“Carry a message to Marathon, tell them we won.” Voyage to the moon so you can see the Earth behind you. Bring good news back, saying that all looks peaceful from there. Voyageur, carry the message in your heart, we have won the race. These are the words both sides of the vote on health care are looking for. One side will come away victorious today. Which it will be is anyone’s guess. If the Democrats get the vote, we will need to prepare for the onslaught coming in 2010. That onslaught will be the sound of locusts coming to take our freedom, our liberty, and our money. The locusts will be tax collectors, bureaucrats from Washington coming to set up panels which will tell us what they will cover and what they won’t, and the campaigners for candidates who will scrounge around for votes they don’t deserve. If the Republicans win we will see smiles, promises, kissed babies, and scroungers. Unless the Republican party regains their conservativeness, and their contract for America, and sticks with it, we will see a lot of wind but no breath of fresh air. Trust in our legislative branch will take place only if significant changes are wrought, there will be a distrust of congress and the bureaucracy which transports the messages from the legislature to the people. Unless the bureaucracy drastically changes, there will be very little change in the institution of government. Senators and Representatives may come and go, but bureaucrats stay until they are either fired or retired. If the voyageur caries a message of hope we can breathe easier for at least 10 minutes. Then we will need to continue our vigilence, because just like in 2001 and 2004, Republicans dropped the ball. The watchmen could not raise the citizens to rally at the gate then, so the message was lost. If we are not vigilent, when the Republicans regain their seats, they will slip again. There is an opportunity to become the uberparty again, but it will take work and boldness on the part of the candidates. The message must be transported to every portion of our society, from one people group to the next. Noone can be left out, and noone excluded. The conservative message is one of common sense answers to the issues of the day. Common sense is not always the simplest answer, but is an answer that simplifies complicated issues. This health care bill, for instance, complicates a simple issue into a convoluted mess. That is what republicans cannot do. Simplify, qualify, and reduce, the three words which will get the Republican Party back into a majotity. Then, when they get back into the majority, they cannot forget how they got there. Simplify, qualify, and reduce. Keep the message simple, just like the message the Greeks sent back to Marathon, ” we won.” Keep legislation simple so the citizenry can understand it, qualify the message by doing the math, showing how much it will cost in simple terms, reduce the size of government by half, cutting programs and departments that no longer serve a purpose, and reduce the deficit, and stop the spending. Stop the flow of illegals and secure the borders. In this way we can deduce that the Republican Party is one which listens to its constituents, and serves the nation rather than the party. It is just as wrong for Republicans to only serve the party as it is for the Democrats to only serve their party. If the Republican party serves the Nation first, they will reap the rewards of that action. The nation always comes first, politically.

The most important thing 2009 has taught us is that this nation can fall into darkness. We, as a nation have allowed our selves to idolize a man, and put him on such a high pedistal that when he falls he will break his neck. We have seen it in the newspapers, on cable news channels, network channels, and some radio stations. We have experienced this phenomenon throughout the campaign, and the first year of this presidency. No man, woman, or whatever, deserves that much adulation, no matter who they are. This nation has slipped into an idolitrous nation. We began this nation as an experiment in Christianity. Our forefathers came to this land to bring Christianity to this land for the glory of God. That was the beginning of this nation. Time has eaten away at this experiment in government and this Christian heritage. It is up to us to protect them both, with God’s help.

According to a report from Ohio today, a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has asked the ACORN-tainted Ohio Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner, to investigation ACORN’s voter registration work in the state.

“U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan has formally asked Ohio’s secretary of state to look into allegations that ACORN had at least a preliminary plan to back Democrat candidates in key Ohio congressional races in 2008.”

The political plan was described in an October article as “having been scaled back,” and of course, ACORN denied any partisan activity.

