I was on BlogTalkRadio Thursday evening with Eric Dondero (host) and Murray Sabrin (Republican primary candidate for NJ U.S. Senate). The broadcast is avaiable (on podcast) at www.blogtalkradio.com/libertarian. I urge you to listen (only partly because I'm on it and you get to hear my Rochester, NY accent) but mainly because Eric and I launched something you haven't heard recently: a ferocious defense of the Iraq War (and John McCain's position on it). Would love to hear your thoughts at TalkTop65@aol.com. On the show I called attention to the web sites of Melissa Hart, Toni Gilhooley, Michael Livingston, Marina Kats, and Tom Manion. Tom is a former Marine colonel. Sadly, his son Travis was killed in action in Iraq. Say a prayer for Tom and his son.
Hart: http://www.peoplewithhart.com/
Gilhooley: http://www.gilhooleyforcongress.com/
Livingston: http://www.livingstonforcongress.com/
Kats: http://www.katsforcongress.com/.
Manion: http://www.votemanion.com/
Please take a few minutes to visit the web sites of these wonderful candidates -- and offer them whatever support you can provide. Thanks
Media, candidates, activists, and others: Please feel free to post, reprint, forward, or discuss this piece. Candidates: I hope you'll establish a link on your own web site and tell your visitors that I'll be writing regularly about your campaign. The url for this blog is: http://camp2008victorya.blogspot.com. Eventually, our combined efforts should result in tens of thousands of "hits" on your web site, which will generate various form of support, including contributions. "We must all hang together, or most assuredly, we will all hang separately." (B. Franklin) I receive no financial support or direction from any candidate. If you need to correspond via e-mail, you can reach me at: TalkTop65@aol.com.
Today, I’m writing broadly about the following piece from http://www.politico.com/:
"GOP Leaders Warn of Election Disaster — Shell-shocked House Republicans got warnings from leaders past and present Tuesday: Your party’s message isn’t good enough to prevent disaster in November, and neither is the NRCC’s [National Republican Congressional Committee's] money. The Republican brand has been so badly damaged that if Republicans try to run an anti-Obama or anti-Rev. Wright campaign, they are simply going to fail. More… (US Elections 2008)"
The article's message is either poppycock or balderdash. I haven't figured out which. A candidate's "brand" is not the Party. Rather, it is the candidate herself or himself. Also, if those supposed "leaders" had done a better job leading, well, things would be better.
If our “leaders” (former and present) are people like Don Young (political architect of the “Bridge to Nowhere”), Tom DeLay, Mark Foley, Newt-of-many-wives and Tom Reynolds (who had to spend $5.2 million to get reelected in a solidly Republican district), well we can live without leaders like them.
The real leaders of the Republican Party are people like Bonnie West of Washington, PA, Sharon Caliendo of Norman, Oklahoma, Adam Brickley of Colorado Springs, and Brad Marston of Boston, Massachusetts. They’re out there this year – as in the past – busting their butts to send great candidates to Washington, DC. You’ve never heard of them perhaps, but you’ve seen the political fruits of their labors.
Political operative Sharon Caliendo is one of the main reasons Oklahoma's Dr. Tom Coburn is in the U.S. Senate – and not back practicing gynecology. Adam Brickley almost single-handedly engineering the rise of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to national prominence and vice-presidential consideration. Brad Marston helped resuscitate what appeared to be the stone-dead campaign of John McCain. Bonnie West has been a key factor in revitalizing the Republican Party in a critical area of western Pennsylvania.
I wouldn’t trade one of them for four Tom DeLays.There's much hand-wringing lately over the loss of Republican candidate Woody Jenkins in a supposedly "safe" election in Louisiana. As Karl Rove put it Tuesday night, "Look, Woody Jenkins [who's lost more elections than Britney Spears has misplaced underwear] is a fine man, but he's terrible candidate." I support only exceptional candidates.
As for Woody's loss, the best way to get candidates for congressional races is NOT to "round up all the usual suspects." Instead, get people who have great integrity and a real passion for the voters of their district. They usually win – later if not sooner.
Long-time readers will know that I regularly rage against the NRCC for not giving Diana Irey a dime. She was the Republican candidate who ran so ferociously and well against “The Prince of Pork,” John Murtha. It can be a thankless task running against someone like Murtha who has sold his soul to every lobbyist with a bag-full of cash.
Diana raised $856,000 on her own. She got contributions from all 50 states. Her total number of contributors was 7,000 – significantly more than Murtha’s total, although he had many more large donors. Many of those who donated to Diana’s campaign were giving money for the first time to a political candidate.
The Diana Lynn Ireys of the world are the future of the Republican Party. She is a rock of integrity, a devoted Christian who has “a love affair with humanity.” She’s teenie (5 foot, 100 pounds) but as an orator she outdoes Barack Obama.
At the same time Diana was getting zip from the national Republican establishment, Mark Foley – prior to the nasty e-mails scandal – had accumulated a campaign war chest of, oh, $2 million. I assume Mark was not one of the “leaders” cited by Politico.com.
How can good Republican candidates – in spite of Politco’s ominous message – win this year? A while back, Sharon Caliendo sent me her analysis of how Mary Fallin, a congresswoman from the Oklahoma City area (5th district) won.
Some people, even the brilliant Michael Barone, portray Mary’s district as a Republican “slam-dunk.” But is it really? In fact, the district is two-third white – and one-third other. In fact, it sounds suspiciously like one of those districts where Democrats run unopposed election cycle after election cycle.
Sharon said that Mary went door-to-door month after month. She wore out several pairs of shoes. She raised a good deal of money, mainly because she would not take “no” for an answer. She ended up winning by 60% to 37% in what was supposedly (and actually) a horrible year for Republicans.
I am working very hard to ensure that John McCain wins the 21 electoral votes of Pennsylvania, which probably will ensure that he wins the presidency.
I’m also doing everything in my power to ensure that Melissa Hart wins back her congressional seat in western Pennsylvania, that Toni Gilhooley wins her uphill battle in Harrisburg and parts east, and that Marina Kats defeats the indescribably awful Allyson Schwartz in Montgomery County and Northeast Philadelphia. I’m also supporting Michael Livingston in a very difficult race in Philadelphia.
These three women will come nowhere near outspending their opponents, but they will outwork them and outsmart them. Gee, what do we have to do to restore the Republican “brand?” We need to go out with superior candidates – like Melissa, Toni, Michael, and Marina – and advance the process of winning elections.
Sharon Caliendo sent the following comment about the NRCC: "There was another seat that they wasted tons of money on before this one too. I want to go back to the days where we supported our Congressional candidates and not an organization like the NRCC that plays favorites. Campaigns were less expensive then too and the candidates elected were not beholding to the powers at be at NRCC."
Showing posts with label Sharon Caliendo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sharon Caliendo. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
GOP Candidates: Seizing Hillary Supporters
Media, candidates, and others: Please feel free to post, reprint, forward, or discuss this piece. Please make mention of the fact that this article originally appeared on: http://pennsylvaniaforjohnmccain.blogspot.com. If you have a blog or web site, please establish a link. Thanks. "We must all hang together, or most assuredly, we will all hang separately." (B. Franklin) I receive no financial support or direction from any candidate.
Tomorrow I'm going to write about the following piece from Politico.com: GOP Leaders Warn of Election Disasterpolitico.com — Shellshocked House Republicans got warnings from leaders past and present Tuesday: Your party’s message isn’t good enough to prevent disaster in November, and neither is the NRCC’s [National Republican Congressional Committee's] money. The Republican brand has been so badly damaged that if Republicans try to run an anti-Obama or anti-Rev. Wright campaign, they are simply going to fail. More… (US Elections 2008)
The article's message is either poppycock or balderdash. I haven't figured out which. A candidate's "brand" is not the Party. Rather, it is the candidate herself or himself. Also, if those supposed "leaders" had done a better job leading, well, things would be better.
There's much hand-wringing lately over the loss of Republican candidate Woody Jenkins in a supposedly "safe" election in Louisiana. As Karl Rove put it Tuesday night, "Look, Woody Jenkins [who's lost more elections than Britney Spears has mispaced underwear] is a fine man, but he's terrible candidate." I support only exceptional candidates.
As for Woody's loss, the best way to get candidates for congressional races is NOT to "round up all the usual suspects." Instead, get people who have great integrity and a real passion for the voters of their district. They usually win.
More to come on Wednesday.
