Cal Thomas: GOP: Once more unto the breach?

When it was learned that Dan Coats was going to run for the Senate, it was a moment to say "Thanks to former Senator Coats" as we remember how effective Dan Coats was in the US Senate as a member of Armed Services and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He could have stayed a private citizen and continued with efforts along with his wife in their Foundation for American Renewal, but he has chosen to get back into politics to serve Indiana and the Country.

In 2001, he was once again called to serve as Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany. His second day on the job was September 11, 2001. Dan worked closely with a strong ally and friend during one of the most crucial periods in our Nation’s history. As Ambassador, Dan played a critical role in establishing robust relations with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and in the construction of a new United States Embassy in the heart of Berlin next to the Brandenburg Gate.

Former Senator Dan Coats has the credentials to hit the ground running in the Senate and as our Republican candidate defeat Democrat Ellsworth who sold out the pro-life movement with Stupak from Michigan. No longer can Ellsworth declare he is pro-life as the citizens of Indiana know better with his vote for Obamacare. While Ellsworth was voting for the Obamacare in the House against the wishes of Indiana voters and at the demand of the pro-choice Democrats in the House, Dan Coats has been standing tall for life of the unborn his whole career. Coats would never sell his vote to get a nomination like Ellsworth has since current Senator Bayh promised the Democrat nominee his war chest.

Time for the good people of Indiana to return Dan Coats to the United States Senate and begin the journey to put America back on the right track after the Socialists in power have lurched this center right country to the left.

Cal Thomas met with Dan Coats to find out why he is leaving private life to return to DC. His answers reflect what a lot of us are feeling about the socialists who are now in charge of our Government and what they are doing to America.

Cal Thomas: GOP: Once more unto the breach?
By: Cal Thomas
Examiner Columnist
March 25, 2010

"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger..." (Henry V)

Given the toxic nature of Washington and especially after the crushing defeat of Republicans by the congressional Democrat majority, why would anyone want to be part of this, especially one who has been there before?

(snip)

"I deliberately avoided stopping at a psychiatrist's office on the way to making this decision," he tells me over breakfast at an Arlington, Va., diner. Coats, who must first defeat four opponents in the Republican Primary on May 4, says he is motivated to run after "watching for a year with increasing frustration and anger what is happening to our country and saying 'do I want to go quietly into the night and enjoy the fruits of my labors, or do I want to throw myself back in and see if I can do something about it?'"

Coats thinks America is "sliding into mediocrity" and we are losing the values that inspired "The Greatest Generation." He describes the familiar conservative litany: "Limited government, lower taxes, a balanced budget, strong defense."

(snip)

Didn't Coats and his fellow Republicans have the opportunity to do the right thing when they were in power in the recent past, but in the minds of many conservatives, blew it? He acknowledges as much and believes conservative Republicans have learned their lesson.

What does that mean? Would he, for example, work to repeal the health care law?

"Absolutely. I would do everything I could to turn around this liberal-socialist agenda that Pelosi and Reid are imposing on the American people. If nominated and elected, I will have the backing of the people of Indiana to go to Washington and turn things around structurally and reform entitlement programs. The only way we're going to get at our deficit is to reform entitlement programs. They will all go bankrupt if we don't do something to put them on a better fiscal standing."

Coats thinks the choices faced by the country are stark and menacing: "We can either watch our country slide into mediocrity and a socialist European-style nation that cheers when they get one percent GDP growth, or we can put our country back to the principles that made us different from every other country in the world."

(snip)

Examiner columnist Cal Thomas is nationally syndicated by Tribune Media

Excerpt: Read More at Washington Examiner