A Democratic gay activist has stated that Joe Donnelly, Jr. is gay, and his father, Senate Candidate Joe Sr, will have nothing to do with him and will not discuss him. This has also been confirmed with an additional source.
AWB also notes that even that pariah of the left, Dick Cheney, showed greater love for his gay daughter and commitment to his family than has Donnelly.
A new Republican poll showed the party’s Senate nominee in Indiana, state Treasurer Richard Mourdock, with a 3-point lead in the race.
Mourdock had 45 percent, while Rep. Joe Donnelly (D) took 42 percent in the survey paid for by the GOP candidate’s campaign. Roll Call obtained a copy of the poll’s accompanying memo.
Richard Mourdock is the grassroots candidate that unseated Dick Lugar in Indiana's May Republican primary. Mourdock will face liberal Democrat Joe Donnelly in November's general election.
Richard Mourdock, the Republican candidate for US Senate in Indiana, has begun airing the ad above across the Hoosier state. Here's the YouTube description:
When it comes to the "Washington Way" of bigger government and more wasteful spending, Joe Donnelly and Barack Obama are perfectly synchronized.
The seven hundred billion dollar Wall Street bailout?
Yes!
Raising the debt ceiling to spend trillions we don't have?
You bet!
The job killing government takeover of healthcare?
Perfect again!
But we can't afford it. Donnelly and Obama. Perfect for each other, perfectly wrong for Indiana.
Greg Fettig co-founded Hoosiers for a Conservative Senate with Monica Boyer. Hoosiers for a Conservative Senate mobilized grassroots activists across Indiana with the goal of unseating incumbent establishment Republican Dick Lugar in the primary for US Senate and electing a conservative to replace him. Richard Mourdock defeated Lugar in Indiana's May 8th primary.
In this video, Fettig talks about how he and Boyer mobilized Indiana for the effort. He explains the hurdles they encountered along the way and how they overcame them. He lays out the strategy that grassroots activists followed in Indiana. He and Monica Boyer recognized the difficulty of organizing disparate grassroots groups across a large state.
To do so effectively, they set a single goal (defeat Lugar) and agreed to a caucus process by which the groups around the state would endorse one candidate.
Fettig has written a book, Tea Party on Safari, about what he, Boyer, and Hoosiers for a Conservative Senate accomplished in Indiana.
Republican Richard Mourdock, candidate for the US Senate in Indiana, has a new ad out (above). His email announcement reads in part:
Our new TV ad, “Better Off?” hits the airwaves today, and it focuses on our message of bringing Hoosier common sense to Washington. I will prioritize balancing the budget, paying down our debts and creating new jobs. Joe Donnelly has a record of supporting failed big government experiments that haven’t improved our economy.
Here's the YouTube description for the video:
Are you better off?
Washington politicians like President Obama and Congressman Donnelly had their chance, but they've only made things worse.
Dan Bongino is running against liberal Democrat Ben Cardin. Rasmussen hasn't polled the race. In 2006, a Democrat year, Cardin beat Michael Steele by ten points. Bongino obviously has an uphill battle, so he needs your support. Here's a great video he released earlier this week:
Other candidates to consider donating to:
Ted Cruz: Rock-solid Tea Party conservative running in the Lone Star State.
Todd Akin: The premiere anti-establishment candidate running here in the Show Me State.
Scott Brown: Better than the alternative up there in the Bay State.
Denny Rehberg: In a close race against liberal Jon Tester in Big Sky Country.
George Allen: Is in a close race against liberal Tim Kaine in the Old Dominion.
Greg Fettig and Monica Boyer are the heroes of the coalition of Indiana Tea Parties that defeated Dick Lugar (R-IN). Under the united banner of Hoosiers for a Conservative Senate, Fettig and Boyer led the grassroots effort that saw Tea Party favorite Richard Mourdock win the Republican nomination for US Senate this past May. Their role was pivotal because it enticed other people and organizations to help Richard Moudock's campaign.
From my observation of
Indiana's Republican primary for US Senate, I believe that the strategy to get a conservative candidate elected boils down to three steps. These three steps are driven by the candidate:
Richard Mourdock accomplished step 1 when he announced his candidacy in February of 2011. Over 70% of Indiana's Republican county chairmen endorsed Mourdock's bid for US Senate when he announced. Winning the support of the grassroots is step 2 and Fettig's book--Tea Party on Safari--details what happened in Indiana. It's a messy, almost ungovernable process fraught with treachery and ankle-biting time wasters. If the grassroots can coalesce around a particular candidate, then the money to push that candidate across the finish line should be available from PACs--step 3. In Mourdock's case, steps 1 and 2 effectively cleared the field so that the race was always Lugar v Mourdock. Lugar couldn't ignore the competition as Roy Blunt did in Missouri when he ran for Senate in 2010.
