DCRepublican.com

Here is a great article by Dr. Wayne Brough, discussing the implications of the Farm Bill. Click Here.

Just a taste of the article:

Farm policies in the United States continue to distort markets through government interventions that benefit farmers at the expense of consumers. Despite rhetoric to the contrary and the sentimentality of saving the family farm, the subsidies and crop programs Congress is peddling do little for the small farmer.

Amen.

It seems like $300,000,000,000 is the magic number these days in Washington.

First Congress wanted to allocate $300billion for a mortgage bailout, and now they want allocate another $300billion of YOUR money to subsidizing farmers and a variety of other state pet-projects.

Even though President Bush had promised a veto on this legislation, the House continued to charge ahead at full speed, passing the Farm Bill and all the pork attached.

From CNN.com:

“This bill has been under consideration for a long, long time, and yet still we have earmarks that have been ‘air dropped’ into the legislation,” said Arizona GOP Rep. Jeff Flake.

So what exactly is included in this package? Here is just a taste:

The bill also contains a few home-state projects, including tax breaks for Kentucky racehorse owners, extra help for farmers in Hawaii and Alaska and dollars for salmon fishermen in the Pacific Northwest.

Sadly, this is only the tip of the iceberg.

In the coming days, I’ll try to get a more complete list of some of the additional pet-projects that are included in this enormous package, as well as who requested them.

Unfortunately, the vote in the House was 318-106, which means that there is already enough likely-’yays’ for a veto override. However, if 28 of the 100 Republicans who voted for the Farm Bill would grow a pair and focus on principle, and not the outcome in November, then maybe people would start to see the Republican Party as one that is actually unified behind a set of core values.

Welcome to campaign 2008.

I’m sure that I wasn’t the only person surprised by seeing former Congressman Bob Barr’s latest resurgence – this time running for President under the Libertarian Party.

While the likelihood of Bob Barr winning is quite slim, I do believe that he could bring an interesting dynamic to the race that could have a significant impact on the outcome of the election this November.

On a few occasions, I have discussed the need for the Republican Party to find a way to harness some of the energy of the loyal Ron Paul base. However, with Bob Barr entering this race, it’s going to be much easier for those supporters to find common ground with Barr as opposed to Senator McCain, spelling out problems for the GOP.

Furthermore, when Ron Paul actually decides to exit this race, if he throws his support behind Bob Barr, it’s safe to assume that the majority of the Ron Paul army will also follow.

Now in terms of percentage of the overall electorate, I don’t think that Ron Paul’s loyalists would have much muscle if this was your typical election. However, with the likelihood of Barack Obama being the Democratic nominee becoming more likely every day, this Ron Paul army now finds itself in a position of power.

Under normal circumstances, it would be assumed that this army of conservative/libertarian voters would usually support the next best thing when their candidate leaves the race. For the last few weeks, that next best thing has been John McCain (by a long shot for some, I know), but now with Bob Barr throwing his hat in, the McCain campaign is going to have to find a way to get to some of these voters, or find a new group of ‘independents’ to go after.

If Hillary Clinton was the nominee for the Demcorats, this wouldn’t be a big deal, simply because the independents would naturally gravitate more towards McCain. But Barack Obama does very well independents, which pulls away more potential non-traditional voters from the McCain campaign.

When you throw in the potential of a ‘Bob Barr’ effect, the results could pose significant problems for the McCain campaign.

Even with Bob Barr entering this race, I still believe that McCain has a good chance of winning in November. However, it’s going to be more difficult than once assumed and the McCain camp is going to have to make some strategy decisions that put them in a position to reach out beyond the identified supporters and ‘likely independents’.

You can already see the McCain campaign doing this with their latest pitches on global warming, supporting proposals like cap-and-trade.

While these definitely have appeal to the non-traditional-Republican voters, they are fighting words in some free-market, libertarian-Republican circles, who cringe at the idea of more government intervention.

If at any point it appears that this race is going to be a lost cause for the Republican Party, I don’t see any reason why libertarian-Republicans wouldn’t throw their support behind Bob Barr just to make a point to the Republican National Committee.

I personally think that John McCain is making some smart moves by addressing the environment issues early on in his campaign. As you know, there are many Republicans who doubt the credibility of global warming claims and believe that the government shouldn’t impose new regulations based on those claims.

By putting these issues on table now, there is a good chance that once the debates start rolling around, people will begin to look at more contrasting issues, such as national defense, immigration, health care, social security and other tax policies where Obama and McCain see things much differently.

But, at the same time, this also gives Bob Barr an opportunity to reach out to those people (mainly libertarian leaning Republicans) who are opposed to McCain’s views and raise money to go on the attack.

If Bob Barr has the ability to harness even one-half of the energy that surrounds Ron Paul’s campaign, he’ll definitely have the ability to play spoiler in November.

