Posts Tagged ‘2010 Elections’

Does Libertarian candidate for congress Ed Mishou believe former president George W. Bush should be indicted as Libertarian Judge Andrew Napolitano believes? Talk about Coffee Talk.

Is Napolitano of the Fox News Channel and Fox Business Channel trying to sell his latest book, Lies the Government Told You? In an unscientific survey, more conservative books tend to stay on the New York TimesBest Sellers than liberal ones. If Napolitano is trying to sell books, he may be selling it to the wrong side.

Or maybe he truly believes Bush should be indicted? You be the judge:

(Video is from ThinkProgress’s Youtube page. Think Progress thinks we Tea Partiers are a bunch of racists. I’d hate to give them any clicks, but they have the clip.)

Final exit question: Should we be more surprised by what that star Libertarian Judge Napolitano’s splashy declaration about former President George W. Bush or that the Judge would consider Ralph Nader a “colleague?

This Republican ad was posted on YouTube in February, 2010. 

Harold Meyerson’s Op-Ed in the Washington Post today predicts defeat for the campaigns of senatorial hopeful Carly Fiorina and gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, both from California.  The reason: Immigration.  

But the issue most damaging for Whitman and Fiorina is immigration. Pressed by their GOP primary opponents and the Republican electorate to endorse Arizona’s draconian new law, Fiorina proclaimed her support for it while Whitman countered the charges from her right that she was soft on immigration by affirming that she was “100 percent against amnesty” and demanding a huge increase in border enforcement.  To bolster her credibility, her ads featured former Republican governor Pete Wilson — champion of 1994′s Proposition 187, which would have denied all public services, including the right to attend primary and secondary schools, to illegal immigrants.

Meyerson contends that it was Wilson’s support of Prop 187 that won him reelection, but it turned out to be “…probably the most pyrrhic in modern American politics…” because it supposedly energized the Latino community, the vast majority of whom are vehemently opposed Prop 187.  

In the process, the California electorate has been transformed — moving the state decisively into the Democratic column. In the 1994 election, according to the nonprofit William C. Velásquez Institute, which seeks to raise minorities’ political and economic participation, Latinos counted for 11.4 percent of California voters. By 2008, they comprised 21.4 percent. And particularly when immigration is an issue, theirs is a heavily Democratic vote. 

Therefore, as far as Meyerson is concerned, Fiorina and Whitman are doomed.  California is a Democrat state, and since a large proportion of the electorate is Latino, it naturally follows that a Democrat like Jerry “Moonbeam” Brown will win the vote for Governor and Barbara “Call me Senator” Boxer will win reelection for U.S. Senator. 

I’m not convinced.   According to a paper put out by the Public Policy Institute of California in September of 2009, 44% of likely voters are Democrat compared to only 35% who are Republican.  But 18% of voters in California are registered Independents.   According to the website linked by Meyerson above  – California Latino Voter Statistics – there were a total 14,885,000 registered voters in California in 2008.  If every registered Democrat in California votes for their party’s candidate, that rounds out to about 6,549,000 votes (44% of 14,885,000 is 6,549,000).  If every registered Republican votes for their party’s candidate, that rounds out to about 5,210,000 votes (35% of 14,885,000 is 5,210,000).  Independents make up most of the rest – about 18%, which rounds out to about 2,679,000.  In order for there to be a tie, Republicans have to “woo” a little more than half of the Independents.   This assumes, of course, that every registered voter votes for his party’s candidate, which is unlikely. 

But you never know.   Voter enthusiasm can account for a lot.  If Fiorina and Whitman can generate enthusiasm among their supporters and get Republicans to the polls in higher proportions than Democrats (who may face a enthusiasm gap with their candidates), a GOP win is very possible, even likely. 

