Citizen Tom

First a little excerpt from Bearing Drift.

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Creigh Deeds’s campaign announed today that he has raised $3. million from May 28th through June 30th.

(continued here)

Now I don’t have anything against money in politics — so long as I know where it is coming from.  Unfortunately, when given a choice, the Democrats like to keep such things shady and secret (see here).

So what can we do?  We have to oppose money power with people power.  What follows are suggestions from the July 14th edition of the Lingamfelter Report.

Take Action to Produce Victory in November

Dear Friends,

Well, I have taken a week off for the first time in a long time and I must say, I have had to teach myself how to relax! That said, there is never a break from politics.

And I note Republican fortunes are rising on the news that, according to the Gallup folks, more people consider themselves conservatives than at any time since 2004. I’m not surprised given the sudden lurch to the left that the Obama Administration has taken. Slowly, even those who were his most ardent supporters are now having second thoughts.

• The Government now owns 60% of GM,
• A huge stimulus bill that is not reducing joblessness but mortgaging the future of our kids and grandkids,
• The highest unemployment numbers in 26 years now approaching 10% and will be higher this fall,
• A “Cap and Tax” energy bill that will do nothing to abate so-called global warming (have you noticed how cool it is this month) but designed simply to raise money for other stuff like national healthcare,
• Indeed, an national healthcare program that will put the government between you and your doctor and ration what care you will get as you get older,
• The nomination of a Supreme Court Justice who has her own rulings favoring reverse discrimination overturned by the same court that Democrats want her to sit on, and
• A foreign policy on auto-pilot (North Korea and Iran) while the President hobnobs with the Russians and works to throw away National Missile Defense overboard for silly rhetoric on “climate change.”

Yep, it’s incredible. But take heart. All the polls are pointing to a rejection of the Administration’s liberal agenda and their liberal lieutenants in Congress. In Ohio and Virginia, two states Obama won last year, his popularity has dipped below 50%.
Some say that Republicans want Obama to fail. Wrong. What I want is his far left policies to fail. And as best I can tell, people are beginning to see it that way too.

What can you do? Well first, get behind the Republican ticket right here in Virginia of Bob McDonnell for Governor, Bill Bolling for Lieutenant Governor, and Ken Cuccinelli for Attorney General, as well as your local Republican House of Delegates candidate.

Second, contact your local GOP Committee and become a volunteer to help make calls, go door to door, and work the polls in November. You can Google them up or go to rpv.org and find the right contact.

Third, contribute money. You can help my PAC help other Republicans by making a safe and secure contribution on my PayPal cite at http://www.va31st.com/donations.asp today. I know who needs the help and will help them win.

We can win big in Virginia this November. But we can’t “wish ourselves there”, we must take action. Please do so today. All eyes are on Virginia. Show them who you are.

Sincerely,

L. Scott Lingamfelter
Delegate, 31st District
Virginia House of Delegates

In Prince William County, our local GOP Committee is the Prince William County Republican Committee.  They will happily take your money, but they will be even more pleased to have you as a volunteer.

In Gainesville, VA, we are fortunate to have Delegate Bob Marshall represent us in the House of Delegates.  If you only have time, money, or the heart to support one campaign, please make certain your choice is Bob Marshall.

Unauthorized and paid for by nobody.

UPDATE:  Since I finished the original post late last night, I was sleepy.  Sorry about the typos.  Hopefully, I got most of them.  At the bottom, I have added to the “Other Views” as promised.

Today has been a busy day.  First, I walked in the Dale City Parade, adding what support I can to the Republican Party ticket.  Then I went to the Prince William County VA Tea Party.  At one event, I passed out candidate literature and chanted “Bob 4 Jobs.”  At the other, I listened to speeches from over a dozen people.

The parade is relatively easy to describe.  The people there were happy.  Everybody loves a parade.   They enjoyed each other’s company, and they felt they were doing something useful, supporting their candidates.  Here are a few photos (from my cell phone) of folks getting ready.  Undoubtedly, the PWCGOP will have plenty of photos on their website in the next couple of days.

