South Carolina, where the high school dropout rate is regularly among the highest in the nation, shouldn’t look to Washington to solve its problem, Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson said Tuesday.

Rather, people should look in the opposite direction.

“The federal government does not have a solution to children dropping out of school, to local schools choosing not to educate their children,” Thompson said in a crowded gun shop in Greer.

“If that’s the case, parents have got to do it. It’s a hard lesson. I know every political candidate is supposed to come up with a 10-point program to solve all problems, but I’m telling you the truth. Those in this country who need help should get help. We have a social safety net. We have a lot of organizations out there that are not government organizations, that are charitable organizations, that are nonprofit organizations. Americans help each other. But at the end of the day, you cannot get around parental responsibility, you cannot get around the responsibility of the teenager, you cannot get around the responsibility of the local school board.”

Spartanburg Herald-Journal

I don’t have much to add to this.  He is exactly correct and I have said for a long time that the number one problem with education in the U.S. is the lack of parental involvement.  It seems so many parents today don’t want to be bothered with their kids’ upbringing.  They don’t take the time to go to school board meetings or get involved with their classwork.  They don’t bother to find out who their friends are and what influence they have over them.  They seem to view the schools  as a day care center that they can drop their kids off at when they go to work.

Giuliani may fare no better. Clearly he is on his way to a humiliating defeat in Iowa where he inexplicably chose not to spend time or resources. He looks to finish third but a late surge by John McCain could knock him into fourth. Mike Huckabee will probably win Iowa, followed by a faltering Mitt Romney. Rudy trails Romney in New Hampshire and a defeat in Iowa will do nothing to bolster his chances there. If Romney wins in New Hampshire, his momentum combined with his father’s tenure as governor will likely power him to a win in Michigan. And there is no way that the most conservative primary in the most conservative state (the South Carolina Republican contest) will prove beneficial for the most liberal Republican candidate. Rudy could lose Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan and South Carolina.

Does that mean that Hillary and Rudy will be dead?

No. They will probably still win their parties’ nominations.

Real Clear Politics

Morris’s logic is that while Rudy is likely to suffer defeats in the early primary states, he will still win in the later primaries because when it comes down to the issue of terrorism he is the ace in the hole.  Initially, I looked at Giuliani as the candidate most likely to win the general election if nominated, but I’m not so sure about that anymore.  As weeks go on we see more and more skeletons making their way out of his closet and his character has really taken a dive.  If Republicans just want to win he is looking less likely to be that safety net.