Watchwoman on the Wall

Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty, 39th governor of Wisconsin, In Office January 6, 2003 – January 3, 2011

CNN reports: Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will abandon his presidential bid, CNN has learned.  Pawlenty finished third at the Ames Straw Poll (in Iowa) on Saturday. U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota placed first in the GOP poll with 4,823 votes, narrowly beating Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, who had 4,671 votes. Pawlenty received 2,293 ballots.  ”We needed a boost from Ames that didn’t happen,” Pawlenty told staff on a conference call Sunday morning.  He is expected to announce the end of his campaign later Sunday in a TV appearance.

Michele Bachmann wins Iowa

Rick Perry Announces

CNN reports: Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann on Saturday won the Ames Straw Poll, besting eight other Republican candidates in a non-binding but politically significant vote in the first caucus state of Iowa.  The Ames Straw Poll has helped take the pulse of a campaign’s strength since 1979. It’s also the first opportunity for voters to weigh in on a GOP candidate.  Nine of 11 announced Republican candidates are on the straw poll ballot. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman skipped the contest.

Gov. Rick Perry of Texas formerly announced his candidacy for the Republican nod.

President Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States, Born February 6, 1911 - Died June 5, 2004

I’ve noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born.
– Quote by Ronald Reagan during the Anderson-Reagan Presidential Debate in Baltimore (September 21, 1980)

My philosophy of life is that if we make up our mind what we are going to make of our lives, then work hard toward that goal, we never lose – somehow we win out.
– Quote by Ronald Reagan

All great change in America begins at the dinner table.
– Quote by Ronald Reagan, Farewell Address to the Nation, delivered in the Oval Office (January 11, 1989)

Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music.
– Quote by Ronald Reagan

I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead.
– Quote by Ronald Reagan from his letter announcing his Alzheimer’s disease to the American public (November 5, 1994)

When you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat.
– Quote by Ronald Reagan

Education is not the means of showing people how to get what they want. Education is an exercise by means of which enough men, it is hoped, will learn to want what is worth having.
– Quote by Ronald Reagan

It’s true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance?
– Quote by Ronald Reagan at the Gridiron Dinner (April 22, 1987)

President Reagan's Approval Ratings

Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!
– Quote by Ronald Reagan, Speech at the Berlin Wall (June 12, 1987)

How do you tell a Communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin.
– Quote by Ronald Reagan during Remarks at the Annual Convention of Concerned Women for America held at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Virginia (September 25, 1987)

If the Soviet Union let another political party come into existence, they would still be a one-party state, because everybody would join the other party.
– Quote by Ronald Reagan, Remarks to Polish Americans in Chicago, Illinois (June 23, 1983)

I call upon the scientific community in our country, those who gave us nuclear weapons, to turn their great talents now to the cause of mankind and world peace, to give us the means of rendering these nuclear weapons impotent and obsolete.
– Quote by Ronald Reagan during his Address to the Nation on National Security (March 23, 1983)

Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the democrats believe every day is April 15.
– Quote by Ronald Reagan

President and His Beloved Wife, Nancy

You know, it has been said that politics is the second oldest profession and I’ve come to realize over the last few years, it bears a great similarity to the first.
– Quote by Ronald Reagan, Speech at Hillsdale College, Hillsdale, Michigan (November 10, 1977)

Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book.
– Quote by Ronald Reagan

Government’s first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.
– Quote by Ronald Reagan at the National Conference of the Building and Construction Trades, AFL-CIO (March 30, 1981)

Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.
– Quote by Ronald Reagan

Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.
– Quote by Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural Address (January 20, 1981)

Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.
– Quote by Ronald Reagan during his gubernatorial campaign (1965)

Government always finds a need for whatever money it gets.
– Quote by Ronald Reagan, Address to the Nation on the Fiscal Year 1983 Federal Budget (April 29, 1982)