On my Pennsylvania-specific blog, I have posted a strategy for Keystone State congressional candidates. Since it has national implications, I'm re-posting it here on this national blog. ON THIS BLOG THE EMPHASIS WILL NOT BE ON PROVIDING TIDBITS OF INFORMATION, BUT RATHER ON STRATEGIES AND TACTICS FOR WINNING. "Winning isn't everything -- it's the ONLY thing." (Vince Lombardi)
"[There's] this aspect of the Boy's Club ganging up on her [Hillary] and shoving her out." Chuck Todd, MSNBC
Barack Obama will almost certainly be the Democrats' presidential nominee. The question for presidential nominee John McCain and congressional candidates like Melissa Hart, Toni Gilhooley, Mike Livingston, and Marina Kats is how can they pick up the votes of Hillary Clinton supporters.
A lot of Hillary voters, as many as 45%, say they will not vote for Obama. If they will defect from the Democratic nominee, they may just defect from "down-ballot" candidates.
Melissa, Toni, and Marina can appeal to many disaffected Hillary backers. One major way they can do so is to emphasize the need for Pennsylvania to elect women to federal offices, including the presidency and the Congress.
The Republican candidates need to emphasize the many things they have in common with Hillary voters, especially their belief that Mrs. Clinton was mistreated by the national media (which is true) and by the arbitrary rules set by Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean (also true).
Melissa, Toni, and Marina should say very explicitly -- and often -- that they want the Hillary supporters to back them. But won't that offend Obama voters? Possibly, but who cares? They're the left-wing types who aren't going to vote for any Republicans.
Consider a few example of results from the Pennsylvania Primary:
4th District (Beaver County, Melissa's District) Hillary 28,205 Barack 12,184
17th District (Lebanon, Toni's District) Hillary 7,316 Barack 5,772
13th District (Montgomery, Marina's District) Hillary 77,762 Barack 75,515
I sent the following e-mail to Sharon Caliendo, a political consultant in the Southwest:Sharon: Thanks so much for passing my "Hillary Strategy" along to Congressman Tom Cole's office.
The issue has really nothing to do with whether someone "agrees" with Hillary. On some issues Hillary is okay (there are lots of issues after all!) and on some she is not so good.The real question: is Mrs. Clinton getting shafted by the Democrats' "old boys network" and by the national media, which hates her? The answer is yes.
Consider again Chuck Todd's comment last night on MSNBC: "[There's] this aspect of the Boy's Club ganging up on her [Hillary] and shoving her out."Bingo, Mr. Todd.
As I'm saying on my blogs -- and trying to get many others to say the same thing -- it will help Republican candidates (especially females) to start pointing out that Mrs. Clinton is getting savaged by media and political hacks (Howard Dean) who have done everything they can to wreck her campaign.Our Republican candidates should start saying that out loud (and in press releases).
Many Democrats, especially women voters, believe it's time in our nation's progress for a female candidate to get the nomination for the presidency.I've been advocating that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin be our GOP candidate for President in 2012 (if we lose this election) or 2016. I've done this not because she's a woman but because she is a remarkable human being and the most effective elected official in any state.
In PA, Hillary Clinton won nearly every county -- in some cases, she won by three-to-one or even four-to-one. We need to reach out (and keep reaching out) to Hillary Clinton supporters. They are the keys to John McCain winning the presidency -- and to many fine candidates getting elected to Congress.
Sharon, I want people like Melissa Hart, Toni Gilhooley, and Marina Kats to win elections. To do so, they have to defy some of the conventional wisdom, especially the elements that will lead to "conventional" defeats.
The three Republican candidates did NOT grow up with "silver spoons" in their mouths, and they need to get that across to Hillary supporters.
In the PA Primary on April 22, Mrs. Clinton got 1.25 million votes, an amazing total. Many of those voters will understand that we're running superb candidates this year. Winning is just so much more enjoyable than losing.
John McCain has said he wants to contest for every vote. I hope every one of our candidates, male or female, takes that approach. Sen. Clinton has campaigned with real ferocity and skill. She should have our respect for that.
(Note: Here's what Adam, a Coloradan and probably the best young political operative in the country, said about the thoughts in this column: "Good strategy. I'm not an expert on PA, but Hillary supporters certainly seem like a key to GOP victory. If you can hang Obama around a local Dem's neck, you might be able to pick of quite a few votes. The only caveat is that you probably can't associate Obama too closely with Dems who backed Clinton.")
Following are additional statements on the "Hillary Strategy." I posted them on http://www.mccainnow.com/, an important site bringing together McCain supporters. I urge you to visit and register so you can participate on it.
Like you, I've been fascinated by the "exit polls" showing that a great many Hillary Clinton voters (nearly half in Indiana) are saying that will not vote for Barack Obama. Very, very interesting -- and more than just "interesting."
On my Pennsylvania blog (http://pennsylvaniaforjohnmccain.blogspot.com/) I'm asking John McCain and several great (female) congressional candidates in PA to go after those Hillary supporters. It's essential that John McCain (and other GOP hopefuls) start asking explicity for support from voters who have backed Mrs. Clinton.
Frankly, I hope John McCain and other candidates for federal offices say and do some unconventional things. Specifically, I hope they say that Mrs. Clinton is being savaged by the national media (which happens to be true). I also hope they say (accurately) that the Senator is being shafted by Howard Dean and other members of what Chuck Todd (of MSNBC) calls "the Democratic 'Old Boy's' Club."
If we scratch Hillary's back, many of her supporters will end up scratching ours.
Recognize that it makes eminent sense for Republicans to treat Howard Dean (an odious creature) like a political pinata. Actions by Dean and other in his Democrat Cabal -- specifically, the dinenfranchisement of Michigan and Florida Democrats should be a major issue for McCain.
We need to sympathize (now!) with those disenfrachised Democrats. We must remind those voters that Dean is treating them like dirt. Deans' strong-arm tactics are depriving Mrs. Clinton of the nomination.
Yes, I'm aware that in politics the actions I'm advocating "just aren't done." Why they're not done, however, is a question that has no real good answer.
In my home state of Pennsylvania, I'm strongly backing one presidential candidate (John McCain) and four great congressional candidates (Mike Livingston, Melissa Hart, Toni Gilhooley, and Marina Kats). I have this terrible sense that if all four of them don't reach out forcefully -- and explicitly -- to Hillary's suppoters, then all they all could lose Pennsylvania.
John McCain has said many times that he wants to "contest for every vote." In the Pennsylvania Primary, Mrs. Clinton got 1.25 million votes. I'm a selfish Republican -- and I hope McCain and others also are. I want a good chunk of those million-and-a-quarter votes to go to oustanding Republican candidates, starting with John McCain.
In recent memory, Senator Clinton said the following: "I have a lifetime of experince. John McCain has a lifetime of experience. Senator Obama has a speech [against the Iraq War] that he gave in 2002." I hope McCain is readying a commercial featuring Clinton making that statement.
Yes, when the Democratic Primary comes to and end -- presumably at some point in our lifetimes -- Mrs. Clinton will go through the motions of endorsing Barack Obama. But her heart -- and I assume she has one -- will not be in it. In reality, she will be looking ahead to 2012 and her race against . . . President McCain.
So, let's go get those Hillary supporters. We need to sympathize with them about their candidate's legitimate grievances against the Obama-loving media and the Clinton-hating national chairman (Dean). If we ask sincerely for their votes, we can get them -- and in massive numbers.
Tomorrow I'm going to write about the following piece from Politico.com: GOP Leaders Warn of Election Disasterpolitico.com — Shellshocked House Republicans got warnings from leaders past and present Tuesday: Your party’s message isn’t good enough to prevent disaster in November, and neither is the NRCC’s [National Republican Congressional Committee's] money. The Republican brand has been so badly damaged that if Republicans try to run an anti-Obama or anti-Rev. Wright campaign, they are simply going to fail. More… (US Elections 2008)
The article's message is either poppycock or balderdash. I haven't figured out which. A candidate's "brand" is not the Party. Rather, it is the candidate herself or himself. Also, if those supposed "leaders" had done a better job leading, well, things would be better.
There's much hand-wringing lately over the loss of Republican candidate Woody Jenkins in a supposedly "safe" election in Louisiana. As Karl Rove put it Tuesday night, "Look, Woody Jenkins [who's lost more elections than Britney Spears has mispaced underwear] is a fine man, but he's terrible candidate." I support only exceptional candidates.
As for Woody's loss, the best way to get candidates for congressional races is NOT to "round up all the usual suspects." Instead, get people who have great integrity and a real passion for the voters of their district. They usually win.
More to come on Wednesday.
On my Pennsylvania-specific blog, I have posted a strategy for Keystone State congressional candidates. Since it has national implications, I'm re-posting it here on this national blog. ON THIS BLOG THE EMPHASIS WILL NOT BE ON PROVIDING TIDBITS OF INFORMATION, BUT RATHER ON STRATEGIES AND TACTICS FOR WINNING. "Winning isn't everything -- it's the ONLY thing." (Vince Lombardi)
"[There's] this aspect of the Boy's Club ganging up on her [Hillary] and shoving her out." Chuck Todd, MSNBC
Barack Obama will almost certainly be the Democrats' presidential nominee. The question for presidential nominee John McCain and congressional candidates like Melissa Hart, Toni Gilhooley, Mike Livingston, and Marina Kats is how can they pick up the votes of Hillary Clinton supporters.
