Posted on 10/21/2006 12:04:24 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
Now is not the time for doom and gloom By Hugh Hewitt Friday, October 20, 2006
"I don't believe you."
That's what I told "conservative campaign consultant" Rick Shaftan on last night's radio show.
Shaftan had been quoted in Thursday's Washington Times as saying "Conservatives aren't motivated to come out, is what I'm finding. They see no reason to re-elect the people who are in office."
I asked Mr. Shaftan was he conducting polling, for whom, and was it published?
No, it wasn't published, he replied, and that he did some work for the Minutemen. Then, as he began to get back to his fable, I stopped him and told him I simply don't believe it.
Instead of attempting to persuade me and the audience that he was legit, he hung up. The transcript will be up later here. The audio will be here.
Why my skepticism?
I have been in Minnesota, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Ohio over the past five days. I have appeared at rallies that filled large rooms to capacity with enthusiastic volunteers. I have had candid conversations with four members of the House --Mark Kennedy, Mike Sodrel, David Dreier and Deborah Pryce, three senators, Rick Santorum, Jim Talent, and Norm Coleman, and other candidates such as Rick O'Donnell and Doug Lamborn in Colorado, Michele Bachmann and Alan Fine in Minnesota, and Ken Blackwell in Ohio.
More importantly I have talked with hundreds of members of the GOP base in a variety of different cities, each with a unique set of political circumstances. I polled every audience.
To this I add literally thousands of e-mails from listeners and readers as well as continual calling to various pundits and political pros, and the compulsive assessment of the polls --good and bad-- that stack up at RealClearPolitics.com.
There is simply no data to support the idea of significant if any turnout diminishment. There is grousing. There is posing. There is much struggle to claim Spenglerian cred.
But the idea of widespread discontent and a desire to punish the party for the misdeeds of a soaring economy, a 12,000 dow, two Supreme Court justices and a border fence isn't there.
Would a lot of us like better? Of course.
But only the fringe is growling for political self-mutilation.
And they always growl for political self-mutilation. In their world, Goldwater ran an insufficiently tough campaign.
But. No. Data.
So why are "conservatives" bad mouthing Republican prospects? Why not instead spend time and effort identifying those races which everyone agrees are close and in need of effort, attention and money?
Shock of shock, it is in the self-interest of some of the prophets to cast the alleged dire situation as the result of their not having been listened to, a very transparent ploy to position themselves and their agendas as the experts and the answers when the dust clears after the election.
There are plenty of close races which are understood to be close by both sides. Why some so-called conservative leaders want to spend their time issuing advance notice of GOP doom instead of working to get someone of these candidates over the top is a sure sign that the speakers are neither conservative, nor leaders.
Bttt!
Real Christians are never gloomy or doomy, because no matter how many delusional battles the devil wins, God's will always stands alone eternally when the final shot is fired.
BINGO!
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
Some don't understand that in our Republic, voting for our congressional representative is our point of power. If he's not up to your standards, get involved locally and find someone better. A guy on Rush was saying we need leaders. Who does he propose from his district?
Hopefully someone is keeping a list of the so called big named conservatives like conservative campaign consultant "Rick Shaftan", who are going out of their way to crush our vote this November.
For over a decade I have felt that the so called token conservatives on the Screaming Head Shows on Sunday are not conservatives. Instead they are a liberal actor who is paid to appear to be a whining/gloom and doomer pseudo conservative loser on tv, talk shows and in print.
These shills for the left really hate GW as he kept them outside of the White House. My dead dog, (dead for two decades) has more power in the White House than these so called conservatives. That has made them even more angry with GW. How dare him to ignore their great whining/doom and gloom and do good things without them.
After we crush the liberals in the November elections. We will need this list of negative shills for two reasons:
1. To post their name as negative shills pretending to be conservatives whenever an article by them or something they say on tv/radio appears here in Free Republic trying to say our people are losers. Then, we can say, "There they go again!"
2. Maybe the FBI can investigate these people and any off shore accounts to see if they have been financed by George $oreA$$ or some other super rich limo liberal via some phoney non profit. Or worse, some Opecker Prince/Thug has been sending them money to trash our side.
Hugh is great. Lately I listen to him most weekends (my local radio station repeats his weekday shows) as I drive to visit a friend. I love his outlook, his mellow personality, and he is so smart. Has great guests too!
I DON'T LIKE DEMOCRATS BECAUSE THIER GONNA GET US KILLED!
