IV Weekend

Morgan Orlins At RPOF's Presidency IV

Nanette and I just returned from a fun-filled weekend in Orlando at Presidency IV. The Republican Party of Florida (RPOF) puts this on prior to the primary election to give us a good look at the Republican Presidential candidates. It was like Disney World and Six Flags for political junkies! We got to meet with a few of the candidates, some of the Fox News people, and Nanette and the ladies made cat calls to Sean Hannity during Hannity and Colmes before the debate. He ate it up. I made a promise to some friends to give my impressions of what we saw during the weekend, so here goes.

Immediately upon entering the gorgeous Rosen Shingle Creek Resort I had a contented and almost giddy feeling and I couldn't understand why. Then my brilliant wife Nanette turned to me and said, "honey, there are over 3000 well dressed Republicans here and I don't see ONE dang tatoo or facial piercing in the whole crowd!" By God that was it! We were among 3000 or so hard working, smart, well-dressed, patriotic Americans and it was a WONDERFUL feeling. The crowd was also a PERFECT microcosm of American life. At least 10% of the crowd was black (mainly out for Rudy) and a very healthy number of Jews, Orientals and Indians. Good Americans one and all. The ONLY way to improve the scene would have been an ice cold beer concession. Fred Thompson came to the rescue there.

Saturday started off with a Governor's luncheon hosted by RPOF Chairman Jim Greer and Governor Charlie Crist. Jim is a great guy who does a HARD and sometimes thankless job trying to keep liberal and Conservative Republicans together and motivated. My hat's off to him. Charlie Crist is as smooth as politicians come and a RINO (Republican In Name Only) through and through. For you political novices that means that he's just as comfortable among Democrats and reads the polls before he takes positions on issues. This is the opposite of principled leadership, and I don't really care for it. Believe me, he WILL show his face on the national scene sometime soon. Oy vay and God help us!

After the luncheon the Fred Thompson desk in the lobby told Nanette and I that Fred had just arrived and was down by the pool. We intercepted him in the lobby area along with his Secret Service guys and shook his hand as he attempted to scoot on through. Nanette held the camera and wanted to get a picture of the three of us and I told Fred, "Senator Thompson, my dad's a big fan of your's up in Chattanooga , TN and he thinks that you might be worth voting for." To which he replied, "well heck, all I gotta do is take a picture with you and you'll vote for me? Give that fella over there the camera and let's get us a picture!" As we stood there he spied the cigar in my top pocket and said, "that's a mighty tasty looking cigar you got there." So of course I gave it to him over his lame protestations. Nanette asked him if he would support the FairTax and he said that he had "his people" looking at it right now. Fred's definitely a real person.

At 4PM we attended the Presidential Candidates rally. The RPOF limited the rally to the top 4 contenders by instituting a $100,000 buy in price tag. Each candidate was supposed to limit their speech to 15-20 minutes and Fred was the only one who obeyed that rule.

Rudy Giulianni was the BIG winner at the Candidates rally. Not only do you know that he has the courage of his convictions, but he has done his homework! Rudy worked that stage and the crowd like a talented Pentacostal preacher for over 30 minutes on a wide range of issues. He's well prepared. Rudy's hospitality suite was well stocked and had a wide variety of people at the bar and watching the football games on the bigscreen.

John McCain had the second best presentation and is clearly at ease in front of a crowd. That's as nice as I can be to Senator McCain since he spent the entire first term of the Bush Presidency undermining the President and the Conservative agenda from the confines of the Senate. You name the issue, and he stuck it to us for more than five years along with his RINO buddies Lindsay Graham, Mel Martinez, and curiously enough, TED KENNEDY! Needless to say, I hope John McCain's not our nominee. He's no conservative.

Mitt Romney is the picture you would draw of an ideal President. He's got the looks, he's got an incredible resume, and the guy is brilliant. I'd rather have Rudy or Fred. Mitt's just not MEAN enough to go up against Hillary and the "gangsters" she employs to attack her opponents. Being "above it all" just will NOT work against the Clinton smear machine and Rudy and Fred know best how to handle the leftist goon squads. Too bad, Mitt's as talented as public servants come.

Fred's Thompson's presentation at the Candidates Rally was the weakest of the four. The story out of his camp is that he was the only one who obeyed the time limit rule and didn't want to keep us too late. That may be the truth, but one thing's for sure, he was well-prepared for Sunday's debate! Fred seems to be a true conservative and his biggest problem was the unrealistsic hype surrounding him prior to his candidacy. He's starting to hit his stride in a big way. At the post-debate reception Fred cracked jokes about being "lazy" and having to take a nap before showing up. He has a great sense of humor. His wife Jerry looks like a hot 18 year old from a distance, but up close she looks like an adult. :-) Mrs. Thompson worked the crowd with poise, dignity and smarts. Nanette and I were both very impressed.

Mike Huckabee also impressed us tremendously. He's a true conservative and former Governor of Arkansas from-of all places-Hope. No kidding, he's from Hope, Arkansas, just like Monica's boyfriend. You can't make this stuff up! Mike has done his homework and is a free market conservative with some OUTSTANDING ideas for health care reform and foreign policy. He's as sharp as a tack under intense questioning and would EAT HILLARY'S LUNCH in a debate! His only weakness thus far seems to be an inability to break into the top tier of candidates and a fondness for labor unions. These problems are not insignificant.

In summary I think we'll have to get behind either Rudy or Fred. Both of them can beat the Hillary and Richardson ticket and we will need every single vote. My father thinks Rudy will pick Condi Rice in an attempt to take 20-25% of the black vote, which will ensure a landslide. I think it's far more likely that Rudy or Fred will pick Jeb Bush or Mitt Romney as a running mate. Huckabee would be a strong running mate too and help sew up the south for Rudy.

It was a good weekend to be a Republican! Let me know your thoughts on this election.