With those steps in mind, here are my observations about a couple of the primary races decided this past Tuesday here in Missouri.
In the governor's race, Bill Randles had overwhelming support from the grassroots, but he never really had the backing of the party. As a result, his campaign never attracted the money it needed to boost Randles name recognition with radio and television ads. Fred Sauer's entrance into the race split the vote ensuring that Dave Spence would win and that neither Randles or Sauer had a serious chance in the primary.
The Republican primary for US Senate in Missouri was fascinating to watch. None of the candidates really had the backing of the party, though I think Akin probably scored better on that than either Steelman or Brunner. Steelman is a bit of a pariah among some Republicans who blame her for damaging Kenny Holshof in the 2008 Republican primary for Governor resulting in his defeat later that year. Akin had much better grassroots support than either of his competitors. Steelman was able to win some key endorsements including Sarah Palin; however, they didn't translate into the sort of primary spending she needed to pull out a win.
At the end of July, I interviewed Republican candidate for the US Senate from Indiana Richard Moudock. In this segment, Mourdock talks about the big issue of our time: the Future. He makes the point that he is an optimist by nature and therefore believes that we will get through this economically difficult time with the help of strong conservative leadership.
On Monday, I interviewed Republican candidate for the US Senate from Indiana Richard Moudock. In this segment of that interview, Mourdock talks about the need to repeal and replace Obamacare/Obamatax and lists the healthcare reform policies that he would like to implement: raising the contribution limits for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), selling health insurance across state lines, allow small businesses and sole proprietorships to form health insurance pools with other businesses, and allow individuals to deduct health insurance expenses from their income taxes just as businesses currently do with their health insurance expenses.
Yesterday, I interviewed Republican candidate for the US Senate from Indiana Richard Moudock. In this segment from that interview, Mourdock talks about the importance of getting the federal government and regulations out of the way of businesses so that they can drive the revitalization of our economy.
Fettig helped lead the tea party charge that propelled Richard Mourdock over six-term incumbent Sen. Richard Lugar in Indiana’s May 8 Republican primary. That effort led FreedomWorks’ Matt Kibbe to call the tea party activism in the state the “gold standard” in electioneering.
Fettig recently spoke with The Daily Caller’s Ginni Thomas about why Lugar lost, the lessons he learned from the effort that could help other tea party activists, whether Mourdock will be able to win in November and much more.
Greg Fettig and the Tea Parties of Indiana learned in 2010 the importance of uniting behind one Tea Party candidate when the four US Senate candidates that various Indiana Tea Partiers had supported lost to the establishment candidate. Fettig discusses several other lessons. Watch the whole thing.
Richard Mourdock's 21 point margin of victory in last Tuesday's GOP primary for US Senate in Indiana is having ripple effects. The most obvious ripple occurred in Indiana on election day with Joe Donnelly (D-IN). Currently, Donnelly is serving in the House of Representatives and on May 8th he abandoned fellow Democrats as he joined House Republicans calling for a subpoena of Attorney General Eric Holder in regards to Operation Fast and Furious. Mourdock will face Donnelly on the November ballot to determine which man will represent Indiana in the US Senate.
Today, the US Debt clock indicates that our total debt is over $15.7 trillion. In the two and a half months since Ehrlich's announcement, the national debt has increased almost as much as it had in the 195 years preceding Bill Young's service in the United States House of Representatives.
In her May 10th campaign email, Ehrlich took a page from Richard Mourdock's play book. The subject line of the email was Mourdock's campaign slogan: "It's Time". Hey, you go with what works.
Richard Mourdock has defeated six-term Senator Dick Lugar, 61% to 39%, in Indiana's Republican primary.
Dick Lugar is a statesman. I had my doubts about that, but it was driven home when I learned that Lugar would debate his opponent Richard Mourdock. Roy Blunt never did that in his 2010 primary for US Senate here in Missouri. That's the typical path for a well-known candidate: simply ignore the competition and deny your unknown opponent the opportunity to raise their name recognition. Lugar didn't do that. He debated Richard Mourdock and that choice contributed to Mourdock's margin of victory.
