The Victory Caucus

MoveOn.org grew out of the impeachment crisis, as lefty Democrats grew disgusted with Republicans and with what they considered to be round-heeled Democrats.

Today The Victory Caucus is seeing tremendous traffic for a site that is five days old, and an impressive commitment of resources from virtual volunteers around the country. Before long the Caucus will be identifying the congressional districts which have twice voted for George W. Bush but which are represented by Democrats. It already has a list of the 17 white flag Republicans up. I expect a great deal of effort to go into the identification of candidates for these 68 districts, candidates committed to supporting victory in the war.

Leadership isn't going to come from the Hill which didn't even whip today's vote. And time-serving backbenchers like Lawnboy Ric Keller aren't going to get a pass. Their colleagues in the House GOP should refuse to shield them from the political fallout. Today was a significant day for seriousness on the war, and the clarity the vote provided is very useful indeed.

The effort to recruit, support, and elect victory Congressmen is going to require a great deal of effort, and NZ Bear has set up easy to understand ways to get involved. The first set of tools are there, and the Victory Caucus is not going to pursue any other agenda except victory in the war. If that matters to you, get involved and tell your friends about it.

You asked what kind of support I'd have for a primary candidate against Keller. I've always strongly believed that as an active duty military person I had an obligation to stay out of politics, and maintained an independent stance save for using my right to vote. If there is an avocado running in the primary against Keller, I will register Republican to vote for the avocado. I will also donate money to the avocado's campaign, and if feasible volunteer to get it elected. I'd do it myself--and lose horribly, I might add; I'm less electable than an avocado, not built for politicking--but I'm still on active duty and thus will avoid that embarrassment.

You've got to stand for something. Keller natters on about lawn care. Maybe Keller could ask the Iraqi man Michael Yon wrote about last week, the man who protected children and families from dying from a suicide bomber dressed in a burka. Keller could ask the man if the Iraqis are doing enough. Maybe pass on some mowing tips.

Oh, wait. Keller can't. That man gave his life for his community by blocking the blast with his own body.

The Vote is Over. Where Do We Go From Here?
Written by N.Z.
Friday, 16 February 2007

http://www.victorycaucus.com/
So the House vote is over , and the Democrats have had their day and their defeatist, non-binding resolution. So what do we do now?

We begin organizing in earnest to ensure that in November 2008, voters will have a slate of strong candidates who believe in Victory.

This will be a long and serious effort, but it starts now. We have established a team within the site that will focus on identifying strong candidates -- veterans, ideally --- as well as teams devoted to identifying White Flag Republicans and their antimatter opposites, the Blue Dog Democrats. These three groups will be at the forefront of our efforts to identify the districts where we can do the most good: whether that is to replace a defeatist Democrat with a new Republican victory candidate --- or to help a Blue Dog Democrat who is strong on the war take down a White Flag Republican. Here, party comes second: victory --- and country --- come first.

If this sounds appealing to you, be sure to register, and then you can join the teams you feel you can best contribute to. And be sure to check our official How You Can Help post : beyond volunteers, we need things like a dedicated server for the site, a company that can produce Victory Caucus branded merchandise, and an election law expert to help guide us as we decide on our corporate structure. If you are just visitng us here for the first time, bear with us: the site has only been live for under five days, and so we're still in rampup mode, getting our act together. But things are coalescing quickly, so stay tuned.

But our political goals are just one part of the overall Victory Caucus mission. We are equally committed to providing news and information on the war --- and have some great ideas in the pipeline to that end --- and to giving direct and tangible aid to the groups that support our men and women in uniform . So if the full-contact sport of DC politics doesn't appeal to you, that's OK too: you can still support victory by supporting our non-political goals. Stay tuned for more on that front.

And just in case you think we're humorless tools: we do like to have a little fun. Today's example: our photoshop contest to visually demonstrate our opinion of White Flag Republican Ric Keller of Florida .

For right now, though, for today: politics is inevitably our focus. So closing: we're big fans of Churchill around these parts, which should surprise no-one. And so when you think of the fight to put Victory back at the center of our politics, and consider the House vote today (and the Senate one tomorrow) --- remember the words of the great man:

"This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

I believe the Senate will vote today. I've called Sen. Warner, Specter, Coleman, Sununu, Lugar, Brownback, Lott, McConnell....to let them know that grassroot Republicans have named the Republicans who sided with the Dems and, in effect, given aid and comfort to our enemies, White Flag Republicans or Cut and Run Republicans. Despite what the liberal media and propagandizing Democrats say, Americans are NOT in favor of this non binding resolution.

I've reminded each of these Senators that the enemy is NOT President Bush, the enemy is outside and trying to kill ALL Americans.

I asked each of these Senators to think HARD before voting for the disgraceful non-binding resolution. This puts our troops in further harm and gives aid and comfort to our enemy. I suggested that, in their capacity, they have the ability to call or write Pres Bush or his staff and privately voice their concerns. To do this in the public eye and demonstrate a divided country endangers our troops and our great country.

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