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Posted at 1:34pm on Jun. 30, 2008 Netrooters Oblivious to Direct Mail basics

OMG! They spent all the $

By krempasky

Every year, we see it again: shrieking, hand-wringing, gloating (?) lefties pointing fingers at Republican direct mail fundraisers. Trouble is, they don't seem to have much idea what they're talking about.

Read On...

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Posted at 2:28pm on May 7, 2008 Winning Isn't Losing

And Politics Ain't Bean Bag

By krempasky

Early in my career, I had the opportunity to work for giants of the conservative movement. First Morton Blackwell, then Richard Viguerie. Both, in their own way, have been absolutely instrumental to the successes conservatives have seen over the past 40 years.

I'm not giving away any state secrets in pointing out that Richard and Morton have very different styles. They're both builders, but when it comes to the art of coalition politics - there's no question in my mind that the advice Morton gives to conservatives (and Republicans) ought to plastered on a lot of walls here at RedState.

15. Don't treat good guys like you treat bad guys.

We get the joke: center-right moderates and conservatives have used each other as punching bags for a long, long time - and we don't presume to settle that particular rift here at RedState. To try would be laughable.

But we DO expect folks to keep your eyes on the prize: stopping the most liberal candidate we've seen in a generation from winning the White House. Make no mistake, Obama isn't "new" or "revolutionary." He's a talented speaker, but he's not a serious leader prepared for dangerous times. This is a guy who called for a worldwide ban on fissile materials, for crying out loud.

More important, when you find yourself getting torqued at the squish who doesn't think campaign finance reform is near-treason or the neanderthal conservative that would rather focus on Terry Schiavo than fixing the immigration problem...take a deep breath. Put down the keyboard. Go get a drink.

So two final requests: stop throwing rocks at folks who ought to be your friends at least some of the time, and if someone calls you a name or beats you up a bit - good grief, grow a thicker skin. Politics ain't beanbag.

Posted in McCain | Miscellanea | Obama | redstate — Comments (60)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 9:59am on Apr. 16, 2008 Bitter is *not* the issue

He does NOT deserve a pass

By krempasky

For more than a week, the controversy surrounding Barack Obama's comments to a weathy group of San Franciscans (possibly the wealthiest, according to Geraghty) has continued. And while, hey - it's great to see controversy on the other guy's side of the field, the real tragedy is how the frame of those comments has been shifted by the coverage.

"Bitter" is terribly easy shorthand to describe the comments. So easy, it's what the media, the Clintons, even some Republicans have focused on. But, let's be clear: bitterness is not the issue. Obama's characterization of religion as a crutch is many times more offensive. Even to me, a lousy Catholic with roots in Western PA.

This isn't about rust belt voters being cranky, frustrated, "feeling left out" or any such garbage. This is about the Great Hope Candidate describing the most important things in people's lives as something disordered, something to flee towards BECAUSE they drew the short NAFTA straw. [insert inappropriate profanity-laden rant] Oh, and if we could only get better jobs and subsidized healthcare, they wouldn't need to rely on such nonsense...

This guy isn't MLK, he's not Ghandi, he's not even RFK. He's McGovern with a better stump speech. And while Hillary isn't qualified to make that case - let's hope Senator McCain is the man to do it.

Posted in 2008 | Obama — Comments (10)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 2:57pm on Feb. 7, 2008 My $201 for John McCain - where's yours?

It's February 7th. Get it done.

By krempasky

John McCain was not my first choice, but today, on February 7th - he is my best choice. In the past few years, I've hard harsh words for Senator McCain. But today, he is my nominee for President of the United States. And from now on, I will not be anymore critical than Mitt Romney, who ended his campaign a few hours ago with class far too rare in this campaign to date.

I just donated $201 to the McCain for President campaign - not just to support him, but to go on record as such. It's my first donation to a presidential candidate this cycle, and certainly my first ever to Senator McCain. Will you?

In the coming months, it's my responsibility to do my part to stop HilObama. The stakes are too high. What will you do? Will you put a chip on the table? Or two hundred and one of them, even?

Get it done.

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Posted at 11:18am on Jan. 25, 2008 SpeechNow vs. FEC

Can we bar lawyers from the FEC? Please?

By krempasky

Odds are, you've not been following the *other* story at the Federal Election Commission (the primary one being the fact that thanks to Democratic incompetence in the Senate, the FEC doesn't have a quorum. Alas) - the direct challenge to speech limits being driven by SpeechNow.org.

But now they've got some good news: the FEC has released a draft opinion (.pdf) as well as a dissent authored by FEC Chairman Dave Mason (.pdf) (as an aside, the only non-lawyer on the Commission, I believe)

On one hand, Mason's excellent dissent would make an excellent approach to regulation, but even if the FEC weren't crippled by Harry Reid, Barack Obama, and company - I'd have a hard time seeing 4 votes for it.