Here's my story: I have been married to a liberal Democrat for 22 years. He is voting for the very first time for a Republican, our great Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick. We even have a yard sign up for Mike, the first time we have EVER done that because we have never agreed on a candidate. He doesn't like Rick Santorum, but he isn't voting for Bobby Casey so there is another vote the Democrats are not getting this year because they are running empty suits like Casey and Patrick Murphy and ignoring the threat if Islamic fascism. He is helping his friend Barbara Merrill run for Governor of Maine as an independent, and spending the last week of the campaign there trying to defeat a horrible, pathetic Democrat governor, John Baldacci, who has run Maine's economy into the ground. I'll be spending that time helping to reelect Fitzpatrick and Santorum in every way possible. I've been busy working and raising my two kids for the last 14 years but this year I am taking time off to help Santorum in the last 72 hours.
Conservatives can put the final nail in the dinosaur media coffin. I'm voting just to show up those bas***ds. It will be neautiful to watch their shock when they don't gain the house or the senate
Good point.
If nothing else, that alone is reason to get out and vote straight R.
Hewitt is so right. Instead of dumping on our side we should be working for victory. Allen, Talent, Corker are leading in their races. Dewine, Burns, Steele, Kean are very close. Santorum closes fast. If we the base do our part the GOP will maintain control of the Senate and the House.
Double Ping!!
Look even a huge turn out by Pubs in the Soviet Republic of Ca. where I vote, could actually bring in not only Arnold, but some real conservs like McClintock, MacPherson, Pos. and some down ticket assemblymen. It could happen if Pubs come out to vote.
You also have funny douche-bags like Kinky Friedman running for governor of Texas. Those must be fine ralleys:) Just pig out and drink your fill.
Agree except for "open borders Kudlow".
This is a critical election in the history of this country. Anyone who cannot put aside their personal frustration and single issues and focus on the big picture just isn't thinking clearly.
The loss of control of the House would be devastating. Forgeting the fact that the Democrats would immediately make the President a lame duck and kill the tax cuts and any other program, the Democrats will prematurely pull us out of Iraq. They did exactly the same thing in Vietnam. This will in effect be givng a blank check to the terrorists to do whatever they want. America will not be able to stop them. You can have the greatest military in the world, but no President will have the political will to use it. We lost 50,000 dead in Vietnam. We would have lost less than 5,000 dead in Iraq. What will take the next time to make us leave? They will force us out of Afghanistan after that success. These loses are terrible, but things will be far worse if we pull out of Iraq prematurely. We will have many more citizens killed on American soil and abroad.
The Media has more than carried the Democrats water this time around. In many respects, a win for the Democrats is more a win for the Media than a win for the Democrats. Common Tator wrote a excellent post the other day that a win for the Democrats is going to put the Media in control of the goverment for the next few years. That would be disasterous.
The stakes a too high to even contemplate a Speaker Pelosi.
Please add me to your Hugh Ping List. Haven't been on one since RonDog gave his up.
I heard the call - Hugh got in his grille.
Bump and BRONZE. Too much at stake when politics among gentlemen is supposed to end at waterline.
We're not dealing with "gentlemen" anymore.
If you don't like the representative/senator in your district, get out the vote in the primary to make the change, if you can't get it changed hold your nose, but vote R down the line.
I know who in our district I'm hoping will replace Trent Franks in a couple of years, our very conservative State Senator, who is not afraid to go against the tide in Phoenix, which tells me he would be a fighter in DC, too.
I think Kinky just put the last nail in his coffin today with his Hillarycare plan.
Shock of shock, it is in the self-interest of some of the prophets to cast the alleged dire situation as the result of their not having been listened to, a very transparent ploy to position themselves and their agendas as the experts and the answers when the dust clears after the election.
Hugh nails it in two short paragraphs.
Add me to the Hugh Ping List.
Dud any of you listen to him Thursday? He had a fellow on that was speaking about the ground game, and how the national poles are missing the their real numbers at the local level. It may be available at his blog or the major site he s one with all the other talk show host.
He sure has! Thanks for the ping.
Reminds me of several posters on the PA FR board.
And they want you to BUY GOLD!
Thanks for the ping!
I'll be posting in Yahoo Chat and in other Discussion Groups that are not exclusively conservative in hopes to move undecideds to the right. USENET, AOL and Yahoo Discussion Boards are great for that. You normally find links to discussions at the bottom of news articles.
By the way, thanks for your service. I was in Saigon 8 months ago and I can tell you that "quietly" your service was also appreciated by the younger Vietnamese. The re-education camps didnt work.
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