“But to some, ACORN’s early 13-page plan for the 2008 election reinforces what critics always assumed: The group’s goal was never nonpartisan. The political plan and other ACORN documents show that the group was interested not just in helping presidential candidate Barack Obama, whom it urged its members to support, according to post-election Federal Election Commission reports. ACORN also was interested in Congress and the Ohio Statehouse.

“There’s no question that ACORN strategized to figure out how its election efforts could maximize the benefit for selected Democratic candidates in the most competitive races,” U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa of California told The Plain Dealer. “

An illuminating  fact not mentioned in either article is that ACORN prepared political plans for several key battleground states in 2006 and again during the 2007-08 election cycle. As evidenced by the draft plans developed in the Spring of 2006 by the Strategic Writing and Research Department (SWORD) of ACORN Political Operations, these plans were aimed at electing “progressives” and in some cases broke down the Congressional districts by race for maximum targeting. SWORD, which was staffed by Project Vote staff, including myself, worked with ACORN head organizers in FL, MD, MI, MN, OH, PA, and RI to create local documents for the ACORN field staff to implement and present to funders and/or various partner organizations.

A copy of the Maryland and Colorado draft plans from 2006 are available online. Key parts of the plans are the contact and Congressional district sections at the end. For example, in the Maryland plan, it calls for mailings and face to face contact. A screen shot of the type of mailing Marylanders received is shown below.

ACORN used Project Vote staff and computers to create the PowerPoint “Campaign for a New Congress.” This PowerPoint was aimed at swaying the Congressional election in Maryland from Albert Wynn to ACORN ally Donna Edwards. Using the final political plan, ACORN canvassed voters and mailed pieces through its affiliate Communities Voting Together.

Campaign for a New Congress

Communities Voting Together has the same address as the Project Vote office in DC and its address on the screen shot above is the same Elysian Fields address where hundreds of other ACORN entities “reside.

As a 527 group, Communities Voting Together paid over 150,000 to Citizen’s Services Inc, and contributed to Wade Rathke’s Chief Organizer Fund. Jeff Robinson is listed as the contact for Communities Voting Together and some may remembered Robinson from the 2008 elections (emphasis mine):

“In fact, the Obama campaign paid an ACORN-run organization more than $800,000. In Federal Election Commission required filings, the Obama campaign reported that this money was paid for polling, advance work and event staging. After watchdog scrutiny called this claim into question, the Obama campaign revised its filing and acknowledged that CSI was paid for “get-out-the-vote” projects.

CSI Executive Vice President Jeff Robinson last August told Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporter David M. Brown that CSI is a ’separate organization entirely’ from ACORN. But as Brown reported, CSI has the same office address as ACORN’s national headquarters, ACORN itself described CSI in 2006 as its ‘campaign services entity.’ Coincidentally, the widely identified “national deputy political director for campaigns and elections” for ACORN is…Jeff Robinson.”

ACORN’s shell corporations make it easy for a political plan to become a partisan voter registration drive facilitated by thin veiled “partnerships.” The filing reports of Communities Voting Together raise a number of questions, including whether the misspelling of the name on the filing was intentional. The payments to various ACORN entities should give any astute lawmaker pause.

ACORN has been able to claim that it never worked in some recent elections including NY-23, but as this screen shoot illustrates, Communities Voting together was mailing and passing out door knockers in 2006 for Corzine in New Jersey (without a mention of ACORN).

Will ACORN backed officials like Jennifer Brunner (who has her eye on a Senate seat) and officials in Maryland and Colorado take notices of these obvious attempts to elect Democrats, or will they continue to turn a blind eye to ACORN in order to save themselves?

Illinois is fairly unique in that their filing deadline is very early, being one year before the actual election. In other words, the deadline is passed, and we know exactly who's going to be available in the primaries for all races. Because of that, there's a lot less uncertainty for IL races compared to the rest of the nation right now. There's a few interesting House races, but only one good solid chance of a pickup: IL-14.

To evoke Terry Pratchett, what I’m going to be looking for is a candidate who I think will actively try to ensure that tomorrow is going to be pretty much like today.

