Post PA Primary Election Thoughts

Have you seen the results? Some voters did not know that there were 3 Republican presidential candidates in the ballot.

John McCain got 72.7% without campaigning. In fact, we didn't even get a single yard sign from his campaign.

Ron Paul had 15.9% of the votes. He came to campaign and poured a lot of money up to the last minute. His radio ads and rows of yard signs kept his supporters pushing as if waging a close race.

Mike Huckabee collected an amazing 11.4% votes considering that he kept his word and exited honorably and at just the right time.

Based on the stories I've gathered, a number of conservative Republicans stayed home un-enamored with the "presumptive" nominee and under-enthused by the direction the party is going. I can believe that, based on how the returns by precint were coming.

Operation Chaos was also at play from among Rush Limbaugh listeners. In my county alone, some 5,000 voters have switched their party affiliation. Undeniably, this is also a race and gender motivated election.

One thing missed by those who stayed home biting their fingers, and those who voted with scheme or compromise in mind -- is voting for some lower and more local legislative positions. Pardon me if I sound consternating but although certain candidates may be unopposed during primary, a number of faith-filled and courageous candidates run very challenging races. To top it off, not to be undermined but not widely publicized candidates include Party Committee members who were also on the ballot; as well as delegates and alternate delegates to the convention. These are unpaid positions but they are motivated members who can greatly determine the course of the election process.

Anyway, if you like numbers, here's a link to the figures of the state of the State of Pensylvania voters for whatever it's worth: http://www.dos.state.pa.us/elections/lib/elections/055_voter_registration_statistics/currentstats/currentvotestats.xls

Let us go on to November 4 with courage, hope and integrity.

Governor Huckabee, Thank You

It was a very sad day for me and my family when on Tuesday, March 4, Mike Huckabee kindly congratulated John McCain for winning the Republican nomination. I was hoping he would not just get to come and campaign in Pennsylvania, but be inaugurated in Washington DC. He seemed the perfect candidate for America. I have never seen such an exciting and unbelievable campaign either. The grassroots network was amazing that no one could have predicted he would get that far and last as long. What a privilege we have had to be a part of it. Mike Huckabee has become more than a candidate to my family but a hero.

In the midst of sadness, disappointment and feelings of betrayal from those I expected to recognize a great man that they would throw their support and endorsement to the Governor, I take comfort that God is still on the throne. His thoughts are wiser and His ways are better. He is Good and He is Sovereign in all our affairs. I do not know His plans and purposes but He is in control.

I know that many of you share these similar sentiments and I encourage you to visit the Mike Huckabee website and thank him for all he has done on our behalf by campaigning for our principles and values. Thank you.

http://www.mikehuckabee.com/

My Mind... My Vote!

The media would like us to think that the Republican race is a “done deal.” That it does not matter what you, and the rest of the country think at this point (the same media that last summer told us Giuliani and Hillary were unstoppable and inevitable). We know that the media tries to matter in every election but they should stick to reporting.

To make matters worse, the PA GOP would also like to have you think that they represent us and know for whom we are voting. Our party leadership is using our party’s funds to support candidates before their constituents, donors, and grassroots supporters speak out, before the Primary election is even held. Is it any wonder why the Republican Party is losing its identity and base? Let us not be too quick to sacrifice the sanctity of our ballot.

The truth is, unless John McCain gets 1,191 committed delegates before the convention, then the nomination won’t be decided until at the convention. An endorsement by a dropped candidate does not commit his delegates to the endorsee. They can vote for whoever they want!

Remember Abraham Lincoln? He got his nomination after the 3rd round of votes at the Republican convention! (The longest Republican convention was in 1880, when James Garfield won the nomination on the 36th round of votes!)


Don’t let the media discourage you! Vote for the candidate of your choice!