A lot of Hillary voters, as many as 45%, say they will not vote for Obama. If they will defect from the Democratic nominee, they may just defect from "down-ballot" candidates.
Melissa, Toni, and Marina can appeal to many disaffected Hillary backers. One major way they can do so is to emphasize the need for Pennsylvania to elect women to federal offices, including the presidency and the Congress.
The Republican candidates need to emphasize the many things they have in common with Hillary voters, especially their belief that Mrs. Clinton was mistreated by the national media (which is true) and by the arbitrary rules set by Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean (also true).
Melissa, Toni, and Marina should say very explicitly -- and often -- that they want the Hillary supporters to back them. But won't that offend Obama voters? Possibly, but who cares? They're the left-wing types who aren't going to vote for any Republicans.
Consider a few example of results from the Pennsylvania Primary:
4th District (Beaver County, Melissa's District) Hillary 28,205 Barack 12,184
17th District (Lebanon, Toni's District) Hillary 7,316 Barack 5,772
13th District (Montgomery, Marina's District) Hillary 77,762 Barack 75,515
I sent the following e-mail to Sharon Caliendo, a political consultant in the Southwest:Sharon: Thanks so much for passing my "Hillary Strategy" along to Congressman Tom Cole's office.
The issue has really nothing to do with whether someone "agrees" with Hillary. On some issues Hillary is okay (there are lots of issues after all!) and on some she is not so good.The real question: is Mrs. Clinton getting shafted by the Democrats' "old boys network" and by the national media, which hates her? The answer is yes.
Consider again Chuck Todd's comment last night on MSNBC: "[There's] this aspect of the Boy's Club ganging up on her [Hillary] and shoving her out."Bingo, Mr. Todd.
As I'm saying on my blogs -- and trying to get many others to say the same thing -- it will help Republican candidates (especially females) to start pointing out that Mrs. Clinton is getting savaged by media and political hacks (Howard Dean) who have done everything they can to wreck her campaign.Our Republican candidates should start saying that out loud (and in press releases).
Many Democrats, especially women voters, believe it's time in our nation's progress for a female candidate to get the nomination for the presidency.I've been advocating that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin be our GOP candidate for President in 2012 (if we lose this election) or 2016. I've done this not because she's a woman but because she is a remarkable human being and the most effective elected official in any state.
In PA, Hillary Clinton won nearly every county -- in some cases, she won by three-to-one or even four-to-one. We need to reach out (and keep reaching out) to Hillary Clinton supporters. They are the keys to John McCain winning the presidency -- and to many fine candidates getting elected to Congress.
Sharon, I want people like Melissa Hart, Toni Gilhooley, and Marina Kats to win elections. To do so, they have to defy some of the conventional wisdom, especially the elements that will lead to "conventional" defeats.
The three Republican candidates did NOT grow up with "silver spoons" in their mouths, and they need to get that across to Hillary supporters.
In the PA Primary on April 22, Mrs. Clinton got 1.25 million votes, an amazing total. Many of those voters will understand that we're running superb candidates this year. Winning is just so much more enjoyable than losing.
John McCain has said he wants to contest for every vote. I hope every one of our candidates, male or female, takes that approach. Sen. Clinton has campaigned with real ferocity and skill. She should have our respect for that.
(Note: Here's what Adam, a Coloradan and probably the best young political operative in the country, said about the thoughts in this column: "Good strategy. I'm not an expert on PA, but Hillary supporters certainly seem like a key to GOP victory. If you can hang Obama around a local Dem's neck, you might be able to pick of quite a few votes. The only caveat is that you probably can't associate Obama too closely with Dems who backed Clinton.")
Following are additional statements on the "Hillary Strategy." I posted them on http://www.mccainnow.com/, an important site bringing together McCain supporters. I urge you to visit and register so you can participate on it.
Like you, I've been fascinated by the "exit polls" showing that a great many Hillary Clinton voters (nearly half in Indiana) are saying that will not vote for Barack Obama. Very, very interesting -- and more than just "interesting."
On my Pennsylvania blog (http://pennsylvaniaforjohnmccain.blogspot.com/) I'm asking John McCain and several great (female) congressional candidates in PA to go after those Hillary supporters. It's essential that John McCain (and other GOP hopefuls) start asking explicity for support from voters who have backed Mrs. Clinton.
Frankly, I hope John McCain and other candidates for federal offices say and do some unconventional things. Specifically, I hope they say that Mrs. Clinton is being savaged by the national media (which happens to be true). I also hope they say (accurately) that the Senator is being shafted by Howard Dean and other members of what Chuck Todd (of MSNBC) calls "the Democratic 'Old Boy's' Club."
If we scratch Hillary's back, many of her supporters will end up scratching ours.
Recognize that it makes eminent sense for Republicans to treat Howard Dean (an odious creature) like a political pinata. Actions by Dean and other in his Democrat Cabal -- specifically, the dinenfranchisement of Michigan and Florida Democrats should be a major issue for McCain.
We need to sympathize (now!) with those disenfrachised Democrats. We must remind those voters that Dean is treating them like dirt. Deans' strong-arm tactics are depriving Mrs. Clinton of the nomination.
Yes, I'm aware that in politics the actions I'm advocating "just aren't done." Why they're not done, however, is a question that has no real good answer.
In my home state of Pennsylvania, I'm strongly backing one presidential candidate (John McCain) and four great congressional candidates (Mike Livingston, Melissa Hart, Toni Gilhooley, and Marina Kats). I have this terrible sense that if all four of them don't reach out forcefully -- and explicitly -- to Hillary's suppoters, then all they all could lose Pennsylvania.
John McCain has said many times that he wants to "contest for every vote." In the Pennsylvania Primary, Mrs. Clinton got 1.25 million votes. I'm a selfish Republican -- and I hope McCain and others also are. I want a good chunk of those million-and-a-quarter votes to go to oustanding Republican candidates, starting with John McCain.
In recent memory, Senator Clinton said the following: "I have a lifetime of experince. John McCain has a lifetime of experience. Senator Obama has a speech [against the Iraq War] that he gave in 2002." I hope McCain is readying a commercial featuring Clinton making that statement.
Yes, when the Democratic Primary comes to and end -- presumably at some point in our lifetimes -- Mrs. Clinton will go through the motions of endorsing Barack Obama. But her heart -- and I assume she has one -- will not be in it. In reality, she will be looking ahead to 2012 and her race against . . . President McCain.
So, let's go get those Hillary supporters. We need to sympathize with them about their candidate's legitimate grievances against the Obama-loving media and the Clinton-hating national chairman (Dean). If we ask sincerely for their votes, we can get them -- and in massive numbers.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Obama Radioactive: Looming Democrat Disaster
As you may already know, I've written a column critical of John McCain for insisting the NC GOP pull an ad critical of Obama. The NC Republicans were right, and McCain was wrong. Please visit the NC GOP web site, write them an e-mail of support and, if you can, kick a few bucks their way. (The Party chair's e-mail box was full -- imagine that -- but the others were open.) Here's the link: http://www.ncgop.org/leadership/ncgop.asp
This is the weekend column . . . would love your comments.
In many states (PA, NM, NC) Republicans are running ads to support state ("down-ticket") Republican candidates that feature criticisms of Barack Obama. In perhaps 30 states, he is becoming radioactive. My friend, Melissa Hart, who's running for Congress in the 4th congressional district is launching almost daily attacks on her opponent, Jason Altmire, for his "fawning," uncritical behavior toward Obama.
Consider the following information disseminated by Sharon Caliendo, a political superstar and consultant in Oklahoma and Texas:
Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee for president would be a disaster for Oklahoma Democrats and possibly drag down other Democrat candidates, the new edition of the Sooner Survey reports.
Survey Director Pat McFerron reports that with either Obama or Hillary Clinton as the party nominee, Republican John McCain should win the state easily. But while McCain now leads Clinton 2-to-1, he leads Obama 3-to-1 and Obama displays startling weakness in Democrat areas of the state.
While Oklahoma Republicans once salivated at the opportunity to again run against a Clinton, McFerron writes, "Barack Obama’s numbers in the state make him an even more appealing Democrat nominee to run against."
For Oklahoma Democrats on the fall ballot, McFerron sounds an ominous warning: "When looking at their individual favorability numbers, there is not much difference between Obama (32% favorable vs. 54% unfavorable) and Clinton (34% favorable vs. 57% unfavorable).However, when looking at ballot match-ups against McCain, there is a sizeable difference that could have dire consequences for down-ballot Democrats.