Liz Cheney (via Gateway Pundit) has some thoughts about whatever person we stick with the 2012 cleanup job is in for:

I’m personally not all that interested in talking 2012 until we’re done with 2010, but if I had to make a decision right now I’m going to take the position that ‘boring’ would be a nice default quality to have in our next candidate. So does ‘dull:’ it’s been just over a year since we started to live in interesting times, and I’m pretty much done with the sensation, thanks.

Moe Lane

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

Over the past week or two, we political junkies have seen a lot of comments from the pundits agreeing that Bob McDonnell won in VA because he ran as a moderate in a purple state, and asserting that his moderate approach should be the template for conservatives across the country.  (Translation:  He only won because he hid what he really is, and conservatives would be well advised to hide their true colors).  Any time such a large number of pundits converge on essentially the same line, it is usually because they have found partisan spin.  Here, it is partisan spin and sour grapes. 

One year ago, Obama won VA 53-46, a seven point margin.  Now, McDonnell lead the GOP with an 18 point victory, which marks a 25 point swing in one short year.  Whereas the independents were reliable Democrat votes a year ago, McDonnell dominated this demographic.  Obviously, this is a victory worthy of examination in developing a blueprint. 

But, it is erroneous to posit that the reason for that swing was any shying away from conservative principles.  Indeed, McDonnell stated he was proudly Pro-Life.  Thanks to Creigh Deeds and the tens of millions of dollars the DGA and others poured into the race, VA voteres were daily, and perhaps even more frequently, reminded he was an unabashed social conservative.  McDonnell never denied this, only denying the weak assertions that he was anti-woman.  McDonnell’s ground game was superb, precisely because he managed to rally social conservatives and fiscal conservatives.  A “moderate” approach would have failed on that score, and he may never have risen above the “thesis” attacks that at one point made it a 3 point race, just a few months ago. 

So without further ado, here are my top ten lessons from the recent elections:

1. Independents (and others) responded extremely well to McDonnell’s articulate, specific plans.  Having a policy wonk at the top of the ticket helped downballot as well.  McDonnell’s greatest victory was in capturing the mantle of the “ideas” candidate.  Conversely, he successfully painted Deeds as a shallow candidate who was short on ideas.
2. McDonnell ran a very positive campaign.  Even his critics in the Washington Post and other liberal media had to concede he was focused on a positive, idea-centered campaign.  There was a lot to attack with a candidate like Creigh Deeds.  But McDonnell did not go there.  The negatives of the opposing candidate got out without the negativity from a GOP candidate.
3. National headwinds favor the GOP.  McDonnell successfully tapped in to national issues discontenting VA voters, again with specifics.  He made it clear how VA jobs would be destroyed by cap and trade, etc.  He attacked Pelosi’s plans but not the (still) popular President.
4. McDonnell ran a disciplined campaign with a credible focus on job creation.  His focus was on bread and butter issues every day.  More, perhaps, than anything else, this resonated with voters.  I believe selecting candidates with a credible history of such focus and campaigns’ ability to stay on a job creation message when unemployment is at double digits is key.
5. VA may have trended blue in recent years, but it also trended into higher unemployment and higher taxes.  Democrats here, as everywhere else, promise many great things, but governed terribly in the final analysis.  In some parts of the state, unemployment was at depression era levels of 20-25%.
6. McDonnell avoided the pitfalls many VA GOP statewide candidates have fallen into.  The media constantly were on the lookout for a “macaca” moment (George Allen), but he did not give them one because he was wary of his audience.  He did not focus on “pet issue” with which he could be caricaturized like the car tax (Jim Gilmore, and now a running joke of an issue) or the death penalty (Jerry Kilgore, a former prosecutor who came across as a bit bloodthirsty).
7. The ground game was superb.  McDonnell won this on a number of fronts.  He was an unapologetic conservative.  This rallied the conservatives who could not bring themselves to volunteer for a John McCain.  I saw far more youths and McDonell campaign workers in an “off year election” than I ever did for McCain.  By contrast, Deeds’ efforts to run hard left failed miserably.
8. McDonnell built a meaningful coalition.  He had endorsements from key Democrats, business leaders, and virtually every job creating organization in the state.  With this he was able to credibly assert over and over his candidacy meant more jobs.  At the end, this lead to newspapers lining up to endorse him (except of course the Washington Post).  McDonnell took the time to woo key Democrats as well as Republicans.
9. He weathered the attacks on him well.  McDonnell was villified for his thesis in national media, and the Washington Post ran several front page stories on it for a while.  McDonnell and other key conservatives (Michael Barone of the Washington Examiner) called the Post out on its daily hack jobs, and they stopped in time.  He ran a few ads to show he was not anti-working woman, defending himself without getting personal and negative.  And, all the while, he continued to utilize the attacks as an opportunity to be the candidate to “refocus” the issues on matters that mattered to VA voters.
10. He never rested on his laurels.  His campaign frequently touted that even though they had a lead, they would run “like they were 10 points behind.”  They maintained the energy level needed.

