by Smitty (nudge: Pat in Shreveport)
The Dialysis Diary is about the stress of caring for someone when the outcome is uncertain and the caring perhaps less than pleasant.
Let us bear each others’ burdens.
Month: February 2010
Illinois Update: Brady Leads in GOP Gov. Race; Kirk Wins Senate Primary
Wednesday, Feb. 3, 12:15 a.m. ET: As disappointing as the Illinois GOP gubernatorial primary is for Andrzejewski’s Tea Party supporters, Mark Kirk’s win in the Senate GOP primary is much worse from a conservative perspective. Michelle Malkin notes the “hold-your-nose” factor as reflected in the ultra-low primary turnout.
11:55 p.m. ET: Bill Brady leads Kirk Dillard by fewer than 2,000 votes with 97% of precincts reporting. Jim Hoft’s updated headline — ANDRZEJEWSKI SURGING . . . Maybe not — captures the sense of widespread disappointment among supporters of the Tea Party insurgent, who is about 40,000 votes behind the leaders.
Over the weekend, some of Andrzejewski’s staffers were second-guessing their tactics, but there’s really nothing to be gained by rear-view mirror recriminations. The entrenched strength of the GOP Establishment is such that any “outsider” candidate fights against near-insurmountable odds.
Like Doug Hoffman in last year’s NY23 campaign, Andrzejewski started with near-zero name recognition. The Chicago-area media did its best to ignore Andrzejewski campaign and a late surge of New Media attention was, alas, too late to overcome that disadvantage. As with Hoffman, the lessons learned from this campaign, and the network of contacts built in the process, can be employed going forward.
With RINO Mark Kirk the winner of the GOP Senate primary, and Obama-endorsing Dillard going down to the wire in the gubernatorial primary, conservatives in Illinois are understandably glum. Expect to hear rumblings of third-party campaigns in the next few days. Expect that talk to fade when the third-party advocates discover the high hurdles to ballot access in Illinois.
In the end, the challenge for Tea Party activists in Illinois — as elsewhere — is to focus their energies toward the long, slow process of getting inside the regular GOP machinery. Over the past couple of years, Ron Paul’s supporters have discovered that in many instances, it takes only a half-dozen or so dedicated activists to capture a county Republican committee. Tea Party people can learn the same lesson.
Sitting through the tedious proceedings of a county GOP meeting might not be exciting and revolutionary, but such is the mundane business of pursuing real political influence.
11:05 p.m.: With 92% of precincts reporting, it’s neck-and-neck between Kirk Dillard, Bill Brady and Andy McKenna. A source with the Andrzejewski campaign says Brady is a “good guy,” compared to either Dillard or McKenna.
Much ire among Andrzejewski’s supporters is directed toward Dan Proft, a marginal candidate who currently has about 45,000 votes and whom some suspect of being a stalking horse for McKenna’s GOP machine. Proft was profiled last year by Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass who notes Proft’s ties to Al Capone’s old haunts:
All this talk of reform is exciting, except for one thing. Proft has a problem. It’s the size of Cicero. That doesn’t necessarily disqualify him. But when a candidate is linked to Cicero, that candidate finds himself on the defensive.
For years Proft’s public relations firm has reaped hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees from governments in and around Cicero, not exactly the most reformish hamlet in the state.
My colleague at the Sun-Times, Carol Marin, has been merciless in dissecting Proft. She’s made Cicero a special study for years. If Proft thought that one day he’d run for governor, he should have stayed out of the town that Al Capone built.
“I’m not here to try and convince you that Cicero is Mayberry,” Proft said. “People can play that guilt-by-association game. I had a responsibility to a client, to represent their interests, just like an attorney would, just like any professional would. And that’s what I did.”
Add together the votes for Proft — who was endorsed Monday by Richard Baehr of American Thinker — and Andrzejewski, and you’d have a winning plurality. Just sayin’ . . .
10:25 p.m.: Bill Brady runs strong in rural counties:
Franklin . . . . . . 56%
Edwards . . . . . . 55%
Lee . . . . . . . . . 50%
Washington . . . . 49%
Livingston . . . . . 46%
Fulton . . . . . . . 40%
10:17 p.m. ET — With 73% of precincts reporting, less than six points separate first place (20.4%) and fifth place (14.8%).
10:10 p.m. ET — The polls in Illinois have been closed for more than two hours, and 67 percent of precincts are reporting. While Andrzejewski is currently in fifth place, his strong showing in Madison County (40% with 83% of precincts reporting) should be reflected in neighboring counties where precincts are surprisingly slow to report. Nevertheless, it looks like Brady’s strength in the southern tip of the state may turn this into a battle between Brady and McKenna, with Dillard, Ryan and Andrzejewski in a close race for third.
9:50 p.m ET. — Strange: Nearly two hours after the polls closed, zero precincts reporting in St. Clair County, a St. Louis suburb that should be strong for Andrzejewski, who has 40% of the vote in neighboring Madison County, which has already reported 70% of its precints.
