Courage of Conviction

Every year there is some group of voters that are just about worshipped by the media.  This of course was made famous with the label “Soccer Mom” voter a few elections ago and every two years since we get another group.  The media paints some mystic aura around these deep-thinking independent voters who just can’t seem to make up their mind.  We’re told that these are the voters who will determine the election, as opposed to the other millions of voters who don’t I guess.  As you can tell, I’m not a big fan of this theory.  I don’t think you can nationalize a group of voters like that.  I think it’s true for regions, or states, or regions within states, but it’s a bit ridiculous to do that at the national level.  Seriously, what do soccer moms in Alabama have anything to do with soccer moms in California.  Not much frankly except children with an affinity to play soccer, and maybe a minivan.  Beyond that, I’d suspect they care about different issues, and face different challenges.

At any rate, Steve and Cokie Roberts, took this idea of regional groups of voters and saw seven around the country that they thought would determine this election.  It’s not a bad piece really.  They see these seven groups as making the biggest impact in this election along with the location:

1. Married Moms (I guess that’s this year’s version of a soccer mom, although I’m sure how they are different.) Missouri

2. Moderate Republicans - Connecticut

3. Independents - Tennessee

4. Hispanics - New Jersey

5. Midwesterners - Ohio (Won’t that mean everyone in the state?)

6. White Catholics - Pennsylvania

7. New Borderlanders - Colorado

I think they left out one group - a pretty big group - conservative Republicans.  This group will definately make an impact here in PA, as I’m sure they will in some other parts of the country as well.  Since I’m one of them, I think I can describe who they are and why they matter.  The reason they will make a huge impact on this election is simple - they are pissed off at their own party. 

They have been told time and again, elect us and you’ll get smaller government, lower taxes, less regulations, and a host of social issue goodies.  Frankly, their tired of the talk.  We gave the current crop our patience and then we’re told the size of the majority isn’t big enough, we need more.  This only frustrates the conservative base.  See, then we are sent conflicting messages - we have to support RINO Republicans in order to keep the majority, but we don’t have enough conservative Republicans to move the agenda forward.  Well, WHICH IS IT?  Make up your damn mind.  

We attempted to cure this problem two years ago by voting for Toomey over Specter, which went against the establishment.  This is the same establishment that tells us we need more Republicans in order to make real changes.  I think most conservatives are left thinking that these people are inept and wouldn’t be able make significant changes if there were only Republicans elected throughout the country.  Somebody in the establishment would whine about not having enough even then. 

The real problem is that we have too many whimpy Republicans.  Oh how fast they will rant and rave against someone like me who calls them to the carpet for being weak when facing off against liberals.  Well, they are frankly.  Get a damn backbone.  You’re not elected for the honor and privledge - you’re there to make changes.  Get off your ass, stop worrying about who likes you and who doesn’t and start making changes - or else go home because you are worthless and weak. 

It’s my guess that conservative Republicans will vote against the Republicans not because they like the Democrats or what they stand for (The D’s will assume they received some kind of mandate I’m sure - they are just blind).  No, conservative Republicans will reject the party they built up for one simple reason - elected Republicans have turned their back on conservative Republicans too many times and conservative Republicans just don’t trust them to get the job done anymore.  They will clean house and start anew with people who might actually have a backbone and take the fight to the liberals, instead of bickering with people within their own party. 

It’s sad when you have a situation where primaries are feared more than a general election.  We should welcome primaries and primary opponents with open arms - competition, even within a political party, is a good thing and produces better candidates.  Maybe we can learn this lesson here in PA.  Although considering how think-headed most of the establishment is here in PA, I don’t place much trust in our “leadership” actually understanding the message. 

Is this self-defeatist?  Maybe it is.  I don’t think it is.  It’s a benefit in the long run.  We get rid of the Perzel’s of the Republican Party.  We get people elected who actually believe in the principles of the Party.  We get candidates who actually had to earn a nomination and are hence better campaigners.  We get a party that is vibrant and growing and with many factions - and that’s ok because every faction has an opportunity within the party and they aren’t looked on as subhuman for challenging the other factions. 

That would be a breath of fresh air in my book. 