The Tea Party, on the other hand, is more difficult to describe.  Instead of a time of celebration, the attendees made July 4th a somber day.  The event began with the National Anthem, the Pledge of Allegiance, and a reading of the Declaration of Independence.    Each of these is inspiring; each also brings a grim reminder.  Freedom comes at a cost.   The Declaration of Independence especially brings home this plain fact.  It reminds us there are those who insist on forcing their will upon their fellow men.

The American Revolutionary War had already begun.  The British had evacuated Boston, but signers of the Declaration of Independence knew the British would be back, and the British most certainly did make 1776 a grim year.  The violence did not end until 1782.

Many spoke at the Tea Party.  The most memorable speakers included:

• Former State Senator Jay O’Brien served admirably as the Master of Ceremonies.  Just as Thomas Jefferson had enumerated all the patriots’ grievances against the rule of King George, O’Brien listed our grievances against our president.  His list included the fact that our leaders show no respect for our Constitution, and their taxing and spending knows no bounds.
• Keith Fimian, the Republican Party nominee who provided surprisingly strong opposition to Gerry Connolly in the last election, condemned Congress’ reckless spending.  He fears the effects that increasing indebtedness will have our liberty and prosperity.
• Matt Hawes, Vice President of Campaign for Liberty, reminded us that the Founders based our republic upon respect for the Constitution.  Without respect for constitutional law, we cannot restrain our leaders.
• Delegate Bob Marshall spoke about George Washington’s and the Continental Army’s the long years of struggle.  From the Declaration of Independence itself, Marshall told us where the patriots found the courage and the strength to fight for their freedom.
  

  And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

  To win, Marshall said we must call upon divine grace. We must dedicate ourselves to working harder and smarter than our opponents. We must learn from our opponents. Just as Barack Obama did, we must contact every voter we can.

• John Hanson, founder of Repeal Income Tax-July 12 Movement, emphasized the corrupting power of the income tax.  Hanson proposed that repealing the 16th Amendment should be the focal point of the Tea Party movement.
  

  Article XVI.

  The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

• Ben Marchi, of Americans for Prosperity, spoke up for fiscal restraint, decrying our government’s extravagant spending.
• Jack Martin, of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, made a short but pointed speech.  He said Virginia could do something to discourage illegal immigration.  He suggested that Virginia imitate Arizona’s 2004 law, Proposition 200 (see here).

The program ended with an open mike.  About a half dozen people took up the opportunity.   These included:

• Ron Meyer and Matt Donatelli.  These two young men promoted their own website (wtpshow.com), but they also made a cogent observation.  The Tea Party movement should focus on defending the principles of the American Constitution.  What we lack is principled government.
• Tom Whitmore.  Although he is quite active in the Republican Party, Whitmore did not speak about the Republican Party.  Instead, he emphasized the importance of participating in the process.
• Only one gentleman took the opportunity to express disagreement.  He spoke up in defense of the Social Security program.  Nonetheless, this gentleman made it clear that he understood the program is in trouble, and he blamed our elected officials for raiding the Social Security Trust Fund.

Personal Observations

The people attending this Tea Party were clearly united on one idea.  They want our leaders to obey their oath to support and defend the Constitution.

The speakers uniformly condemned our government’s reckless spending, and they blamed both of the major political parties.  Some expressed fear for future generations.  Others were horrified that we could allow ourselves to become indebted to a dictatorial regime such as China.

The notion of repealing the 16th Amendment received a surprisingly positive reception.  In addition, the attendees like the idea of auditing Federal Reserve.

Other views

The blogs have yet to post much about today’s Tea Parties.  Therefore, I will update this list on Sunday evening.  In the meantime, here are a few samples of what was being posted yesterday.

• Leslie Carbone has a message for the Birmingham Tea Party (here).
• ANTI-BVBL calls the Prince William County VA Tea Party a Tempest in a Teapot (here).
• Spark It Up is excited by the fact Congressman Rick Boucher has opponents (here).
• Blue Virginia is disgusted that Tea Party protesters would dare to protest against Congressman Tom Perriello’s vote for the so-called climate change bill (here).  I offer my opinion of that legislation here.

Tea Parties make big tax and spenders unhappy.  It is not hard to figure out why.