Against Hillary Clinton, John McCain has a two-to-one advantage (60% McCain vs. 30% Clinton). Against Barack Obama, however, it approaches three-to-one (62% McCain vs. 21% Obama)."Obama drew a favorable rating from 32 percent of those in the survey, with 54 percent expressing an unfavorable opinion. And 40 percent have a "strongly unfavorable" impression of him.
McFerron writes that in the Ada/Ardmore area, an area of significant Democrat strength, 81 percent of those surveyed picked McCain and only 5 percent picked Obama in a head-to-head matchup.
In Little Dixie, McCain has an astounding 5-to-1 lead over Obama.
http://wwwtmrcom.blogspot.com/
Sharon Caliendo added the following:
"I think this is pretty much what you are going to see across the South including Texas and Florida. I work with a good friend out of Florida that said he believes the OK numbers will be similar for Florida which is outstanding news. I expect Sen McCain to have coattails in a lot of our states that were all or predominately red the last time. OK and UT had every county go for Pres Bush and as it stands now I expect those numbers to rise for Sen McCain as we draw in the American Indian vote for the Senator. He has spent years working for the Indians on the Senate Committee and all the ones I have talked with in OK support McCain."Getting a good feeling about this election in our part of the Country.
Now to reach out to those states that were blue in the last election to bring some of them red so on election night we can celebrate instead of waiting until the next day and longer."
This is the weekend column . . . would love your comments.
In many states (PA, NM, NC) Republicans are running ads to support state ("down-ticket") Republican candidates that feature criticisms of Barack Obama. In perhaps 30 states, he is becoming radioactive. My friend, Melissa Hart, who's running for Congress in the 4th congressional district is launching almost daily attacks on her opponent, Jason Altmire, for his "fawning," uncritical behavior toward Obama.
Consider the following information disseminated by Sharon Caliendo, a political superstar and consultant in Oklahoma and Texas:
Sooner Survey: Barack Obama Would Be A Disaster For State Democrats,
Drag Entire Ticket Down
Drag Entire Ticket Down
Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee for president would be a disaster for Oklahoma Democrats and possibly drag down other Democrat candidates, the new edition of the Sooner Survey reports.
Survey Director Pat McFerron reports that with either Obama or Hillary Clinton as the party nominee, Republican John McCain should win the state easily. But while McCain now leads Clinton 2-to-1, he leads Obama 3-to-1 and Obama displays startling weakness in Democrat areas of the state.
While Oklahoma Republicans once salivated at the opportunity to again run against a Clinton, McFerron writes, "Barack Obama’s numbers in the state make him an even more appealing Democrat nominee to run against."
For Oklahoma Democrats on the fall ballot, McFerron sounds an ominous warning: "When looking at their individual favorability numbers, there is not much difference between Obama (32% favorable vs. 54% unfavorable) and Clinton (34% favorable vs. 57% unfavorable).However, when looking at ballot match-ups against McCain, there is a sizeable difference that could have dire consequences for down-ballot Democrats.
Against Hillary Clinton, John McCain has a two-to-one advantage (60% McCain vs. 30% Clinton). Against Barack Obama, however, it approaches three-to-one (62% McCain vs. 21% Obama)."Obama drew a favorable rating from 32 percent of those in the survey, with 54 percent expressing an unfavorable opinion. And 40 percent have a "strongly unfavorable" impression of him.
McFerron writes that in the Ada/Ardmore area, an area of significant Democrat strength, 81 percent of those surveyed picked McCain and only 5 percent picked Obama in a head-to-head matchup.
In Little Dixie, McCain has an astounding 5-to-1 lead over Obama.
http://wwwtmrcom.blogspot.com/
Sharon Caliendo added the following:
"I think this is pretty much what you are going to see across the South including Texas and Florida. I work with a good friend out of Florida that said he believes the OK numbers will be similar for Florida which is outstanding news. I expect Sen McCain to have coattails in a lot of our states that were all or predominately red the last time. OK and UT had every county go for Pres Bush and as it stands now I expect those numbers to rise for Sen McCain as we draw in the American Indian vote for the Senator. He has spent years working for the Indians on the Senate Committee and all the ones I have talked with in OK support McCain."Getting a good feeling about this election in our part of the Country.
Now to reach out to those states that were blue in the last election to bring some of them red so on election night we can celebrate instead of waiting until the next day and longer."
Friday, February 29, 2008
McCain Palin Ticket, Texas Revelations
Rush Limbaugh put this graphic up on his web site yesterday. As many of you know, I have been a strong supporter of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, often called "the nation's most popular elected official," as the best choice for for V-P on the Republican ticket.
A person of impeccable honor and integrity, Sarah is a dedicated Christian, a fiscal conservative, pro-life and a Life Member of the NRA. Beyond that, she's the mother of four children, the oldest of whom, Track Palin, is an infantryman in the U.S. Army.
If Senator McCain does choose her, it's highly likely that, in either 2012 or 2016, she will become America's first female President.
Here's the link to Limbaugh's homepage: http://rushlimbaugh.com/home/today.guest.html
Also, the person who, one year ago, launched the Draft Palin for V-P movement is Adam Brickley, an extremely talented college student from Colorado Springs. He has written extensively about why Sarah Heath Palin should be the V-P choice. You can find his outstanding blog at: http://palinforvp.blogspot.com/. I was the second blogger to join Adam's movement.
I have never supported Sarah merely because she's a woman. I support her because I believe she would be a caring, intellectually and politically gifted vice-president and, at a later date, a great President. She's one of those prinicipled conservatives who isn't angry at everybody. She's a great listener, someone who understands that our government is one "by, for, and of the people."
I hope all McCain supporters will urge the Senator to select Sarah Heath Palin, Alaska's favorite daughter, as his vice-presidential running mate. She would be Barack Obama's worst nightmare -- and America's best hope for the future. She's a younger, female version of Ronald Reagan, and she's the most exciting political personality to come along since the "Gipper."
Texas Revelations on March 4 Primary
My friend Sharon Caliendo of Norman, Oklahoma, is one of the finest political operatives in that section of the country. She sent me the following e-mail, which chock full of good information about what's happening in Texas. Later today, I'll put up Sharon's web sites, some of the very best in the blogosphere.
Been in and out of Texas this week but in my spare time I have put up the two blogs.
I would say that McCain will have no problem winning TX no matter who the Dems put up and if it is Obama, you can put TX in the win column before they even vote. Learned that the people fainting are following the campaign around. One of the guys told me that an Obama rally in some areas has been made up of whites and blacks who are on the government take better known as welfare. He was saying they are talking about college students but he thinks they are more like middle school and high school. He was at a rally where the Austin birdcage paper said a lot of UT students were there but he disagreed because he saw very few UT shirts and they always wear them to rallies. He saw kids some getting off buses coming into the area which would not have been UT students.
Huckabee shot himself in the foot today. Gov Perry asked Huckabee to withdraw from the race and Huckster basically asked why he would take advice from someone who had endorsed Rudy when he was wrong about that. Never did get the exact quote as Rick's aide was so mad when he called. Someone from McCain had asked Rick to ask Huckabee to please withdraw from the race and join to defeat the Dem in November but Huckster was too arrogant for that. Set off a firestorm that is not going to end any time soon.
I told our State Chair if Huckabee is the keynote speaker for the OK Convention I am not going to sit and listen to the windbag and will walk out as he starts to speak. He said, "you wouldn't" -- bet me I wouldn't!
Mark and I were complaining the blogs that were anti-Obama were not exactly on McCain's side so we decided to add another one with that in mind. We figured running them as Republicans and McCain supporters would make a difference rather then 'conservative' owners who don't like McCain much better then the Dems in some cases.
Thanks for the info on Iraq -- I am getting people to help me out with the 2nd blog -- they are not big McCain supporters but they detest Obama and Hillary and will definitely support him in November. This gives them a way to get involved and we can all help McCain. [Note, on Iraq, I told Sharon that the Wikipedia site had an excellent article on the links between two terrorist groups, Ansar al Islam and al Qaeda.]
All I need is more hours in my day and everything will work itself out!
Take care!
Sharon
I would say that McCain will have no problem winning TX no matter who the Dems put up and if it is Obama, you can put TX in the win column before they even vote. Learned that the people fainting are following the campaign around. One of the guys told me that an Obama rally in some areas has been made up of whites and blacks who are on the government take better known as welfare. He was saying they are talking about college students but he thinks they are more like middle school and high school. He was at a rally where the Austin birdcage paper said a lot of UT students were there but he disagreed because he saw very few UT shirts and they always wear them to rallies. He saw kids some getting off buses coming into the area which would not have been UT students.
