Kerry Thomas: Conservatives don’t always vote Republican
Filed under Congress , Elections , GOP Party , News , RLC Chapter News , Special Interest , States , Wisconsin
Republican party leaders across the country, and particularly here in Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional district, should heed the warning being sent by conservative voters, especially in light of developments in New York’s 23rd Congressional district race.
For those of you who haven’t been following that race, the not-so-conservative Republican candidate, Dierdre Scozzafava, abruptly suspended her campaign just three days before the election, after a Siena College poll showed she was supported by just 20% of the voters. Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman and Democratic nominee Bill Owens were nearly even, with 35 percent and 36 percent voter support respectively.
The New York race has been widely viewed as a battle between conservatives and the Republican Party for conservative voters, who don’t always blindly vote for the Republican candidate.
“It’s time for us to send a message to Washington – we’re sick and tired of big-spending, high-taxing, career politicians,” Hoffman said in a statement released after Scozzafava’s announcement, the AP reported.
Indeed!
In Wisconsin’s 8th district, self-serving career politicians have been busy behind the scenes, working with the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) to recruit no less than four potential candidates to run on the Republican ticket against incumbent Democrat Congressman Steve Kagen. They’ve even recruited one candidate who doesn’t live in the district.
Conveniently left out of this recruiting drive has been conservative Terri McCormick, a former member of the Wisconsin Assembly who ran in the 2006 primary race against them Assembly Speaker John Gard. That race left a bitter taste in the mouths of many Republican voters on both sides.
If McCormick decides to enter this race, she’ll again be the most qualified conservative candidate in the field, with a proven record of actual accomplishments in both the public and private sector.
There’s just one problem: McCormick won’t play political games. That’s why the NRCC and the self-serving career politicians are trying to marginalize her even before she gets into the race. One Republican “leader” has vowed to “bury her if she dares to run again.”
The NRCC is fast building a record – for choosing losing candidates. Despite the millions of dollars they’ve spent in recent elections, their record isn’t very good. They’ve shown a preponderance of picking game players instead of principled conservative candidates.
Maybe the voters know something the NRCC doesn’t. Maybe voters are smarter than we’ve been given credit for.
The big question is what will conservative voters in Wisconsin’s 8th district do? Will we blindly go with whoever the NRCC anoints as the Republican candidate, or will we take the time to examine the candidates and support the candidate who best represents our conservative principles?
Kerry Thomas is a RLC member in Wisconsin. Terri McCormick is a RLC Advisory Board member.
On November 3rd, 2009 at 9:13 am
I have had the 3 announced candidates that I know of as well as Terri McCormick on my show:
http://www.revolutionbroadcasting.com “The Voice of Liberty” Click on “ARCHIVES” on tool bar, look under name of show. Available to listen live or mp3 files downloadable.
Is there a 4th candidate announced? Let me know, and I will have that person on also.
I think it is great that Newt got neutered in NY. Hopefully his ship will be sinking.
Both before and since the above interviews, I have been getting input from a variety of sources, a number of whom I know and trust. It seems that there is the perception that Terri has something of an unnecessarily hard edge, can be tempermental and alienate folks who should be viewed as allies, and that this would hurt her electoral chances, party bigwigs notwithstanding. I do not know any of the (potential) candidates personally, but maybe those who know the situation better than I, an outsider, can add more information to this argument.
BTW, we have 3 incumbent Republicans here in WI, and I do not think any of them are RLC material. AND I suspect that one or more are among the operatives trying to decide the race for the people.
Candidates?
On November 6th, 2009 at 12:43 am
I do know Terri McCormick personally. What you characterize as having an unnecessarily hard edge I see as being principled in her beliefs. I’ve nevr known her to be tempermental, but, rather, well-reasoned in her approach to convincing others to see things from her perspective. As I said, when compared against the other three “announced” Republican candidates, Terri McCormick stands head and shoulders above them in terms of a successful career both in and out of the political arena.
It’s curious how when people talk about a female political candidate, the focus is on her personality instead of her accomplishments, something seldom mentioned when talking about a male politician.
Oh, and by the way, if you bother to do your homework, NONE of the three “announced” candidates is registered as a candidate with the elections board.
On November 6th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
I have to agree with Kerry Thomas 100%. I believe the unneccessary hard edge is not coming from Terri McCormick, but rather, so-called “Conservatives” like Jim Sensenbrenner, who are trying to stifle a TRUE conservative because she will not sell out to the special interests and the K-street lobbyists.
I see Terri as Wisconsin’s own “Ron Paul”. She is truly the candidate with the most integrity and transparency. She is the only candidate still worthy to call herself a Conservative. And she will have my vote come election time.
On November 24th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
I really look forward to getting to know Terri McCormick. Thanks for the head’s up.