Lugar must have known he was in trouble. As I reported earlier, he spent $46k in February on polling and didn't leak any of it to the press. Campaigns only leak positive news, so he must not have had any. And yet he went ahead with that debate. That solidified my respect for Indiana's senior senator.
Those of you who tirelessly manned the phones for Lugar--I know it's a tough day--but you are the heroes of Lugar's campaign. I can't even imagine what it must have been like calling into an electorate opposed to your guy 60/40, but you did it 1.5 million times. I'm sure that was demoralizing.
If you were part of that operation, then you need to plan to be Republican heroes in November. The GOP presidential nominee is going to need your help--probably not in Indiana, but almost certainly calling into an electorate somewhere in the country that's more favorable than the one you just faced. This primary was preparation for the general election and you are now battle hardened. Good work.
Richard Mourdock's heroes were the countless people across the state that followed the advice in Phyllis Schlafly's 1964 book A Choice Not an Echoand simply took over the party. Schlafly endorsed Mourdock last October. Here's Schlafly talking about the Tea Parties and political strategy:
In St. Louis, I've been impressed by the new media skills of Tea Partiers. Indiana Tea Parties have shown that it's possible to marshal the Republican party to a Tea Party candidate. I'm sure it was a wild ride, but you need to teach the rest of us how to do that.
There are many contributing factors to Lugar's loss, but I think the biggest one is encapsulated in Richard Mourdock's campaign slogan: "It's Time." Lugar served America as a faithful and bipartisan cold warrior with particular attention to international affairs. In recent years, he pushed green energy issues. For instance, he supported Indianapolis based EnerDel with earmarks and, I believe, the occasional favorable word to the Department of Energy to help that battery manufacturer secure more funding.
Lugar's bipartisanship may have been his undoing because there is simply nothing more bipartisan than additional spending. Spending is the lubricant of bipartisanship. That's what legislative logrolling is all about.
The US has about $15.7 trillion in debt. The age of more spending is behind us; therefore, bipartisanship is increasingly a thing of the past. And that debt curtails our need for international statesmen. Regardless of whether we want to be involved around the world, our financial obligations necessitate that we wont be spending as much overseas. We're entering a time of introspection driven by the fundamental need to reduce our debt. I think Hoosier voters understood this.
The leaders of each age are molded by issues of their time. Lugar's bipartisanship, international outreach, earmarks, and opposition to gun issues (which I suspect was a result of his time as mayor of Indianapolis) are simply lodestones in today's political environment. There are similarities between statesmen from different eras, but these tend to be personal characteristics: humility, humor, resolve, vision. Both Dick Lugar and Richard Mourdock have evidenced these characteristics. Because Mourdock is new on the scene I encourage you to watch these two videos which capture his conviction:
Dick Lugar's time as an active statesman is coming to an end. I'm confident that Richard Mourdock will fill the vacuum left by his departure. He wont replace Dick Lugar, but he will honor Lugar's service in the cold-war by working tirelessly to address our country's fiscal problems.
Indiana can be proud that it has groomed men like Dick Lugar and Richard Mourdock--statesmen of their respective eras--for service to this country. As a fellow American, I'm grateful that you have.
Polls in Indiana's primary have not yet closed. Conservative Hoosier voters are voting to decide whether or not to retire six-term incumbent Dick Lugar in favor of Tea Party favorite Richard Mourdock. Meanwhile, the presumptive Democrat candidate for US Senate in Indiana, Joe Donnelly, has abandoned any hope of ever being known as Obama's favorite Democrat. With the primary behind him and the clear understanding that Indiana's electorate is to his right on most policy issues, Donnelly has decamped for the hallowed ground of "bipartisanship." Donnelly, who is currently serving in the House of representatives, has joined the chorus of conservatives calling for President Obama's Attorney General Eric Holder to be subpoenaed, reports The Daily Caller:
Indiana Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly told The Daily Caller on Tuesday that he supports the House oversight committee’s efforts to enforce the congressional subpoena of Attorney General Eric Holder over Operation Fast and Furious.
“One of the duties of Congress is to provide oversight of the Executive Branch,” Donnelly told TheDC. “There has been a serious allegation of federal law enforcement misconduct and we need to get to the bottom of this issue without playing partisan politics.”
Thank you to all the tools in Indiana's Democrat base that supported this sellout. Now we might just see an investigation of Fast and Furious and some justice for Eric Holder.
Here are some video highlights from Saturday's Rally for Richard Mourdock in Indianapolis. The rally was sponsored by FreedomWorks. Michelle Malkin keynoted the show. Hoosier Tea Parties deserve the credit for providing the manpower and hard work that's gone into the get-out-the-vote (GOTV).
