The Illinois primary is TODAY! If you live in the Land of Lincoln, please get out and vote! There are a number of EXTREMELY important Republican races that require your attention, including:
U.S. Senate
Conservative Patrick Hughes is challenging pro-abortion, cap’n'trade voter Mark Kirk, who is a little RINO weasel trying to sneak into the Senate. Hughes has a very strong conservative platform, grassroots endorsements and the support of conservatives around the country. Kirk has an office that refuses to take comments from anyone not living in his district (10th Illinois), even though he is running for a statewide office.
I endorse Hughes, obviously.
Illinois Governor
A wide open GOP field is unfortunately filled with landmines. Former IL GOP party chair Andy McKenna ran us into the ground statewide and is a useless candidate, Kirk Dillard appeared in a pro-Obama campaign commercial and sees no problem with tax hikes, Jim Ryan is a member of the currently corrupt IL government and Bill Brady is just a moderate.
What’s left are Human Events contributor and former Jack Ryan campaign manager Dan Proft and businessman Adam Andrzejewski. Both are solid candidates for the general election in my book. I’m endorsing Proft but would support Andrzejewski just the same in the general election.
Locally, I also have to plug my district:
Illinois 14th. Congressional District
In order to challenge Democrat Bill Foster in November, we need a solid candidate. That makes the primary race a simple choice: Randy Hultgren, a State Senator with an excellent record in Springfield, is a far superior choice to Ethan Hastert, son of former 14th. mainstay Denny Hastert. Hastert is a pureblood member of the entitlement brigade. He has little experience, and is running simply on the “Hastert seat” mantra, that he’s entitled to it because of his father’s long (but albeit tainted) tenure in the district. Now, should Hastert win, I’ll support him in the general, because his views are very similar to Hultgren’s. I just think he lacks the experience and skills necessary to mount a successful challenge to Foster.
I endorse Randy Hultgren for the 14th Congressional District.
Other local Illinois endorsements:
Chris Lauzen, 25th. Illinois Senatorial
Kay Hatcher, 50th. Illinois Representative District
Jim Dodge, Illinois Comptroller
David Rickert, Kane County Treasurer
L. Robert Russell, Kane County Sheriff
Mary Schostok, Judge of the Appellate Court (2nd Judicial)
February 2nd is an important day in Illinois politics. The impending primary elections are a chance for Illinoisans to do something right and try to prevent another horrible Senator from being sent to Washington in our name.
Considering we’re the state responsible for Carol Mosley Braun, Dick Durbin and Barack Obama going to D.C., I’d say we have some significant penance to pay to the country.
We have a chance during primary season to take the first step toward fixing that problem by voting a real conservative as our Republican nominee. This is a contest between squishy political opportunist Mark Kirk and some lesser-known candidates, such as conservative businessman Patrick Hughes.
The political establishment will tell you the “safe” thing to do is pick Mark Kirk as the Republican nominee, because he has “the best chance to win.” We’ve been fed this line for years; vote for the moderate, as long as he has an ‘R’ next to his name, because they have a better chance to win.
That’s what they said about presidential nominee John McCain. A year and a half later, we’ve lost millions of jobs and our national debt is piling up faster than a caviar bill at a Democrat fundraising party, because we have a radical president who is taking the country in a direction that anyone who understands it is completely against. Why? Because we sacrificed convictions for political expediency and chose McCain as our nominee, as he had “the best chance to win.” (I voted for someone else in the primary, in fact, but Illinois did overwhelmingly vote for McCain). Obviously, he lost handily to the Obama Machine.
Mark Kirk is no conservative and should be ashamed to claim that title; he does not deserve our vote. Let me give you a few examples of Kirk’s travesties as a representative in Congress.
Kirk’s pro-life credentials are non-existent. He has a lifetime rating of 100% from NARAL, a radical pro-abortion organization. Kirk shares this rating with other prime examples of liberal politicians, including Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton and, yes, Barack Obama. To give you some comparison, liberal Harry Reid, the Democrat Senate majority leader, is MORE pro-life than Mark Kirk. Kirk has twice voted NO on making it a crime to harm an unborn child during another crime and voted NO on restricting interstate transport of minors to get abortions.
When it comes to the economy, Kirk is similarly wrong with his votes. He voted to give MORE money to Obama’s useless stimulus package AND the equally ineffective Cash for Clunkers program. He also was one of just EIGHT Republicans to vote FOR the economy-destroying Cap’n’Trade bill, which will levy unprecedented taxes on businesses and massacre jobs, especially in manufacturing and agricultural industries that are the lifeblood of our state.
Kirk is also radically anti-2nd Amendment, proving repeatedly that he does not have any respect for gun owners or their rights. Kirk wants trigger locks and to enforce the restrictive Brady Bill, and the National Rifle Association gives him a lifetime rating of D, indicating a very anti-gun voting record. With gun control likely on the horizon for the Democrats in Washington (please Google “new gun bill” and read about H.R. 45), we need a conservative who will stand up for our rights.
On social issues, Kirk once again sides with Democrats. He voted with Democrats to override President Bush’s vetoes of the SCHIP program and an expansion to Medicare (both expansions of government control of healthcare and severely fiscally irresponsible bills). He also is a member of the global warming alarmist community, and has voted repeatedly against bills that would improve our energy independence, including the Bush/Cheney energy policies and voting against drilling in ANWR. He also has stated his belief in supporting the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (which is complicated but suffice it to say, the UN is running it so it’s very bad for the USA).