Other reasons will be found, but those are the lessons I would commend to anyone looking to the VA landslide for a blueprint for conservative victories.

Minnesota’s Secretary of Fraud State, Mark “ACORN” Ritchie has published new rules regarding the handling and proposed mishandling of absentee ballots.  In an attempt to make stealing administering an election more efficiently, he has proposed ‘friendlier’ absentee ballot instructions and procedures.  This way his office can more adeptly destroy preserve our democratic institutions.

Instead of insuring that all votes are counted, only legal ballots are included, there are no fraudulent votes, there is no double counting, and certain regions are not excluded, Ritchie has proposed a ballot that will guide the DFL political machine Minnesota polity through the process.  Ballots are more clearly marked and mailing procedures thoroughly explained so it is easier for his election lackeys judges tomake the next election more fraudulent open.

Minnesota has a series of election laws that make it easy for ACORN voters to register and vote on the same day.  These laws are instrumental for insuring every political operative citizen can have their voice heard. Several times if need be.  

This past election was a squeaker.  The battle for the senate seat was very close, too close to leave to the amateurs.  Therefore, there needs to be clear instructions and steps to make sure the DFL Politburo will of the people is known.

So, Ritchie made the ballot a clear, concise instrument that will be easy for officials to lose, miscount, double count, and set aside for goofy reasons.  Our oligarchy democracy is too precious for such contention.  Ritchie has taken these steps as to once again hoodwink reassure the populace that its democratic ideals are preserved. 

[Just letting you know what ACORN's chief advisor and trainer is doing up here in the North Country.  Perhaps, you can preserve your election process more completely.  We allowed ours to be corrupted beyond belief.  Don't let that happen to you.]

Media Matters continues to try to provide cover for the public flogging ACORN has received as a result of investigative videos which showed ACORN employees giving advice on a number of illegal activities including human trafficking, child prostitution, bank fraud, illegal immigration and tax evasion. Meanwhile, the mainstream media has largely ignored a growing scandal that cannot be contained: ACORN is reportedly closing offices across the country, including the site of the DC undercover videotape.

Also, today another damning ACORN tape was released at Big Government. This time an ACORN member openly confessed to ACORN using non-partisan voter registration to secretly produce Obama votes:

Anyone paying attention knows accusations relating to voter registration fraud, illicit partisan activity and other chicanery often have been made against ACORN, with ACORN either denying all or any ACORN fault. In October of 2008, I testified in Pennsylvania regarding the illegal coordination between Barack Obama’s Campaign and ACORN:

“A former staffer for Project Vote, a sister organization of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, testified at a hearing in Pennsylvania on Wednesday that the Obama campaign provided the group with a campaign donor list in late 2007 for their fundraising efforts. The former D.C. staffer, Anita Moncrief, said she still has a copy of what she called the ‘development plan’ she used to help her identify the maxed-out Obama donors for solicitation. The hearing was part of a lawsuit brought by the GOP seeking information and an injunction against certain ACORN activities in Pennsylvania.

