PrintOctober 29, 2010
The Deep Blue Blues
I have spent the past week or as a Revolutionary War general, waving an American flag and a campaign sign endorsing our conservative Congressional candidate, Dr. Donna Campbell all across this deep blue city of Austin, Texas to thousands of voters in their cars.
I have been campaigning for Donna to help her unseat longtime incumbent and ultra liberal Democrat Lloyd Doggett. I am doing it because I believe it is high time TX-25 had a Representative of the people of TX-25, rather than a representative that exclusively represents the People's Socialist Republic of Austin.
This area has been firmly in Democrat hands for over 40 years and has long been considered a Democrat stronghold. In my opinion, the Texas GOP has never seriously mounted a challenge in this district, and instead, abandoned the field to the Dems. That's a lot of history going against us. The Texas GOP has offered little help. Dr. Campbell has done this on her own with the help of some dedicated volunteers and a lot of fed up voters who are tired of Democrats, their failed policies, and their condescending attitudes.
Donna is on a roll. I can tell you from the honks and waves I've received, that conservative voters are highly motivated, more than I've ever seen in this city. They are voting early and by the hundreds. Voter turnout in Travis County and Gonzales County is up double from the last midterm election and that seems to hold true for the other 6 counties in TX-25 as well.
Pelosi's favorite lap dog may have waited too late to counter Donna's momentum. Doggett, a wealthy millionaire and beltway Washington insider for well over a dozen years, simply didn't take the Doctor seriously. No one did, except we few -- we happy few.
What I have seen during my scouting mission into "Indian Country" has been inspiring, revealing and disappointing all at once.
I have seen many, many happy conservatives, smiling easily, waving enthusiastically, honking their horns and cheering -- hopeful of a return to some degree of sanity in Washington and a stop to the socialist march of Barack Hussein Obama.
I have seen a lot of unhappy liberals, dour and frowning, either ignoring me as if I did not exist (it's hard to miss someone in a tricorn hat waving a big 3x5 American flag), shaking their heads ‘no', or giving me a thumbs down (or worse) -- but always, always they are unhappy.
Their fear is real and palpable. You can feel it in the air. More revealing, I have only heard two cheer the name of their longtime representative, Doggett.
Meanwhile, I've received a half dozen "middle finger" salutes, and a over dozen real ones. If it comes from an angry liberal, I know these are unhappy individuals trapped in a lockstep mindset and who are far more likely to loudly complain next to the water cooler than to actually participate in the process and go out and vote.
This blind, unreasoning rage exposes a critical weakness of liberal groupthink. What exactly is it they object to? Is it my First Amendment right to freedom of speech? Is it my Continental Army uniform that I wear to honor our founding fathers and call for a return to responsible, limited government? Is it that I dare to fly an American flag? Or is it simply the fact that they disagree with the candidate I endorse, and fear her very real threat to defeat yet another liberal in this unstoppable Tea Party tidal wave?
The real salutes are something I treasure. I have made a point or returning every one I can. These are likely to come from a veteran or a citizen who respects the flag or the uniform and that means a lot to me in an era when so many openly disrespect it.
I have had the pleasure of saluting many firemen and paramedics as they pass by. Without exception, they have returned it -- many, sharply and crisply. They do a very hard job and are generally underpaid. They face unknown danger and injury every single time they go out. Soldiers have always been tops in my book, but particularly since 9/11, firemen and police get my respect and attention as well.
What disappoints me about my journey is continued voter apathy by far too many. How one can sit on the sidelines in this most critical election is beyond my understanding. This is not "business as usual." This is, as several have pointed out, the most critical election since 1860, for it will fundamentally determine whether America will take the New Road to Serfdom of the socialist European model, or reject those policies and a return to the principles of limited government and our founding fathers.
In my opinion, anyone who votes Democrat this year simply hasn't been paying attention. In the face of the country's overwhelming debt, excessively high taxes, continuing housing market failure and 17% real unemployment rate, to vote 'Democrat' surpasses simple party "loyalty" and transcends into becoming an unthinking slave to your party. You would have to believe that your party is more important than your country, or you would exercise your own independent judgment and face what you see right before your eyes.
Why else would you insist on continuing down this path to European socialism, particularly when every country in Europe that embraced it for decades is failing, and is now running from it, and for their very life? Is Greece and France really what you want America to become?
Down here in Texas, there's a fairly famous chili whose commercial asks, how long has it been since you've had a bowl of their chili? The catch-phrase is, "Well, that's too long."
Conservatives in our district have been starving for far too long for a true representative that listens to us, respects the Constitution, and does not ignore the will of the People to do his party's bidding. We want our voice to be heard again in Washington, and in our district
On November 2nd, we aim to get it back.
