I have been a devoted follower, believer, and reader of Red State for years. I have consistently scoured the site to read pieces that the main stream media often ignores.

Recently, I wish I had not. Up until now, I have always read Erick Erickson’s articles with great anticipation. Now, I’m saddened to see he has compromised himself.

His vitriolic piece against the GOP playing field struck me as stunning and shocking. Is Erik now advocating for Barack Obama?
It is almost laughable if it were not so spot on. His ability to take cheap and unfair shots at our roster only undermines our candidates and does nothing other than to alienate voters from beating Barak. We as Republicans may support one of the many candidates and may disagree on who to support. Having said that, we know Ronald Reagan counseled us to be mindful of the 11th Commandment and to never criticize fellow Republicans.

Did Erick miss the memo? Or did he try to damage Romney, Gingrich, or Perry with his misleading piece.

He attempts to make the case against any of these candidates and draws out why they can’t beat Barack. He has essentially added fuel to the fire for Democrats to a lack of unity and for allegedly one of our own trying to draw out possible flaws of candidates.

Since Erick attempts to shed some light on candidate’s flaws, perhaps it fair game we shed some light on how Erik has conducted himself:

ERICKSON PRIORITIZES FINANCIAL INTERESTS OVER HIS BELIEFS

Erickson Changed His Position On Supporting Insurgent Virginia Senate Candidate Jamie Radtke Because The Owners Of Red State Are “Huge Allen Friends.” “A leading conservative blogger and commentator, Erick Erickson, said he shifted his stance in a key Senate race because the company that publishes his RedState.com is ‘socially connected’ to former Virginia Sen. George Allen. Erickson told Allen’s challenger, Jamie Radtke, that he had to moderate his support for her because ‘my bosses are huge Allen friends,’ according to an email he sent earlier this month, which her campaign manager forwarded to POLITICO.” (POLITICO, 8/24/2011)

ERICK ERICKSON – “My bosses are huge Allen friends, not just fans. They are socially connected. So I’m having to tread carefully in this. Happy to help, but it’s got me in a difficult position. So please come and let me introduce you to people, but just understand that I have to be delicate for now.” (POLITICO, 8/24/2011)

ERICKSON IGNORED HIS DUTY AS AN ELECTED OFFICIAL WHILE TAKING TAXPAYER-FUNDED SALARY AND PERKS

Erickson Quit His Post As A Macon, Georgia City Councilmember Because He Received A Better Time Slot For His Radio Show

❖  In February 2011, Erickson Resigned His Spot On The Macon, Georgia City Council After Less Than One Term. “After serving less than one term, Erick Erickson is leaving Macon City Council for an earlier time slot for a radio show he began hosting last month. … He sent a resignation letter to Mayor Robert Reichert and Council President Miriam Paris, copied to senior city staff, Wednesday morning.” (Macon Telegraph, 2/17/2011)

If Erikson wishes to detail perceived challenges candidates may face in defeating Obama, I’d suggest he looks in the mirror and he’ll discover endless blemishes.

We have been carefully and closely watching this election cycle and have determined that these candidates are simply one size fits all and are replaceable.

Last cycle, the conventional wisdom on races flew out the window with blue states turning red and red states that were on the fence staying red… driven mostly by tea party folks lining up at the ballot boxes in record numbers.

Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy stomping grounds, went red as did Illinois (Obama’s back yard) against strong odds.

As we turn our sights to this cycle, and recognizing the above with the successful – Fired Pelosi effort – we must now focus on Firing Harry Reid.

The pinnacle of all Senate seats, is none other than, Wisconsin. The Governor is facing recall and we may have seen the nation’s greatest civil demonstration, whether one agrees or not, this past year in Madison. As such, all eyes are on Wisconsin.

We have seen Governor Thompson get a luke warm response, or cold shower, from the party faithful and have seen others make noise about running.

Eric Hovde, seems to be the flavor of the month. A child of privilege, he inherited a family fortune and after college, has lived in Washington, DC for years. Until now, when recently returning. I’m a proud citizen of the badger state and their is no question, his family’s wealth spawns the state. He is the Republican’s answer to a Kennedy. However, what strikes me as peculiar is his charitable efforts overseas, and his lack of charitable prowess in his native state, during what many working families are considering dire circumstances.