Meyerson has it all wrong.  The California election will not hinge on the Latino vote.  It will hinge on the Independent vote.  According to the Public Policy Institute of California paper referenced above, about 30% of Independents consider themselves politically conservative and 42% consider themselves “middle-of-the-road.”  If conservative Independents vote for the most viable conservative candidate, Whitman and Fiorina can easily win their respective races.  But they must energize the GOP base in California and convince half of the “middle-of-the-road” Independents to vote their way.  This should not be all that difficult, considering the horrible economic conditions in California.

UPDATED – New emails in this exchange are toward the bottom of this page. 

Now I know why my home District (TX-27) gets thrashed election after election by Democrats. I emailed my local County Chairman of the Republican Party a simple question and received an armload of attitude, condescension, and elitism in return.

My initial email:

Hello,

I am a Republican living in Brownsville. How does one become a Delegate? I’d like to become a Delegate to the upcoming Republican Convention for the 2012 election, if possible.

Regards,
Chris Rowan

The reply:

Date: Tue, 23 Feb 2010 07:19:22 -0800
From: XXXXXXXXXXX
Subject: Re: Question

you work hard for the county party and have a track record of dedicated service locally. then you compete with others locally who have done also………you become one of the leaders of the local party through demonstrated service and deserve the honor to be elected as a delegate to the national.

please let us know if you desire to become involved 24/7. i’ll place you in contact with the party leadership in brownsville. it takes giving the county party your priority in time in relationship with other activities you may engage in.

norma is our executive director for the south. frank

My retort:

Hi Frank,

I’m the Technology Chair for our local Tea Party. I maintain our group’s website and help the Harlingen Tea Party with their website occasionally. I’ve livestreamed the past four Congressional Candidate Forums via UStream.tv in my area for districts 15, 27, and 28. I even drove to Corpus Christi to livestream their Forum last week. I also used a separate Hi-Def videocam during each of the above Forums, processed the video, cut it into 10-minute segments, and uploaded the videos to YouTube. That way, voters in my district (as well as adjacent districts) can listen to candidates answer questions about important issues and decide for themselves who deserves their vote.

No establishment media were at any of these Forums. I was the only “media” present.

I’m working with the other Valley Tea Party groups to livestream the upcoming April 15th rallies. There’s an opportunity to utilize UStream.tv to livestream the various events in multiple cities simultaneously and get the message out about conservatism without the leftist filter of establishment media.

I’ve conducted technology training sessions to show people how to use the Internet to find information and utilize social apps like Facebook and Twitter to interact with a much larger network of conservatives.

I use social media applications like Facebook and Twitter to keep abreast of news and continually update the website with current, relevant items of interest to conservatives. I announced the livestreaming of the Forums via Twitter and Facebook. Afterwards, I posted the recorded videos to the website I maintain for our local Tea Party.

Last week, I was invited to speak about Tea Party politics and the nature of conservatism on UTB’s radio station, Sting Radio. This may turn into a weekly gig.

I also contribute articles to David Horowitz’s NewsRealBlog.com and FrontPage.com. If you don’t know who David Horowitz is, you should. He has appeared on Nightline, Crossfire, Today, Hannity and Colmes, the Bill O’Reilly Show, Good Morning America, C-SPAN, CNBC, Fox News Channel, CBS This Morning, and other programs. David Horowitz gives hundreds of interviews yearly on radio and television.

Is that the kind of “dedicated service” you were referring to?

I expect not. It’s difficult to infer “tone” from an email, but you seem a bit miffed by my request for information about what is required to be a delegate, as though asking is a disqualifier. If I have to ask, then I must be neither aware nor committed.

Guess I’ll just continue doing what I’m doing – working, paying taxes, and supporting my local Tea Party.

