Posted on 03/23/2010 12:34:41 AM PDT by CyberCowboy777
You may have heard that a Washington, DC-based organization named FreedomWorks recently endorsed David Castillo in the 3rd Congressional District primary race.
FreedomWorks’ website claims the organization is made up of “grassroots volunteers,” and supports those who “fight for lower taxes, less government, and more freedom.”
In the past I have been a supporter of FreedomWorks, they have provided support and infrastructure to conservative grassroots over the years.
However, this endorsement is very disheartening to me; you see FreedomWorks endorsed Castillo without ever asking Jaime Herrera for an interview or even a single piece of information.
I can tell you that Jaime Herrera has a lot of grassroots support here in Cowlitz and throughout this district – she was formally endorsed by the Cowlitz County GOP party delegates (regular folks) last weekend – because she has a record of fighting for lower taxes, less government and more freedom.
So what “grassroots” are they claiming to represent? How did the “grassroots” in the 3rd Congressional District influence this endorsement? It sounds all too hollow, but read on.
In the press release that Castillo and FreedomWorks sent out regarding the endorsement they stated “FreedomWorks has provided organizational muscle to the tea party movement across the country. It is currently at work on a 2010 Tax Day Tea Party on April 15th in Washington, D.C.”
As many of you know I have be very active in the grassroots for years, I was an organizer (in a small way) of the first Tea Party rally in Portland, OR in February of 2009, long before FreedomWorks ever got involved, before even Fox News gave us any credence. (Only Victoria Taft gave our local rally any real coverage)
While I appreciate the support FreedomWorks is now providing, the “muscle” has been provided by the People! We the People! It is a citizen’s movement and cannot be leveraged or co-opted for political gains. I resent and protest the idea that some national group, any PAC, is trying to use the people’s movement for their own inside the beltway gain.
So how could this have happened? No input from the real grassroots, no interviews of the other Conservative candidates, not even a request for positions. It sounds so hollow, so…. Politics as usual….
Newsflash!!!! David Castillo used to work for FreedomWorks. Instead of listening to those of us who have been putting our shoes to the pavement in support of smaller government and lower taxes since before Fox News even knew we existed, FreedomWorks made a blind endorsement of someone with an insider’s connection.
Before FreedomWorks brings its DC money into this race and blindly supports one candidate, I urge you to contact them and let them know that they have ignored the grassroots.
If you support Jaime Herrera, you should let them know that, too. Tell them that any organization claiming to represent the grassroots should have an open and fair endorsement process where every candidate gets a chance.
Here’s how you can contact FreedomWorks: • Submit an online message here: http://www.freedomworks.org/contact • Call them at 1.888.564.6273
WA 3rd CD ping
What else is new?
They haven’t cared what people think for a very long time.
You always hope.... I thought FreedomWorks was one of the good guys.
Started by a politician wasn’t it?
I thought FreedomWorks was good too until I saw Armey at that first rally in D.C. I wondered what in Hades he was doing there. He’s too much of an insider for my taste.
It’s all of these damned, soft-shell, middle of the road, wavering, meddling, small “l” libertarians we have down here who are pushing Castillo, and cannot miss taking a shot at Jamie Herrera for the Democrats. They have done it before and they are trying to do it again.
All, repeat, ALL these people have managed to do is help get liberal Dhimmies elected, and re-elected. 3RD CD libertarians are one of the major reasons that Brian Baird lasted as long, and got away with so many lies as he did...
Both Armey and Freedom Works, IMO, want to go back to old GOP pre-financial meltdown dogma - that no regulation is needed. Which is hooey. I don't agree with the Dem financial bill being pushed, but it is clear that some kind of risk management regulation akin to the Canadian regulatory model is needed. And the likes of Armey at the front of the parade hurts the Tea Party movement as far as I'm concerned.
Wow, thanks.
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