I just finished watching Sen. Santorum on Fox 43’s Sunday Spotlight.  Fox 43 covers Central PA and is based out of Harrisburg.  Casey declined the invitation to show up.  Here are my thoughts:

Santorum did very well, as he usually does in those type of settings.  I was glad to see the majority of the focus of the interview relating to national issues that mostly had to do with national security.  Isn’t that ultimately the most important issue there is when it comes down to it. 

I won’t go through ever single issue presented, you’ll get the same answers that have been presented elsewhere, no need to rehash.  But what I observed was something different - kind of the “big-picture” perspective.  In Mr. Casey, you have someone who doesn’t have a clue about what to do when it comes to national security. In this, he is very Clintonian in approach.  Here is someone who doesn’t give the voters a clue about what he would do about issues that matters. Why? The only conclusion I have come up with is that it is hard to have a vision when you are always job-shopping, as Mr. Casey is prone to do.  One day it’s Auditor General, the next its Treasurer, the next it’s Governor, the next it’s Senator.  What job is he going to apply for next?  When you haven’t got a clue about what you want to do when you grow up, it’s kind of hard to present a vision for what you’ll do in the next job you get. 

Mr. Santorum on the other hand made it clear that he knows what needs to be done.  He related immigration, oil independence, the war in Iraq and Afghanstan, etc. back to our national security.  Here is a man with a vision for our future.  He sees how the dots connects.  This, I believe, is the biggest difference between Mr. Casey and Sen. Santorum - one candidate who is job searching and doesn’t understand the importance of national security and the other candidate who knows what he wants to do, why he has to do it, and sees national security as a defining issue, not just for this race, but for so much more.

Want more proof that we should be voting against anyone who will vote for the same leadership in the State House and Senate - the continuous late-night voting that continues to go on should be proof enough. 

How many times have reformers said - “They still don’t get it,” only to be right.  Late-night voting on its own is not that big of a deal, but when you couple it with all the crap the current crop of leadership pushes as proper legislating - it just adds to the stack reasons why we need new leadership in Harrisburg. 

Before I was not looking forward to voting this year - I’ve changed my tune about.  I can’t wait now to get rid of John Perzel, and the other establishment politicians that are infecting our government with arrogance.  Pennsylvania deserves to have the best government in the US.  Let’s turn back to our forefathers and rise up on election day and bring about a revolution of change in Harrisburg. 

What’s up with the Trib endorsing Murtha?  The only thing I can figure is that they believe the race is over, so why infuriate the incumbent.  Secondarily, I’d say they are truly impressed with Murtha being outspoken - regardless of the topic he is outspoken about. 

I’ll admit that Murtha has balls for coming out and being so opposed to the war in Iraq.  I certainly don’t agree, and think that his talk borders on, if not is, an aid and comfort to the enemy. 

I admire his willingness to be outspoken for what he believes in, even though I have lost any other respect I may have had for the man. 

But that’s just the part of me that is outspoken as well speaking up.  I think there is something to be said for being outspoken - I only wish more Republicans would get some backbone and start talking about what they truly believe in, as opposed to the crap they put out there. 

Why do they go around pushing Democrat-lite issue when it only makes the base frustrated.  The minimum wage, health-care for all schemes, gambling, etc. only tick off the base - so why do it?  I know, they are attempting to the middle ground.  Here’s a news flash, as opposed to the majority opinion out there, I don’t believe you win an election by appealing to the middle.  You win by being passionate and showing leadership.  People want leaders, that is what appeals to them most - they aren’t stupid.  Candidates need to stop pandering.

Chris Lilik has created another website in his effort to ensure that Mr. Casey stays put in the Treasurer’s office -

Take a look and give money if you can - http://www.ycopvoterfund.org/blog/

The Patriot-News has endorsed Bill Cobb for the 199th State House seat.  I’m kind of surprised by the endorsement actually.  The Patriot has gone from endorsing previous early challengers to Gabig to endorsing Gabig and now back to endorsing a challenger. 

This race is going to be interesting.  The biggest part of the Patriot’s endorsement, I thought was their assessment of over 2,000 Republicans who voted against Gabig in the primary.  Couple that with Democrats voting in a high percentage for their guy and you have a recipe for waking up on Nov. 8th and congradulating Rep. Bill Cobb. 