More Other Views

Shadow’s World provides an estimated head count of 500 and pictures (here).  500 is probably not far off.  That is about as many people as usually attend a county-wide political convention.  Inside NoVA, on the other hand, estimates 150 (here).  Given that this Inside NoVA account does not mention Delegate Marshall, Keith Fimian, or Matt Hawes, the reporter obviously arrived late.  We know for a fact there were at least 350 people in attendance.  See this post at Campaign for Liberty.

The PWCGOP has photos of the Dale City Parade and the Tea Party here and here respectively.

RPVNetwork has pictures of the Dale City Parade here.

I arrived at the 2009 Convention of the Republican Party of Virginia on Friday.  Unlike previous years, this year I went to the Colosseum.  This year the party had an especially large convention.  Because of the crowd, over 10,000 delegates and 1000 guests, the convention exceeded the capacity of the Convention Center, and the show had to be moved to the Colosseum.    Much like President Bill Clinton, President Barack Obama has not wasted any time rallying the opposition.

The first thing I did is register.   Then I received my badge with a gold sticker.  This sticker informed all who cared to learn that I am a VIP, but none seemed to notice.   I am afraid a payment of $35 does not buy a lot of importance.

I am a peon, at best a foot soldier.  When we earn honor, it lies in the fact we choose to fight for a good cause.  With that in mind, I attended to the business of the convention.  I avoided those matters I considered extravagant for one of my means and health.  When you have gout, cocktail receptions and fancy dinners lose much of their appeal.

The Main Business

So how did the business go?  On the whole, I think most of the attendees rated the convention a success for the Conservative cause.

Bob McDonnell is now formally the Republican Party nominee for governor.  While McDonnell is not the hard core Conservative I would like, his record is about as good we can expect from the GOP Establishment.  As was the case with President George W. Bush, I will expect there will be times a Governor McDonnell will cause Conservatives vexation.  Why do I expect trouble?  Although McDonald talks like Conservative, when it gets to specifics, he does not get specific about cutting spending.  Here is an example.  McDonnell spoke of public/private partnerships to generate transportation funding (See here for a post on this subject.).  Public/private partnerships are just a fancy scheme for politicians sell public assets without proper controls to assure fair competition.

Nonetheless, McDonnell is a relatively good candidate.  He is polished, has an attractive family, an excellent story, and he does not take himself so seriously he cannot joke about himself.  At the convention, he pushed all the right buttons, signaling his willingness to work hard to fight for Conservative causes.

That leaves Conservatives with a difficult choice.  We can try to stiffen McDonnell’s backbone (support any leader needs), or we can abandoned the battlefield to the Democrats.  Given the alternative — and how Obama got elected — common sense dictates supporting McDonnell.

As expected Bill Bolling won his contest with Patrick Muldoon.  Muldoon made an earnest effort.   However, instead of explaining what qualified him for the job, he spent too much time attacking Bolling’s record.  Since most of the delegates like and trust Bolling, Muldoon’s attacks fizzled.  While less glamorous than McDonnell, Bolling is a steady and patient campaigner.  Hopefully, he will steady McDonnell’s campaign.

Ken Cuccinelli won on the first ballot, and his two opponents, John Brownlee and David Foster graciously conceded.  Because he is recognized as a Conservative leader, Cuccinelli had the most enthusiastic supporters at the convention.  That indicates that the grassroots support and organization that Cuccinelli talks about is real.  That grassroots support and organization is essential for victory.  Without grassroots support and organization, the cause of limited government will be overwhelmed by moneyed special interests.

Pat Mullins, the GOP Establishment’s choice for RPV Chair, won over Bill Stanley.  The job was Mullins to lose, and he did not lose it.  Mullins entered the race with an reasonably good record.  Mullins and his staff did a good job with the convention.  Moreover, Mullins carried himself well during the convention.  So Stanley’s rebellion lost steam and whatever momentum it might have had.

Interesting Sidelights

As one should expect, there were many speeches made during the convention.  One of the most enthusiatically received was given by Adnan Barqawi, a new citizen and a student at Virginia Tech.  Barqawi is a powerful speaker.  Barqawi described how he came to America, and he thanked his father for saving the money that paid for his education.

