Go Fred Go! Snork.
January 22, 2008
September 7, 2007
September 6, 2007
Once More, With Feeling
Maryland GOP Presidential Straw Poll Is A Big Success
Grassroots Candidate Wins Surprise Upset
ANNAPOLIS– After eleven days of presidential straw poll ballots cast at the Maryland Republican Party’s State Fair booth, Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) was announced last night as the winner.
The Maryland Republican Party’s first-ever presidential straw poll at the State Fair resulted in nearly 1,000 Marylanders casting a vote for their favorite Republican candidate for president. The straw poll was open to all voting age adults regardless of party affiliation, and the voter had to be present at the booth. The campaigns of all nine presidential candidates appearing on the ballot were invited to have a representative at the State Fair booth at all times. While most campaigns did not have a representative present, the Ron Paul campaign had full representation for all eleven days.(1)
Congressman Ron Paul came in first place with 263 votes, Mayor Rudy Giuliani was second with 220 votes, and Senator Fred Thompson received 188 votes, which garnered the third place spot. The rest of the votes were cast as follows: 89 votes for Governor Mitt Romney, 54 votes for Senator John McCain, 35 votes for Governor Mike Huckabee, 17 votes for Speaker Newt Gingrich (write-in), 16 votes for Congressman Tom Tancredo, 12 votes for Senator Sam Brownback, 3 votes for Congressman Duncan Hunter, and 3 votes for Governor Bob Ehrlich (write-in). There were 11 other write-in votes for individual people. There were also a number of spoiled ballots that were not counted.
Dr. Jim Pelura, Chairman of the Maryland Republican Party, released the following statement:
“When we came up with the idea of holding our first-ever presidential straw poll at the State Fair, we never expected such a large turnout. We were extremely pleased by the steady flow of people casting a vote in the straw poll, signing our petitions opposing the gas tax increase, sales tax increase, and illegal immigration, and picking up a “Don’t Blame Me…I Voted For Ehrlich” bumper sticker. We heard loud and clear that Marylanders are not happy with the direction of our state under one-party rule.”
Chris Cavey, First Vice Chairman of the Maryland Republican Party and Co-Chairman of the MDGOP’s State Fair Planning Committee, stated the following:
“The final vote showing Ron Paul won is a lesson for all campaigns of how grassroots politics can make all the difference. The Paul campaign repeatedly e-mailed their base of support to turn out at the State Fair to cast a vote for Dr. Paul, and in doing so, demonstrated that a small organized operation can beat the odds.” Cavey continued, “The Maryland Republican Party’s booth at the State Fair was a huge success. By contrast, the Democrat Party’s booth was a ghost town. Where were the Democrats?(2) They were at our booth signing our petitions opposing tax increases.”
Emphasis added by me.
Notes:
1) the Ron Paul campaign had full representation for all eleven days. No, the grassroots campaign had full representation. There was no official presence. There were some discussions about having Don Seehusen, the Deputy National Campaign Manager put in an appearance on September 1st, but it did not pan out. There were logistical problems based on the space and the location of the GOP booth that would have made it difficult to get enough general fairgoers marshaled together to hear him talk, which was the whole reason for the planned appearance. We could certainly have gotten at least a modest crowd of Ron Paul supporters there, but it could have been disruptive, not because we would have been unruly, but because we would have been blocking the aisle violating fire codes. Beside, the national campaign has more important things to be doing than preaching to the choir. I agree completely with their reasoning and I’m gratified to know we did it without them.
The Old Media have shown a propensity to attribute our spontaneous movement to centralized planning, control and direction by the official campaign. They cannot get their tiny minds around the idea of self-organization. We are the campaign and the HQ is scrambling to keep up. It seems to me Fred Thompson is trying to simulate us and in that he will fail.
2) Where were the Democrats? Better the GOP should be asking “Where are the supporters of the anointed Republican front runners?”
Overall I’d say there is an implicit recognition by the Maryland GOP that we are a force to be reckoned with. If they are serious about survival the will join us.
August 22, 2007
Give me a break
There are folks who are actually touting this unmitigated drivel as a reason to be excited by Fred Thompson. They actually expect Republicans to be inspired and filled with a sense of joy and hope for America because “Fred Thompson reconsidered running for reelection after 9/11 but later decided to handle things on his own. He was soon seen entering the Middle East with a bottle of tequila in one hand an a handgun in the other. They’re still counting the dead.”
Give me a break.
I hear lots of Whoot! Whoot! but if you want to win the dispirited Republicans I’ve been talking to over the course of the past few months (yes, believe it or not I am a registered Republican who actually donates money to my local party committee and turns out to do things like volunteer at the GOP booth at county fairs in one of the most hardcore Democratic counties in America) you going to have to tell me his position on actual policy issues like abortion, government spending and any number of other conservative issues.
Even though the debacle that constituted the 2006 congressional elections was primarily about one issue–the war–there is a great deal of merit to the argument that a contributing factor was the fact that the GOP has completely abandoned its traditional platform of limited government, states rights, low taxes and fiscal responsibility. I was alive when a great Republican said “I have little interest in streamlining government or in making it more efficient, for I mean to reduce its size. I do not undertake to promote welfare, for I propose to extend freedom. My aim is not to pass laws, but to repeal them. It is not to inaugurate new programs, but to cancel old ones that do violence to the Constitution, or have failed their purpose, or that impose on the people an unwarranted financial burden. I will not attempt to discover whether legislation is ‘needed’ before I have first determined whether it is constitutionally permissible. And if I should be attacked for neglecting my constituents’ ‘interests,’ I shall reply that I was informed that their main interest is liberty, and in that cause I am doing the very best I can.”
I was too young to understand what was at stake when Barry Goldwater ran against Lyndon Johnson, but I remember how he was portrayed as a war-mongering racist throw back to the 19th century and I have lived through the consequences. Today I understand what Goldwater represented. Except for that brief moment when Ronald Reagan talked the talk (but didn’t quite walk the walk) the GOP has abandoned everything Goldwater stood for. Mitt Romney is no Barry Goldwater, Rudy Giuliani is no Barry Goldwater, John McCain (a truly tragic figure) is no Barry Goldwater and Lord knows Fred Thompson couldn’t even play him on TV.
Give me a candidate who walks, talks and votes like Barry Goldwater and I’ll give you a Republican party that can truly build a shining city on a hill. Till, then I hope your ready for Clinton II.
