Right On The Right

2007 was another great year for Right on the Right. Over time, my readership has evolved, and through the creation and upkeep of this site, I've made some great friends. I've also made some people very angry. That's politics for you. 2007 brought me the opportunity to do some live reporting and coverage, some analysis, and let me express myself to my readership in plenty of interesting ways. I'm sure 2008 will bring a lot more, including tons of election coverage as the cycle is just vamping up. I'm going to spend the day with my amazing girlfriend, so enjoy your New Year. I'll be back, some time tomorrow, to bring in 2008 the right way. Happy New Year!

Very early in the year, planning began for a massive pro-troop, pro-victory, anti-surrender rally in Washington D.C. that was dubbed the Gathering of Eagles. Groups began signing on, bloggers began writing, and plans were hatched.

The first Gathering was on March 17th, and prior to the Gathering, I posted some intel that proved to be pretty accurate on where the events would occur. I was also interviewed by the U.S. Veteran Dispatch about attending. I learned some great stories when I arrived:

One of the most interesting stories I heard was about a Vietnam Vet who arrived back in Chicago, only to be insulted and spit on by an anti-war goon. He punched the goon in the face. A Chicago police officer came over and the Vet prepared to be arrested, only to be welcomed home by the member of the Chicago PD. The police officer shook his hand and carted off the anti-war goon. We're hearing jokes about different branches of the military, listening to people recall events from years past, and watching a gathering of brothers get to know each other once again. It's amazing.

At the event, we took plenty of pictures, of both our side and theirs. Here's one of my favorites from the March 17th event, because I believe it shows the nature of our side:

According to the folks in charge, the first event had 30,000 attendees. That's right, 30,000! We were spread out across the National Mall, from Arlington Cemetery, around the Lincoln Memorial, to the Vietnam Wall, and past. Veterans, proud Americans, bloggers, and even a few active duty soldiers stood together for victory.

It was also during the first Gathering that I got my first true test of debating leftists, and trying to undo the liberal brainwashing that has turned so many Americans against this war and this President. About half a month after the first event, I also got a chance to respond to bias in an editorial in the school newspaper, even though that peeved off a teacher and a few students.

When July rolled around, word began coming across the net about the next huge event. A second Gathering was held in May, and was populated mostly by members of Rolling Thunder. The third Gathering would be another chance to take on ANSWER, and it was going to be huge. My first logistics update came across near the end of July. In August, things were ratcheted up, and I called our movement dynamic, diverse, and passionate.

September, it was almost go time for GOE III. I posted another accurate logistics map, and I also posted a mega-thread which rounded up blog and news posts about the event.

Finally, it was time for the third event. Once again, I made sure to take lots of photos, this time, more of the patriots. Here were some of the amazing folks with signs and messages on our side:

In addition to taking on the ANSWER freaks and the Code Pinko goons, we had our own rally supporting the troops, supporting victory, and supporting the surge. Our side looked radically different from theirs. We had a sea of flags, a sea of patriotism, and a sea of support. Just a look at part of our crowd:

I met a few bloggers at the Gathering, including Bryan from Hot Air, Michelle Malkin from her namesake blog, and N.Z. Bear from Victory Caucus. The event was amazing, and you can dig through the GOE coverage to see a lot more. I'm going to close out with a special video of me debating the left at GOE III:

Welcome to the 2007 Right on the Right Year in Review. The first topic I'm going to review is election 2008. I'm going to cover the issue chronologically, and of course interject some commentary. Here goes:

January:

My first post in 2007 was about The Romney Juggernaut, which is still alive and kicking I suppose, though not as strongly as Romney would like. Next, I talked about Romney shaking off his liberal past. Maybe he wasn't as nimble as I thought? Romney raised money, Tancredo announced, Hillary Rodham announced, and the Rudy analysis began.

February:

February started with Pajamas Media opening their straw poll. I attacked other bloggers for attacking Romney for not picking up liberal endorsements. John McCain was the first out the gate when it came to conference calls. Hillary's centrism was short-lived. It appears I spent much of early 2007 defending Romney, whom a good friend of mine endorsed. Edwards had blogger trouble. To the right, you can take a look at my first poll results from the year 2007. I think it's pretty interesting that Newt Gingrich received as much support as he did, and I find it interesting that Romney's support on this site has stayed pretty strong since February. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that I talked a lot about Romney's record as an innovator.

What was the biggest news that came out of the Sam Brownback campaign throughout February, and the rest of the year for that matter? Sam was missing in action in the Senate. There's still a lot of talk about the Bush administration backing Mitt Romney, and Jeb has been steering advisors towards Mitt's camp since February. Rudy jumped to a big lead, which was only recently taken out by the Huckaboom. On the Democratic side, NO STRINGS! Oh boy, I forgot Tommy Thompson ran for President at one point. I was ratcheting up my attacks on McCain, courtesy of a friend, since he was running a strong second back in February. I might have to bring some of my own ads out if McCain wins New Hampshire like some propose. The Gore rumors were flying around the net, and Hillary was already breaking ethics law. It was also way back in February when I wrote a post exposing Rudy's lie about appointing constructionist judges. February was the first real month where the campaign heated up, and my blogging increase shows it. Can you believe that much was happening with 11 months remaining until the first caucuses and primaries?

March:

Romney won the straw poll at CPAC, but that doesn't mean much, given Allen won the poll the year before that. Yikes. Also, way back in March, there was talk that Fred Thompson just might announce, maybe, that he's running for President. If only he announced and ran a strong campaign since then, he'd be the front-runner. We knew way back then that we'd need him. Remember the Vote Different ad? Obama's folks loved the boost. The big question at the time was who made it? March was a rather light blogging month on the Presidential election, primarily because I was busy with the first Gathering of Eagles.

