10. Allen West – Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel, Iraq soldier and Afghanistan advisor, Bronze Star recipient, former FrontPage Magazine Man of the Year, and Florida Representative-elect Allen West said and did everything right during his 2010 campaign. West’s image wasn’t tarnished in the slightest by Keith Olbermann’s smears about West’s harmless firing of a gun into a barrel while interrogating an Iraqi police officer who refused to divulge information about an upcoming ambush on American soldiers. West’s quick thinking and bold action prevented the attack, and further strikes in the region, until West retired. But Colonel West’s finest moment was his reaction to the revelation earlier this year of Harry Reid’s “light-skinned” with “no Negro dialect” statements about presidential candidate Barack Obama, a speech that answered charges of Being Republican While Black: “Reid’s comments [are] indicative of the true sentiment elitist liberals have toward black Americans. The history of the Democrat party is one of slavery, secession, segregation, and now socialism, born from the Johnson Great Society programs that have castigated blacks as victims… I would rather be called ‘an Uncle Tom and a sellout’ than lose my self-esteem and be considered an inferior by liberals… [I] shall never submit to the collective progressive ideal of inferiority.”
9. Nikki Haley – After South Carolina Governor-elect, former accountant and businesswoman, three-term state representative, fiscal conservative, and Tea Party favorite Nikki Haley received the Sarah Palin treatment, liberals thought she was going to cower in the face of malevolent mainstream media pressure. But Haley fought off unproven allegations of extramarital affairs—conveniently produced two weeks before the Republican primary—and, with the support of the Palinator herself, moved from last to first in a four-person primary, survived a runoff election, and beat Democratic challenger Vincent Sheheen in the general election. Haley campaigned on promises to cut and flatten taxes, simplify South Carolina’s tax structure and regulatory system, hire businesspeople who understand how industry works to regulatory boards, and reduce the unchecked power of the executive to tax citizens via ad hoc fines and fees. Her pro-business efforts in the state legislature won her the “Friend of the Taxpayer” award from the South Carolina Association of Taxpayers in 2009 and a lifetime “A” rating from the South Carolina Club for Growth.
8. Sharron Angle – This conservative firebrand from Nevada favored abolishing Social Security, the Fed, the IRS, the National Department of Education, gun control, offshore drilling bans, global warming regulations, and U.S. membership in the United Nations. What’s not to love? Though she lost in an inexplicable squeaker of a race for U.S. Senate, the sclerotic Harry Reid is so tiresome and embarrassing to even his base he’ll probably do more damage to his party in the next six years than Angle could have done good for the country. Demonstrating their self-righteous double standards, Democrats threw a fit over Angle’s “Some of you look a little more Asian to me” comment to elementary school children—made in response to a question about why an Angle immigration ad depicted only Latinos, and in support of Angle’s contention that the policy was colorblind—but defended Reid’s slimy, calculating “no Negro dialect” remarks. Since Angle was too classy to use the leftist tactic of claiming solidarity with minority victimhood to defend herself against charges of offensive action, I’ll do it for her: Angle’s son married a Mexican woman, and she has four half-Mexican grandchildren.
7. Christine O’Donnell – You already know all the untrue, exaggerated, unimportant things about her. How about the fact that this spunky Delaware senatorial candidate pledged never to raise taxes, supported a balanced budget amendment, a ban on earmarks, a simplified tax code, raising the retirement age for Social Security, repeal of ObamaCare, and the Tea Party’s Contract from America, and opposed off-shore drilling bans and cap-and-trade legislation? O’Donnell helped rid us of the useless nine-term RINO Mike Castle, who was so condescending to her commando primary candidacy that he refused even to debate her. Unfortunately, being a “bearded Marxist” isn’t disqualification enough to be elected Senator in Delaware, so O’Donnell lost to Democratic opponent Chris Coons. Like Sarah Palin in 2008, O’Donnell’s influence was more inspirational and populist than wonky or grounded in protracted experience, but she helped engage and excite people who had never been interested in politics and served notice to establishment Republicans that conservatives were fed up with not having true representation of their beliefs in Congress.
6. Marco Rubio – “Unelectable” Florida Senator-elect Marco Rubio went from 30 polling points behind his primary opponent to demolishing his two general election opponents, and topped it off with a moving impromptu victory speech citing the immigration of his Cuban exile parents seeking the political and economic freedoms in the United States that made his candidacy possible. Like fellow Floridian Allen West, Rubio was a perfect candidate who made not one misstep during his campaign. During his eight years in the state legislature, tax reform whiz Rubio served as Majority Whip, Majority Leader, and even Speaker of the House, and helped write groundbreaking model legislation to counter the effects of the Supreme Court’s disastrous Kelo v. New London eminent domain decision. Rubio staved off tanned lizard Governor Charlie Crist and prevented him from grabbing the seat, either as a Republican or an “Independent.” And how can you resist a candidate who, based on his most recent voting record in 2008, received a 0% rating from the Florida AFL-CIO?
Next week: The nail in the coffin of ObamaCare, the Kingmaker, the Libertarian, the Navigator, and the Slash-inator!
