That Was The Week That Was #6.

In this series of weekly articles I usually cover a few of the week’s main story lines. This week, however, a large amount of time has been given in the media to the last of the primary elections… and the fallout that has followed. With only forty five days until the general election, it seems only right that I devote this page to this one topic.

Miller and Murkowski - Just when you think it's over....

It was announced yesterday that Lisa Murkowski, beaten in the Alaska Senatorial primary by Joe Miller, will run in November as a write-in candidate. The bitter irony of this act is that the Republican establishment, of which the Murkowski dynasty could be considered a part, has spent the better part of the week condemning the Tea Party for its support of Christine O’Donnell.

While old guard Republicans are saying that it’s better to get a Party member into the Senate, regardless of how far left they lean, than to risk loss by running a Conservative candidate, one of their own is taking the risk of splitting the Republican vote.

I have always held Karl Rove in high esteem, and I regard Charles Krauthammer as, possibly, my favorite op-ed columnist. I can see where they are coming from with their opinions on risking the loss of elections, but my instincts and, dare I say, morals, tell me that they are off base on this one.

Charles Krauthammer

In Krauthammer’s article of September 17, he used the analogy of a baseball batting average, with Mike Castle at .667 on the voting history of health care (no), the stimulus (no) and cap-and-trade (yes). He questioned whether it would be more agreeable to have a Democrat elected with an average of .000.

That’s being a little too selective, in my opinion. If you look at the broader picture, Castle is pro-choice, voted against the Iraq troop surge, voted for TARP and the Fannie Mae – Freddie Mac bailout, voted to increase taxes on oil companies, voted against controls on eminent domain abuse, voted for the cash-for-clunkers program…. the list goes on. He may show an overall Republican voting agreement figure of 80% plus, but that covers every single vote, down to whether the House restaurant menu should be updated. As for gun control… need I say it?

With this sort of batting average on serious issues, it appears that a moderate Democrat could be a preferential alternative to Mike Castle. What is the difference between a Democrat and a RINO voting against the wishes of Conservatives? Why he ever joined the GOP is a mystery to me. Perhaps the Democrats had filled their membership quota for the year?

I have said on many occasions that if I was to run for political office, I would rather lose heavily while voicing my true beliefs than to win by giving the electorate what they want to hear. It is this ideal of being true to oneself that drives the Tea Party. If they pulled the plug on a Conservative candidate, to give a RINO, and the GOP, a better chance of success, it would undermine the very principles that the movement is founded on.



America is not some reality show, where the producers decide to keep someone popular in the House (or Senate) to beat the ratings of the another network. This is the reality – the Republican Party must give the full support that is deserved by Tea Party candidates. Christine O’Donnell and Joe Miller won their respective primary elections fair and square.

Everyone, please, do the honorable thing and give them all the help you possibly can in the run-up to November. Time is running short, we need to pull together now to create an unstoppable force that will halt the tide of socialism. Stay true to your beliefs and have faith – the rest will come naturally.

I would like to congratulate Ron Johnson on his primary success in Wisconsin. Regular readers probably know that Ron was endorsed on the skipmaclure.us website. He has a difficult battle now with Russ Feingold, but I’m sure that if anyone can pull it off, Ron can. Please support him in any way you can.

I’ll finish with a quote from Jim DeMint: “I’ve been in the majority with Republicans who didn’t have principles and we embarrassed ourselves and lost credibility in front of the country. Frankly, I’m at a point where I’d rather lose fighting for the right cause then win fighting for the wrong cause”.

(Editor Dee is in for Skip today)