I think most people would agree that you made a pretty good speech in Kenner, Louisiana. The problem is… and I’m sure others have told you this… it reads far better than it sounded.

It makes one wonder if you actually rehearse your speeches before you deliver them. Having been in public life for as long as you have, one wonders why you sometimes appear surprised by the words and phrases that suddenly appear on your teleprompter. However, that idiosyncrasy is not nearly as disconcerting as the quirky smiles that you inject into your delivery… often in totally inappropriate places.

And your gray suit against that terrible green backdrop… Do you know which of your advance men was responsible for that? Is he still on your advance team? If so, why?

You will probably never be the inspirational speaker that Barack Obama is. To find another man with that ability we’d have to go to the archives and view newsreels from Germany in the 1930s and 40s. But you should know by now that Democrats generally select their candidates, not on the basis of their experience or their ability to lead the country, but on their ability to flimflam their audiences into believing the most outrageous things.

The opening paragraphs of your speech contained all the right words. You said, “This is, indeed, a change election… But, the choice is between the right change and the wrong change; between going forward and going backward.” All of that is true. If Barack Obama’s agenda of “change” is fully implemented, what will be the result… a Stalinist “workers paradise” or a Stone Age Muslim theocracy? These are the real potential dangers of an Obama presidency.

You said, “The right kind of change will initiate widespread and innovative reforms in almost every area of government policy – health care, energy, the environment, the tax code, our public schools, our transportation system, disaster relief, government spending and regulation, diplomacy, the military and intelligence services.”

Again, all of those things are true. Unfortunately, those who are most likely to vote for you in November have cause to worry about what you have in mind when you criticize current policy on energy, the environment, and disaster relief.

In the past you’ve joined anti-growth Democrats in opposing drilling in ANWR and in the California and Florida offshore. Instead, you seem to place a lot of faith in the notion that some “pie in the sky” alternative energy breakthrough, the wind, or solar energy will save us. You may get a lot of Americans to follow you down that road, but no one who knows anything about energy economics and the uncertainties of basic research. You have also bought into two of the most dangerous leftist hoaxes of all time: global warming and ethanol. That too is worrisome.

On disaster relief, you seem to have bought into the Democrats’ partisan propaganda theme which says that the Bush Administration was largely to blame for the post-Katrina disaster in New Orleans. Why would any Republican who understands the role of federal, state, and local government, join the opposition party in propagating such harmful untruths?

It was state and local officials in New Orleans, all Democrats, who failed as first responders. It was state and local officials who failed to “rescue the infirm from a hospital with no electricity,” not FEMA, not George W. Bush. Yes, Bush “wimped out” by not defending his administration, but no right-thinking person would ever join Democrats in spreading propaganda designed solely for the purpose of damaging a Republican president.

Just remember, Senator, there is a strong body of opinion which says that, if our Republican candidate is going to be indistinguishable from his Democrat opponent, it might be best in the long run to allow Obama the Unknown to be elected president… with overwhelming Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress. One thing is certain: they would screw things up so badly in four years that their party would not recover in a generation or two. But can we take that chance? And would you want that to be your legacy?

So, John, instead of courting middle-of-the-road independents, and given that the American people are basically conservative, your time would be much better spent in proving that you are, indeed, a Reagan conservative. You are now in your 22^nd year in the U.S. Senate. You should know by now that the only team sport Democrats are willing to play with Republicans is Russian Roulette… and then only if they get to load the revolvers. That’s the kind of people they are.

Congressional Republicans, under the leadership of Dennis Hastert, Tom Delay, and Bill Frist, have succeeded in destroying that which millions of Republican activists have spent generations creating, so we begin this campaign season in a serious deficit position. Nevertheless, conservative ideas and programs are the country’s only hope for the future, while Democratic ideas and programs promise nothing but disaster.

If you try to chart a course between those two realities you may get elected, but you will find yourself a very lonely man at one end of Pennsylvania Avenue Your only potential friend may be Scott McClellan. I understand he’s available… for a price.

With sincere best wishes.

A Conservative Republican