Now all Bob Barr needs is an endorsement from Paul, and we’ll have one hell of a race.

Like I said, I think McCain can still win this and I’m not all that worried… yet. I mean, he does still have to compete with Mike Gravel first, right?

On a side note, I did see that the Ron Paul headquarters in Arlington, VA has been vacated…

I’m working on some things this weekend, but in the meantime, here are two new blogs that I think have a great deal of potential (they’re new, so you’ll have to check back frequently for updates):

TheNextRight.com - the latest creation of Soren Dayton, John Henke and Patrick Ruffini.

DearRepublicanParty.com - A friend of mine who is just getting things rolling; definitely excited to see this blog grow.

Despite the fact that the 2008 presidential primaries have been anything but uneventful, in terms of other campaigns across the country, it seems as if everyone else is off to an incredibly slow start.

Even though it’s already May, there are still many hot-races that haven’t even come close to moving into full swing.

While I find this extremely troubling for both parties, I find it to be most problematic for Republicans, simply because they are already heading into this election as the underdogs.

Awhile back, Time Magazine published what they thought were the top 10 Senate races in the 2008 election: Virginia, Colorado and New Hampshire. I completely agree with this assessment and if the GOP wants to at least have some voting muscle in the Senate, they need to win these races.

This isn’t new information, but for some reason it seems that these top three campaigns haven’t even moved into full gear yet, even though there is only a little more than 6 months until the November election.

To give you an idea of what I’m talking about, here is just a glimpse into some of the things (primarily problems) I’ve noticed amongst the ‘top 3’ campaigns, focusing primarily on the Republican side.

Virginia – Jim Gilmore:

Problem: It wasn’t until about two weeks ago that I actually started receiving frequent updates from the campaign letting me know what was happening. However, even though I signed up to be a volunteer on multiple occasions, I have yet to receive any communications from the campaign providing me with opportunities to get involved.

Bigger Problem: Someone from Mark Warner’s campaign got back to me quite quickly with a variety of things that I can do to get involved with the campaign.

Side note: this is almost the exact same problem I’ve had with the McCain campaign; however the McCain campaign at least sends updates for volunteer opportunities.

This was a race that was once considered ‘too close to call,’ however many are now saying it’s leaning favorably towards a Democratic win. I think this can be changed, but not at the pace they’re currently moving.

Colorado – Bob Schaffer

Problem: Despite the fact of knowing that this is going to be an extremely tough race for a Republican to win, it appears that this campaign has done very little (almost nothing) in terms of marketing themselves on the internet.

Even though their race will be expensive, they don’t seem to understand that one of the first places people go to get information on their candidate is the candidate’s website.

This is usually a good thing, unless you’re Bob Schaffer.

Please click here to see Bob Schaffer’s website.

Now, click here to see his opponent, Mark Udall’s website.

To Bob Schaffer, or anyone else on his campaign: set up a meeting with David All, Joe Mansour and Patrick Ruffini… fast. Marketing and web-overhaul, priority #1.

Just to give you an idea of how the two candidate’s sites perform against each other, check out this chart.

Side note, here is a great blog in Colorado evaluating many of the details of this race. 

New Hampshire: John Sununu

Problem: Exactly the same problem that Bob Schaffer is having. Even though his site isn’t as bad, in comparison to his opponents, it’s lagging severely.

Please click here to view John Sununu’s site.

Now, click here to view his opponent, Jeanne Shaheen’s site.

If you looked at both of those sites, I’m sure that this graph doesn’t really surprise you.

While this is obviously pessimistic, I think that if they made some simple adjustments and paid attention to what was working for the left (particularly Barack Obama) and implemented that into their strategy, both the candidates and the party as a whole would be in a much better position heading into November.

Yes, the fact that Democrat Don Cazayoux beat Republican Woody Jenkins in an expensive race to replace Richard Baker in Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District isn’t news that the Republican Party is looking for.

However, is this something that we (Republicans) should be worried about?

I know that for many, this race was going to be seen as an early indicator of how things might play out in November, however I don’t think that this race is one that can be seen as representative of the national electorate.

The one thing that people seem to overlook in this race is the fact that Woody Jenkins was by no means a lifelong Republican.

A simple Google search will show anyone that Woody Jenkins was first a Republican in his early years, then switched to being a Democrat for 22 years, and then when he got the ambition to run for Senate, he switched back to the Republican Party.

While there is no doubt that Woody Jenkins is a strong conservative, who has pushed conservative reforms for both parties, these switches can often times make people uncomfortable and even resentful when they seek higher offices.

An example of this would be with Norm Coleman in Minnesota, who ran for Mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota and won as a Democrat, later to switch to the Republican Party. There are many who would argue that had Paul Wellstone not died in that plane crash in October (less than 2 weeks before the election), that Norm Coleman would have lost.

