It’s getting to be a crowded race

Today, there are two more (at least) in the race for the presidency. Though we’ve known this for a while, Senator Hillary Clinton announced formally today, and so did Senator Sam Brownback. I know one of these two, so I’ll get to him in a minute…

Hillary Clinton felt the heat from the admiring press attention Sen. Barack Obama has been getting, and just back from Baghdad, she wants to adjust her public stance on the war to veer away from President Bush. So she’s off and running.

Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton entered the 2008 U.S. presidential race on Saturday with a swipe at President George W. Bush as she capped years of speculation about her White House ambitions.

That sets the tenor right there of this candidate and how she wants to present herself — with a swipe at the president. Tells you a lot.

“I’m in. And I’m in to win,” said the former first lady who is aiming to become the first woman elected U.S. president.

And how does this differ from any other candidate?

“I am not just starting a campaign though, I am beginning a conversation with you, with America,” she said.

That implies a two way discussion, half of which is listening. She is holding various scheduled ‘meetings’ with Americans through her website, and I’m wondering how screened the questions will be, and if she will really listen to views that are considerably different than her own strongly held ones. At least these discussions will give her a chance to clearly define what she offers in terms of leadership.

In a preview of the campaign to come, Clinton hammered at what she called “six years of Bush administration failures.”

Hammering at failures of another leader, especially the sitting president, is not noble, dignified speech or behavior. It doesn’t inspire admiration, respect, hope.

Speaking of which…

“I have never been afraid to stand up for what I believe in or to face down the Republican machine,” she wrote. “Only a new president will be able to undo Bush’s mistakes and restore our hope and optimism.”

“Face down the Republican machine”? I’m listening to all the candidates closely, and I’m not hearing any Republicans use this kind of language, like ‘facing down the Democrat machine’. That’s unnecessarily combative, and it signals a negative campaign. This should “restore our hope and optimism”?

Shortly after Sen. Clinton’s announcement, Sen. Brownback made his.

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., began a long-shot bid for president on Saturday, hoping his reputation as a favorite son of the religious right can help him outdistance better known rivals.

Now look at this reporting. Has MSNBC reported that, say…Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign for the presidency is a “long-shot bid”? And the reference to “his reputation as a favorite son of the religious right” has two flags on it. One, the last I heard someone in TV news mention Sen. Brownback they said he would have a problem with name recognition, so who decided that he suddenly his this “reputation”? And two, the term “religious right” is loaded, used by the media as a pejorative to mean the fringe of conservatism.

Just wanted to point that out. So what were his statements about declaring himself? Any swipes, or hammers, or facing down the opponent?

No. He declared what he stood for more than what he stood against. The media are working hard to make sure you know that part.

The two-term senator said he will fight to renew the nation’s cultural values and pledged to focus on rebuilding families.

“Search the record of history. To walk away from the Almighty is to embrace decline for a nation,” Brownback said. “To embrace Him leads to renewal, for individuals and for nations.”

Brownback laced his speech with the themes that have made him the leader of the GOP’s conservative wing and a strong spokesman in Congress for socially conservative Christians.

So why do some of the MSM keep saying he doesn’t have name recognition?

A fierce foe of abortion, he planned to return to Washington to participate in an anti-abortion rally Monday marking the 34th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision that established a nationwide right to the procedure. Brownback also opposes embryonic stem-cell research and gay marriage.

Look at that paragraph. He’s a “fierce” foe of abortion. Has MSNBC called Hillary Clinton, or Barack Obama, or any “strong spokesmen” for socially liberal values a “fierce” supporter of abortion? And the “anti-abortion rally” Monday has long been known as the national March for Life. Conjures up different mental images, doesn’t it? At least they got it right that the Roe decision “established a nationwide right to the procedure” of abortion. Roe’s crafters did not find that right in the Constitution. And by the way, they threw in there Sen. Brownback’s oppositioin to socially liberal, core issues. Do these media ever point out that the liberal Democrat candidates are pro-gay marriage specifically, or supporters of embryo-destructive stem cell research? Where’s the consistency?

Back to a candidate who does not dodge these issues.

In his announcement, Brownback said the country needs to support the traditional definition of marriage as a union of one man and one woman and said most Americans “feel deeply in their hearts” for “a culture of life.” He called for judges “who want to be judges, not legislators.”

Sen. Brownback has been on my radio show several times on issues like the Marriage Amendment, parental notification legislation, the Senate immigration legislation (that didn’t end up passing), the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, and the culture of life. It’s time to start engaging all the candidates in these discussions, and do some serious listening on both sides.

Be informed on these issues beyond the soundbites. They bite alright, but selectively.