If you followed the news out of Nashville, you probably heard that some Tea Party folks are creating a Political Action Committee that will win 15 to 20 key Congressional races in 2010 and, perhaps, in years beyond. What you didn’t hear at the press conference was that several grassroots tea party organizers are so strongly in favor of this move that we have agreed to serve Ensuring Liberty PAC through its organizing parent, the Ensuring Liberty 501.c(4). Our local tea parties will continue unchanged.

Who Comprises the ELPAC

Very simply, ELPAC is led by six people from some of the most effective local Tea Party organizations in America:

• Mark Skoda of The Memphis Tea Party
• Steve McQueen of The Quincy Tea Party
• State Sen. John Loudon (MO-Ret.) of St. Louis Tea Party
• Rose Corona, a California farmer and Patriot
• Brad Ehmen of The Quincy Tea Party
• Bill Hennessy of St. Louis Tea Party

While you might not recognize all of these names, I do. These are the people who have been in the fox holes with us since day one. They are bold and resilient fighters for freedom. They are the men and women we turn to for counsel, support, advice, strength, and help across the Mid-West and across the the nation. We share mutual faith in each other. The men and women on this list have skills to win elections with grassroots activism. They embody what happened in NY-23 and Massachusetts.

(more…)

The Massachusetts Special Election last week upended “conventional wisdom” about “who can/might/should/ or will win” and how traditional voting blocs may cast their ballots in upcoming elections.  This is not simply a look at “what happened,” but also what it means for the legislative agenda in Washington. In this poll, actual voters provide a roadmap for reform as Washington continues to debate how best to fix the economy, jump-start entrepreneurship, and shore up national security.

Some highlights from the poll:

*       Independent Women Voters: This demographic was key to the electoral outcome. They bucked their gender, with 67% of them supporting Scott Brown.  Majorities say that Congress should stop the current levels of spending and call for enacting provisions that make it more affordable for people to buy health insurance on their own, instead of through their jobs, in the same way people buy homeowners’ and life insurance (56%). Two-thirds of Indie women would allow small businesses to form groups to buy healthcare coverage at lower rates, and 45% want Congress to “start over” on healthcare reform; just 2% say continue with the reform “as is.”

*   Those who had frequently voted for Ted Kennedy in the past (63% of the sample) had some surprising opinions: 79% of them said providing tax cuts to small businesses for job creation will speed up the nation’s economic recovery; 47% say Congress should open healthcare negotiations for the public to observe.

(more…)

As Democrats are grieving their lost super-majority in Congress, some special interests are trying to spin the loss in ridiculous ways. The latest: Union boss Leo Gerard writes that “The message of Massachusetts should be clear: If Democrats want to save their own jobs in the midterm elections this fall, they must create jobs now.”

Create jobs? Create jobs?! It’s truly a fundamentally different worldview — and the kind that led Democrats off the cliff in the first place — to believe the government, rather than American entrepreneurs create jobs. (Here’s just one retort to that kind of logic.)

In one sense, there is a way Democrats could create jobs: They could quit trying to kill job-creating employers. Shred cap and trade. Hit the reset button on health care legislation. And, particularly important given the disastrous push by labor bosses, toss card check. Quit trying to force “green jobs” by killing other jobs. Stop the devastating machine of regulation from steamrolling any hope of economic recovery.

(more…)

Lost in the pre and post-election analysis out of Massachusetts has been the major policy differences between Martha Coakley and Scott Brown over foreign policy and defense.  The issue garnered some attention briefly during their final debate, when Coakley erred saying terrorists “were gone from Afghanistan.”  But then the attentions of the media quickly turned back to the health care debate.

In campaigning with Brown in the final days, Rudy Giuliani mapped out the battle lines: “This election will send a signal, and a very dramatic one, that we are going in the wrong direction on terrorism, and we need to change it, and change it now.”  Giuliani added: Scott’s background in the military speaks volumes about his understanding of what we face.  And frankly his opponent’s ignorance about the issues facing us is astounding.”

From the start candidate Brown was unequivocal on defense matters.  A 30-year Veteran of the National Guard, still serving as a lt. colonel, Brown unashamedly backed the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.    It’s notable that not once did he seek to separate himself from the Bush foreign policy agenda.

(more…)

As many of you know, I ran for Massachusetts State Representative in the 2nd Franklin District in 2008. Miss Kim joked on Monday that maybe I ran two years too early.

Apparently  not.

In the six towns that make up the 2nd Franklin, Democrat Martha Coakley beat Republican Scott Brown 6776 to 6070. It’s even more clear my home district is as dysfunctional as the black community, and my saying this is going to really irk them.

The truth hurts.

You know how your car drives; how it feels.