On the other hand - the draft from the General Counsel may well serve SpeechNow even better. As Bob Bauer puts it,

"Having this draft can’t but help SpeechNow at the next stage in this fight. Apart from having dutifully checked with the agency, the organization can show, further, that the agency has little to say of any interest on the subject but confines itself to defending its statutory turf. The draft gives no sense of the stakes of this confrontation: all of the passion, all of the intellectual energy, is found on the other side, where SpeechNow is found. "

The notion that the support and defense of speech in all its forms (nevermind the most precious speech of all, that driving our politics) should have the upper hand is a very welcome thing indeed.

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Posted at 8:01pm on Dec. 14, 2007 ActBlue: Nice Guys, Not Our Guys.

By krempasky

The FEC today ruled that contributions solicited bundled and transferred by actblue to the john edwards presidential campaign were not eligible for federal matching funds. Good.

But more disturbing was the appearance of David All in the story. Now, I know David was still on the hill when we had our last FEC vs. Blogs fight - and I presume he was a supporter at the time (his boss sure was), although I don't recall specifically. And some might try to draw a parallel between that confrontation over free speech and this decision regarding contributions.

But this - this is far different.

David's trying to play the "everything good for the web is good" game - but he's wrong. Additional support for government funding of campaigns is deeply anti-freedom and free speech, and no one on our side ought to countenance any such thing.

There are a lot of places and times to make common cause with democrats, and specifically the online left. This is hardly one of them and instead puts the parochial interests of vehicles like slatecard (the sad quotes from abcpac are notably absent) far, far ahead of the notions of free elections that embrace competition as the foundation. Instead, he's chosen subsidy.

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Posted at 2:56pm on Dec. 13, 2007 C'mon "Huckabee Facts" - come out and play

Do we really need the anonymous hit pieces anymore?

By krempasky

If you've not seen it, you will. A striking (like a boot to the head) and personal plea for voters to punish Mike Huckabee for his involvement in the freeing of Wayne Dumond.

I'm not a thin-skinned one, and I believe that primaries can be a contact sport. I don't think this ad is out of bounds, and I believe that it's a legitimate issue. (for the record, I also kind of like Mike Huckabee and certainly have nothing against him)

But - for the record - whomever is responsible for this ad has made a tremendous mistake. "Huckabee Facts" - the username on YouTube, is trying to do this completely anonymously. Huh? Are you kidding me? It wasn't a cheap ad to make, and it WILL COME OUT.

If you've got a beef w/ a candidate - stand up and say so. But if you're trying to put the knife between the ribs, you might have just missed, because you've given Huck the perfect opportunity to talk, not about the substance, but about your "dirty campaign trick." Well done.

UPDATE: and there's the source. Why wouldn't you put your name on it?

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Posted at 3:27pm on Dec. 12, 2007 Senator Trainwreck (R, OK)

The best endorsement RedState ever made

By krempasky

And not by a little, either - Tom Coburn proves himself the most effective (and by no coincidence, least-compromising) member of the United States Senate. This Bloomberg article shows EXACTLY why we call him what we do. And trust me, this is about as polite as he gets:

In the final weeks of the session, lawmakers try to save time by passing many bills without voting -- which requires unanimous consent from the entire body. Coburn has warned his colleagues he will automatically block any legislation that increases spending.

In a letter to his colleagues, he advised them ``to contact me as soon as possible so I have sufficient time to read and review your bills'' so ``we can work out any differences.''

And by "work out any differences", you can imagine him to say, "I can beat you about the head and shoulders with this chair I have here."

Posted in Republicans | Tom Coburn — Comments (12)/ Email this page » / Read More »

Posted at 7:30pm on Nov. 6, 2007 Vegas Meetup: Wednesday 11/7

By krempasky

Attending Blog World Expo the next few days? Taking the kids to the oasis in the desert? Just a plain reprobate and degenerate gambler stuck in Sin City?

Then join Kevin Aylward from Wizbang (and the Weblog Awards), Mary Katharine Ham from Townhall, and I for drinks at the West Wing Bar at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino this Wednesday (11/7) at 7pm. If you have any questions, you can email me at mkrempasky at that google email service.

There *will* be a finite number of free drinks.

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Posted at 12:34pm on Oct. 26, 2007 An olive branch to Ron Paul supporters

Can't we all get along?

By krempasky

So over the last few days, we've been inundated (or is it infested?) with calls to allow Ron Paul supporters to participate here at RedState. We've had others misread Leon's post (with really impressive obtuseness) as a hatred of all lovers of liberty.

But at the same time, no one recognizes more than we do the raw passion that folks have for Ron Paul. The creativity to spot a Zionist conspiracy around every corner has to be worth something, too.

So we decided that yes, new Ron Paul-supporting comments do have a place here at RedState. So starting now - the floodgates are open. Sort of. You may shill for Ron Paul, with one condition: you must do it using the form of Japanese poetry known as Haiku. Failure to comply makes it easy to delete the comments and diaries - so have at it.

UPDATE: This offer good for the comments in *this post only.*

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