Kirk is out of touch will Illinois and out of touch with Republicans. He does not understand who we are or what we need. His representation of the wishes of the 10th Congressional District has been bad enough; let’s not make the mistake of giving him a chance to represent the whole state.
We need to stop listening to the pundits who tell us certain races aren’t winnable. Patrick Hughes can absolutely beat whatever Democrat nominee is put forward. As I write this, the Democrats are still reeling from the defeat they suffered in the Massachusetts special election for Teddy Kennedy’s old seat, which was won in a stunning upset by Republican Scott Brown last week. If Massachusetts, the bluest of the blue states, can elect a conservative Republican, so can we.
When you vote for a Representative or a Senator, you expect them to carry out your wishes. Nothing is worse than watching someone you voted for doing the exact opposite of what you want to see them do.
That’s the problem with Kirk. He’ll take your vote, sure, but he’s not listening to you. He’s going to do whatever is politically expedient, because he’ll know he doesn’t have to answer for anything for six years.
We need principled leadership in Washington, leadership that will stand up to the Democrats’ radical agenda and not be another pawn in Harry Reid’s army. I want a Senator I can count on.
I cannot count on Mark Kirk, and neither should you. Please vote Patrick Hughes on Feb 2. Show America Illinois still has some dignity; if Massachusetts can do it, we can do it
Great video of VA gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds trying (and utterly failing) to dodge questions about new taxes in the state.
I love how he keeps repeating himself over and over; he fawns over the term “general fund” like it’s a furry little puppy. He should be easy picking if the VA GOP handles this right.
With Cap and Tax and universal deathcare on the table, and an ineffective porkulus proving to be a massive failure as unemployment skyrockets, it seems voters may finally be souring to the Democrats, according to the latest set of Rasmussen polling data.
Republican candidates continue to lead on the latest edition of the Generic Congressional Ballot as Democrats fall to their lowest level of support among voters in recent years.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 40% would vote for their district’s Republican congressional candidate while 37% would choose the Democratic candidate.
Support for both parties dropped one point over the past week, with Democrats reaching their lowest level support in over two years of polling. Support for Republican candidates is just one point below its highest level over that same time period.
I am cautiously optimistic about this; voters have short memories. I can only hope this trend hangs on until the 2010 election and voters remember how badly the Democrats have been destroying the economy and endangering their freedoms.
This is a stunning story that is receiving little to no mainstream media coverage outside of Fox News. Obama has moved the operations for the U.S. Census into the White House, and essentially handed the reigns of the project to none other than his Chief of Staff, Chicago insider Rahm Emanuel.
If this had happened under Bush’s watch, the equivalent would have been putting Karl Rove in charge of redistricting. I’m sure the media would have had a field day on that; it would have been the lead story for weeks. But, since it’s King Obama and he’s giving it to his corrupt little minions, it’s all OK.
Dear Leader would never lead us wrong, the media will say. It’s just fine if his cronies redistrict every state into absurd zigzags in order to take over an uncountable number of battleground districts by moving Democratic-voting population centers within their boundaries.
After all, it’s all part of Comrade Obama’s plan for America. It’s Change We Can Believe In.
The GOP wants to use exact headcounts of districts. The Democrats want to use some convoluted process of sampling and estimating. The Constitution mandates exact headcounts.
How hard is this to understand?
The Census Bureau does not need to be politically affiliated. It needs to be have an unbiased look at the population, and should not be wielded as a tool to affect future elections.
“I am disturbed by reports that control of the traditionally nonpartisan Census Bureau is being stripped from the Commerce Department and placed with the White House staff. This action appears to be motivated by politics, rather than the interests of our country, and the burden will be on the new administration to prove otherwise during Senator Gregg’s confirmation hearings. The United States Census should remain independent of politics; it should not be directed by political operatives working out of the White House.”
A lifetime Chicago politician who sends dead fish in the mail to his political enemies, now in charge of shaping how hundreds of millions of American citizens are represented in Congress? What could POSSIBLY go wrong?
Gee, why would this be such a priority? I don’t know, maybe the fact that the Census will have a MONSTROUS impact on voting results? Redistricting could enable the Democrats to massacre the current district setup and steal innumerable districts from the Republicans.
After The Obamessiah appointed Gregg to the Commerce Secretary post in an attempt to ruin the GOP Senate count and it didn’t work, he needed to find some way to gain political power out of the situation. Enter the Obamacensus, which, under the watchful eye of Rahm Emanuel, should provide the Democrats with a rather large chance to increase their seats in 2010 without having to fire a single shot.
He defeated Katon Dawson 91-77 on the sixth ballot.
Some speech highlights:
“To Americans who believe in the future of this country…to those who stand in difference with us. It’s time for something completely different. We’re gonna bring this party to every corner, to every boardroom, to every community, and we’re gonna say to every friend and foe alike, we want you to be a part of us, and to those of you who wish to obstruct…get ready to get knocked over.” - Michael Steele
“We stand proud as the conservative party of the United States.” - Michael Steele
“We will cede no ground to anyone on matters of principle.” - Michael Steele
“God bless you and God bless our party.” - Michael Steele
He can’t possibly be worse than Duncan’s disastrous reign. He just needs to get off his “let’s apologize for Katrina” bandwagon and change his gun control stance and he’ll be a pretty dang good chairman.
Time to start the rebuilding process and take back the House in 2010!
