The Washington County TEA Party, hosted by Common Sense Citizens (a subchapter of AFP) held an event today that allowed candidates to speak, as long as they followed strict regulations (they weren’t allowed to talk about their campaigns, opponents, or themselves, endorse a candidate, etc) Basically it was an opportunity for the TEA party members to get to know the candidates outside of their usual “stump” speeches.
Because this TEA Party has not allowed candidates to speak at previous events they required that all speakers send in their speeches 10 days before the event. Strict regulations were sent out and everyone was informed that if they strayed at all from the rules their sound would be cut and they’d be removed from the stage. A schedule with the order of speakers and time alloted per speech was also sent out prior to the event.
However, the night before the event, candidate for U.S. Senate Ron Johnson and gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker (both endorsed by the GOP) decided to attend, despite not confirming attendance or sending their speeches in by the deadlines.
The organizers scrambled to rearrange the schedule and shortened the speeches of the other speakers in order to fit the two surprise additions in.
Despite the rules and regulations imposed upon the rest of the speakers, Johnson gave his campaign speech and talked about his candidacy. His sound was not cut. He was not removed from the stage. Walker proceeded to go on after Johnson and pointedly talked about Johnson in his speech – also breaking the rules. His sound was not cut. He was not removed from the stage.
Walker’s primary opponent Mark Neumann and Johnson’s primary opponent Dave Westlake both confirmed attendance to the tea party weeks ago. They played by the rules… but apparently the rules don’t apply to endorsed candidates.
Johnson recently faced scrutiny for touting himself as the tea party candidate – yet not appearing at any tea party vettings or events while his opponent Westlake has continuously made himself available. Walker recently had a so-so debate with Neumann…did he show up at the last minute to rally the TEA Party for their votes because he feels threatened?
Regardless of their reasons…it’s disheartening to know that the two GOP endorsed candidates did not consider the TEA Party event a priority – and it is appalling that they were allowed to step in and break the rules instead of standing their ground…. of course I’m not sure exactly who made the call, but because Common Sense Citizens are being told what to do by the AFP, it is my guess that this was a decision made by Mark Block.
Moe Lane
PG DeFreese
Victoria Coates
Daniel Horowitz
Dan Spencer
Is it possible
SirGladiator (Diary) Sunday, August 8th at 8:17AM EST (link)Perhaps they did what they did out of a sense of ‘They’re our special last minute guests, let’s cut them some slack’? Granted if they announced they were coming the night before they really should’ve had plenty of time to learn the basic rules and play by them, but that’s really the only possible excuse I can think of. I like Mark Neumann, I remember him from WAY back in the day, when he was an awesome House member, ran for the Senate and almost beat Russ Feingold. He’s a real Conservative hero, and maybe his time has come and gone, I don’t know, but I hope not, I’d like to see him win that. As for the Senate guy I’m more sympathetic to Johnson simply because I keep seeing polls showing him ahead, and I like the idea of winning that one
. But I admit I don’t know much about him, no doubt about that. Hopefully whatever happens in the Primaries it’ll stay positive and we can unite behind our nominees, and score a Clean Sweep in Wisconsin come November!
Hopefully whatever happens in the primaries?
awillems9 (Diary) Sunday, August 8th at 12:46PM EST (link)Sir, get educated. Be involved. Go to see the candidates and decide who will best serve you. A clean sweep in Wisconsin come November means nothing if you choose politics as usual…again!!
Fostering the "I'm special" mentality in candidates...
pompadour (Diary) Thursday, August 12th at 10:44PM EST (link)will get you nothing but more of the political elite class we need to get rid of, SirGladiator. But hey, if that’s your bag, keep cutting these guys and the party hacks who nurture them as much slack as you want. Me? I’m done cutting politicians and candidates slack for breaking the rules. I’m looking for people who actually respect the wishes of the people. Neumann and Westlake did that. THEY ETHICALLY FOLLOWED THE RULES. That merits tremendous respect and serious consideration.
Do your homework, please.
sassie lassie Sunday, August 8th at 9:47AM EST (link)This is the time to learn about the candidates. That is why we have a primary. Please don’t “lean” toward a candidate without researching them.
Polls are easily influenced by how the questions are asked. There have been two polls conducted here in WI that don’t provide all of the names of the candidates. I received two such calls. One was run by the DNC and the other claimed an organization name. Upon my research, that organization said it was a poll created for a particular candidate. So I won’t specify who it was until I know for sure. Dave Westlake’s name was left out of these polls right along with Mark Neumann’s name. How can a poll be accurate if all of the information is not provided?
The people are choosing the more conservative candidates who will govern according to the Constitution and FOR the people. They are making these decisions by getting the candidates in front of them and actually vetting them. Dave Westlake has not been afraid to attend these vetting sessions, Ron Johnson has been avoiding them because the first one he attended did not reflect him positively. It is on film so you can view it. The voters need all of the information regarding the candidates who want their most precious vote.
The Founding Fathers made it the DUTY of citizens to become educated. The people claim to want to follow the Constitution again. Therefore, I firmly believe that the candidates have an OBLIGATION to provide ALL of the necessary information to the citizens so we have informed, educated voters. Until this happens, we will never restore America to her original moorings as defined, because we will end up with less than the true principled conservatives we yearn for and the ones that this nation needs.
I AM DAVE WESTLAKE.
www.davewestlake.org
I
Sorry, Dave
Rightmindedmom Sunday, August 8th at 5:24PM EST (link)But I disagree with a few of your points: 1) Paul Ryan spoke at the very first tea party in Madison on 4/15/09. He wasn’t running for re-election yet, but he did speak.