“McCain-Palin campaign manager Rick Davis said in a statement, ‘We now know that Barack Obama’s campaign was working hand-in-glove with an organization reportedly under investigation by the F.B.I. and in more than a dozen states. In addition to funneling $832,000 to ACORN for get-out-the-vote efforts, the Obama campaign and ACORN have been sharing donor lists, encouraging maxed-out Obama donors to contribute to this unethical organization.’” (emphasis mine).”

The member caught on tape publicized by Big Government is another in a long line of “bad apples” for ACORN. As it becomes harder to hide behind poor minorities, ACORN appears to be on the run. Unfortunately, they are running to the White House. There Barack Obama, ACORN’s “inside man,” seems poised to protect ACORN and even strike down its enemies. Andy Stern of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) serves as a close confidant of the President with over 20 visits logged in at the White House (he tops the frequent visitor list). Stern has every reason to expect this sort of access, as he not only funneled many millions of dollars into the Obama campaign, but also aligned with SEIU’s sister organization, ACORN, to ensure that Obama was elected.

The screen shot is from an internal ACORN document from 2006. When combined with the admissions of the member, it provides additional proof that ACORN and SEIU - with the help of the Obama presidential campaign - intentionally took government and tax exempt donations through organizations like Project Vote to run a partisan voter registration drive aimed at electing Obama. Both the Federal Elections Commission and the media ignored the Obama donor list that was submitted as evidence in the Pennsylvania case and sworn testimony. But can they ignore the admission of someone saying: “I Am ACORN”?

As President ,Obama has paved the way for ACORN and SEIU to receive stimulus money and ACORN favorites to receive prime appointments to both executive and judicial positions.

Of course, Obama has admitted to limited ties with ACORN. But Americans have witnessed Obama run the country like one big ACORN office and trying to implement ACORN’s radical agenda. Apparently being a community organizer is something that - like ACORN - is hard for Obama to shake. In 2001, a group of ACORN protesters broke up a community tenant meeting by shouting the words, “Yes, We Can.” Eight years later, ACORN man Obama rode to victory using the same slogan of those angry protesters.

With so much to lose, lawmakers are concerned about the lengths to which Obama will go to in order to protect ACORN. Congressman Steve King of Iowa released a statement today suggesting that a cover-up may be being executed under the guise of an investigation:

“Bob Bauer has a public record of defending Barack Obama’s relationship with ACORN. Bauer has acted as the agent between Obama and ACORN, and now he will be perfectly positioned to be tasked with erasing the tracks between Obama and ACORN. Bauer’s hiring appears to be a tactical maneuver to strategically defend the White House exactly one week after Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell raided ACORN’s national headquarters in New Orleans and seized paper records and computer hard drives that may lead to the White House.”

Congressman King has reason to worry. The Democrat-controlled Congress has given ACORN plenty of time and warning to prepare for these “investigations”. In March of this year Michigan Representative John Conyers backed down from a call to investigate ACORN after several witnesses testified about the 2008 elections and ACORN. Portions of my Pennsylvania testimony regarding ACORN’s illegal activities in 2008 were read into the record and hundreds of pages of evidence were submitted by GOP Attorney Heather Heidelbaugh. In explaining his flip flop, Conyers cited “the Powers that be.” As the “Age of Obama” unfolds, it’s not hard to guess who “the powers” are.

Obama is willing to make small, symbolic concessions like removing ACORN from the Census, but his Justice Department remains oddly complacent with ACORN. The bailout hungry media covered up the Obama/ACORN story  and continue to ignore damaging stories like the IRS dropping ACORN from its list of VITA sites.