Thanks anyway,
Chris

His Reply:

Date: Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:16:14 -0800
From: XXXXXXXX
Subject: Re: Question

i’m sorry you feel that way……….. and reading into something that wasn’t there. i was sending a signal that it isn’t easy to be selected as a delegate or alternate to the national. i was honest and straightforward. we don’t want volunteers to get involved under false pretenses.

you asked about being interested in being a delegate to the national in 12……..delegates to the national are selected when we caucus at the state convention as a cd 27 caucus with other delegates from other counties in that district. we do the same for cd 15. so whoever our county party would like to send as a delegate tothe national is competing against nominees from other counties. so our selection must be competitive in their involvement with our county party in order to be competitive going up against the history of involvement with the other county party nominee………..it is that simple………

ahead of time we try to negotiate with the other counties for slots as a delegate or alternate. only three delegates and three alternates are authorized for each CD.

what you do for the TEA party or any other interest group, movement or candidates campaign are not relevant. everything else being equal, it could count to break a tie. this is one of the few opportunities we have to reward our hard workers. other groups can reward their participants in other ways.

even though we are a small party locally, we are very well organized with some great volunteers. being selected SD volunteer of the year is another way of rewarding.

we are a positive group working as a team. ask those involved in the county party executive committee.

and yes we do work 24/7 and give the county party the time and priority it deserves. our staff leaders have made that commitment. we can’t have individual Republicans who place the Lions, Rotary, etc before the party, they wouldn’t be reliable nor available when needed.

that would apply to the TEA party also…………i have staff leaders who attend the TEA party activities and support the TEA party. but our party comes first in tasks assigned.

i don’t require from the staff any more than i give as county party chairman. we work side by side. we are a family and we care about each other. but the party is run like a business.

i’ve been county chairman for over several decades…. i never sought the office but was asked by the Yturria’s and other Republican leaders in Brownsville, etc.to take the responsibility many years ago. this is my second tenure.

we also ask if married, does you spouse agree with your commitment. if not, there will be problems down the road. believe me when a say if the spouse is not happy, then the effectiveness of the staffer is negatively affected big time.

so that is the story. the ball is in your corner…….,most, not all, find a rewarding satisfaction once involved…….from what you say, you obviously have talent and are a hard, responsible worker. ……. regards, frank

My reply:

Actually, Mr. Morris, your reply to my simple request for information was infuriating in its condescension and elitism.

“what you do for the TEA party or any other interest group, movement or candidates campaign are not relevant.”

Wow. Do you keep up with current events? Do you have a TV?

Now I know why Republicans get beaten election after election in District 27.

Some of my friends think we should support conservative Democrats. I vociferously opposed them. I was wrong.

-Chris

His reply

Date: Wed, 24 Feb 2010 06:50:47 -0800
From: XXXXXXX
Subject: Re: Question

i think your problem is you want to be completely independent and not part of a team.  you are afraid to work as a team member and make a commitment.  therefore you attack the  system as a way of avoiding having to make the commitment.  it gives you the rationale and self justification to go solo.  
 
as part of your work with the tea party you worked totally independent without supervision.  free to make all the decision.  you seem not able to work within a structured enviornment.   
 
AND THAT IS PERFECTLY OK…………
 
SO STRUCTURED POLITICAL PARTIES ARE NOT YOUR THING.
 
 BUT THAT IS NOT JUSTIFICATION FOR ATTACKING OUR WAY OF DOING THINGS JUST TO MAKE YOUR SELF FEEL BETTER.   IT IS EASY TO WORK OUTSIDE THE SYSTEM AND THEN STEP BACK AND CRITICIZE IT.   IT’S THE CHEAP AND EASY WAY OUT.   YOU APPEAR TO BE ANTI SOCIAL AND ANTI ESTABLISHMENT.  IF THAT IS THE CASE, THEN OUR PARTY IS NOT FOR YOU.
 
FOR CD 27 CORPUS CHRISTI IS THE POWER BASE.  AND IN THAT COUNTY REPUBLICANS ARE WINNING MANY ELECTIONS AND WILL EVENTUALLY COME OUR WAY.   POLITICS IS A SPRINT TO NOVICES, TO THOSE WHO UNDERSTAND IT, IS A MARATHON.   CC HAS THE COUNTY JUDGE, COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, STATE REP, ETC AS REPUBBLICANS.  YOU NEED TO DO YOUR HOMEWORK.
 
