Politics – Page 207 – Shall Not Be Questioned

On “Caution” in Supporting Democrats

I’ve responded in general terms to critics who say I should be “cautious” supporting Pennsylvania Democrats who are pro-gun. But since there’s a pile on from red states that implies I’m only looking out for gun rights at the expense of other limited government issues by supporting Democrats, I’m going dive into specifics and ask that said critics respond with the best way to handle each of these races.

First, I do think it’s important to note that this criticism comes from red states. Why? Because Pennsylvania isn’t one. Now, on the other hand, it isn’t Massachusetts, either. In that state, if you can find a more moderate Democrat, it’s important to support them in most districts simply because only a Democrat can get to the negotiating table to beat back gun control in the first place. Realizing that Pennsylvania is far more politically diverse, we have a luxury at looking at political decisions by district. And that’s what any good political analysis will do – consider the realities of the district and the actual candidates on the ballot.

Senate District 22
This seat is an open race due to the retirement of A+ rated Sen. Bob Mellow.

The Candidates
Here are your choices of candidates: Joseph Corcoran (D), Charles Volpe (D), Jim Wansacz (D), John Blake (D), Chris Doherty (D), Christopher Phillips (D), Frank Scavo (R). We’re supporting Rep. Wansacz as our featured candidate because he is an A rated candidate. In fact, he’s actually become even more pro-gun since he was initially elected. Meanwhile, Volpe has never held elected office before, Corcoran is a former county commissioner for the major county in the district, Phillips is a school director for the district’s largest city, Blake is a former bureaucrat, and Doherty is mayor of the largest city in the District. None of these candidates have a background that would give them a rating or voting history. However, we do have video of Doherty going on the record to end preemption and limit how many guns we could buy, something that could only be effectively instituted by creating a formal registry of gun owners. On the GOP side, Scavo is a former school director in one of the smaller towns of the district. He did previously run for this seat in 2002 and received a grade of A-, a hair lower than one of the Democratic candidates running now.

The Voting History
As the local paper put it when the Senator’s retirement was announced, this seat was never competitive. They said, “the only speculation was whether the Republican Party would make it a contested race.” In other words, the local GOP doesn’t even make an effort for this seat. Looking at the electoral history, it makes sense. Wikipedia has information dating back to the 1960s when the seat was held by a Democrat from 1963-1968. It was then held by a Republican for less than two years (not a full Senate term, not even a full House term!) from January 1969 to November 1970. Since 1971, it has been held by the same Democrat.

The Summary of Facts
So here’s what we know: There’s a competitive Democratic primary that has one good guy and one bad guy with four unknowns. Gun owners have the opportunity to sway to primary so that the pro-gun guy can win. There is no primary on the GOP side, so no one needs to worry about him until after the May primary. The last time the GOP put up a candidate, it was the same guy and he pulled in a whopping 31% of the vote – beat by more than two to one.

The Risks
If gun owners are crazy and flippant about politics like me, they have the chance to get involved in the Democratic primary and set it up so that they have a choice between candidates rated A and A-. If they are cautious and sit out of the game because it’s the evil Democratic primary, they are likely looking at a choice in the fall of F and A- with a strong likelihood that the F will win. And, like that, they will have just flipped an A+ seat into F overnight.

The Questions
So, critics, do you still encourage caution in this race? If you would sit out as a gun owner, why? What about the electoral makeup of this district or quality of the candidates would bring you to a different conclusion?

I have more examples below the fold that I would like our critics to analyze as well. Just indulge me in the game of politics. If you’re a critic of getting into bed with Democrats, I think it’s important to see a few different examples of when I would encourage people to get involved and when I think they should sit it out.
Continue reading “On “Caution” in Supporting Democrats”

Corbett Way Ahead

Capitol Ideas is reporting that Corbett’s lead over Roher in the GOP primary is now 58-7. Rohrer can’t really come back from that, so it’s hard to see at this point how he stays in the race in all but name. It’s a shame too, because I like Sam Rohrer, but I wish he had stayed in the PA House, or moved up to the PA Senate. As I mentioned when he announced his candidacy, there’s very little precedent in Pennsylvania politics for a state representative moving up to the big chair. I hope this won’t be the end of Sam’s political career, because we need more liberty minded constitutionalists in politics, not fewer.