Let’s say you notice something feels very wrong with your car and you take it to the shop. You tell the mechanic what feels wrong and he tells you to leave it with him. He later calls, you pay him and begin to drive off, when you feel the same thing wrong with your car.

(more…)

Suddenly, all the condescending ‘tea-bagger’ jokes must not be quite so funny in liberal circles.  Serves them right.

Losing the seat formerly held by the champion of socialized medicine – in the bluest of states – apparently hasn’t phased the radical left.  SEIU president Andy Stern put the blame on the fact that Democrats in Washington, DC, who the union spent tens of millions of dollars electing, haven’t done enough to pass the progressive agenda.  From a SEIU statement:

“The reason Ted Kennedy’s seat is no longer controlled by a Democrat is clear: Washington’s inability to deliver the change voters demanded in November 2008. Make no mistake, political paralysis resulted in electoral failure,” Stern said.

“During the past year, Republicans refused to do anything but stand in the way of change and Democratic Senators took too long to do too little. And tonight, the Senate bears the consequences for its failure to act decisively but the American people are the ones left paying the price…

“The Senate may have squandered the trust the American people gave to Washington in 2008. But now, every member of Congress and the Administration must act with a renewed sense of purpose to show working families whose side they are on and deliver meaningful change to every American. This is not the time for timidity. It starts by passing health insurance reform and giving Pat [DeJong] and millions of people like her the security and peace of mind they deserve.”

Massachusetts voters stood at the borders of their state – and the polling places – with virtual pitch forks telling politicians, to paraphrase Johnny Paycheck, “take this agenda and shove it.”

(more…)

These may well be the times that try the souls of Democrat politicians.

In the year since Obama took the oath of office, the fortunes of the Democrat Party have changed substantially. Voters, especially Independent voters, now favor Republicans on many issues and in Rasmussen’s Generic Congressional Ballot by 9%. Entrenched Senate Democrats like Christopher Dodd and Byron Dorgan are retiring and now – in no small irony – in the election heard ‘round the world, Scott Brown, campaigning against ObamaCare was elected to “Kennedy’s seat.”

It has been a remarkable turnaround – yet the worse is yet to come for Democrats in office.

Keep in mind that voters turned out the Republicans in 2006 and 2008 in large part because they spent too much, reformed too little and ran up the deficit into the $400 billion range. By the end of the Bush Presidency, economic troubles were mounting and the Republicans had no clear plan for a national recovery.

Today, the incidence of buyer’s remorse for voters over Barack is mounting for all the same reasons and more. Unemployment is at double digits, government reform has been abandoned in favor of unprecedented government spending and the deficit is in the $1.5 trillion range. All of that, with no meaningful recovery in site.

Beyond that, the President has his Party in the stickiest of wickets known to you as the Health Care debate. By allowing Pelosi and Company to write the bill, Obama lost control of the process and now public opposition to the bill is at an all time high.  Even so, the Democrat leadership still promises to push it – whether we like it or not.

(more…)

I want to start off by saying congratulations to Massachusetts new U.S. Senator Scott Brown.

Secondly, as I stated at the beginning of the campaign trail. Either way this election went, it was going to be an historic one. Coakley and the Democrats would have changed healthcare forever behind closed doors. Brown has a chance to stop Obamacare, and is the 41st vote that would be cast against the bill.

My four day trip to Massachusetts was a great one. I was proud to volunteer for Scott Brown, and I would do it again in a second. I met a lot of nice people along the way, and left with some lifetime friends. This campaign taught me that anything is possible, and anything can change in a second.
(more…)

With the upset victory (understatement of the day) in Massachusetts of Republican Scott Brown over shoo-in Democrat Attorney General Martha Coakley, the pundit establishment will be giving their political pals a tip: move to the center, and I really hope my Bay State brethren don’t let their guard down.

As someone who ran for State Representative (12th Franklin District) in 2008 and for Massachusetts Republican Party chair in 2006, I know how Democrats think.

While enjoying an 87% super majority on Beacon Hill, Massachusetts Democrats weren’t satisfied. They had their feet on our necks and their mission was to squeeze the life out of us. Thanks to Brown’s victory last night, Democrats nationally know that their lifeclocks are ticking and are now trying to figure out what to do about it.

Their immediate goal will be to put on a front of being moderate and you’ll hear the phrase “move to the center” more than you can stomach over the coming months. Democrats will attempt to make the America people believe they get it and will slow their arrogant leftward lurch.

(more…)

The polls have closed, the votes are counted, and Massachusetts voters have sent the “Scott heard ’round the World”.  All day long, pundits have been giving their assessment regarding why Scott Brown would win.  All day long, too many of these pundits have proven that they still have not learned to listen to the clear message being sent by the American people.

