Rasmussen Reports: Hucakabee Leading GOP As Potential Candidate

Rasmussen Reports (10/16/09):
Nationwide Republican voters:
Pick to represent the GOP in the 2012 Presidential:
- 29% Mike Huckabee
- 24% Mitt Romney
- 18% Sarah Palin
- 14% Newt Gingrich
-  4% Tim Pawlenty
-  6% Some other candidate
-  7% Undecided

Least Like to see get the nomination:
- 28% Tim Pawlenty
- 21% Sarah Palin
- 20% Newt Gingrich
-  9% Mitt Romney
-  8% Mike Huckabee

Viewed Favorably:
- 78% Mitt Romney & Mike Huckabee
- 75% Sarah Palin
- 69% Newt Gingrich
- 45% Tim Pawlenty

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H/T eGOPNews - ARRA News Service

Bob Graham Stomping All Over Florida House District 91?

by Yomin Postelnik, Republican Candidate for Florida House District 91: Over the past day I’ve received word that after 6 months of indecision, Chip Burpee will be entering the race on the Democratic side. I believe this means that his boss, retired Senator Bob Graham, will be campaigning against me. My reaction is simple: Bring it on. This is exactly what we need to mobilize all South Floridians who want real solutions and who know that the time for lifelong political hacks has long past and that now is the time for real solutions.

Political hacks should satisfy their ambitions by raising money for career politicians and taking whatever cut they want of it. When they decide that they themselves can become legislators, that’s when they become dangerous. It’s because of career politicians that there are so few new ideas in politics. Chip Burpee, a lifelong staffer, hasn’t offered up a single constructive idea in his life and his supposed decision to run is an insult to the District. Our state needs solutions, not blatant power grabs.

It is clear that Bob Graham still wishes to exert influence and control on the political scene. Accordingly, the logical step would be for him to run for office. Having a lackey, one who served him in a very junior capacity until after he retired from office, now run on his behalf is shameful – and no good can come of it for our state.

While Bob Graham may have had a long and diverse career in politics, Burpee is a man who has never dealt with the public that he now wishes to serve. And while Graham’s career has certainly been overrated - after all, as Governor he was best known for his failure to stop the Mariel Boatlift and for his signing of an unprecedented number of death warrants, 153 to be exact - he was always well liked, personable and in touch with the needs of constituents. Burpee is anything but.
Burpee embarked on his path in life as a political hack at the age of 18, serving as a staff assistant and deputy scheduler in Bob Graham’s office. During the six years in which he worked on and off for then-Senator Graham, the only position of semi-importance that Burpee held was for less than five months.

Burpee’s entire experience outside of political hackery was as a manager of an uppity, pretentious restaurant. Yet he calls this “business experience.” He’s currently the “Chief of Staff” for a long retired politician. And he calls that a job!

Even his education was large on style but utterly devoid of substance. Burpee received his education in Paris, France, where he studied “diplomacy.” Those whose sole area of study is “diplomacy” will generally tell you that that’s a nice way of saying “how to lie nicely.” Burpee has no background in education, ethics, business or any experience or first hand knowledge of anything that could be of benefit to his desired constituents. The last thing that Florida needs is someone whose entire field of study centered on mastering the art of political spin.

His latest decision to run after two other members of his party announced months ago and have formulated campaigns is a disservice to his own party. Their supporters must undoubtedly be upset by the intrusion and by Bob Graham stomping all over their primary. One even switched parties just to be able to run in this race. All jokes aside, why South Florida voters would want a representative who, essentially, wasted everyone’s time with his indecisiveness is beyond me. And Senator Graham’s attempt to belatedly insert himself into the race, walking all over two Democratic campaigns in the process, is uncalled for.

Among political hacks, Chip Burpee is among the least creative. He’s a man who has yet to offer up a single idea at any time during his lifelong career as a second rate staffer.

Should Bob Graham wish to tarnish his legacy and recruit political hacks who offer no new ideas for the District and who have never done anything for the people of Florida, then he should rethink his strategy. The recruitment of Burpee is the worst form of political payback and is designed to give Graham power and influence by putting an incompetent in an important position where he will make decisions that affect education, small business and Florida families.

The people of District 91 will not stand for it. We deserve better and we will demand nothing less.

Democrats have long promised that District 91 would be “the largest battle in South Florida.” If by that they meant that this election would finally expose the Jimmy Carter-like incompetence of the otherwise likable Senator and former Governor Bob Graham, then I’ll have no choice but to oblige. It certainly is interesting that Bob Graham’s biggest failure, the Mariel Boatlift, is one that Jimmy Carter is still trying to live down to this day.

I will not attack the puppet. I’ll go after the puppet maker who still controls the strings. People in District 91 know the difference – and no one appreciates a retired politician trying to control his party’s legislative agenda by proxy, through a third rate political hack who has yet to offer up a single substantive idea in 12 years of political machine grinding.
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Visit Yomin Postelnik Campaign Site: A Better Florida Yomin Postelnik offers Florida the opportunity for a solid conservative to work through the critical economic issues facing Florida created by the unfunded mandates of the Obama administration and the declining return of revenue collected by Florida but retained by the Federal Government. The Editor of America's Best Choice and National Political Director Conservative Solutions ("Let's Get This Right"), Dr. Bill Smith, has endorsed Yomin Postelnik as "the best choice for Florida's future in House District 91.

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America's Best Choice

Want to Throw Nancy Pelosi Off the Big Plane?

