Conservatives Don’t Always Vote Republican

by Kerry Thomas

November 1, 2009

Republican party leaders across the country, and particularly here in Wisconsin’s 8^th Congressional District, should heed the warning being sent by conservative voters, especially in light of developments in New York’s 23^rd Congressional District race.

For those of you who haven’t been following that race, the not-so-conservative Republican candidate, Dierdre Scozzafava, abruptly suspended her campaign just three days before the election, after a Siena College poll showed she was supported by just 20% of the voters. Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman and Democrat nominee Bill Owens were nearly even, with 35 percent and 36 percent voter support respectively.

Within hours of dropping out of the race, Scozzafav endorsed the Democrat Owens, leaving national Republicans who had endorsed her candidacy and supported her to the tune of over $1 million with egg on their faces.

The New York race has been widely viewed as a battle between conservatives and the Republican Party for conservative voters, who don’t always blindly vote for the Republican candidate.

“It's time for us to send a message to Washington - we're sick and tired of big-spending, high-taxing, career politicians," Hoffman said in a statement released after Scozzafava's announcement, the AP reported.

Indeed!

Here in Wisconsin’s 8^th District, self-serving career politicians have been busy behind the scenes, working with the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) to recruit no less than four potential candidates to run on the Republican ticket against incumbent Democrat Congressman Steve Kagen.

They’ve even recruited one candidate who doesn’t even live in the district, one of their own long time political supporters who’s been a political lobbyist for 14 years. For the moment, he appears to be their chosen candidate, being circulated around the inner circles of power brokers in Washington. So far, more than 88% of his donations have come from outside the 8^th District, according to his FEC reports. He doesn’t live in the district; why should his support come from within the district?

Conveniently left out of this recruiting drive has been conservative Terri McCormick, a former member of the Wisconsin Assembly who ran in the 2006 primary race against them Assembly Speaker John Gard. That race left a bitter taste in the mouths of many Republican voters on both sides.

If McCormick decides to enter this race, she’ll again be the most qualified conservative candidate in the field, with a proven record of actual accomplishments in both the public and private sector.

She’ll also be the only conservative Republican who can win against Kagen.

There’s just one problem: McCormick won’t play political games.

That’s why the NRCC and the self-serving career politicians are trying to marginalize her even before she gets into the race. One high-ranking Republican “leader” has even vowed to “bury her if she dares to run again.”

The NRCC is fast building a record – for choosing losing candidates. Despite the millions of dollars they’ve spent in recent elections, their record isn’t very good. They’ve shown a preponderance of picking game players instead of principled conservative candidates.

Maybe the voters know something the NRCC doesn’t. Maybe voters are smarter than we’ve been given credit for.

The big question is what will conservative voters in Wisconsin’s 8^th district do? Will we blindly go with whoever the NRCC anoints as the Republican candidate, or will we take the time to examine the candidates and support the candidate who best represents our conservative principles?