Tony Williams Ad Featuring Gun Control

It’s not too surprising, being a State Senator in a Philadelphia district, that Tony Williams favors gun control. A shame too, because I think he’s one of the better Dems in the race for Governor in the Democratic primary. He’s airing ads that push the issue:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJDNTykCsT0[/youtube]

These ads certainly aren’t going to hurt him in most of the communities in Philadelphia, and that’s where he can probably expect to draw the most votes from in the primary. But it’s been surprising that all the Democrat candidates have been willing to run on this issue when it’s not really been at the forefront, and is generally understood to hurt Democrats in statewide races. So why do all the Democratic candidates, save Jack Wagner, who is at least sidestepping on the issue of guns, feel they can not only endorse mild gun control measures, but even go so far as to attack preemption, which is a bedrock issue for us?

I’ll call it the Ed Rendell effect. I think our Governor has convinced Dems that the NRA can’t touch them. After all, he was NRA’s public enemy number one, and he beat us both times. He’s even gone on record saying as much. But Ed won the first time by running from his record on the issue, up against a weak and uninspiring GOP candidate in the form of Mike Fisher. He won the second time because the GOP got behind the disastrous candidacy of Lynn Swann. Ed beat the GOP both times. Not a difficult feat in Pennsylvania, when the GOP doesn’t have their game on, which is much of the time. If Ed’s convinced Democrats being in favor of gun control doesn’t matter in this state, they are going to be in for a harsh lesson come November, and for as long as the GOP has a bench that looks halfway decent.

No Golden Age

David Boaz makes this excellent point at Reason:

Has there everÂ been a golden age of liberty? No, and there never will be.Â There will always be people who want to live their lives in peace, and there will always be people who want to exploit them or impose their own ideas on others.Â If we look at the long termâ€”from a past that includes despotism, feudalism, absolutism, fascism, and communismâ€”weâ€™re clearly better off.Â When we look at our own country’s historyâ€”contrasting 2010 with 1776 or 1910 or 1950 or whateverâ€”the story is less clear.Â We suffer under a lot of regulations and restrictions that our ancestors didnâ€™t face.

But in 1776 black Americans were held in chattel slavery, and married women had no legal existence except as agents of their husbands. In 1910 and even 1950, blacks still suffered under the legal bonds of Jim Crowâ€”and we all faced confiscatory tax rates throughout the postwar period.

I am particularly struck by libertarians and conservatives who celebrate the freedom of early America, and deplore our decline from those halcyon days, without bothering to mention the existence of slavery.

I guess Bob McDonnel needs to read this too. A state of liberty, natural law theory to the contrary, is not man’s natural state. It’s only through great effort and never ending struggle that we keep ourselves in this artificial state. This country’s history is about that very struggle, and as Mr. Boaz correctly observes, at various times in our nation’s history, liberty has had the upper hand. But which society would you rather live in?

[W]ould you rather live in a country with a department of labor and even an income taxÂ or aÂ Dred Scott decision and a Fugitive Slave Act?

I said that white Americans probably considered themselves free. But in retrospect, were they? They did not actuallyÂ live in a free society. They were restricted in the relations they could have with millions of theirâ€”I started to say “their fellow citizens,” but of course slaves weren’t citizensâ€”their neighbors.Â They lived under a despotic power.Â Liberalism seeks not justÂ to liberate this or that person, but to create a rule of law exemplifying equal freedom. By that standard, even the plantation owners did not live in a free society, nor even did people in the “free” states.

Go read the whole thing.

Very, Very Blue Districts can Still be Pro-Gun

You know, there’s one nice thing about living in Pennsylvania. We have seats that have been Democratic for not only my lifetime, but the entire life of my mother as well. Yet, amazingly, pro-gun candidates can still win. It’s so nice when gun rights really can be bipartisan.

So with that, I started a fundraising page on the bluest of the blue sites for solidly pro-gun Democrats – using their tools to advance our cause. For now, I’ve posted one candidate because he has the earliest and most competitive race coming up of those who are currently on the service.

I can’t tell you how much I’m in love with ActBlue’s capabilities for fundraising & promoting candidates. The right has nothing remotely close to this since SlateCard never went anywhere, and more importantly, can’t fundraise for state candidates.

Anyway, I thought of the issue again because a new report shows that in 2007-2008, state legislative candidates had to raise more than $1 billion for the first time. I’m only going to feature state pro-gun Democrats who need help on the site, so you don’t have to worry about other issues like ObamaCare and bailouts. It’s not even a factor in these races. I’m also going to focus on those who need help because they are being challenged by anti-gunners at this point.

So, if you’re really supportive of keeping actual pro-gun lawmakers in office and willing to step over the partisan divide, consider giving a few bucks. The guy up there now is being challenged by another Democrat who wants the government to control how many guns you buy and make your concealed carry license worthless. And if this isn’t a step across the partisan divide for you, then yay! Open your wallet to show your support for the pro-gun guys and send a message to those who are running on a gun ban platform in your party.

