Posted on 05/09/2010 8:27:06 AM PDT by smoothsailing
May 9, 2010
Mike Faher
— This much is clear: William Russell is tenacious.
Just don’t call him “bitter.”
The Upper Yoder Township Republican, in his second attempt at winning the 12th Congressional District seat, is again getting no support from his party.
But while he makes no secret about his dissatisfaction with GOP leadership, Russell insists that it’s not anger that has motivated him to stay in the race.
“The best way to overcome this is not to be bitter, but to set about winning the primary,” Russell said.
The career Army man, now retired, moved to Johnstown to launch what some initially considered a quixotic run against powerful Democrat John Murtha in 2008.
But Russell’s campaign proved surprisingly strong, prompting Murtha to declare at one point late in the election season that he had been “blindsided” by the Republican.
Russell ended up with 42 percent of the vote despite the fact, he says, that he received no support from state GOP leadership and “very, very little” from the national Republican Party.
The night of his loss in November 2008, Russell immediately declared that he would run again.
Fellow Republican Tim Burns of Washington County also jumped into the race last year, setting up a primary battle.
But everything changed
Feb. 8, when Murtha died due to surgical complications. Little more than a month later, Burns was chosen as his party’s candidate for the May 18 special election that will decide who fills the remainder of Murtha’s unexpired term.
So it is Burns who is the sole GOP representative on the special ballot. It is Burns who is perceived to have a great advantage over Russell on the primary ballot.
And it is Burns who has become the party’s sole focus, much to Russell’s chagrin.
“People are very, very angry with our party leadership in terms of how the choice for the special election was made,” Russell said.
He maintains that there was pressure put on party leaders from the district’s nine counties to choose conferees who would vote for Burns at the March 11 meeting in Latrobe.
In fact, Russell goes so far as to say “there was a lot of coercion” – meaning direct pressure placed on the conferees who voted 85-46 to nominate Burns.
Johnstown businessman Rob Gleason, who chairs both the Cambria County and state Republican committees, dismisses those accusations.
“We had a very transparent, open process,” Gleason said. NOTE:More on that here
“(Russell) didn’t get enough votes to get the nomination. I don’t know of anybody who
was coerced.”
Gleason added that he is not “overly concerned” about a divided party, saying he believes Burns “has really turned out to be the ideal candidate for us.”
Russell does not buy that and has plunged ahead at full speed.
He says he has been campaigning for this seat since November 2007, “building relationships and loyalties with people.”
There is no doubt that his fundraising efforts have not faltered.
Russell blew away the other 12th district candidates by raising $737,365 in the first quarter, according to Federal Election Commission reports. He also far outpaced the others in spending, running through $638,394 while Burns spent only $57,574 in the same three-month period.
Russell says he has 60,000 donors nationwide and 5,000 in the 12th district, with most making small contributions averaging $75.
“It’s not the party apparatus, it’s not the (political action committees),” Russell said, “it’s not that I’m a millionaire who can put money into it.”
He added that his campaign has more than 1,000 volunteers in the district.
What those numbers will translate into on election day remains to be seen. Russell is a staunch conservative who says his military background has given him “a very good understanding of military-policy and national-security issues.”
He also believes his status as a GOP outsider could help him win votes.
“I’m the only candidate who has shown himself to be truly independent of the party leadership,” Russell said. “I will be accountable only to the voters.”
Russell is what is known in the political biz as a third tier candidate. 1st tier candidates are those who have successfully run for elective office and have demonstrated an ability to raise money and win elections; or they are well known businessmen who can self finance. 2d tier candidates either have money or name recognition, but not both. 3d tier candidates are guys like Russell: no money and not political hacks.
The conventional wisdom is that 3d tier candidates can’t win. That rule of thumb is likely to be turned on its head during this cycle for the simple reason that the GOP’s favored 1st and 2d tier candidates are exactly the kind of people that we’d like to throw out of Washington.
And the RNC wonders why we don’t want to give them any money.
That’s an excellent assessment, and one that I hope has the Republican establishment elite shaking in their boots.Look what happened to Bennett in Utah last night, definitely a first tier guy. They better wise up quick or they’ll be swimming in the same bloodbath as the Dems come November.
PA-12 Republican Primary Ping.
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Contact me to be added to ping list.
Agreed on post#3.