Issues where candidates differ:

1 - Supports a national Human Life Amendment
Huckabee: YES
McCain: NO
Paul: NO

2 - Supports ban on embryonic stem cell research
Huckabee: YES
McCain: NO
Paul: YES

3 - Supports law prohibiting human cloning
Huckabee: YES
McCain: YES
Paul: NO

4 - Supports Federal Marriage Amendment
Huckabee: YES
McCain: NO
Paul: NO

5 - Supports elimination of the IRS
Huckabee: YES
McCain: NO
Paul: YES

6 - Supports plans for a North American Union
Huckabee: NO
McCain: YES
Paul: NO

7 - Signed pledge not to raise taxes
Huckabee: YES
McCain: NO
Paul: YES

8 - Signed no amnesty for illegal aliens pledge
Huckabee: YES
McCain: NO
Paul: YES

9 - Emphasizes secure border as part of immigration plan
Huckabee: YES
McCain: NO
Paul: YES

10 - Supports immediate withdraw of troops from Iraq
Huckabee: NO
McCain: NO
Paul: YES

Huckabee - Cinderella Man 2.0

Soros Has Been Funding McCain?

Pennsylvanians are tired and sick of the party leaders making choices even before the primary. We want OUR votes to matter in these elections. Jerome R. Corsi of WorldNetDaily.com writes a disturbing revelation about who has been funding Senator John McCain's campaign. I hope this news gets our PA GOP Chairman Gleason to reconsider his endorsement of McCain.

As Sen. John McCain assumes the GOP front-runner mantle, his long-standing, but little-noticed association with left-wing donors such as George Soros and Teresa Heinz Kerry is receiving new attention among his Republican critics.

In 2001, McCain founded the Alexandria, Va.-based Reform Institute as a vehicle to receive funding from George Soros' Open Society Institute and Teresa Heinz Kerry's Tides Foundation and several other prominent non-profit organizations.

McCain used the institute to promote his political agenda and provide compensation to key campaign operatives between elections.

In 2006, the Arizona senator was forced to sever his formal ties with the Reform Institute after a controversial $200,000 contribution from Cablevision came to light. McCain solicited the donation for the Reform Institute using his membership on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission, he supported Cablevision's push to introduce the more profitable al la carte pricing, rather than packages of TV programming.

Yet, the Reform Institute still employs the McCain campaign's Hispanic outreach director, Juan Hernandez, as a senior fellow of its Comprehensive Immigration Reform Initiative.

As WND reported, Hernandez serves as a non-paid volunteer for the McCain campaign. A dual Mexican-U.S. citizen, he was a member of former President Vicente Fox's cabinet, representing an estimate 24 million Mexicans living abroad. Hernandez, with a "Mexico first" message, has argued aggressively against building a fence on the Mexican border, insisting the frontier needed to remain wide open so illegal immigrants could easily enter the U.S.

The July 6, 2001, homepage of the Reform Institute archived on the Internet lists founder McCain as chairman of the group's advisory committee.

Prominent senior officials on the McCain 2008 presidential campaign staff found generously paid positions at the Reform Institute following the senator's unsuccessful run for the White House in 2000.

Rick Davis, McCain's current campaign manager, was paid $110,000 a year by the Reform Institute for a consulting position, according to the group's 2003 Form 990 filing with the IRS.

In 2004, Davis advanced to the position of Reform Institute president, with an annual salary of $120,000, according to the group's 2004 Form 990.

In 2005, Davis remained president, but his salary dropped back to $45,000 a year, with a time commitment of five hours per week, according the 2005 Form 990.

Carla Eudy, a senior advisor on McCain's 2008 presidential campaign who until recently headed fundraising, was paid $177,885 in 2005 to serve as the Reform Institute's secretary-treasurer.

Other McCain presidential campaign staffers who have found employment at the Reform Institute include Trevor Potter, McCain's 2000 legal counsel, and Crystal Benton, the senator's former press secretary, who served as institute's communications director in 2005 for an annual salary of $52,083.

The Reform Institute regularly has supported McCain in various legislative efforts, including on campaign finance reform, global warming and "comprehensive immigration reform," all efforts widely opposed by many in the party's conservative base.