9:40 p.m. ET — When watching these media reports of election results, it’s important to note that 46% of precincts reporting is not the same as 46% of the votes. The largest precincts may report late. That said, it appears from the county-by-county results that Brady and Andrzejewski split a lot of the down-state and rural vote, while McKenna — whose strength is in the Chicago suburbs — is emerging as the winner over Dillard.
9:20 p.m. ET — One of my Twitter friends: “Ain’t lookin good for the good guys, Stace.” Indeed, with 31% of precincts reporting, Andrzejewski is in fourth place with 15%, and Andy McKenna’s strong support in the Chicago suburbs has him in first place at 25%. The good news so far: Obama-endorsing Kirk Dillard is in still below 20%.
9:10 p.m. ET — Looking at the map of the results, you see that most of the counties have not yet reported a single precinct. Andrzejewski is indeed strongest in the St. Louis suburbs — Metro East, it’s called — which are a hotbed of Tea Party activism.
9 p.m. ET — Live counter of results. With 24% of precincts reporting, McKenna leads with 28%, Andrzejewski currently fourth with 16%.
8:24 p.m. ET (Smitty) — Andrzejewski campaign reports results in from Williamson County show their candidate topping Brady by 1 vote. “It’s gonna be close.” Expect further updates.
7:50 p.m. ET — Welcome, Instapundit readers! A source in Springfield reports that exit polls indicate a three-man race between Andrzejewski, Brady and Dillard, with McKenna fourth. Polls close in 10 minutes, so we’ll have actual vote totals soon. Stay tuned . . .
7:40 p.m. ET — Partial exit-poll reports indicate Andrzejewski “coming on strong,” says my source, with Dillard “dropping fast.” The campaign was still pushing GOTV at 6:30 p.m. CT, focusing on the Metro East suburbs of St. Louis downstate. “We can get another thousand votes out of there in the next half-hour.” Local conservative talk radio programs were reportedly inundated with call-ins from Andrzejewski suporters. “It’s crazy.” Expect more from Gateway Pundit tonight. Will continue to keep you updated here . . .
6:55 p.m. ET — “We’re on fire!” a campaign operative for Adam Andrzejewski told me in a phone conversation shortly after 5 p.m. CT (6 p.m. ET). “It’s freaking insane.”
The campaign staff was energized by Erich “Mancow” Mueller’s endorsement this morning. E-mail networks of Tea Party activists are overflowing with messages about the campaign’s all-out drive to get voters to the poll in the Illinois GOP gubernatorial primary. Some volunteers have used washable paint to festoon their vans with “Vote for Adam” slogans.
According to my source, their turnout operation is “looking good in downstate and East Metro,” which are Andrzejewski’s key areas. Polls close at 7 p.m. CT — a little more than an hour from now.
The candidate is reportedly awaiting results in Oak Park.
EXPECT FURTHER UPDATES . . .
PREVIOUSLY:
- Feb. 2: Hey, Who’s This Andrzejewski Guy Everybody Is Talking About Today?
- Feb. 1: Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck on Lech Walesa and Adam Andrzejewski
- Feb. 1: Can the Scott Brown factor elect Andrzejewski?
- Feb. 1: American Spectator: Andrzejewski’s Army
- Jan. 30: Lech Walesa Rallies Tea Party Crowd for Adam Andrzejewski in Chicago
- Jan. 30: American Spectator: Grassroots vs. Establishment Battles Shape GOP Primaries
- Jan. 28: Adam Andrzejewski on Judge Andrew Napolitano’s Show
- Jan. 27: Money-bomb!
- Jan. 25: How Do You Pronounce ‘Andrzejewski’?
Among the Reasons For Discomfort When Some Call the US a Christian Nation II
by Smitty
The previous installment to this occasional series had to do with ObamaCare. It noted the fact that the rest of the Christians in the country are lovingly taken to the mat and given a pacifistic thrashing by the Amish example of refusing to let Caesar operate in Divine territory. Continue reading Among the Reasons For Discomfort When Some Call the US a Christian Nation II →
What Would William F. Buckley Jr.
Say About Eric Boehlert?
Buckley might limit himself to the two most famous words of Rahm Emanuel, but the Media Matters mouthpiece blathers on for more than 1,200 words, playing the familiar (and dishonest) liberal trick of invoking dead conservatives to disparage living conservatives. This reminds me of something that Buckley once said to a liberal contemporary.
“Now listen, you queer, you stop calling me a crypto-Nazi or I’ll sock you in the goddamn face and you’ll stay plastered.”
— Bill Buckley to Gore Vidal, Aug. 28, 1968
The insistence of the Left that conservatives today are not truly conservatives, but rather are “pseudo-conservatives” — i.e., that conservatism has been infiltrated and hijacked by dangerous extremists — is a smear that originated with Marxist sociologist Theodor Adorno and was elaborated by Richard Hofstadter. (See my article “Political Psychosis,” which quotes Buckley’s brilliant evisceration of the Adorno-Hofstadter thesis.)
We ought to call such accusations what they are: Propaganda, intended to deligitimize and marginalize opposition to the Left’s agenda. Boehlert may mislead fools (hello, Charles Johnson) but he doesn’t deceive anyone who has studied history. Buckley was himself smeared by such tactics, as were Barry Goldwater, Ronald Reagan and pretty much anyone else who ever dared stand up to the Left.