With the clout of the conservative movement on fire, we need to use caution in viewing those of privilege as the answer.

My neighbors might be the guys who help make a part for a luxury car, or have farms that make cheese proudly, there is no question, Eric is someone who buys luxury cars and who eats cheese at his wine and cheese cocktail parties in DC and well, that frightens me. That spells defeat for us anxiously wishing to turn Wisconsin Red & Fire Reid!

For those who’d prefer Ms. Baldwin score the seat for Mr. Reid, then support people like Eric. We need real leaders, not those who dash in and spend money to buy a seat.

I encourage all of us to do our homework and to take a closer look. We have no room for error, the stakes are far too high.

This year has been marked by several embarrassing downfalls of the Republican establishment in DC.  Scores of Republicans have defied party leadership and voted with the Tea Party, and certainly the 87 freshmen elected by the Tea Party are frequently praised for these actions. But a closer look shows that not all the insurgents are freshmen, and some true conservatives on Capitol Hill take a bigger risk in defying the establishment than others.

The conservative world is full of scorecards – Heritage Action, the American Conservative Union, Americans for Tax Reform – so we put together our own scorecard to see who in Congress was chipping away at the Republican establishment, and who was taking them out in big chunks.  The question we are trying to answer is “Who defies Republican leadership the most, and the most vigorously?”

We are not trying to compete with our conservative brethren – we may not ever put out another scorecard.  But as observers of Washington during this most critical time in our nation’s history, we felt it important to recognize those members of the House who most effectively defied House leadership.

We looked at 8 votes where Boehner, Cantor and the establishment were trying to push through bills that didn’t live up to conservative principles, votes where stalwart freshmen and principled senior Congressmen stayed true to their beliefs in spite of harsh pressure.  For instance, we didn’t include the Ryan budget – it was an easy vote with almost all Republicans voting for it.  A tailor made parade to jump in front of.

We looked for votes where Republican leadership was twisting arms – where they really needed the votes.  Like both the recent continuing resolutions. Or the Budget Control Act.

While science got us most of the way, figuring out who in Congress were most defiant of leadership came down to an art.  Who is the most vigorous in opposing the Republican establishment?  Who should be voting with leadership but has decided not to play their game despite whatever pressure may be exerted on them?

Here is the science:

Here is the art:

Joe Walsh wins the award for vigor.  Few in Congress have been more vigorous in the opposition to House leadership.  Even the Chicago Tribune has taken notice.  Check out this article:  “Walsh: GOP Leadership too afraid to fight in Washington.”  His voting record reflects that with him voting against Boehner and Cantor on 88% of critical votes.

Mick Mulvaney is second to Walsh for most votes against leadership.  The difference between Walsh and Mulvaney is how they got to Congress.  Walsh was not on anyone’s radar screen and owed no one for his victory.  Mulvaney seat cost House leadership more than $700,000 according to FEC records – almost half of what his campaign spent.  He comes in at 75% against the establishment.

Outpacing Mulvaney for “taking their money and voting against them” is Dave Schweikert.  Schweikert squeaked out a 52% victory in 2010 with the help of more than $3 million from the NRCC.  It’s hard to argue that Schweikert doesn’t owe his seat to the infusion of cash from House leadership.  He has a 75% record of voting against House leadership on crucial votes.

It takes a stiff spine to take $3 million from Boehner in 2010 and vote against him on 75% of the tough spending votes in 2011.

Tim Huelskamp’s world is not complex.  He votes no.  On our scale, he voted against the Republican establishment 75% of the time.

The Georgia delegation produced two standouts – Tom Graves and Phil Gingrey.  Both sit on powerful committees.  Graves has a seat on the Appropriations committee and Gingrey sits on the Energy and Commerce committee.  Guess who decides what committee assignments Congressmen get?  That’s right, House leadership. With sweet Committee assignments like these, Boehner had to give them the nod.  None the less, Gingrey sticks by his principles 63% of the time, while Graves thumbs his nose at leadership at the same rate.

Committee seats are one of the plums that leadership uses to co-opt conservatives into voting like a squish.  Gingrey and Graves took the seat Boehner gave them, and took the tough votes against leadership none the less.