Be it no surprise that it’s Norm Coleman’s race against Al Franken in Minnesota that is being labeled as one of the top Senate races of the 2008 election.

The fact of the matter is that the 6th district race in Louisiana, as well as the Minnesota Senate Race cannot be looked at as determining factors in the upcoming elections.

You can’t take life-long Democrats, match them up against inconsistent Republicans (though sometimes consistent conservatives) and expect there to be an outcome that represents the national electorate.

The 2008 Presidential Election is going to have a life-long Republican, who is also a solid conservative (John McCain) and whoever the Democratic nominee is will be a stark contrast to Senator McCain.

It’s impossible to determine any race as the one that sets the tone for the 2008 election when there isn’t even a nominee for the Democrats. Even amongst Senators Clinton and Obama, there are stark differences that could yield certain blocks of undecided voters going towards a certain candidate.

We won’t be able to make any educated guesses until we at least know who the nominee is.

For Republicans, that makes it tough for us to fundraise with, but I would imagine that it will be even tougher for the Democrats once they choose their nominee.

As it stands now, I’m sure both candidates are tapping out some of their regular donors and bringing many more close to the federal campaign contribution limits.

Either way, this definitely shows that 2008 will be an unorthodox and exciting election year.

For most up-to-date post: click here

As the summer draws near and the Democratic Primaries slowly wind down, campaign season is going to quickly roll into overdrive.

Soon enough, your mailbox is going to be flooded with fundraising pieces, your phone will be ringing off the hook with robo-calls and you’ll probably have a new series of commercials taunting you as you watch your favorite TV shows, all from candidates you can’t stand.

Yes, the season nerds like me love more than any other quickly approaching.

However, as this “full swing” campaign time draws near, I’ve been noticing that there are many people questioning whether or not the GOP will have enough muscle to successfully challenge the Democrats this fall.

Today’s questioning comes from the Cafferty File Blog, where Jack Cafferty points to new research showing that amongst people under 30, Democrats are going to have a much larger advantage over Republicans than they did in 2004. Citing Pew Research Data, Cafferty asks why the GOP can’t attract more young voters:

The Pew research Center did a survey of young people between October of last year and March of this year. What they found was that the current generation of young voters who came of age during the George W. Bush years is giving the Democrats a wide advantage in party identification.

58% of voters under the age of 30 surveyed during that time identified or leaned toward the democratic party-compared with just 33% who identified or leaned toward the Republican party. In fact, the Democratic party’s current lead in party identification among young voters has more than doubled since the 2004 campaign — from 11 points then to 25 points now.

Should this be a cause of concern for Republicans? Sure, especially with the article being released today showing President Bush’s approval ratings as the lowest of any President ever. But it shouldn’t appear to be the end of the world.

The fact of the matter is that there is plenty of time for the GOP to brand itself in such a way that it has some appeal to younger voters.

I would argue that the GOP is currently doing many things that would be appealing to young people, however there has been very little marketing in terms of reaching beyond those who are identified and registered Republicans.

Without this marketing and outreach, the GOP carries the stereotype of being a party of old, rich, white men.

When you look at the issues that are really going to effect those who are under the age of 30, the biggest issue seems to be the most silent.

It’s not Iraq, its not Darfur, it’s Social Security.

I know that this was an issue that President Bush campaigned hard on in 2004, but courtesy of the Congress, he couldn’t get much done with it in 2005.

I also know that this was an issue that some would argue wasted a lot of ‘political capital’ for the administration, but I truly believe that if the GOP can bring this issue back, market it well and show young people why they need to demand change on this, we will win more young voters. We just need to be more creative.

As it stands now, neither of the Democrats will support any form of comprehensive Social Security reform, so it isn’t going to be hard to make a distinction, showing who is really looking to protect their future.

Another way that the GOP can attract more young voters is by returning to the roots of the early Republican Party, where decision and platforms were made on ideas, not polling trends and electability studies.

If the GOP can show themselves as the true party for limited government and personal responsibility, I don’t see any reason that they wouldn’t be able to attract some of the undecided voters, but more importantly tap into some of the Ron Paul base, which still seems to be strong.

Even something as simple as looking at issues from a different angle (like stopping bills that would make renters pay for the mistakes of some homeowners) will help people realize that the GOP isn’t what the stereotype suggests, and that we can actually create positive change both domestically and abroad.

There are a lot of things that the GOP can and will do to attract young voters to support the Republican candidates in November.

It’s going to take a lot of work, money and creativity, but these steps aren’t taken, the outcome of the November elections can be predicted now: we’ll lose.

There is no doubt that we are embarking on what could be one of the most contentious elections that most people living today have ever seen.

Already, attack ads are flying from both sides, and from campaigns to 527 organizations, each entity has started going after the various flaws and slip-ups of their opponents.