The specific target of Boehlert’s screed is James O’Keefe, whose Louisiana exploits have resulted in federal prosecution. Andrew Breitbart has defended O’Keefe against the various distorted accounts that have appeared in the media. Hannah Giles is also standing up for O’Keefe, as is Ben Stein. Whatever the outcome of O’Keefe’s legal situation, nothing the Left says is going to cause conservatives to throw O’Keefe under the bus, yet people like Eric Boehlert, Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann keep yammering on as if their comments made any difference.
The same establishment media who studiously ignored John Edwards’ sex scandal as long as they could and the same leftist hacks who argued for Bill Clinton’s constitutional right to sodomize interns in the Oval Office now take it upon themselves to tell conservatives we ought to be scandalized because O’Keefe tried a hidden-camera stunt in a senator’s office.
Two words, Boehlert.
Submitted to the Court of Public Opinion
by Smitty
This end of the blog has no idea what Stacy is up to. There is a full-time job I go to, and I don’t check my personal email there. Thus, should there be a serious need to get ahold of me, you need to know my desk phone number. As a casual reader of this blog, it’s unlikely you have a serious need.
So, I get home and find out that Political Byline has requested help promoting Mike Bouchard for governor. It seems that Michigan could use more than an an abject tool in the statehouse. Fine.
Then I find out that there has been an increase in the aggregate Michigan blood pressure. The photographic evidence is less than pretty. I’ll just leave it right here and ask the Court of Public Opinion for recommendations.
The Difference One Life Can Make
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. . . .
Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
— Jeremiah 1: 5, 7 (KJV)
My 20-year-old daughter Kennedy is a college junior, majoring in early childhood education, and she works part-time at a daycare. At Sabbath dinner, she was telling us about a 3-year-old boy in her class who is nothing but trouble. Kennedy takes special interest in him because, as she says, “Somebody’s got to love him.”
What if Kennedy wasn’t there to give him that extra attention? What if she’d never been born?
Is that merely a hypothetical question? Because of Roe v. Wade, it’s not. Her existence is most definitely not a coincidence.
Kennedy, like every other person born in America since 1973, belongs to the Chosen Generation, a survivor of a holocaust that has destroyed more than 40 million lives that were never lived. Kennedy is conscious of the unique opportunity that each life represents, including her own life. Her fiance is surely not the only one grateful for her existence.
People are not just coincidental statistics, as Tim Tebow’s mother will remind America on Super Bowl Sunday. More than 120,000 people have joined Americans United for Life’s Facebook page in support of the Tebow ad. And Sarah Palin’s defense of the Tebow ad inspired a post by Rachelle Friberg at Conservative Girl With a Voice:
While I have always described myself as a pro-lifer, there was a time when I didn’t really have a strong opinion either way. Many of you may be wondering, “What made her change her mind; what made her garner the strong pro-life stance she has today?” My response is simple and can be summed up in four words: Sarah and Trig Palin. Before Sarah stepped to the forefront, I never gave much thought to the whole “abortion” debate. . . . My entire perspective changed when Sarah illustrated how wonderful giving someone life could be. Little Trig Palin represents how amazing an experience choosing life can be. This little angel has changed my whole perspective on the whole pro-life/ pro-choice debate. This little boy is a reminder that ALL life IS precious. . . .
Read the whole thing. Does anyone really think, then, that Trig Palin’s birth was just a statistical fluke? Do you believe that Sarah Palin’s selection as John McCain’s running mate was entirely random? Or do you suppose that there was some significance to this, and that the inspiration felt by Rachelle represents some greater purpose?
Coincidence? Yeah, just like the Sunday sermon at Da Tech Guy’s church in Fitchburg.
UPDATE: Ed Morrissey at Hot Air:
The ad asks people to choose life, not to ban abortion. . . . Tebow represents hope in the midst of hopelessness.
Hmmm. What does that remind me of?
“When a person chooses abortion they are saying they don’t have hope for the future, not for their child or for themselves.”
Just a coincidence, I’m sure.
UPDATE II (Smitty):
Graciously linked at Carol’s Closet.
‘Down in Alabama, You Can Run,
But You Sure Can’t Hide’
As mentioned yesterday, I’m now soliciting contributions to the Shoe Leather Fund to help fund an expedition to Alabama later this week. Despite promising Mrs. Other McCain I wouldn’t make any more road trips before CPAC, there’s some Tea Party action happening down there in the Republican primaries, and I need to check it out. Early this morning I got an e-mail from a reader: Continue reading ‘Down in Alabama, You Can Run,
But You Sure Can’t Hide’ →
Sarah Palin Is Like Oprah Now
Retailing for $8.99, the 100-page glossy magazine, titled “Sarah Palin: Faith, Family, Freedom,” hit newsstands in mid-January and was jointly published by a fashion-publishing subsidiary of international marketing firm IMG and Imagine That Publishing. It will remain on sale through April 30.
The best parts of Sarah’s new magazine? Low-fat moose-meat recipes and a medical-advice column by Andrew Sullivan.