YOU ALSO SEEM TO GET SOME SORT OF SATISFACTION OF TAKING WORDS OR PHRASES OUT OF CONTEXT AND TWISTING THE MEANING.
OR YOU ARE UNABLE TO COMPREHEND WHAT A PARAGRAPH STATES.
 
AGAIN, THAT IS OK AND I WISH YOU WELL.
 
AS A 20 YEAR CAREER RETIRED AIR FORCE OFFICER WHO HAS BEEN IN COMBAT,  I HAVE COME ACROSS FINE MEN SERVING WHO WERE ANTI SOCIAL AND ANTI ESTABLISHMENT.   THEY DECIDED TO LEAVE THE SERVICE BECAUSE THEY COULDN’T PUT THE TEAM BEFORE THEMSELVES AND THEREFORE WERE A DANGER TO ALL CONCERN.
 
WITH POLITICAL PARTIES YOU SEEM TO BE IN THE SAME CATEGORY.  YOU ARE AFRAID TO MAKE THE COMMITMENT TO WORK HARD AND COMPETE TO BECOME A DELEGATE OUT OF FEAR OF FAILURE.  THEREFORE YOU WITHDRAW AND CRITICIZE RATHER THAN ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE…………….I FEEL SORRY FOR YOU. 
 
THOSE CC IN THIS MESSAGE ARE PART OF THE LEADERSHIP IN BROWNSVILLE AND I WANT THEM TO BE AWARE OF THIS EXCHANGE.
 
to continue this exchange serves no useful purpose.       i have tried to be courteous and respectful in my initial exchanges…….and friendly…….  you seemed to enjoy in a sick way, to do otherwise.
 
FRANK

My reply:

From: Chris Rowan
Subject: RE: Question
To: “Frank Morris”
Date: Wednesday, February 24, 2010, 5:59 PM

Frank (and everyone),
 
Thank you for your service.  My dad was in the Navy during the Korean War.  I miss him every day.
 
I’ve voted the straight Republican ticket since Reagan.  But I had no idea that this was what the Republican party was really like.  And to think that this whole exchange started with a simple question!  I inferred condescension and elitism from the tone of your responses.  And like I stated, it’s hard to infer “tone.”  But this latest reponse is just over the top, even threatening.  You do know that sending an email in all caps is the equivalent of shouting, right?
 
No need to shout, Frank.  I get it.  You’ve got me pegged.  I’m woefully ignorant of the machinations of local politics.  But, thanks to you, I’m learning.  Fast.
 
It saddens me greatly, but I can no longer affiliate myself with a political party that treats its members like this.  What’s worse, I really think I could have done a lot of good for the local cause.  Maybe not.  We’ll never know.
 
This is the most bizarre email exchange I have ever had.
 
-chris

UPDATE: I received this from a member of the Board of my local county Republican party:

Date: Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:04:30 -0800
From: XXXX
Subject: RE: Question

Chris: I applaud your to Frank and I am baffeled at his attitude toward you. I brought this to the attention of our board meeting today and we don’t understand what brought it own.

I wish you would have come to one of us in the Brownsville Club, as most of us haven’t met you, but would like to. We meet on the 1st Wed of the month at the new Elks on Central Blvd.

I think what got under his skin was the mention of the Tea Party, as I have not attended any Tea Party meetings yet, I don’t know for sure, but I will be at the next one to see why some of the old line Republicans consider them such a threat. Maybe it’s because they are so focused on abortion or wether Under God remains in the Pledge, that they have forgotten their Conservative Values and want to control the whole thing, frankly it’s making me a little sick.

Give me a call if you would like to talk about or attend the next meeting.