Huckabee shot himself in the foot today. Gov Perry asked Huckabee to withdraw from the race and Huckster basically asked why he would take advice from someone who had endorsed Rudy when he was wrong about that. Never did get the exact quote as Rick's aide was so mad when he called. Someone from McCain had asked Rick to ask Huckabee to please withdraw from the race and join to defeat the Dem in November but Huckster was too arrogant for that. Set off a firestorm that is not going to end any time soon.
I told our State Chair if Huckabee is the keynote speaker for the OK Convention I am not going to sit and listen to the windbag and will walk out as he starts to speak. He said, "you wouldn't" -- bet me I wouldn't!
Mark and I were complaining the blogs that were anti-Obama were not exactly on McCain's side so we decided to add another one with that in mind. We figured running them as Republicans and McCain supporters would make a difference rather then 'conservative' owners who don't like McCain much better then the Dems in some cases.
Thanks for the info on Iraq -- I am getting people to help me out with the 2nd blog -- they are not big McCain supporters but they detest Obama and Hillary and will definitely support him in November. This gives them a way to get involved and we can all help McCain. [Note, on Iraq, I told Sharon that the Wikipedia site had an excellent article on the links between two terrorist groups, Ansar al Islam and al Qaeda.]
All I need is more hours in my day and everything will work itself out!
Take care!
Sharon
NOTE FROM STEVE: IF YOU WANT TO FIND OUT PRECISELY WHO BARACK OBAMA IS, PLEASE READ THE ALARMING -- BUT SCRUPULOUSLY ACCURATE -- STORY BELOW.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Sharon, Political Sar, Oklahoma Blog
Up and running now are New Mexico for John McCain and Pennsylvania for John McCain (this site). Also, Sharon from Norman, OK ("Go Sooners!") has agreed to manage Oklahoma for John McCain, and it will be running hard soon. Sharon is a political version of The Energizer Bunny, and she's extremely skilled in organizational and GOTV (Get Out the Vote) activities. We "ordinary mortals" will never be quite at Sharon's, but many of the things she does are learnable and doable.
In the first few weeks this site is alive, I'm going to post material from Sharon and others who are very skilled in making sure their candidates get elected -- and, in this case, that means John McCain.
The woman who heads the New Mexico site blogs usually at The Pink Flamingo. Her initial experience was with political guru Lee Atwater in South Carolina. She also worked on the campaigns of Senator Lindsay Graham. She set up on blogspot 49 of the state sites. I did a grand total of one, Pennsylvania. But I did find the great picture of the Amish kids!
We very much need volunteers to take over the other state sites. I believe we have one for Texas, but a state like that one (huge in geography and populaton) could probably use more than one blog manager.
In my exchanges with Sharon, she gives me a lot of information about her political background. Invariably, what she says is applicable to others -- although perhaps not quite at her level of commitment. In her most recent e-mail, she told me the following about the "Air Force life."
She says, "OK is in the bag for McCain for the general election. I can easily help out with Texas. We lived there for eight years before moving to OK when Kelly AFB ended up on the BRAC list to be shut. We were some of the first people from that area to transfer to Tinker AFB. If you cannot find a Texas person, I will see if Brad who comes from Houston will take it over (he helped me out on the Bush yahoo groups) if I promise to help him out. I know several states better then OK - Ohio where I grew up, CA where we used to live, TX where we used to live, and FL where I work with my good friend on elections -- he went to McCain a week before the FL primary and ended up escorted Sen McCain and his wife to events for the final week. In 2000 I knew much more about FL then OK including giving directions to people for Bush rallies. My brother lives in Orlando."
What if a state like Oklahoma is, as Sharon says, "in the bag" for McCain (as I agree it is)? In that case, activists from Oklahoma can contact family and friends in other more hotly contested states.
The two columns below discuss what the 50 state blogs for McCain are designed to do. Each blog will look alike, but the approaches will all be different. There will be no "orders from the top," because there will be no top. In each case, however, they're designed to bring together activists to work TOGETHER toward the election of John McCain.
Soon, you'll see blogrolls with the 50 states for John McCain. Within a month, there will be on this site a blogroll for Pennsylvania. People who don't have blogs -- and that's the vast majorityof people online -- are very much invited to participate. They can receive e-mail alerts about political developments of interest in PA.
Anyway, welcome aboard all.
In the first few weeks this site is alive, I'm going to post material from Sharon and others who are very skilled in making sure their candidates get elected -- and, in this case, that means John McCain.
The woman who heads the New Mexico site blogs usually at The Pink Flamingo. Her initial experience was with political guru Lee Atwater in South Carolina. She also worked on the campaigns of Senator Lindsay Graham. She set up on blogspot 49 of the state sites. I did a grand total of one, Pennsylvania. But I did find the great picture of the Amish kids!
We very much need volunteers to take over the other state sites. I believe we have one for Texas, but a state like that one (huge in geography and populaton) could probably use more than one blog manager.
In my exchanges with Sharon, she gives me a lot of information about her political background. Invariably, what she says is applicable to others -- although perhaps not quite at her level of commitment. In her most recent e-mail, she told me the following about the "Air Force life."
She says, "OK is in the bag for McCain for the general election. I can easily help out with Texas. We lived there for eight years before moving to OK when Kelly AFB ended up on the BRAC list to be shut. We were some of the first people from that area to transfer to Tinker AFB. If you cannot find a Texas person, I will see if Brad who comes from Houston will take it over (he helped me out on the Bush yahoo groups) if I promise to help him out. I know several states better then OK - Ohio where I grew up, CA where we used to live, TX where we used to live, and FL where I work with my good friend on elections -- he went to McCain a week before the FL primary and ended up escorted Sen McCain and his wife to events for the final week. In 2000 I knew much more about FL then OK including giving directions to people for Bush rallies. My brother lives in Orlando."
What if a state like Oklahoma is, as Sharon says, "in the bag" for McCain (as I agree it is)? In that case, activists from Oklahoma can contact family and friends in other more hotly contested states.
The two columns below discuss what the 50 state blogs for McCain are designed to do. Each blog will look alike, but the approaches will all be different. There will be no "orders from the top," because there will be no top. In each case, however, they're designed to bring together activists to work TOGETHER toward the election of John McCain.
Soon, you'll see blogrolls with the 50 states for John McCain. Within a month, there will be on this site a blogroll for Pennsylvania. People who don't have blogs -- and that's the vast majorityof people online -- are very much invited to participate. They can receive e-mail alerts about political developments of interest in PA.
Anyway, welcome aboard all.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
GRASSROOTS: MCCAIN'S KEY TO VICTORY
Note: Please read tomorrow's column: "Clinton & Obama: Two Phonies"
I asked Sharon, of Norman, Oklahoma, how she and her political allies were able to generate victories in Oklahoma, a state with a tradition of voting for Democrats. Here's her reply, beginning with the emphasis on giving people T-shirts at football games. Her emphasis, like mine, is on the least expensive and most effective forms of campaigning. Both of us believe that TV ads are too expensive -- and increasingly ineffective.
These were t-shirts which they [the campaigns] picked up very cheap. We had Crimson for OU [Oklahoma University and for OSU [Oklahoma State University] they had Orange. Since our mascot at OU is the Sooner Schooner, they had that on both sides and one had Sooners for Bush-Cheney and the other side had Sooners for Coburn. Then the ones for OSU had their mascot, the Cowboy.
We actually walked doors in a U.S. Senate race [that resulted in the election of Dr. Tom Coburn, who introduced McCain at the CPAC convention]. In fact, in our Governor's race in 2006, we had Bob Sullivan pick out precincts around the state where he walked doors. It made the news on both sides of the state at 10:00 o'clock [note: in OK, the "late" news is at 10 p.m.].
Candidates for statewide races or Congressional seats do not walk doors normally. It started with Dr. Coburn in 2004 and then in 2006 our Governor/Lt Gov candidates walked some precincts. You cannot buy that kind of publicity. They actually had the media taking pictures and thety appeared in the paper.
When we walked our precincts asking for votes for Dr. Coburn, we wore the shirts. We heard more of, "How do we get one of those?" When you wear straight campaign shirts [without the football links], I have never been asked where they can get one.
If you do a TV ad, I would recommend trying to find the one that Senator Don Nickles ran in 1998 -- know it is a long time ago but his ad was about bringing Oklahoma values to DC and he was out in the countryside with a white farm fence. It could be upgraded for today but the central theme of bringing OK values to DC still resonates as Coburn used it in 2004 when he ran for Don's seat.
My State Rep, who was defeated last time, spent $243,000 for his failed campaign and the Dem spent $41,000 but walked the doors and advertised on the radio -- especially sports talk radio while the Republican ignored radio and went to TV. We had so many TV ads before the 2006 election, they were lost in the shuffle.
Congresswoman Mary Fallin wore out several pair of shoes walking her Congressional district in 2006 asking for their vote. She was out all the time as were her Republican opponents for the open seat. She walked the most doors, got in a run-off, walked even more doors, and won.