Barqawi also described the values he has dedicated himself to.   Here is sample of his speech.  In spite of the poor quality, the video makes it clear that here is a self-possessed young man who has centered his life on the right values.  Hopefully, better videos of his speech will be made available.

Sean Hannity served as the convention’s keynote speaker.  The most memorable points in his speech included:

• An endorsement the McDonnell/Bolling ticket (Voting had not yet begun.).
• A list of all of Obama’s bumbling mistakes with this question:  What if President George W. Bush had done the same?
• The comment that self-actualization requires individual freedom.
• A couple of Ronald Reagan quotes.  Here is my favorite.
  

  The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’

  Ronald Reagan
  40th president of US (1911 – 2004)

Other Views

Rappahannock Red offers some picks and his take on the Republican ticket here.

novatownhall Blog offers a video of Cuccinelli speech here.

The SkepticalObserver provides his review of the convention here.  He obviously had a good time too.

Blue Virginia reviews the prospects for a primary winner here.

Reagan Conservative enjoys Cuccinelli’s win here.

Tertium Quids provides a nice summary of the convention — a bit unnecessarily combative, but otherwise good here.

PWConservative borrows a theme from McDonnell’s speech here.

Blue Commonwealth offers Steve Shannon’s statement on Cuccinelli’s win here.

Loudoun Insider promises to stop bashing Cuccinelli here.  So?

From On High complains conventions are undemocratic here.   I say he is wrong.  Here is an old post on the subject, and here is what Tom Kopko, one-time Chairman of the Republican Party had to say about the subject.

SWAC Girl has a bunch of posts here.  Here is her list of the blogger on blogger’s row.  Note that Pat Mullins praised bloggers as a counter weight to main stream media bias.

Today is the big day, the start of the 2009 convention for the Republican Party of Virginia.

We have three contested contests.

• Lieutenant Governor:  Recommendation – Bill Bolling
• Attorney General:  Recommendation – Ken Cuccinelli
• RPV Chair:  Recommendation – Do not have one

From my perspective, Bill Bolling and Ken Cuccinelli are easy choices.  Both men have extensive records of public service.  Both have been reliable Conservative standard bearers.  None of their opponents have comparable track records.   In each case if we elect the alternative, we can only guess what the result might be.

On the other hand, the contest for RPV Chair pits two men against each other that I know too little about.  Pat Mullins is the apparent choice of the GOP Establishment.  Since I have little use for what the GOP Establishment has accomplished here of late, I must admit considerable suspicion.  What is the endorsement of the GOP Establishment actually worth?

It seems to me we should regard the endorsement of the GOP Establishment as detrimental.  The GOP Establishment too often puts getting along with the other side ahead of party principles.  In order to pacify the Liberal news media and special interests such as the teacher’s unions, the GOP Establishment has readily given ground on core Conservative issues.  For example, remember what Conservatives had to do to get President George W. Bush to pick two rock solid Conservative judges.  One can only guess how many non so Conservative judges Bush appointed to the lower courts.

When we elect people who abandon the Conservative agenda, what is the good of winning?   Unfortunately, we are not going to replace the GOP Establishment overnight.  That leaves a problem.  We cannot trust much of the GOP Establishment.  So whenever the GOP Establishment offers us its choice for anything, we must seriously consider alternatives.  In this case, the alternative is Bill Stanley.  Unfortunately, I have not had as much time  as I would like to investigate either Mullin’s or Stanley’s background.  Nonetheless, Stanley does have a public record, and he also has his share of respectable endorsements.   So I hope delegates to the convention will consider his candidacy seriously.

Other Views

Bearing Drift post a final review here.

Old Virginia News describes what is to come here.

Roanoke Valley Republicans makes predictions here.

The Institute for Legal Reform offers its analysis here.

Virginia Virtucon upset with the change of venue here.

Crystal Clear Conservative provides its endorsements here.

Too often we win the battle and lose the war.   How?  In the process of deciding our nominee, we rip our party apart.  Good Sense provides an example of how we can limit such foolish strife, Patrick Muldoon.