Jesse Simmons

My reply:

Hi Jesse,
 
I’m ambivalent over whether to aggressively follow up this email exchange with Frank with a little politicking of my own.  I have hundreds of Twitter and Facebook followers who have thousands of followers of their own, and so on.  Most are Republican.  All are conservative.  I think many would be as disgusted as I am.  I’ve already posted the entire exchange to my Facebook page where all interested can see.  It’s also available for viewing on our website.  Out of respect to the office Frank holds (as well as his military service) and the rest of you who have been CC’d, I’ve removed email addresses and surnames. 
 
I realize that the majority of Republicans are not like Frank and the Party as a whole is a decent organization.  But this bizarre email exchange with one of the Party leadership really gives me pause.  I am shocked to the core, I really am.  If I’m invited back to The Daily Carp (conservative talk radio host Craig Price’s UTB Internet radio program), I will definitely talk about this.
 
If Frank is what local Republicans consider leadership material, then I am no longer Republican.  I applaud his service, but that does not justify such a blistering attack on my character and the Tea Party as a whole. 
 
I’m changing my party affiliation today, as soon as I can.  Thanks for the invite, but I won’t be attending any Republican party meetings anytime soon.  I’ll just continue working for my local Tea Party, doing what I’ve been doing for the past year, for as long as they’ll have me.  We meet the first Saturday of each month at the Word of God Church on Alton Gloor, next to Burns Elementary.
 
-Chris

(From The Boston Globe)
By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

A reporter for a conservative magazine says he was pushed by someone from the US Senate campaign of Democrat Martha Coakley as he followed her and tried to ask her questions when she was leaving a fund-raiser at a Washington restaurant Tuesday night. 

John McCormack of the Weekly Standard gave his version of the incident Tuesday night in a blog item titled “We Report, We Get Pushed.”

McCormack said he was following Coakley down the street, with his audio recorder in hand, when it happened. “A man came up on my right side and made contact with me and I was pushed into a railing. I hit the railing and I hit the ground,” McCormack said today in a telephone interview.

The man helped him up and asked him if he was all right, but he was “clearly feigning concern” and continued for a few more seconds to block his path to the candidate, said McCormack, who said he tore his pants leg and got a bruise on his leg in the incident.

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Just read an article from Canada Free Press about the elections in Virginia, New Jersey, and the 23rd district in New York that all seem to be going Republican and/or conservative.  As of this writing, New Jersey is up for grabs.  But Conservative Party candidate Hoffman in New York’s 23rd district is favored to win, and McDonnel has opened a 13-point lead over challenger Deeds in the Virginia governor’s race.

The big question is whether these elections foreshadow big losses for the Democrats in 2010.  I think it all depends on

1. Afghanistan
2. The economy

If Obama grudgingly accedes to Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal’s request for more troops and the economy doesn’t take a nosedive between now and next November, I think the democrats will maintain a fairly sizeable majority in the House but will lose a few seats in the  Senate. 

But if Obama chooses to lose Afghanistan OR the economy tanks, all bets are off.  McChrystal wants 40,000 additional troops.  Obama could send 20,000 or fewer troops and keep the war going, limping along a la Viet Nam, in a pathetic effort to buy time.  I can envision that happening. 

Obama doesn’t care about Afghanistan or Iraq, and absolutely loathes the military.  Iraq was a war of choice, an annoying distraction that diverts public attention from what’s REALLY important – the federal takeover of the health care industry and, by extension, centralized authority and control over practically every single thing we do from dawn to dusk and from cradle to grave.  Afghanistan is fast becoming Obama’s war of choice, and he may choose to lose by taking the slow road to defeat.  His heart isn’t in it.  Another annoying distraction.

But Obama is nothing if not crafty.  For now, he needs the support of so-called Blue Dogs and other quasi-conservative democrats in Congress who were elected for their pro-military rhetoric.  If Obama throws the Blue Dogs under the bus (it sure is getting crowded under there, isn’t it?) by throwing McChrystal – and, by extension, our troops – under the bus, then the 2010 election will be a blow-out win for Republicans.

And, of course, if the economy tanks between now and November . . .

-Chris Rowan, TTTP Webmaster