Posted on 02/11/2011 9:01:28 PM PST by lbryce
There have been rumors that Andrew Ian Dodge will challenge Olympia Snowe in the 2012 Republican primary. Well, today at CPAC, he announced his candidacy and he's doing his first post-announcement interview here at Right Wing News. Enjoy!
First question: if a Republican in Maine says, "Andrew, why should I support you instead of Olympia Snow in the 2012 primary?" -- what would you tell him?
I would tell him that Olympia has been there too long. She routinely votes against the Republican Party line and that roughly speaking, she thinks she runs the place and, in fact, she is not a Republican and she makes basically more Democrats happy than she does Republicans.
I mean, I've been trolling through and found all these wonderful quotes from Democrats saying she's a great asset, and they love working with her, and she's the only sane Republican and everything else. And if you look at her voting record, it's not Republican. There is just no other way of putting it. The Democrats have voted with the Republicans more than she does.
Now the counter argument to that, one that you're going to hear over and over again, is that Maine is a left-of-center state and if someone like Olympia Snowe can get re-elected there, then there is no chance you can get elected. What do you say to that argument?
Well, first of all, the governor and both Houses in this state are now Republican. Secondly, there are people trying to portray me as a far right Republican when, on social issues, I'm fairly Libertarian. I'm not socially liberal; I'm socially Libertarian.
(Excerpt) Read more at rightwingnews.com ...
Hopefully, Maine will tell Snowe to get out of Dodge(s) way/
LOL; I wonder how many democrats would have shot Paul Revere off his horse if now was then?
I’m in Maine, I’m not sure that Dodge will be the main challenger. I’m a lurker at As Maine Goes, and he has posted there a lot. If you’re interested in his positions on the issues, you can see what he said on As Maine Goes. If you think he should be the nominee, you can send him money.
Now, as you mentioned, you’re a Libertarian and you recently co-wrote a letter with GoProud urging Congress to, and I quote, “to resist the urge to run down any social issue rabbit-holes in order to appease the special interests.” So in other words, in the primary neither you or Snow are really offering much to social conservatives, right? It’s pretty much a lateral move between the two of you?
I would imagine that ME will be among the first states to fall for Myth Romney too. But there is more hope there than in MA.
I, personally, have talked to various members of Dead Season about getting the tea party spot against Snowe. So, the idea that Andy Dodge, who is in a band, apparently, could beat Snowe in a primary is not far fetched.
I would go with one of the guys from Dead Season, though. They’re the biggest Maine band. They sold 20K records, pretty much all in Maine. That’s 20K people who know them and like them enough to buy their record. That’s between 1% and 2% of Maine’s population. And that doesn’t count people who’ve seen them at shows. They’ve been playing shows all over Maine for years. And been a popular band, all over Maine, for years. They likely have an extensive email list, mostly of Maine voters. 10k 20k maybe? Have been getting a message from Dead Season about shows and whatnot?
The lead singer of Dead Season is a high school teacher. It’s possible he’s a tea party conservative high school teacher. Another guy is a scientist. He could be a tea party conservative scientist.
Lead Singers in successful rock bands are typically charismatic in some way. They’re constantly trying to put on a show, to communicate with the audience. Everyone in the band is practiced at interacting with fans. These are useful campaigning skills. Charismatic, good with people, comfortable up on the stage.
And what if an actual star ran somewhere, Chris Daughtry, would Chris Daughtry win in North Carolina?
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