Like rats fleeing a sinking ship Democrat pundits have been blaming Coakley for running a failed campaign.  While it is true that the path to victory checklist laid out by her strategists probably did not include insulting Catholics and Red Sox fans, to blame a Democrat for losing in the bluest blue state in this environment is a convenient oversimplification.  Further, it is incredibly insulting for the political class to dismiss the voters as being that petty.

For their part, Republicans who argued that it is not about Coakley’s gaffs offered up disturbingly similar alternative explanations.  Mitt Romney speaking on Fox news said it was:

Overwhelmingly an outpouring of support for Scott Brown and his vision”.

No, it is not about Scott Brown.  Or his vision.

(more…)

With 70% in, Brown leads Coakley 53-46%. From what we’ve seen, there is no scenario where Coakley can win. Also no scenario to prolong the race with a long legal fight. Ladies and Gentlemen, Senator Scott Brown.

**Update**

Full text here.

The polls have closed in Massachusetts. Check back for updates throughout the night.

From Kansas City Star:

The Massachusetts secretary of state is discounting reports of voter irregularities in the state’s Senate special election.

A spokesman for Secretary of State William Galvin said Tuesday two reports of spoiled ballots could not be verified or found to be widespread.
(more…)

This afternoon, the Coakley campaign convened a press conference to say they had received reports of voters receiving ballots, pre-marked for her opponent, Scott Brown. It would be a serious charge.

But we’re skeptical. Below is a screenshot of Coakley’s website taken this afternoon. The press release making the ballot fraud charge is dated yesterday, before any ballots were issued to voters. (Click Full Screen to view properly)

(more…)

I believe that Scott Brown will win the senatorial election being held in Massachusetts today and that he will do so not by an eyelash but by a landslide. We are about to witness the Massachusetts Miracle.

I have three reasons for being so confident. First, the polls — with admirable consistency — suggest that he is ahead. Second, the Coakley campaign and the Democratic Party nationally have panicked. Coakley’s minions have sent out a flier accusing Scott Brown of wanting to turn rape victims away from Massachusetts hospitals, and the DC apparatus has sent in Bill Clinton and Barack Obama for last-minute campaigning. Both moves are likely to backfire.

First, the claims in the flier are ridiculous and demonstrably false, and voters in Massachusetts have the wit to recognize that fact. Second, the bloom is off the rose. Clinton is a has-been, and Obama inspires little in the way of adulation these days. Their appearance in Massachusetts under these circumstances is a public confession that Martha Coakley is herself a loser. In special elections, turnout is everything. Scott Brown commands enthusiasm; no one — even within the Democratic establishment — has expressed any genuine excitement regarding his opponent.

(more…)

There has been much speculation that today’s Massachusetts Senate race is a referendum on health care. That may be an understatement.  My guess is that this senate race could have even larger repercussions.

During an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” this past week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell put it well when he said that President Obama’s plan to bring about “change” to America wasn’t merely limited to health care.  As McConnell noted,

“This arrogant attempt to have the government take over one-sixth of the economy on the heels of running banks, insurance companies, car companies, taking over the student loan business, doubling the national debt in five, tripling in 10. You’ve got … sort of widespread public revulsion.”

Indeed, health care is not all that hangs in the balance.  A September Wall Street Journal columnoutlined President Obama’s next move (presumably, after passing health care): A $100 billion a year government takeover of school loans.

(more…)

The folks at  Election Journal caught up with Isabel Melendez handing out absentee ballots in Lawrence, Massachusetts. She also helpfully explains how she can mark the ballot for the voter:

“My candidate is Martha…so I can mark it”

(more…)

Often people write to me asking, “Pamela, what can I do? The problems are overwhelming.”

Well, here is an easy and immediate fix: if you are in Massachusetts, vote for Scott Brown. If Brown makes it, the Democrats lose their super majority. Scott Brown in the Senate would break the filibuster-proof Congress. He can save America from imminent ruin from statists and socialism.

Yes, the election in Massachusetts today is that big. The Brown/Coakley face-off is arguably the most critical and historic race in the already monumental 2010 election year. We can stop, with one election, America’s race off the cliff, a race that comes to us courtesy the Obama Administration. The stakes could not be higher.

(more…)

Earlier today, two independent reporters in Springfield, Massachusetts attended a Martha Coakley for Senate event. Prior to the candidates arrival, several union members surrounded the two reporters. From one of the reporters, Erich Heyssel:

The mood when we arrived was tense. They seemed to be an unhappy group of people. Dour, even. There were about 100 people outside the Teamster’s Local 404 building and, another 100 or so inside. We started trying to film the gathering and asked some basic questions. We were told we had to leave.

(more…)