Arianna Huffington, syndicated columnist and creator of the HuffingtonPost.com, has served on the Reform Institute's advisory committee since the group's inception.

According to FrontPage Magazine, Teresa Heinz Kerry has provided more than $4 million to the Tides Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by anti-war activist Drummond Pike in 1976 with a history of funding causes such as abortion, homosexual-rights activism and open borders.

Financial contributors while McCain was chairman of the Reform Institute also have included the Educational Foundation of America, a group that supports abortion and opposes drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve.

The Soros-Kerry funding connection with McCain was first exposed by Ed Morrissey at the Captains Quarters blog in 2005.

Does Huckabee Stand a Chance?

Abortion & Marriage - How Important Are They?

It is frustrating that the conservative radio talk hosts are either getting down on Huckabee or denying his existence; but it is downright confusing why there are not more religious and social conservative leaders backing him up. I appreciate what Dick Bott Sr. has to say on Christian World View Network.

These are my honest and heartfelt reflections. And that's all they are.


From the beginning, I've listened and watched and thought hard about who is the right candidate for pro-life leaders, who say the issues of Abortion & Marriage are the two absolutes beyond any other consideration. Those two issues and those alone, are the only issues that are "deal-breakers." It was agreed that finding the 'best' candidate on those two issues is why the meetings were convened.

Along with several others, I sat in meetings where the merits of various candidates were discussed back and forth. Every consideration was put on the examining table for discussion among those who gathered for that expressed purpose. And I never heard anyone in those meetings say the issues of Abortion & Marriage were simply two of many other issues of equal weight.


As important as taxes, national defense, the economy and even immigration were during these discussions among that group of leaders, no one ever expressed that Abortion & Marriage were no longer the only two issues that would dictate our final consensus as to who was therefore most worthy of our collective support.


There were one or two who were already so settled on giving their support to Mike Huckabee, because of his unbroken pro-life credibility, they didn't care to even discuss any of the others. But for the most part, everyone else showed great interest in considering all others in an honest attempt to determine who was the RIGHT candidate -- not necessarily who was the most likely to WIN!


But as time passed, it became clear to the vast majority that Mike Huckabee was the one candidate our group could support with complete confidence.

It was then, however, the group was encouraged, by a few 'leaders' to postpone any collective decision until a special Values Voters Summit could be held in Washington where grass-roots values voters citizens could actually hear for themselves each of the Republican candidates and then cast their votes for who they thought was the clear choice. Even though postponing a consensus-vote would delay the action of the group of assembled leaders, it was finally agreed that no collective action should be determined until after the Values Voters Summit was held.


And the rest is history. Determining the consensus of the group from then on was derailed. The thought seemed to be that no determination was better than having to acknowledge that Mike Huckabee was the candidate of choice. Any candidate other than Mitt Romney would not be permitted to surface.


When the Values Voters Summit was held, after hearing all of the candidates speak for themselves, the values voter grass-roots attendees voted five to one for Mike Huckabee. Huckabee gathered more votes than all other candidates combined, including Mitt Romney. Even when the ballots of those who voted on-line before the Summit were included in the final tally, Mitt Romney was just a point or two ahead of Huckabee. It was never made clear why the on-line voting was mixed-in as part of that tally, because including the on-line votes distorted the meaning of the outcome. The outcome of those at the Summit, who voted "after" actually hearing the candidates speak, was not credited with the true meaning it deserved.


And then it became very clear to me, and to many others, that Mitt Romney was being pushed along into a presumed front-line position beyond any understanding as to why that was happening. Mike Huckabee was the ONLY candidate whose past record on Abortion & Marriage was totally consistent and unbroken -- and therefore totally trustworthy, and therefore totally supportable by those pro-life leaders who had publicly said those two issues were the primary and paramount issues for them to weigh.


Now whether or not Mike Huckabee could actually win was not my major concern. This is not a horse-race where handicapping a winner is part of the process. My concern has always been WHO is the most pro-life and pro-marriage candidate to support and most trustworthy on those "Two issues."

Read the full article here.