ARRA News Service - H/T Flopping Aces for update on "Want to Throw Nancy Pelosi Off the Big Plane? Drop $20 for 20 to Elect Jim Tadesco (R-NY) by: Mike's America:

Start the revolution to take back the House with the special election for New York’s 20th Congressional District! The congressional seat vacated by Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), who New York Governor David Patterson (D)appointed to fill Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat is up for grabs in a special election on March 31, 2009. Favored is the Republican, Jim Tedisco, the Minority Leader in the NY State Assembly. Winning this seat will send yet another message to Pelosi and Obama that the people are in revolt against the socialist makeover they are planning for America. Can you help?

Lt Col William Russell Back On Duty

Bill Smith, ARRA Editorial: Two local papers in Pennsylvania's 12 District besmirched William (Bill) Russell (Republican for Congress) after their primary. The Tribune Democrat, Johnstown PA said in a spurious editorial: "William Russell - Missing in Action. 12th district candidate strangely silent. . . . And what we see now is a candidate who has been all-but-invisible . . . But we suspect Russell has done more damage to his election chances through his own lack of action . . . " The Herald, Sharon, PA carried the same story (word for word). Who ever wrote the story wrote without getting the facts or failed to reveal the facts. The facts show the papers owe William Russell an apology.

After winning a write-in primary effort to place him back on the November ballot, Lt Col William Russell, a member of the US Army Reserves, returned to "active duty" for the period April 30, 2008 to July 26, 2008. He has been working at the Pentagon. During this period William Russell is not permitted to campaign. Russell has been in the process of relocating his family from Virginia after his prior long term period on active duty. While he returned to PA and campaigned prior to the Primary, he allowed his children to finish school at his former duty location and for his wife to prepare for their permanent return home to PA. Now that the family is relocating, Russell makes the trip home on weekends to work on their home.

Today, I caught up with Russell today in his home in Johnstown, PA. He was back for the weekend and was working on their home. He made it clear he could not talk about his campaign until after July 26 and referred me to his campaign manager Peg Luksik.

Being a retired Air Force officer, I enjoyed swapping some old war stories with Lt Col Russell and sharing about our concerns for the security of our country. Russell never complained about the false comments made in the above reference articles. He said while others outside the district may not have know where he was, many of his future constituents knew he had returned to active duty during the lull after the primary. As a responsible person, he has to earn a living to care of his family. And as an Iraq veteran, he provides unique experience in addressing military contingency operations. However, Russell looks forward to being back full-time in the 12th District on July 27.

Peg Luksik, campaign manager for the William Russell for Congress, says she is preparing for Russell's return and for a "front porch" campaign as they meet with voters through out the district. She realized that voters attention wanes after a primary, but said Russell is ready to address voters concerns on the economy, energy, and the many other needs of the district. Although their opponent has a larger war chest, she believes the voters of District 12 have even larger hearts and are concerned about change including electing Russell to Congress.

It is disheartening that the local press could easily have learned of William Russell's return to "active duty." They used his absence from the area to promote sensationalism. But even worse, what if they actually knew Lt Col Russell was back on temporary active duty? In either situation, they insulted both their readers and Russell and they assaulted Russell's character by using military terminology like "Missing in Action" and "strangely silent." There is no excuse for not reporting Russell's return to active duty to "serve his country and the residents of the District 12." While an apology would be appropriate from the papers, I expect that none will be forth coming. It is hoped that voters of District 12 know well Murtha cronyism when the see it.

In closing, I have been asked why should I care about the Lt Col Bill Russell and the voters of the PA District 12. It is because literally millions of military and veterans like myself feel dishonored by Rep. John Murtha. He is such a disgrace, we cannot fathom that the voters in his district are not ready for a change. And this week again brought Murtha to our attention, when for the seventh time, charges against one of the eight Marines accused in the incident were dismissed, leaving just one case left. It was Rep. John Murtha who proclaimed without evidence that our Marines “killed innocent civilians in cold blood,” and now Murtha remains "strangely silent" with no comment on the dismissals. In addition, Murtha greed in controlling pork in Congress has led to his being called the "King of Pork." Not just for representing his district but for his internal hand in manipulating wasteful pork barrel spending across the United States. We hope that the voters of the 12th District will elect an honorable man like Lt Col Russell over the failed character and bad performance of "Jack" Murtha. It is Time for a Change!

Republicans Sour on Nation’s Moral Climate

ARRA News Service - New Gallup survey results released! In just two years, the percent of registered Republicans who said the moral condition of America is "poor" has risen by 15 points! Today 51 percent of the GOP is frustrated by the nation's cultural climate compared to 36% in 2006, and 81% think it's "getting worse." The overall results to the question about the state of moral values show that, as has been the case consistently throughout the decade, few Americans give the country's moral climate high marks. Only 15% consider moral values to be "excellent" or "good" while 41% call them "only fair" and 44% consider them to be "poor."

Gallup's "Bottom Line" for the survey indicated that:

Americans are reliably negative when it comes to rating moral values in the country. Since 2002, a majority of Americans have consistently said the state of moral values is less than good and getting worse. Apart from this general pattern, Republicans' disaffection with the nation's moral climate (but not Democrats' or independents') has been elevated over the past two years, A number of "values" issues have been in the news in recent years, including gay marriage, pop-star misbehavior, and reports of high-profile elected officials involved in sex-related scandals, but it is unclear that any of these are responsible for the pattern in the data. Whatever the cause, this may signal that Republicans will be particularly anxious to elect a new president this November who will help to uphold or restore the values they now find lacking in the country.

Republicans are becoming more concerned about traditional values--not less. And, Republican candidates had better start listening and speaking to moral issues. See: Republicans Sour on Nation's Moral Climate