Below are videos of several of the speeches Saturday. Thanks so much to Alex of ConservativeTVOnline.com. He is by far the best St. Louis-based Tea Party videographer--we all aspire to be as good as him some day!
I was surprised to learn that Richard Mourdock has a sense of humor. I haven't seen that side of him in the videos I've seen of him before. The video above which was recorded about a week ago. Mourdock cracks a couple of jokes at a gathering of conservatives and Tea Partiers in Madison, Indiana, and then says something profound while talking about the kick-off of his campaign in February of last year. Here's my rough transcript [from 3:12 to 4:35]:
When we began our primary on February 22nd, 2011, I knew it was going to be a long, long slog until May 8th, 2012. When we gathered at the Arch Garden... there were about 200 people gathered that day. And I did something that I know shocked all of them, but I did it to make a promise to them and to put a vow upon myself which was to begin that announcement of candidacy that day by saying that we were going to do something at that moment that we would do again on the night of May 8th, 2012, when this campaign ends--regardless, how this campaign ends. And that is, we began with a round of applause in tribute to a person who's given great public service for more than 50 years of his life, and that is Senator Dick Lugar. He deserves the respect of every single one of us even though we may have times we disagree with him. If you've ever met Mr. Lugar, he is a wonderful man. He is a gentleman--he truly is. He's a very nice guy. I had people--after our debate the other night when the audio went off--they saw us still on camera talking and joking. It is impossible not to like Dick Lugar.
Professor Jacobson of LegalInsurrection no longer feels sorry for Dick Lugar because Lugar still refuses to commit to endorsing Mourdock if Moudock should prevail on Tuesday. Why is Lugar doing that? Poor advice from his campaign staff. That's just more ground that Lugar is ceding in the waning days of this election.
FreedomWorks sponsored a Rally for Richard Mourdock in Indianapolis. That rally was coordinated with a state-wide get-out-the-vote effort. Mourdock is running to be the next US Senator from Indiana. He will face incumbent Dick Lugar in Tuesday's Republican primary. H/T to my two St. Louis-based photographers!
Sen. Richard Lugar told reporters this afternoon at a hastily called press conference in Indianapolis that Mourdock was "unqualified" to serve in the Senate and pleaded with Democratic and independent voters to request Republican ballots in next Tuesday's primary to save him from defeat. Lugar also continued to rebuff attempts to agree to support Mourdock if he wins the Republican primary.
No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.
Lugar sold his Indianapolis home in 1977. He was ruled ineligible to vote from that address earlier this year. He's now registered to vote from a family farm. A farm that Lugar's own spokesman, David Wilkie, said this about: "There’s no house at the farm that you would stay in, so far as a physical residence..." Dick Lugar, Indiana's Senior Senator and world renowned statesman, inhabits an open field. Really? Does this octogenarian stay in a tent?
The point is that Dick Lugar does not in any meaningful sense inhabit Indiana, and, in light of the Article 1, Section 3 of the Constitution, that makes him look ridiculous when he asserts that his opponent is unqualified.
Calling Mourdock "unqualified" was a mistake. Refusing to support Mourdock if he wins was also a mistake. Lugar's greatest political strength is his reputation, but with those two petty slights, Lugar has ceded the high ground. And Richard Mourdock planted his flag on that hill with the message in the video above: this race isn't about me or Dick Lugar--it's about America. It's not about petty politics; it's about building a better country together.
I saw a tweet: "Here's Reagan aide Peggy Noonan's argument for @dicklugar in the #INSen..." and I just shook my head. Peggy Noonan's Case for Dick Lugar is hardly persuasive:
The most recent polls suggest Dick Lugar, the senior U.S. senator from Indiana, first elected in 1976, is on track to lose his primary on Tuesday. I hope he doesn't for a number of reasons but one big one: the Senate needs grown-ups. The entire American government needs grown-ups, from Capitol Hill to the White House to the executive agencies. This is no time to lose one.
It's an A-team of endorsements if you want to win the moderate middle between the two parties, but they do nothing to help a candidate in a primary. In fact, I think they hurt Lugar's chances next Tuesday because each of those endorsements (excepting Daniels) come with the sort of baggage that reminds voters why they might want to vote for the guy running against Lugar--Richard Mourdock.
Tea Party Conservative who began blogging at http://RebootCongress.NET when TARP passed. Email me: contact@RebootCongress.net. Help support my work: Donate Bitcoins
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