April:

The internal war over Romney's record heated up, and people began analyzing the Reagan factor. Fred Thompson began blogging, and Fredmania started to take hold in the blogosphere. Thompson did hit a few roadbumps on abortion, but those questions were quickly answered. GRAVELMANIA! I decided to take a few moments to break down the Dems after one of their debates. Rudy Giuliani flopped on civil unions. Edwards denied the existance of a Global War on Terror, and two draft movements were born, one for Zell Miller, and of course, one for Fred Thompson.

May:

We gotta bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran! I did a bit of liveblogging, Malkin weighed in, and word was Romney won the first big GOP debate. It was also in May that I began tons of video coverage, including Romney on Leno:

I think the video aspect to this race changed things dynamically in my coverage. Breitbart's video page interviewed Fred Thompson, shortly after Romney's Leno appearance. Romney took his lead in New Hampshire back in May, and has held it since then. It was also back in May that we were introduced to the real Barack Hussein Obama. Giuliani finally decided he was actually pro-choice. I suppose the Brownback campaign did teach us something else, and that's to always praise Brett Favre. Fred took on Michael Moore, which was classic. Mittmentum continued to build, and he took the lead in Iowa way back in May. Another casualty of the Huckaboom. Ron Paul's a troofer! Brownback wasn't the only Senator to flake out on his duties. Finally, near the end of the month, Romney jumped into second nationally.

June:

The Draft Fred Thompson movement was successful, sort of. He half-jumped into the race. Immediately, he jumped into a share of the lead. That's been wasted. Bill Clinton joined in on the Gore speculation. Oh gross, I forgot about this next clip which gave a unique perspective on John Edwards and his campaign:

Thompson decided to take on CAIR in June of 2007, and I think he should start attacking that group and other Islamofascist sympathizers again in Iowa, as part of his campaign strategy. Mitt began eyeing Colorado as part of his strategy, but this was before half the country jumped to February 5th or earlier. I decided to switch horses and jump ship, as did a few others. Fredmentum back in June? My last post in June was about Edwards's shadowy organization and how he has remained in the race.

July:

Foreign language ballots could really make things interesting. Hillary Clinton hit the campaign trail hard over the summer, and beat the drum on health care as usual. Planning for the gay debate began, just as the Democrats began claiming their divinity. Another gay Republican was exposed, this time working for John McCain. NADERMENTUM! Obama's focus throughout July was teaching your five-year olds about sex. As Nadermentum peaked, Zellmentum subdued. Rudy's campaign was marred by questions about bullshit. I released some Fred t-shirts back in the summer. The Democrats participated in the YouTube debates. Remember this?

Obama, after deciding to teach kindergarteners about sex, had his record on sex offenders revealed. Romney decided to attack the Democrats. Gravel slammed the Democrats. Romney slammed the Dems again on Iran. Good job Mitt. I ended July talking about arrogant white girls.

August:

August opened up with Romney attacking Obama. Romney also continued gaining traction in Iowa. Gingrich, who came in third in the first ROTR-based poll, revealed his plan which involved debating forever. The "Who's gonna vote first?" hop-scotch battle began, and Iowa won, as expected. Romney's Iowa Machine rolled into the Ames Straw Poll, which I liveblogged. Romney won Ames big, and we also saw the first signs of the Huckaboom. Obama continued his insert foot-in-mouth campaign:

September:

As school began again and fall rolled around, Fred Thompson finally got around to releasing his first ad. I gave Huckabee his first debate victory, and the seeds of the Huckaboom were sewn. Video from the debates made the front-page often on my site. That's all I had in September, I guess more important things were going on.

October:

Can you believe that October only included one post about the 2008 election here on Right on the Right? What makes it worse? It's about Steven Colbert and his potential influence in the race.

November:

It got cold, and Mitt still led the pack on the Republican side. Iowa's influence was amplified, even as other states moved up. Rudy received a garbage endorsement, and Fred Thompson received the NRLC endorsement. It didn't make sense to me at the time, but I have been eased into accepting Fred's federalist reasoning for opposing a human life amendment. McCain GUARANTEED he would win New Hampshire. The scary thing is, he might be proven right. Here's the question of November:

Romneycare and it's inclusion of abortion came to the forefront a month ago, and Hillary Clinton was swiftkidded. Half-way through November, enter the Huckaboom, and with it, Chuck Norris. Also, unfortunately, all hope seemed loss for a Thompson campaign. BOOM. As soon as Huck took control however, Thompson's campaign began running great ads attacking Romney, Huckabee, and Giuliani. November ended with a scare.

December:

Welcome to the last full month because the Hawkeye Cauci. I am Justin Higgins and I may, one day, run for President. The boom continues. I began opening some live discussions about the election, and I made some remarks about worthless old guys endorsing worthless old guys. Huckabee made up some ground on immigration, but Romney countered, winning a major endorsement and winning the last major Republican debate in Iowa. Hillary got a history lesson in her last debate. BORK. Just as I began pondering an endorsement of Fred, I made the case against Huckabee. Fred solidified himself for me with one moment, shown here:

On the ground in Iowa, Right on the Right readers were taking it to the streets. Mitt ripped Huck on his foreign policy, and lost a huge endorsement to Fred in Iowa. It was then when I made my endorsement. I was tired of Huckabee's arrogant bunker mentality. Finally, Fredmentum, Fredmentum, and Fredmentum. 2007 ended with some Fred action to me, but it may not be enough. Who knows what 2008 will bring? Let's just hope it brings a Republican into the White House once again.