If I have volunteer researchers, I’d also be happy to set up a national page that features pro-gun Democratic campaigns from around the country. If that interests you, just email me bitter -at- pagunblog.com.

FBI Impersonating Conservative Groups

So the FBI has now admitted they are falsely representing themselves as fake leaders of real right-of-center organizations in order to chase leads on potential extremists who threaten violence against lawmakers. This is a pretty disgusting tactic because when the story is resolved and reported, the innocent groups are being smeared through association by law enforcement officials.

As the F.B.I. moved in on a man who allegedly threatened Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington, because of her support for health care legislation, law enforcement agents faced a challenge: they needed to confirm that Charles A. Wilson, the man whose phone number was used to leave menacing messages on her office voicemail, was in fact the man who made the threats.

So they found a convenient way to get Mr. Wilson talking about the issue that seemed to be weighing so heavily on him. Special Agent Cory Cote of the F.B.I. called Mr. Wilson at his home number and, according to the criminal complaint, â€œdisguised himself as a representative of Patients United Now, a group that was ostensibly attempting to have the federal health care reform legislation repealed.â€

Mr. Wilson apparently was interested in what the group had to say: the call lasted about 14 minutes, according to the complaint.

Patients United Now is a real organization, part of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, a conservative, antitax advocacy group, that has actively opposed the legislation and also runs a project called â€œHands Off My Health Care.â€

According to the report, the suspect had no connection with AFPF prior to the FBI’s actions. AFPF’s leader points out that they have condemned those who make threats, and the organization’s activities have focused on getting grassroots mobilized. They do voter education seminars which are copy cats of the NRA grassroots seminars that educate people on how politics and elections work and how the individual can get involved.

I think there’s a damn good question here: Why is the FBI impersonating leaders of real organizations in their stings? What are they saying to suspects that will ultimately be (falsely) attributed to right-of-center leaders? They could destroy an organization’s reputation with their sting actions when the actual staff and volunteers had nothing to do with criminal activities. There’s no reason the FBI couldn’t make up a new fake organization rather than trying to drag the successful small government groups through the mud.

Where’s My Obama_____?

My mom is a social worker, and has been all of her life. Â I swear, she’s probably one of the only libertarian-leaning social workers you can find. Â She mentioned that as soon as the election results were in, her office started hearing from clients asking, “Where is my Obama money?” Â They believed if they elected Obama, they would get free money from the government immediately – on top of whatever benefits they already receive through various social service programs.

Now it looks like insurance companies and doctors get to answer those fun questions.

Questions reflecting confusion have flooded insurance companies, doctors’ offices, human resources departments and business groups.

“They’re saying, ‘Where do we get the free Obama care, and how do I sign up for that?’ ” said Carrie McLean, a licensed agent for eHealthInsurance.com.

So what will happen when all of those people who showed up to vote for Democrats in 2008 get another knock from ACORN workers (or whatever they are called in your state now, in PA, it’s PCOC) saying that it’s time to go vote again? They didn’t get their free “Obama money” in 2008 or 2009. They don’t have their free “Obama care” in 2010. Hell, they still won’t have free “Obama care” in 2012. What will ACORN promise them this year?

Last year, there were two lines for the two precincts that vote at our polling place. The one representing all of the apartment complexes was hours long & overwhelmingly supporting Obama. Then there were the home owners in the other precinct. Sadly, there was a line of maybe 4 minutes & everyone in it was talking about voting for McCain. I’ll be happy if we can reverse the line trend this year and make sure everyone in ours is talking about defeating the Democratic leadership’s agenda.

Ed’s Plan for I-80 Foiled

We’ve covered on here in the past Ed Rendell’s plan to toll I-80 across the top of the state. The feds have ruled the plan violates federal law and have invalidated it. I guess he’s going to have to find another way to funnel money into Philadelphia’s crappy public transit system.

The 2010 PA Election Won’t Be Boring

Now we’re introducing rock videos into the mix in the race forÂ LieutenantÂ Governor:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMuQfgXDTrk[/youtube]

I guess he’s really fighting that image of stodgy, uptight northeastern Republicans. This is one of those tactics you almost hope doesn’t work, because while this guy is pretty good, I think we can all agree that more music videos from politicians would not be a good thing. Just think of the Daryl Metcalfe music video.

Bill Whittle’s Call to Action

If you do nothing else today, go watch this, because it is excellent.