She connected totally with her district and to this day she is so well liked. She made the fair circuit of the counties in her district and was highly visible at our State Fair in [Oklahoma City]. She was on the radio a lot and she used the theme of bringing OK values and ideas to DC. She didn't use robo calls [automated calls] and neither did her opponent, Denise Bode, but several others did and they were not well-received. She had Ed Goeas as her consultant. Grassroots won it for Mary as she had the largest amount of volunteers.
I made calls before the primary election (not even my Congressional district) and the theme was: "Mary Fallin asked me to call today to ask for your vote." The senior citizens were so impressed that they were being asked by a live person. Then we had a cheat sheet to use if they had any questions but we found being short and to the point made the biggest impression. Dr. Tom's calls were the same -- we were live except for the ones the NRSC paid for that Bush and Cheney taped.
For the Rudy campaign, we had people use their cell phones on weekends when there are free minutes. It worked great and you can get a lot more people calling. Phone banks are expensive to set up for such a short period of time. so a lot of our campaigns are going to cell phones with a limited number of phones available for people to make calls during the week but on weekends it is almost all cell phones and same with the evening.
Big money doesn't mean you are going to get elected. You have to connect to the people, something a lot of candidates forget because of consultants who would rather line their pockets have forgotten.
Note from Steve: The emphasis in this blog is not on "borrowing" tidbits of information from news sources. Rather, it concentrates on political fundamentals. John McCain is not going to be able to raise as much money as his opponent -- either Clinton or Obama -- and he shouldn't even try. Instead, there should be as much emphasis on person-to-person contact as possible. The emphasis should be on low-cost, high effectiveness forms of campaigning, the kind Sharon outlines above. What worked in Oklahoma will work in any state or congressional district. If John McCain uses these techniques, he will win. If he doesn't, he won't.
NOTE: PLEASE READ JACK KELLY'S COLUMN TODAY!
Please read the column today by Jack Kelly (a real conservative -- one with brains), who writes for the Toledo Blade and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It's accessible at: http://post-gazette.com/forum. One good line: "Every GOP candidate who rose above the asterisk level in the primaries has been called a RINO." He also beats Ann Coulter about the head-and-shoulders.
"Ann Coulter is so angry with McCain's occasional embrace of Democratic ideas that she says she'll campaign for Democrats if Mr. McCain wins the nomination." Kelly adds, "Ms. Coulter says this kind of thing whenever she feels she's not getting enough attention."
Also, "If Mr. McCain wins despite the objection of the [right-wing] RINOs, he'll owe them nothing, and it is doubtful he will have warm and fuzzy feelings about them."
Kelly concludes, "We're in the midst of a war we can't afford to lose. There is a stark difference between Mr. McCain and the leading Democrats on this and many other issues. Spare me your phony airs of moral superiority, RINOs. To sit out this election would be like sitting out 1944."
I asked Sharon, of Norman, Oklahoma, how she and her political allies were able to generate victories in Oklahoma, a state with a tradition of voting for Democrats. Here's her reply, beginning with the emphasis on giving people T-shirts at football games. Her emphasis, like mine, is on the least expensive and most effective forms of campaigning. Both of us believe that TV ads are too expensive -- and increasingly ineffective.
These were t-shirts which they [the campaigns] picked up very cheap. We had Crimson for OU [Oklahoma University and for OSU [Oklahoma State University] they had Orange. Since our mascot at OU is the Sooner Schooner, they had that on both sides and one had Sooners for Bush-Cheney and the other side had Sooners for Coburn. Then the ones for OSU had their mascot, the Cowboy.
We actually walked doors in a U.S. Senate race [that resulted in the election of Dr. Tom Coburn, who introduced McCain at the CPAC convention]. In fact, in our Governor's race in 2006, we had Bob Sullivan pick out precincts around the state where he walked doors. It made the news on both sides of the state at 10:00 o'clock [note: in OK, the "late" news is at 10 p.m.].
Candidates for statewide races or Congressional seats do not walk doors normally. It started with Dr. Coburn in 2004 and then in 2006 our Governor/Lt Gov candidates walked some precincts. You cannot buy that kind of publicity. They actually had the media taking pictures and thety appeared in the paper.
When we walked our precincts asking for votes for Dr. Coburn, we wore the shirts. We heard more of, "How do we get one of those?" When you wear straight campaign shirts [without the football links], I have never been asked where they can get one.
If you do a TV ad, I would recommend trying to find the one that Senator Don Nickles ran in 1998 -- know it is a long time ago but his ad was about bringing Oklahoma values to DC and he was out in the countryside with a white farm fence. It could be upgraded for today but the central theme of bringing OK values to DC still resonates as Coburn used it in 2004 when he ran for Don's seat.
My State Rep, who was defeated last time, spent $243,000 for his failed campaign and the Dem spent $41,000 but walked the doors and advertised on the radio -- especially sports talk radio while the Republican ignored radio and went to TV. We had so many TV ads before the 2006 election, they were lost in the shuffle.
Congresswoman Mary Fallin wore out several pair of shoes walking her Congressional district in 2006 asking for their vote. She was out all the time as were her Republican opponents for the open seat. She walked the most doors, got in a run-off, walked even more doors, and won.
She connected totally with her district and to this day she is so well liked. She made the fair circuit of the counties in her district and was highly visible at our State Fair in [Oklahoma City]. She was on the radio a lot and she used the theme of bringing OK values and ideas to DC. She didn't use robo calls [automated calls] and neither did her opponent, Denise Bode, but several others did and they were not well-received. She had Ed Goeas as her consultant. Grassroots won it for Mary as she had the largest amount of volunteers.
I made calls before the primary election (not even my Congressional district) and the theme was: "Mary Fallin asked me to call today to ask for your vote." The senior citizens were so impressed that they were being asked by a live person. Then we had a cheat sheet to use if they had any questions but we found being short and to the point made the biggest impression. Dr. Tom's calls were the same -- we were live except for the ones the NRSC paid for that Bush and Cheney taped.
For the Rudy campaign, we had people use their cell phones on weekends when there are free minutes. It worked great and you can get a lot more people calling. Phone banks are expensive to set up for such a short period of time. so a lot of our campaigns are going to cell phones with a limited number of phones available for people to make calls during the week but on weekends it is almost all cell phones and same with the evening.
Big money doesn't mean you are going to get elected. You have to connect to the people, something a lot of candidates forget because of consultants who would rather line their pockets have forgotten.
Note from Steve: The emphasis in this blog is not on "borrowing" tidbits of information from news sources. Rather, it concentrates on political fundamentals. John McCain is not going to be able to raise as much money as his opponent -- either Clinton or Obama -- and he shouldn't even try. Instead, there should be as much emphasis on person-to-person contact as possible. The emphasis should be on low-cost, high effectiveness forms of campaigning, the kind Sharon outlines above. What worked in Oklahoma will work in any state or congressional district. If John McCain uses these techniques, he will win. If he doesn't, he won't.
NOTE: PLEASE READ JACK KELLY'S COLUMN TODAY!
Please read the column today by Jack Kelly (a real conservative -- one with brains), who writes for the Toledo Blade and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It's accessible at: http://post-gazette.com/forum. One good line: "Every GOP candidate who rose above the asterisk level in the primaries has been called a RINO." He also beats Ann Coulter about the head-and-shoulders.
"Ann Coulter is so angry with McCain's occasional embrace of Democratic ideas that she says she'll campaign for Democrats if Mr. McCain wins the nomination." Kelly adds, "Ms. Coulter says this kind of thing whenever she feels she's not getting enough attention."
Also, "If Mr. McCain wins despite the objection of the [right-wing] RINOs, he'll owe them nothing, and it is doubtful he will have warm and fuzzy feelings about them."
Kelly concludes, "We're in the midst of a war we can't afford to lose. There is a stark difference between Mr. McCain and the leading Democrats on this and many other issues. Spare me your phony airs of moral superiority, RINOs. To sit out this election would be like sitting out 1944."
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Winning Elections in 2008: McCain
NOTE: THIS IS MY MAIN BLOG, WHERE THE POSTS GO UP FIRST. I HOPE YOU'LL BOOKMARK IT AND KEEP RETURNING. THERE WILL BE NEW POSTS 6-7 TIMES PER WEEK. YOUR COMMENTS ARE ALWAYS WELCOME.
Today on MSNBC, political pundit Roger Simon said the way to win elections in 2008 is to attract a core of people "who go door-to-door . . . friend-to-friend." That's the essence of grassroots politics.
This weekend (Saturday and Sunday) I'll be discussing a very successful political operative, Sharon Caliendo of Norman, Oklahoma, who's an expert in the kind of politics described by Roger Simon. If you scroll down to the previous column, you'll see how Sharon and her friends helped ensure the election of conservative Tom Coburn, in his race for a U. S. Senate seat.
