Time: 00:00 - 01:15
Guest: Kirby Wilbur
Topic: 2008 Republican Contenders
Summary: John and Kirby discuss their favorites for the 2008 Republican presidential race. Kirby just got back from the CPAC conference and reports that the base is solidifying between two candidates: John McCain and George Allen, with John picking McCain and Kirby picking Allen.
Classic Quote 1:
CARLSON: Kirby, you and I are very familiar with George Allen, going back to his record as governor, which was stellar. Go ahead and tell our listeners more about the man you hope to be president.
KIRBY: Well, I think Allen has a couple of strong points. One, he has a very good style in terms of campaigning, very folksy, very reminiscent of Ronald Reagan, in his own way. I think he has a solid conservative voting record, he's right on all the issues. I think that what he has to do to gain national publicity, he has to find an issue that he can ride to the top, if you will. He's got to be identified with one issue. He's got to be the main spokesman on the NSA wiretapping. He's got to be I think a point on Iran or the war in Iraq. He's got to do that. But I think his voting record is pretty solid. It tends to be in the nineties, with 100 being perfect and 0 being really left wing. He's from Virginia, which is important for President because more presidents have come from that state than from any other. I think it's a good solid base in the South. I think he could handle any one that the Democrats put up, and I don't think that will be Hillary Clinton.
CARLSON: You don't think Hillary will be the Democratic nominee?
KIRBY: I do not. I do not believe that Hillary will be the nominee.
CARLSON: Really?
KIRBY: I really do not believe that. I think she's too left wing, too strident.
CARLSON: I think she's a shoe-in.
KIRBY: I think that she's played the middle too much, John. She's ticked off the moveon.org by supporting the war. She's turned off the moderates by being too strident on other issues. I think she's going to crash and burn.
Classic Quote 2:
KIRBY: My concern with John McCain is, he's conservative on most issues, I worry about him on tax cuts because he tends to be a deficit hawk, because balancing the budget is more important than tax rate cuts. And I think tax rate cuts are more important than balancing the budget. And, in terms of the first amendment John, that tends to affect your paycheck and my paycheck, and the Senator, uh..
CARLSON: Oh, McCain-Feingold?
KIRBY: Yeah, McCain-Feingold. So those two primary reasons I've got, and plus he's getting old, he'd be older than when Reagan was elected.
CARLSON: Yes, well I'll tell you what. Kirby makes a great case for Allen, and expresses some misgivings on McCain. When we come back I'll tell why I like John McCain, why I have some concerns about George Allen, and then we get to your phone calls.
Classic Quote 4:
CARLSON: I like John McCain for 3 reasons. Number 1, John McCain will be a superb Commander in Chief. He has been right about national security. And ladies and gentlemen, John McCain's approach to how to fight the Iraq war was vindicated, I believe, by what has happened since. It was John McCain who said flood the zone with half a million troops and destroy the guerrillas before they can start an insurgency. I believe McCain was right. Second, ... I also think he has bailed out the President, literally saved his career twice. He did it in 2000, when after an embittered loss in South Carolina, the primary, ended his campaign, he could have sat on the sidelines. Instead, he barnstormed the country with Bush. And Bush, barely by the skin of his teeth, won that race... Third, I believe that he has been carrying the President's water on National Security in the United States Congress and before the national media, and I give him credit for that. My final reason for supporting McCain is cultural. John McCain is an outsider to what I call the creeping corporate Republicanism. The relationship between the culture of the Republican congress and the lobbyists on K Street. We need someone who wants to slay that dragon, I mean a bombthrower, an outsider who really does want to end that. And I think John McCain is exactly the kind of guy who will do that. A great one term, short term President, because you're right, he'd be 72 years old.
Classic Quote 4:
KIRBY: My only concern with Ronald Reagan, while Kirby says he reminds him of Ronald Reagan, he kind of reminds me of a Southern frat boy. I mean he strikes me as a regional candidate, not a national political figure. I could be convinced otherwise, but that's the impression I've had of George Allen for many years. Again, I like him, I like his record, but I'm thinking about who can win a national race and I think Allen is more regional than national.
Classic Quote 5:CARLSON: I think Hillary is almost like an incumbent candidate.
Time: 01:15 - 02:00
Topic: UW Statue Controversy
Summary: John continues his laser focus on the activities of the UW student government. zzzzzz....