The first quote below didn’t surprise me, I’ve been pointing those numbers out for some time. But the second quote took me by surprise, and it shows just how tough this district is for a Republican. A Republican can’t win a general election by running as a middle-of-the-roader. You’ve got to be a Reagan, and that’s Russell.
“The numbers don’t lie: There were 256,281 Democrats compared with 118,175 Republicans as of last year’s general election, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State.”
“Further emphasizing the dichotomy in the district, the 2008 presidential vote was far from overwhelming on the Republican’s behalf: The final tally was 35,355 for McCain and 32,203 for Obama.” (McCain barely got half of the REPUBLICAN vote!!!)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2509896/posts
The RNC is the same as the DNC. It’s a one party cartel. No one wants to stop the gravy train.
Agreed...When I read your posted article earlier I was surprised to see McCain only got half of the Repub vote, I had been under the impression he’d gotten most all of it.
There is sure a lot of conservative Dems who don’t like Obama.
You betcha, those are Reagan Democrats.
The more I think about Tim Burns refusal to support Social Security Privatization, the angrier I get. My guess is that a poll was done by Kent Gates and BrabenderCox that said this is what he had to say. Whether that is true or not, I don’t think we will find out. Tim Burns, tragically, has become entwined with snakes like Rob Gleason and convicted perjurer Bob Asher and, probably, with same kind of enticements the evil snake gave to Eve. Both sad and infuriating.
As Pat Toomey and many, many others have shown and, it is without dispute, that Social Security is bankrupt and 2009 year, the Social Security outflows exceeded inflows and it is likely to continue in 2010. Young workers and their employers are forced by government coercion, government guns, to subsidize this at rate of 15.2 % Payroll Tax which inhibits job creation for newer worker, a 15.2 % penalty on productivity and work.
And there is no one under 35 who thinks he or she is going to get Social Security. Exactly why does a young person, or any person, have to pay for something he or she is not going to get. This is a swindle that makes Bernie Madoff and ENRON and WorldCom look like saints. In effect, our government is stealing from our youngest and most vulnerable workers.
The unemployment rate among young people, including college graduates, is higher than national averages. Increasing the cost of hiring new workers is, as Tim Burns knows, means fewer worker, fewer jobs and more government dependency.
Tim Burns offers pandering that obfuscates the problems with policies that only exacerbate the bankruptcy, not reasoned tradeoffs to address the problem.....; Vote Bill Russell for Primary Election. Send a message that Business As Usual that is bankrupting our country is unacceptable. Dissembling and Pandering are not acceptable responses to very serious policy issue.
Bill Russell Independent of Party Leadership
Send a message to Rob Gleason, Bob Asher and the entire Republican Establishment. “Do not Tread on Me.” Let the Republican Voter decide, not the Party Insiders.
Bob Guzzardi, Conservative Reform Network http://crnblog.org/
Bob Guzzardi returns to Freedom Radio for visit number three. We will discuss this very issue!
Eh, I have to disagree. Bill Russell is the highest fundraising non incumbant in the NATION. This time Bill Russell has both money and name recognition.
The establishment Repoopicans are stuck on stupid. The are the state department of elections. They are only interested in maintaining their status quo, no matter how bad that might be for the nation.
Allen West still does not have an endorsement, and at this point, I don’t know if he’d want one.
Our show tonight will be all over this issue in multiple states.
You're right, HC, Bill is definitely second tier and NOT a political HACK.
centurion's three-tier assessment is a good one,but he may not know Bill's history.
ANOTHER BILL RUSSELL FOR CONGRESS PING!
I for one have not donated to the RNC/GOP for several years. I donate only directly to candidates of my choice.
The RNC/GOP has shown us clearly that they often desire to support candidates who do not follow conservative principals and are more liberal than conservative. Perfect example was their support for DeDe Scozzafava over Doug Hoffmann.
I think I hall be taking the same approach from now on.
I agree with seekthetruth on this.
The RNC called me yesterday wanting money.
I asked them; "Would a 100 bucks help?".
They said; "Yes, thank you so much".
I said; "You're welcome, I'll be sure to send it directly to the Bill Russell for Congress Campaign and tell them you called."
Two days back they called me. I happened to be at home. Like a dope I agreed once again to support them. As mentioned to STT, it looks like that is the last time I shall give them any money. I should be putting my hard earned bucks into trying to support any local conservatives this time around.
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