(You can find Sharon's (and Greg Alterton's) blog at: http://rudysupportersformccain.blogspot.com/
In fact, Sharon's effort went one better than the door-to-door approach. She and her co-workers went where the people were: specifically, to the huge crowds that attended University of Oklahoma football games. In Oklahoma, the political activists handed out tee-shirts that promoted both the football team and the candidate. It would be possible to sell such tee-shirts, but it's better (if the campaign can afford it) to hand them out for free -- and encourage people to put them on right away.
She indicates the same approach would work country-wide.
The following are some additional comments by Sharon on the Coburn grassroots effort:
[I] added some more to the Coburn grassroots. It really needs to be an example for any candidate running a campaign on what they can do to get the grassroots involved.
Dr. Coburn held BBQ's around the state with free hamburgers/chips/drinks to recruit volunteers along with town hall meetings. The guy that did the grilling was a BBQ guru from the Tulsa area who made the best hamburgers. We held one at the OU duck pond and about 75 people turned out to the event and out of the 75, we recruited 63 of them to help, and it was repeated around the State and it just kept growing. Most amazing thing I have ever been involved with.
I will never forget when Dr. Tom won our County straw poll and was the only candidate there without a group of paid staffers but we won. I was Coburn rep for counting ballots and will never forget the look on Humphrey's campaign aide's faces when Dr. Tom won -- priceless. I live in the 3rd largest county and that was the beginning of a win for Dr. Tom who has never lost a race. In fact he won his House seat in an area that is heavily Dem and we haven't had a Republican since he left.
Hearing Dr. Tom speak today [at the CPAC convention where he introduced John McCain] brought back all those great memories from his campaign.
MCCAIN OPERATIVE BRAD MARSTON ON RADIO SUNDAY!
Brad Marston, who's been extremely successful in Internet politics for John McCain, sent the following:
I will be on live on 1590 AM in Nashua New Hampshire on Sunday 2/10 at 1 pm talking about John McCain. The call in number and the internet link are below. The shows host, Karl Zahn was one of the earliest and most influential NH supporters of McCain. New Hampshire is where it all began for McCain 2008.
I hope you and the rest of the MV08 bloggers will post about this and give the internet link so McCain supporters from around the country can listen in and join in. [Note: Find Brad's site at: http://mccainvictory08.com/.]
I doubt the Senator can join us but I am cc'ng the campaign to see if someone else might have a few words to say. Here's the link to the program: http://wsmnradio.com/.
Listen Live on the Internet.
603-883-9900 is the call in number.
Brad
Here's a partial list of the Bloggers 4 McCain, the world's fastest-growing group:
Ali Akbar, AzaMatterofact, AzaMatteroPrinciple, Blogs4McCain, BroadSideoftheBarn, Angora Politikos, ElectionNightHQ, America's Best Choice, Blue Star Chronicles, campaign2008victorya, Elyery Landavazo, Evangelicals for McCain, Gen X Dad, Georgians For McCain, How I Lost My Heart, RDM20, Libertas01, McCain Jewish Coalition of Illinois, Missourians For McCain, Myth Debunker, The Only Electable Conservative, Pajama Pack, Real World Libertarian, Right Wing Sparkle, Rudy Supporters For McCain, Rudy Supporters For McCain Yahoo Group, Think Right Arizona, Hoosiers4McCain, Iowa4McCain, McCain Blogettes, McCain States, McCain Talk, McCainVictory08, McCain Campaign Blog, Metaxupolis, My McCain Blog, NH4McCain, NJ4McCain, Pardon My French, Partisan American, PoliticoMafioso, Purple People Vote, Reality Bytes, Respectfully Republican, Stand Up For McCain>The Mad Irishman, The McCain Times, Vote McCain, With Both Hands, Porter County Politics, But I am a Liberal.Blue and New, Brainster, California Thoughts and Dreams, College Kid for McCain, McCain Monitor, Empty Rhetoric, Andrew Jones for America, JohnnyMillerBlog, Keystone for Victory, Michigan4McCain, Why McCain, and Wisconsin4McCain.
Today on MSNBC, political pundit Roger Simon said the way to win elections in 2008 is to attract a core of people "who go door-to-door . . . friend-to-friend." That's the essence of grassroots politics.
This weekend (Saturday and Sunday) I'll be discussing a very successful political operative, Sharon Caliendo of Norman, Oklahoma, who's an expert in the kind of politics described by Roger Simon. If you scroll down to the previous column, you'll see how Sharon and her friends helped ensure the election of conservative Tom Coburn, in his race for a U. S. Senate seat.
(You can find Sharon's (and Greg Alterton's) blog at: http://rudysupportersformccain.blogspot.com/
In fact, Sharon's effort went one better than the door-to-door approach. She and her co-workers went where the people were: specifically, to the huge crowds that attended University of Oklahoma football games. In Oklahoma, the political activists handed out tee-shirts that promoted both the football team and the candidate. It would be possible to sell such tee-shirts, but it's better (if the campaign can afford it) to hand them out for free -- and encourage people to put them on right away.
She indicates the same approach would work country-wide.
The following are some additional comments by Sharon on the Coburn grassroots effort:
[I] added some more to the Coburn grassroots. It really needs to be an example for any candidate running a campaign on what they can do to get the grassroots involved.
Dr. Coburn held BBQ's around the state with free hamburgers/chips/drinks to recruit volunteers along with town hall meetings. The guy that did the grilling was a BBQ guru from the Tulsa area who made the best hamburgers. We held one at the OU duck pond and about 75 people turned out to the event and out of the 75, we recruited 63 of them to help, and it was repeated around the State and it just kept growing. Most amazing thing I have ever been involved with.
I will never forget when Dr. Tom won our County straw poll and was the only candidate there without a group of paid staffers but we won. I was Coburn rep for counting ballots and will never forget the look on Humphrey's campaign aide's faces when Dr. Tom won -- priceless. I live in the 3rd largest county and that was the beginning of a win for Dr. Tom who has never lost a race. In fact he won his House seat in an area that is heavily Dem and we haven't had a Republican since he left.
Hearing Dr. Tom speak today [at the CPAC convention where he introduced John McCain] brought back all those great memories from his campaign.
MCCAIN OPERATIVE BRAD MARSTON ON RADIO SUNDAY!
Brad Marston, who's been extremely successful in Internet politics for John McCain, sent the following:
I will be on live on 1590 AM in Nashua New Hampshire on Sunday 2/10 at 1 pm talking about John McCain. The call in number and the internet link are below. The shows host, Karl Zahn was one of the earliest and most influential NH supporters of McCain. New Hampshire is where it all began for McCain 2008.
I hope you and the rest of the MV08 bloggers will post about this and give the internet link so McCain supporters from around the country can listen in and join in. [Note: Find Brad's site at: http://mccainvictory08.com/.]
I doubt the Senator can join us but I am cc'ng the campaign to see if someone else might have a few words to say. Here's the link to the program: http://wsmnradio.com/.
Listen Live on the Internet.
603-883-9900 is the call in number.
Brad
Here's a partial list of the Bloggers 4 McCain, the world's fastest-growing group:
Ali Akbar, AzaMatterofact, AzaMatteroPrinciple, Blogs4McCain, BroadSideoftheBarn, Angora Politikos, ElectionNightHQ, America's Best Choice, Blue Star Chronicles, campaign2008victorya, Elyery Landavazo, Evangelicals for McCain, Gen X Dad, Georgians For McCain, How I Lost My Heart, RDM20, Libertas01, McCain Jewish Coalition of Illinois, Missourians For McCain, Myth Debunker, The Only Electable Conservative, Pajama Pack, Real World Libertarian, Right Wing Sparkle, Rudy Supporters For McCain, Rudy Supporters For McCain Yahoo Group, Think Right Arizona, Hoosiers4McCain, Iowa4McCain, McCain Blogettes, McCain States, McCain Talk, McCainVictory08, McCain Campaign Blog, Metaxupolis, My McCain Blog, NH4McCain, NJ4McCain, Pardon My French, Partisan American, PoliticoMafioso, Purple People Vote, Reality Bytes, Respectfully Republican, Stand Up For McCain>The Mad Irishman, The McCain Times, Vote McCain, With Both Hands, Porter County Politics, But I am a Liberal.Blue and New, Brainster, California Thoughts and Dreams, College Kid for McCain, McCain Monitor, Empty Rhetoric, Andrew Jones for America, JohnnyMillerBlog, Keystone for Victory, Michigan4McCain, Why McCain, and Wisconsin4McCain.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Sharon Caliendo: Great Political Operative
This weekend I'll be writing about Sharon Caliendo, a political activist in Oklahoma. She was an important figure in Tom Coburn's winning a U.S. Senate race. Coburn was the man who introduced John McCain at last Thursday's CPAC meeting in DC.
