Words to Live By Since 1993 A SPIFF Publication Vol. 2, No. 15 No, I'm not a Kennedy. My pants just fell down. Think about it Who am I? Why am I here? Remember when Perotparty Vice Presidential Candidate James Stockdale asked that question during his debate with Dan Quayle and Owl Gore? Back then it got a big chuckle from the nation, but asked at the right time of the right people, it makes sense. The time to ask is right now, and the people to ask are each of us. We here at Spiff have noticed a disturbing part of Tennessee Republicanism that has bored its way into the political thinking of many in our party and it must be addressed. Why are we here? Politics is the competition of ideas, yet many Republicans seem to believe that ideas take a back seat to their relationships with the Democrats. They are more concerned with their ability to cut deals with the libs than they are with upholding a principle. Many times we see people who call themselves "Republicans" cross the demarcation line between ideals to covertly or overtly support candidates from the other party. What does this achieve? Well for the people who keep a foot in both camps, they maintain their political influence. For elected officials who place relationship with libs above achieving the goals found in Republican principles, they can cut the deals that bring home gobs of pork from government coffers and stay in office forever. For the people, it achieves nothing, and in fact it hurts the people. Disturbing as it is, this kind of political thinking won't last forever. The dividing line between conservative and liberal ideas is becoming ever sharper and the ability of those people to play both sides will become more difficult as it does. We here at Spiff have noticed a shift in the way the younger generations of Republicans think, and it is a goal of placing principle above personal political gain. When the time comes for this generation to take the reigns of leadership, we guarantee that you will not see someone like Daffuhzit Jim winning 94 counties in an election. You can already see the effects of this new thinking in the pack of candidates nipping at Jim's heels. Make no mistake, President Clinton and Bill may seem like goofs now, but when they restart the campaign engine, they will be formidable foes in 1996. The same old practices of deal cutting and treading lightly to avoid offending any lib friends won't work. The gates of the country club need to be closed, or we will remain in this mess. We must state our positions now, state them loudly, and stick to them. As much as we hate it, Tip O'Neill was right when he told The President, that "We can be friends after five o'clock, but from nine to five we are adversaries." Who are we? Or more accurately, who should we or should we not be? One thing we shouldn't be is buddies with the libs when it comes to policy or governing. We shouldn't live in fear of offending a lib because we have a relationship with him in Washington or Nashville. How, if these people oppose everything we say we stand for, can we cut deals with them to grab a few more government dollars. We are repeatedly told that we are the party of term limits, of balanced budgets, of ideas and principles. We should act like it. Oh, Happy Day By the end of this summer, the world will be a better place. By then, Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun will have hung up his little liberal robes and headed back to Minnesota. (What is it about that state?) Justice Blackmun was, in his tenure, the single greatest stealth weapon ever created in the history of mankind (personkind? wopersonkind?). Nominated by Richard Nixon in 1970, Blackmun presented himself to Nixon and the world as a conservative. After taking his seat on the bench, Justice Blackmun methodically went about the business of picking away the nation's social fabric. Now with Justice Blackmun honoring us all with his retirement, attention naturally turns to his replacement. No matter how bad the nominee to replace Blackmun is, he (She? It?) will still be an improvement. Speculation here at the Spiff Executive Plaza, towering over beautiful downtown Donelson Tennessee naturally centers on a few well-known names that President Clinton might be considering: ù Herself: There is no one in America that has the depth of experience or the intelligence that President Clinton has. She is, of course, perfect for the job. Just look at the many fields she has conquered. Wife, mother, lawyer, socialist, cattle trader, land dealer, politician of virtue, cookie baker, you name it. ù George Mitchell: Although it would deny him the chance to socialize baseball, Mr. Mitchell would rather socialize the rest of America, so the opportunity may be too great to resist. Isn't it strange that Blackmun told President Clinton and Bill on New Year's Eve that he would retire, and then Mitchell quickly announced his own retirement from the Senate? ù Bruce Babbit: Loggers pack up your bags now. ù Joycelyn Elders: We could not only make condoms in the schools legal. We could make it the law! Besides, the Supreme Court does not look like America without a woperson of insert-continent-of-origin-here-American descent. Quote of the weak: "I am in favor of big government and government activism." Medialib Jack Germond, stating the obvious Quote of the strong: "I can tell you this. We will not let Tenncare force us into a state income tax." Rep. Don Sundquist, Candidate for Governor Words to Live By is published every week at about this time by Spiff. You can send a fax to us here in the Spiff Executive Plaza, towering over beautiful downtown Donelson, Tennessee at 615-883-0435.