Ron Johnson spoke this year, at the Madison 4/15/10 tea party. He hadn’t announced his candidacy yet, but he gave a great speech.
I’m voting for Ron Johnson. Sorry, Dave but I can’t back someone such as yourself, who has no structure and support behind him. Ron Johnson most likely will win the primary on 9/14. I hope that after he wins, you will support him too. We all need to come together to support the candidate that will throw the Democrats (in this case, Russ Feingold) out of office.
And, I will also vote for Scott Walker for Governor. Sorry he and Johnson didn’t follow the Wash. County rules, but they showed up to support the positions that the WI tea partiers stand for most of all — greatly reduced government spending, lower taxes, and smaller government.
Let’s all look past our bruised egos for a bit, and come together to support terriffic candidates, who have the fiscal health of Wisconsin and the country in mind. Scott Walker is MY COUNTY EXECUTIVE, and he fights for fiscal sanity against Democrats in city and county government DAILY. He will bring fiscal sanity back to our state.
Mom in Wisconsin
Mom in Wisconsin,
namaste (Diary) Sunday, August 8th at 8:20PM EST (link)I don’t see Dave’s name posted anywhere here, so I’m not sure why you are speaking directly to him, but that aside, it’s a shame that you can’t see past the “politics as usual” going on again in Wisconsin.
Are you not aware that Ron Johnson has been produced out of the same establishment-elite mold as other candidates they have put up against Feingold? Johnson speaking at the Madison TEA party was set up by the old guard republicans – the same people who wouldn’t allow Westlake or Wall to speak at that event – the same group of people who engineered the Washington TEA Party speeches- Ameicans For Prosperity (run by Mark Block an old guard Wisconsin Establishment Party Big Wig in an attempt to co-opt the Tea party movement.)
Johnson gave his stump speech, which was clearly against the rules given to the other candidates, to spoon feed him to the TEA Party. So now the chosen candidates don’t have to follow the rules–just like the Government doesn’t follow the rules they impose on the little people. Whether or not Johnson “gave a great speech,” as you state, should not be any indication of a qualified candidate. Obama gave great speeches too – in fact so great that they clouded over the facts of who he really was.
Who really is Johnson? I wonder if you know and I wonder if he really knew what he was getting himself in to. He won’t talk to the media, won’t show up to any TEA party vetting sessions and is avoiding debates. The first answers out of his mouth at the beginning of his candidacy were concerning if not alarming. It’s no wonder he won’t talk to the media – he has a difficult time answering for himself.
You state Dave has no “structure and support” behind him. Are you kidding me? Have you seen the TEA party straw polls? Have you at all followed Dave’s grassroots campaign? He has structure and he has supporters – to say otherwise is not being truthful. Just because a handful of people at the top of the party didn’t get behind Dave, does not mean that he lacks structure and support. You better believe that if Johnson didn’t have millions of his own money to throw in to this race, he would have been laughable. Open your eyes and ears – the party elites have been formulating Johnson’s campaign and aren’t doing it in the cleanest way. How can you think that not playing by the rules is acceptable in a U.S. Senate candidate. You don’t want to clean up Washington? You are fine with status quo? No, you did not say these things but but believe me, they are implied.
I want my U.S. Senator to play by the rules. To stand on principle. TO TAKE THE HARDER RIGHT OVER THE EASIER WRONG. To lead with conviction. To stand in the breech with unwavering character.
Dave Westlake has been playing by the rules. He is a West Point grad. who is rooted in the constitution. He was on the Dean’s List at West Point as well as the University of Chicago where he received his MBA. He has been going around the state meeting tens of thousands of people and listening to their stories and finding out what concerns the people of Wisconsin have and what solutions they are hoping for. He is not listening to a few people at the top who are guiding his every move. No. He is not in this race to do what the party elites tell him. He is in this race to represent the people of Wisconsin. He is exactly who we need to help get our country back.
We cannot continue to cry out for a clean up in Washington if we are going to just sit back and tolerate our candidates not playing by the rules. Enough is enough. Demand for better.
I can't vote there, but
Flagstaff (Diary) Wednesday, August 11th at 4:40PM EST (link)I’d have a hard time voting for someone who can’t follow the rules set down by what should be his friends.
Come in at the last minute and break the rules? Come on. They like that kind of stuff over at the Donkey party.
“The press is so powerful in its image-making role that it can make a criminal look like he’s the victim and make the victim look like he’s the criminal. If you aren’t careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”– Malcolm X, Audubon Ballroom, December 13, 1964
It's not just about taxes and spending, Rightmindedmom
pompadour (Diary) Thursday, August 12th at 11:04PM EST (link)It’s about getting back to the Constitution. Unless we do that, your children’s freedom is going away. It’s time to look for something other than traditional campaign structure. And non-traditional campaigning is not no structure. It’s simply a different approach. What you think of as ineffective has actually reached and convinced a lot of people in this state that Dave would be accessible, accountable, and responsible with their money on a tight budget.
But back to the first issue…
Have you taken the time to evaluate BOTH candidates in relationship to their constitutional knowledge and how they apply their insights to the issues? THAT is what now truly matters. We each have that responsibility. If you haven’t done that yet, I would strongly urge you to do so. You can’t just go on a candidate’s stump speech. You have to actually investigate carefully what they say and do in a variety of venues. Ask hard questions. Candidates love to just give you talking points and pat answers. That shouldn’t be enough for any of us anymore. It can’t be.