Daily Archives: December 4, 2008

AG Candidate Desperate for Votes

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According to Mason Conservative, it appears that John Brownlee is desperate for votes in Saturday’s AG straw poll at the RPV Advance.   Well, why doesn’t this surprise me?  This is the same tactic that the Ron Paul campaign utilized very effectively during last year’s Presidential straw poll at the Advance.

Here is the text of the e-mail that the Brownlee campaign has been distributing get people at the straw poll:

*From*: sherman cain
*Date*: Tue, 2 Dec 2008 05:38:32 -0800 (PST)
*Subject*: Republican Advance

The John Brownlee campaign is offering a *free bus ride and admission* to
those who would like to attend the Don Huffman Republican Advance at the
luxurious Homestead resort in Bath County.  The bus would depart Saturday
12-5 about 6:30 a.m and return about 6 p.m.

The Saturday meeting in part will decide the direction of the Republican
party after this November’s elections, and include some leadership training
and campaign training as well. See attachment for more details or visit the
RPV web for an expanded view of the announcement.

Please respond as soon as possible if you are interested.  This would be a
great opportunity for our College Republicans as well.

Thank you for all you are doing to support the growth of our unit.

*Sherman** Cain Vice Chairman Tazewell Republican Committee*

**PALIN* 2012*

However, it shows a sign of true desperation from Brownlee’s campaign that they have to pad the straw poll in order to look like a dominant candidate.

The only thing that matters in a political campaign is a strong grassroots organization.  Ken Cuccinelli has the crucial support from the grassroots base to win this campaign, both at the convention and in the general election.

War Heroes

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Cross-posted from The Clarion’s Call:

Too often in recent history, Republicans have run war heroes under the false notion that their exemplary character allows them to deflect substantive policy accusations.  The pattern goes like this:

  • CANDIDATE: I’m _____________, I’m running for _______________, and I served __ years in the ___<<military branch>>___ (and fought in the _______war[s]).
  • OPPONENT: I respect Mr. _______’s service   The problem is, Mr. ______ supports ___<<ridiculously wasteful government expenditure>>___ and we just cannot afford it without wrecking our economy because…..
  • CANDIDATE: I have fought for this country for ___years proving that I love this country and that’s why you have to believe me when I say we need ___<<ridiculously wasteful government expenditure>>___.

What a great way to engage in a substantive policy debate?  Sound familiar?

This is how we get Presidential candidates making careers on opposing wasteful pork barrel spending only to support $150 billion of pork on top of $700 billion to address a perceived credit crisis.  That’s right, no talk of economic pros or cons, just: “I fought for this country and I am doing what’s best regardless of politics.”  So much for fighting for a country where we can have opposition politics over critical matters such as these.

This is not to say that we have no respect for war heroes.  We love our veterans.  We certainly respect their service, but if we expect to have strong candidates we must not let our candidates use military records as an excuse to disengage from substantive policy debates.   This tactic does the country a great disservice.

Finally, it must be noted that most Americans under 50 did not live through a draft (yet).  In light of the volunteer military, these Americans have a different view of the military and military serviceman than Americans over the age of 50.  These younger Americans view all politicians (former servicemen or not) with the same degree of skepticism and demand substantive arguments, not argumenta ad hominem.

For Something New…

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There will be some new changes happening here at Crystal Clear Conservative within the next few weeks and in to the new year.   First change is that Crystal Clear Conservative will be moving to a new domain.  Yay!!!  The second change is that there will be a Crystal Clear Musings section devoted to cultural outlooks and personal opinions.  It is like a separate blog that details a non-political side of Crystal Clear Conservative.

As Crystal Clear Conservative is about to celebrate her first blogiversary, there is no doubt to be some form of festivity.  After all, you only celebrate first blogiversaries once, so we will be creating an open thread during the week of Christmas for you to leave your praises or snarky remarks about CCC.

These are just things to come, so brace yourselves for the first blogiversary celebrations.  Now, back to your regularly scheduled program.

Petition to Save Jeff Frederick

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Lately, Jeff Frederick has been in a fight to keep his Chairmanship at the RPV.  There is no doubt that this weekend will provide some fireworks at the State Central Committee meeting at The Homestead.  Currently, there is a petition to encourage State Central not to kick Jeff Frederick out as Chairman.  You can find it here.

I do not believe that Frederick needs to resign as Chairman.  Give him the benefit of the doubt.  He was Chairman during a brutal year for the Republican Party.  He still has 2009 to make up for the blows of 2008.  Right now, our party needs to sit down and discuss where to go next.  This discussion needs to address our core principles and how to run candidates who believe in these principles, not the principles of corruption that our party has been notorious for over the past few years.

Christmas Traditions

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When I think of Christmas, I think of all the traditions that most families hold dear.  For me, it is my mom blaring Christmas music during Thanksgiving week to the excitement of baking cookies in the kitchen, it is the traditions that bring back memories.   As someone who loves spending time with family, I really enjoy it when we all sit down and watch “Christmas Vacation,” then we decorate the tree.  It is those moments that warm my heart.

Now, I am away from some of these traditions and out to create my own.   For one, I do not bake the cookies.  Cookies have never been my favorite things to bake, since they are so tedious and time consuming.  If I do bake cookies, it is through the help of my good friends at Pillsbury.   My mom’s Christmas music tradition has started to rub off, as I have been listening to it lately to put me in the spirit.  There is one tradition that I have created and that is the sock tradition.  You see, I am notorious for crazy socks (whether they have penguins on them or have a cat with beady eyes), so I am gearing up to buy some crazy Christmas socks for this tradition.  I also read the Gospel of Luke every Christmas detailing Jesus’ birth.

As I am discovering, it is the traditions that make Christmas a magical time of the year.   For me, I still wake up on Christmas morning and run out to the tree in sheer excitement (though, in recent years, my family is notorious for sleeping in, then going out to gather around the tree) knowing that I can see the smiles on my family’s faces when they open gifts.  It is always a great time rejoicing in the true meaning of Christmas as well.

It is my hope that you hold the traditions of Christmas near and dear to your heart as well.

**This is another post in the month long segment entitled Christmas Miracles.