Today, CNN is reporting that the Republican National Committee is fighting to have ads released by the Democratic National Convention pulled off of the air, because they are ‘misleading.’

I’m sure next week the DNC will have a slew of ads that they want taken off of the air, and this is just going to be an ongoing cycle of bickering from both of the national organizations.

While I believe that the RNC is right for going after these ads that are in fact misleading, there have been some bigger problems that I’ve been noticing that I think need to be addressed before the RNC and the McCain campaign spend their resources on these inevitable things.

Once Mitt Romney suspended his campaign, I immediately contacted the McCain Headquarters to sign up to volunteer, since the campaign office is located in Arlington, VA, only a few miles from my home.

It would seem safe to assume that the national headquarters for the presumptive Republican nominee for President of the United States would be a place that is booming with activity, opening their doors early and closing late, making sure they make contact with all time-zones, and after that get the necessary campaign collateral put together.

Having worked on a variety of House, Senate and local campaigns, the campaign headquarters is usually the one spot where you could assume that they always needed help from volunteers. It’s usually a common mantra amongst campaign managers to tell their volunteers that if they find themselves with some free time, to come by the campaign office.

Even if there isn’t work planned, they’ll find something for them to do.

These are things that I thought were universal in the campaign world; however I’ve noticed that when it comes to trying to build a strong volunteer base at the national headquarters, the McCain campaign is doing it all wrong.

I truly believe that if they don’t fix their current program and launch a more flexible volunteer program ASAP, they simply won’t have the manpower they need to run a national campaign come November.

Currently, this is how the McCain volunteer outreach seems to work: when they need you, they’ll send you an email. However, instead of creating a variety of flexible opportunities, this is what McCain campaign sends potential volunteers when asking for help:

“If this is the first time you are getting this, and you are able to come in and help, please RSVP to do so – PLEASE DO NOT JUST SHOW UP.”

To anyone who has been to the McCain office will know that this place is massive, so its not as if they are worries about losing space. But, for some reason they don’t seem to want to open their doors on a full time basis.

While that bothers me, I guess I can understand why they would want people to RSVP first. But what is even more troubling is this:

“Volunteers are welcome between 10 and 7 during the week days and 12 and 4 on Saturday.”

Honestly, what person who works in DC is even home by 7pm? There is no reason why they shouldn’t have their offices open later, especially if they are just looking for help on simple things, like putting signs together, doing mailings, packets, etc.

Washington, DC, without a doubt is home to some of the best campaigners and college campuses in the country, and even though most of these people are employed outside of politics, they are still die-hards who are willing to help if given the opportunity.

Just out of curiosity, I called the Hillary Clinton headquarters which is also located in Arlington, seeing how they operated their volunteer program in their national office. When I called, I was asked what times I was available, what I was interested in doing and where I lived.

Very quickly was I provided with a variety of opportunities to help the campaign, and yes, their hours went beyond 7pm.

Now, I have absolutely no intention of volunteering at the Hillary Clinton HQ, but their willingness to accommodate to volunteers should be noted.

The DNC is doing a great job getting people mobilized. I’ve seen them on the streets of DC and Arlington, and I’ve also seen the same for the Clinton and Obama campaigns. Sadly, I’ve seen nothing from the RNC and/or McCain camp.

If the RNC and McCain campaign doesn’t start rolling out their mobilization efforts soon, I’m afraid that many volunteers are going to be turned off from helping, simply because they see the massive army that the left has amassed.

Recruiting volunteers is probably the easiest part of a campaign, however, if you don’t engage them immediately, the odds of them helping out when you really need them are quite slim.

Celebrity McCain supporters make their way to DC

I’m not normally one to get caught up in pop culture, but when Heidi Montag, feux-celebrity from MTV’s “The Hills” stated that she was supporting John McCain for President, I couldn’t help but keep an eye on this story.

As anyone in DC knows, a few days ago was the White House Correspondents dinner, which usually has a variety of celebrities representing various causes and/or political agendas.

This year was no different, Pamela Anderson was there promoting animal rights, as a guest of PETA and Jenny McCarthy was there promoting a march that she was organizing in June.

Then of course there are your random musicians, like the Jonas Brothers, who usually are just invited by their labels or agents to get some good PR.

But this year just got weirder when Heidi Montag and her weird boyfriend Spencer Pratt showed up as guests of Fortune Magazines editor, Andy Serwer. While Heidi and Spencer are definitely an odd couple, finding out that there is a connection between those two and Fortune Magazine is even more baffling.

Anyway, here are some shots of them being tourists in DC. If you live in DC, you probably find these pictures just as obnoxious as I do, but some of you might find it interesting.

Despite Heidi Montag’s support for Senator McCain, I somehow doubt she made any effort to swing by the Headquarters to make some phone calls.

(Images via celebrity-gossip.net)

Click here for more DC pictures