For candidates to win in statewide or national races, they need people like Sharon. She (along with Greg Alterton) founded the Rudy Giuliani site on Yahoo, and when Mayor Giuliani left the race, Sharon and Greg changed the group to: Rudy Supporters for John McCain. It remains one of the largest groups on Yahoo.
Here's what Sharon wrote about her experience in the Coburn campaign.
"It was the largest grassroots effort ever in the State of Oklahoma, and we did it from the ground up in every county. Then a State GOP Chair was elected that didn't believe in the grassroots and they lost that large coalition of Republicans that worked to elect Dr. Tom. Office holders were behind another candidate in the primary including enlisting help from the WH but Dr. Tom prevailed. The other candidate had a mailer with Pres Bush they sent out in the primary. Never had seen that before."
"Know this is looking ahead but we need people passing out McCain stickers at every major conference football game this fall. We have 85,000 in the stands and another 10,000 milling around at every home game here in Norman for the University of Oklahoma. Lot of Texans come up for our games. We need to get those college CR's around the Country involved so we can get them passing out stickers. We have a Senate race and my hope is to tap into that to get some Inhofe/McCain/? shirts for both OU in crimson and OSU in Orange. OSU only has about 40,000 at their games but we can still tap into them as well. Our largest donors to the GOP in OK are also donors to OU and OSU"
"We could do it around the Country!"
Sharon
Here's how I responded to her:
Sharon, I'm going to reprint your piece (on my blog) about your working for the election of Dr. Tom. I hope everyone who has a blog will do the same thing. There are ways people can magnify their efforts on behalf of a candidate, and you demonstrate exactly how it's done. It's critical for McCain to go out and "engage" with other voters. John McCain has never lost an election, and with the help of people like you, he'll keep that perfrect record in 2008.
Stephen R. Maloney
For candidates to win in statewide or national races, they need people like Sharon. She (along with Greg Alterton) founded the Rudy Giuliani site on Yahoo, and when Mayor Giuliani left the race, Sharon and Greg changed the group to: Rudy Supporters for John McCain. It remains one of the largest groups on Yahoo.
Here's what Sharon wrote about her experience in the Coburn campaign.
"It was the largest grassroots effort ever in the State of Oklahoma, and we did it from the ground up in every county. Then a State GOP Chair was elected that didn't believe in the grassroots and they lost that large coalition of Republicans that worked to elect Dr. Tom. Office holders were behind another candidate in the primary including enlisting help from the WH but Dr. Tom prevailed. The other candidate had a mailer with Pres Bush they sent out in the primary. Never had seen that before."
"Know this is looking ahead but we need people passing out McCain stickers at every major conference football game this fall. We have 85,000 in the stands and another 10,000 milling around at every home game here in Norman for the University of Oklahoma. Lot of Texans come up for our games. We need to get those college CR's around the Country involved so we can get them passing out stickers. We have a Senate race and my hope is to tap into that to get some Inhofe/McCain/? shirts for both OU in crimson and OSU in Orange. OSU only has about 40,000 at their games but we can still tap into them as well. Our largest donors to the GOP in OK are also donors to OU and OSU"
"We could do it around the Country!"
Sharon
Here's how I responded to her:
Sharon, I'm going to reprint your piece (on my blog) about your working for the election of Dr. Tom. I hope everyone who has a blog will do the same thing. There are ways people can magnify their efforts on behalf of a candidate, and you demonstrate exactly how it's done. It's critical for McCain to go out and "engage" with other voters. John McCain has never lost an election, and with the help of people like you, he'll keep that perfrect record in 2008.
Stephen R. Maloney
Grassroots Politics & McCain Victory
Here are some of the locations of visitors within the past several hours: Carrizozo, NM; Kenya, Africa; Savannah, GA; Seattle, WA; Midvale, UT; Houston, TX; Lubbock, TX; Bellingham, WA; Seattle, WA; Downingtown, PA; Glenside, PA; as well as many other places. Thanks to all of you for visiting.
If you'd like to see my daily columns, this is the best place to be. Please bookmark this site and return often. Your comments are always welcome.
Later today (Friday, February 8, 2008), I'll be writing about the tactics advocated by an Oklahoma activists, Sharon Caliendo, who lives in Norman. Sharon discusses how you can turn your favorite candidate from "someone who came close" to "someone who celebrates a victory on Election Eve."
Sharon, along with Greg Alterton, began the Yahoo Group of Rudy Giuliani supporters. When Rudy dropped out, the Group became "Rudy Supporters for McCain." It was and is one of the largest groups on Yahoo, with approximately 1500 members. It was a factor in John McCain's winning the Oklahoma Primary.
Her emphasis is on grassroots politics -- basically on political activists (like you) recruiting other activists. Of course, we each have ONE vote, but if we act wisely we can leverage our vote into many votes. It's something like a snowball rolling down a hill. By the time it reaches the bottom it has turned into a huge mass.
To win on November 4, 2008, John McCain will need approximately 70-75 million votes. Sharon's analysis explains how McCain can accumulate enough support to win. I hope you return to see what she says.
SHARON CALIENDO'S COMMENTS ON THE SUCCESSFUL GRASSROOTS EFFORT IN OKLAHOMA TO ELECT TOM COBURN TO THE SENATE. SENATOR COBURN INTRODUCED JOHN MCCAIN AT YESTERDAY'S CPAC MEETING.
It was the largest grassroots effort ever [the one for Tom Coburan] in the State of Oklahoma, and we did it from the ground up in every county. Then a State GOP Chair was elected that didn't believe in the grassroots and they lost that large coalition of Republicans that worked to elect Dr. Tom. Office holders were behind another candidate in the primary including enlisting help from the WH but Dr. Tom prevailed. The other candidate had a mailer with Pres Bush they sent out in the primary. Never had seen that before.
Know this is looking ahead but we need people passing out McCain stickers at every major conference football game this fall. We have 85,000 in the stands and another 10,000 milling around at every home game here in Norman for the University of Oklahoma. Lot of Texans come up for our games. We need to get those college CR's around the Country involved so we can get them passing out stickers. We have a Senate race and my hope is to tap into that to get some Inhofe/McCain/? shirts for both OU in crimson and OSU in Orange. OSU only has about 40,000 at their games but we can still tap into them as well. Our largest donors to the GOP in OK are also donors to OU and OSU.
We could do it around the Country!
Sharon
If you'd like to see my daily columns, this is the best place to be. Please bookmark this site and return often. Your comments are always welcome.
Later today (Friday, February 8, 2008), I'll be writing about the tactics advocated by an Oklahoma activists, Sharon Caliendo, who lives in Norman. Sharon discusses how you can turn your favorite candidate from "someone who came close" to "someone who celebrates a victory on Election Eve."
Sharon, along with Greg Alterton, began the Yahoo Group of Rudy Giuliani supporters. When Rudy dropped out, the Group became "Rudy Supporters for McCain." It was and is one of the largest groups on Yahoo, with approximately 1500 members. It was a factor in John McCain's winning the Oklahoma Primary.
Her emphasis is on grassroots politics -- basically on political activists (like you) recruiting other activists. Of course, we each have ONE vote, but if we act wisely we can leverage our vote into many votes. It's something like a snowball rolling down a hill. By the time it reaches the bottom it has turned into a huge mass.
To win on November 4, 2008, John McCain will need approximately 70-75 million votes. Sharon's analysis explains how McCain can accumulate enough support to win. I hope you return to see what she says.
SHARON CALIENDO'S COMMENTS ON THE SUCCESSFUL GRASSROOTS EFFORT IN OKLAHOMA TO ELECT TOM COBURN TO THE SENATE. SENATOR COBURN INTRODUCED JOHN MCCAIN AT YESTERDAY'S CPAC MEETING.
It was the largest grassroots effort ever [the one for Tom Coburan] in the State of Oklahoma, and we did it from the ground up in every county. Then a State GOP Chair was elected that didn't believe in the grassroots and they lost that large coalition of Republicans that worked to elect Dr. Tom. Office holders were behind another candidate in the primary including enlisting help from the WH but Dr. Tom prevailed. The other candidate had a mailer with Pres Bush they sent out in the primary. Never had seen that before.
Know this is looking ahead but we need people passing out McCain stickers at every major conference football game this fall. We have 85,000 in the stands and another 10,000 milling around at every home game here in Norman for the University of Oklahoma. Lot of Texans come up for our games. We need to get those college CR's around the Country involved so we can get them passing out stickers. We have a Senate race and my hope is to tap into that to get some Inhofe/McCain/? shirts for both OU in crimson and OSU in Orange. OSU only has about 40,000 at their games but we can still tap into them as well. Our largest donors to the GOP in OK are also donors to OU and OSU.
We could do it around the Country!
Sharon
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