Patrick Hynes' article, Hurting the Ones You (Ought to) Love, in the American Spectator touches on the reasons why Straight Talk Iowa Style could not fully endorse Ryan Sagger's premise on which the STIS opined in a July 30 posting.

Hynes, who if you haven't heard is working for Straight Talk America, concludes his analysis of Sager's article by stating that:

Yet despite their political impotency, the libertarian Right appears bent on bringing down the one political movement that has tolerated its know-it-all-ism and has in fact dragged it into the halls of political power along with it, rather like a ball and chain: the Christian Right. It is beyond arguing that a Democrat Congress would ever grant a hearing to small government libertarians come budget time. Under a Republican majority, made possible by the rise of politically active conservative Christians, the libertarian Right has had every opportunity to appeal for smaller government. That its appeals have been -- and continue to be -- unpersuasive cannot be the fault of Religious conservatives.

The analysis team here at Straight Talk Iowa Style agrees with Hynes' penultimate statement, that active conservative Christians have made Republican majorities possible and rightly so. That is why it is our contention that John McCain's Reaganesque philosophy is poised to fuse traditional GOP voters and the Purple Mountain voters together in 08.

Thanks Caucus Cooler

A shout out to the Caucus Cooler for mentioning Straight Talk Iowa Style today!

Like Father, Like Son

Time.com reports that John McCain’s son will enlist in the Marines and possibly be headed to combat after finishing boot camp:

In the way that happens more frequently in fiction than in life, a McCain family drama is replaying itself. As a prisoner of war, Senator McCain declined an offer of early release by his Vietnamese captors, extending his stay at the Hanoi Hilton by almost four years and nine months. During that time, his father continued to approve air strikes against Hanoi, knowing his son was there. Now comes Jimmy McCain, putting himself in the line of fire even as his father calls for more troops to be sent to war.

Team STIS says SEMPER FI to Jimmy McCain!

Technical Stuff

Team Straight Talk Iowa Style took a quick look at our stats today and noticed some traffic coming from viewers over on the East side of the state. Thank you! While content is still in the development stage, like any new undertaking, we intend to start moving this effort forward quickly.

Also, the intern here forgot to open up comments to anyone except bloggers. Team STIS has taken the leash off and opened up comments to anyone who has something to say.

So start commenting!

One other thing...a pesky disclaimer: this blog is not paid by or for or associated with the Straight Talk America PAC...however we both share the same goal!

RE: Revisting America's Purple Mountains

The team here at Straight Talk Iowa Style has been analyzing Ryan Sager's recently published analysis of the changing electorate in the Western United States. Sager wrote an article entitled Revisting America's Purple Mountains in this month's edition of Atlantic Monthly. The whole story is not available online however, we have linked to Sanger's web page in which he recaps his premise:

While after the 2004 election, plenty of people took note of the fact that a shift of 60,000-odd votes in Ohio would have handed the Electoral College to John Kerry, less remarked upon was the fact that a shift of a similar magnitude in the Southwest would have done the same trick. Fewer than 70,000 votes among Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico -- with their collective 19 electoral votes -- would have swung the election just as surely as Ohio's 60,000. And with George W. Bush having won by margins of 5 percentage points, 3 points and 1 point, respectively, these were swing states by any definition of the term.

In fact, it's looking more and more likely that the eight states of the Southwest and the broader interior West -- Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming -- are on their way to becoming the next great swing region in American politics. As the Republican Party tilts on its South-West axis, increasingly favoring southern values (religion, morality, tradition) over western ones (freedom, independence, privacy), the Democrats have been presented with a tremendous opportunity. If the Republican Party doesn't want to lose its hold over all of the West, as it lost hold of once-reliable California more than a decade ago, its leaders are going to have to rethink their embrace of big-government, big-religion conservatism.

While the Team here does not fully endorse Sager's analysis, we conclude that the trends he points out bode well for Senator McCain in the 08 Presidential Election. Why?

John McCain is the guy who can bring that rugged individualism back to the national stage which Western voters desire. He's certainly no fan of activist government and the citizens of Western states can support that. And while freedom, independence and privacy are GOP positions of strength, voters will want to know that the GOP standard-bearer in 08 will hold true to those ideals. McCain can. Whether it's his record of military service or fighting against pork barrel spending he can do it.

Inaugural Posting

Straight Talk Iowa Style is excited about entering the blogosphere and bringing John McCain supporters from across Iowa together. Let's get started!

STIS has been deep in the bean fields for the past few days and so the inaugural posting here will be light. Utah Governor John Huntsman has endorsed Senator McCain.

Chris Cillizza reports in the Washington Post that:

Huntsman has agreed to serve as a co-chairman of McCain's Straight Talk America political action committee. He will help coordinate politics and policy for McCain in Western states. "John McCain's understanding of America's role in the world is unparalleled," said Mike Mower, a spokesman for Huntsman. "His knowledge of the West, leadership and independence are indispensable to our nation's well-being."

Read it all here.