Also, here are some other interesting tid-bits.  Gabig is a poor fundraiser.  He didn’t raise alot during the primary, but enough to hold on.  He had about $4,000 cash-in-hand for the 30-day post primary finance report.  I’ll be curious to see how much money he has raised since then.  I’ll guess that he raised about another $15,000 to $20,000. 

Lastly, there has been a strange absense of Republican yard signs in Carlisle. I’ve seen a few Santorum signs, some Swann signs and about a handful of Gabig signs from the primary.  Gabig’s probably got some new signs - I can’t wait to see the new version - he never uses the same ones more than once or twice.  So either he thinks the race is all rapped up and didn’t spend the money on signs, or he’s stealing the idea I used to help Jessica Brewbaker win the District Judge race last year - put signs out a week or two before the election.

I’ll be curious to see how this one turns out.

I’m posting this article in the American Spectator about Chris Lilik. 

I’ve found Chris to be an amazing person - someone who is passionate about his politics and is willing to take the fight to anyone - definately someone you want on your side and not opposed to you. 

I’m just proud to be able to call Chris my friend.

Great job Chris - can’t wait to see more.

I didn’t have a chance to post yesterday.  I’ll keep this one short and to the point.  Today was the marathon.  I completed the marathon in 4:39:35.  I’m really happy with my time.  That’s my second fastest marathon - only 9 minutes behind my NYC marathon time from 2 years ago.  I was in better shape for that one too. 

Here are some neat things about the marathon - there were 40,000 runners.  Which means that it took me 15 minutes to get to the start line.  I wasn’t able to carry my camera with me through the marathon, I had too much other stuff to carry.

My knee held up pretty well.  I started having some problems with it around mile 23, but it held up the rest of the way decently until I crossed the finish line.  All in all, I’m very pleased.

Don’t expect a posting tomorrow - travel day tomorrow.

Today was my first full day here in the Chicago area. 

I got up and went for a short run this morning - about 2 miles.  Mostly to see where I need to stretch some more and where my pains, if any, are.  It was a good run in the sense that I’m not hurting anywhere and that I determined that I was overdressed for the conditions (it was 35 degrees this morning).   

After that, I had an opportunity to attend one of my cousin’s classes.  That was a neat experience.  It helped me feel much younger being surrounded by early 20-somethings. 

After class, I was off to the marathon expo.  For anyone who has ever been to a marathon expo, you know what this is like.  Actually, I’ll correct myself - anyone who has been to the expo for a major marathon like Chicago, NYC, or the Marine Corp marathons.  They are huge - absolutely huge.  It took me two hours to get through it all, and that’s a continuous walk through the expo.  When I cam back to the room and emptied my bag, I couldn’t believe how much stuff I collected. 

I did end up buying some items that will help me out on race day - sunglasses that will stay close to my face, a headband that will keep the sweat out of my eyes, a sports pack to hold GU that I bought (GU is energy goo, for lack of a better term).

Then it was off to dinner with my cousin and her friends.  That was fun also - again, made me feel much younger.

Tomorrow is sightseeing day and a visit to the marathon finish line.  I want to make sure I can visualize the finish line while I’m running.  It will help me get through some of the tougher times.

Well, I’m here in Chicago, or Evanston to be more accurate.  I’m staying with my cousin who is a student at Northwestern.  I’ve already had Chicago deep dish pizza.  I had it this evening so that it will be all digested by the time I’m ready to run Sunday morning. 

At any rate, the flight out of Reagan National was uneventful - no problems at the airport, no lines, only a slight delay before take-off, etc.  In fact it was a nice travel experience. 

Chicago is a neat big city.  It reminds me of NYC in many ways, except one - the people.  (BTW, I do like the people of NYC and think they get a bad rap)  The people here in Chicago are definately mid-western in their approach to dealing with other people.  Those of us from the East Coast don’t talk with strangers when we travel because we don’t want them to bother us - not that we really know that they would, but you get the idea. 

The people here don’t talk to strangers when they travel, it seems to me, because they don’t want to bother the other people traveling.  It’s definately a more humble attitude I’ve noticed. 

I’m not really attempting to prove anything here, just making an observation. 

Tomorrow I’m off to the marathon expo and more experiences of the windy city.