Mainstream newspapers and online liberal “news” sources appear content to continue to play the “race card” and paint conservatives as obsessed about ACORN because ACORN purported to help the poor. ACORN may be Teflon as long as Obama is in the White House. Charges of tax evasion, child prostitution, voter registration fraud, illegal immigration, bank fraud, etc. may not stick to ACORN.

With 2010 rapidly approaching, a look at ACORN’s cookie cutter statements on its voter programs tells us what ACORN plans for America.

Fortunately, Big Government caught one of those “highly trained” ACORN organizers on tape. How many more “bad apples” does it take before it is generally realized that ACORN itself is rotten to the core?

Last night was an interesting night for the Conservative Movement.   For the most part it was a good night, with some setbacks.   Last night the Conservatives won 2 out of 3 of the major elections the country was watching.   The only loss was in NY 23, when Bill Owens beat Doug Hoffman for the special election.  But overall the Conservatives did well in many local state elections, and state wide elections

Was this a repudiation of Obama???  Well I think is is yes and no.  Yes, inthe fact that many Independents  elected Conservatives because of the economy.   The policies that Obama has put forth have not taken us out of the Recession that he “inherited”.   If nothing else most of them made things worse.   So in some ways it was elections based on Obama’s presidency. But on the other hand there was much to say about local and state politics that affected the elections.   Corzine and the Democrats in New Jersey have been affected by the arrests of many Democrats in a state run on corruption.   Without these big time arrests would Christie have won???  That is hard to say.

There will be much debate over what really happened in NY 23.   Hoffman was a little known entity just a few weeks ago.  Before the Conservative bloggers and new media (73 Wire) arrived on the seen, Hoffman was running in 3rd place at 20%.   After all is said and done, he got around 46%, after much attention.   It goes to show that when Conservatives get their act together we can change election results.   Did we win??  Yes and no.   We lost the election but won the battle against the GOP establishment.

I do think that the GOP should be the “Big Tent” Party.   I do not think that we should kick out every Moderate republican, we need them in the whole scheme of things.  But as a whole the GOP needs to listen to the base instead of always thinking the Moderate candidate is the best way to go.   NY 23 is a Conservative district and Dede Scozzafava was not the person to pick.  She was a Liberal Moderate in a a Conservative district.   Bill Owens is more likely more Conservative than she is.

So overall I think this should be considered a win for the Conservative Movement.   We are not going to be able to win overnight these are baby steps in bringing some sanity back in government.  And hopefully the RNC will at least not take the Conservatives for granite anymore and start listening to us.

originally posted at Stix Blog

So Rep. Anthony Weiner of NY - who is understandably upset that the Democrats were not able to take advantage of Mayor Bloomberg’s revealed weakness in yesterday’s election - made a somewhat passive-aggressive suggestion that the administration spent too much time on Jon Corzine and pretty much no time at all on Bill Thompson. Such things are inevitable in the aftermath of a lost election, particularly when it’s actually the aftermath of lost elections. The double hammer-blow of losing both Virginia and New Jersey’s governors’ seats is going to make a number of Democrats say some unfortunate things for a while. A prudent or experienced administration will let those things slide.

Fortunately for the GOP, the current one is neither.

“Maybe Anthony Weiner should have manned-up and run against Michael Bloomberg,” shot back a White House official, who attributed the night’s results across the board to anti-incumbent fervor.

…which apparently was not enough to actually eliminate the incumbent in NYC*, but never mind that right now. Anyway, if one is going to trade ‘maybes,’ here’s one: maybe the White House should stop letting people willing to act and talk like a thirteen-year-old speak for it? Even if it’s off the record.

Moe Lane

PS: See also Hot Air and JammieWearingFool.

*Including NYC’s - which I wasn’t, until this came up - there were five major races yesterday. Two had incumbents. One won, one lost.

Crossposted to Moe Lane.