While Walsh gets the award for vigor, Jim Jordan is impressive for his methodical defiance of the Republican establishment.  The Republican Study Committee is for the most conservative members of the caucus.  In past years it has been called “the conscience of the Republican caucus,” but this year, with Jordan as chair, it should be called the Republican Insurgency Committee for the work they have done to shut down free spending bills from the Republican leadership.  The 63% he gets doesn’t really reflect the impact he makes as the architect of the insurgency.

Kudos to the Magnificent Seven – Jordan, Graves, Gingrey, Huelskamp, Mulvaney, Schweikert and Walsh –  Boehner’s Bane and those who say that Cantor just can’t…

The following story in the Chicago-Sun Times exposes a side of Congressman Walsh that really bothers me.  I know the house leadership is not happy with him for his “no compromises” stance on the debt issue, and I can certainly understand their frustration given the circumstances, but I actually don’t have a problem with his position.  What I do have a problem with is the fact that his actions in his personal life will completely undermine his credibility on this issue, and will ultimately make the entire party look bad.

I am sick and tired of the guys that appoint themselves as spokespeople for conservatives being total hypocrites.  In my mind there are very few things that a man can do that show low moral character than not take care of their kids.  The marriage not working out is one thing, but his persistent dereliction in child support is disgraceful.  I am sure there will be a hundred excuses from his team about why he couldn’t or shouldn’t have to pay, there always are, but the truth is a real man takes care of his kids regardless of the circumstances.

The following quote from the story is a pretty good summation of the issue, I encourage all of you to read it for yourself and come to your own conclusions about the Congressman.  In my mind guys like this hurt our cause more than the democrats.

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Romney and his team are doing exactly the right thing.  They are taking on Obama, and they are using the jobs issue to do it.  I dont know how long it will take the other campaigns to figure this out, but if they don’t start working the jobs issue like a prize fighter on the  speed bag then they may as well fold up shop and call it a day.

It should be clear to anyone that calls themselves a campaign professional that jobs are, and will be, the number one issue by a country mile in this campaign.  The candidate that establishes him or herself as the job creator in chief will win this election hands down.  Right now I have to give Romney’s team a lot of credit, he is staying on the jobs message, and he is playing it just right.

In tying the NLRB decision to Obama in a recent speech, he forced the White House to say that they had nothing to do with that decision. (see L.A. Times).  This puts Obama on defense, and has the added benefit of making him sound like he is against the actions of his own, union controlled, agency.  The fact that Romney was deft enough to criticize the union bosses in all this, without implicating the rank and file worker, shows a professional touch from his team that I have yet to see from any other campaign.

Personally I am not sold on Romney yet, but if anyone plans on beating him they better start showing that they have a team capable of doing it.  It is not all about the candidate.  Their teams are equally important in strategy and messaging, and right now team Romney is in a league of their own.

I know that the name of my blog screams idealism, and many would say that it is naive to believe that you can really expect honest politicians.  But is it really too much to ask that the people who run for higher office at least have a background that passes the laugh test?

Florida State Senator Mike Haridopolos is running as a conservative for the Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate.  At first blush it is easy to look at Haridopolos’ record and say that for the most part he has been a good representative.  However, the problem I have with him is that, to me, he seems more and more like a career politician that will do and say anything in order to advance his career.

I have grown very weary of all the politicians that claim to be working for us only to get caught doing something that belies their ernest proclamations, and Haridopolos seems to have emerged as the poster boy for career politicians looking to gain personally from their office.  The following quotes are from several Florida based media.  Take a look at what has been on the record in just the past few months;

“the Senate president managed to forget about a $400,000 home and a $120,000-a-year consulting gig when he filled out his legally required financial disclosure forms — for four years in a row.”  -St.Peterburg Times

“Haridopolos failed to disclose property and mortage on a 2005 CE form. In 2004, Haridopolos did not list an automobile worth $20,000. In 2006, income from a job at the University of Florida was not listed.” – Orlando Sentinal

“Mr. Haridopolos is only a few months into his tenure as president, and already gearing up for a campaign for the U.S. Senate. But his brief time at the top has been marred by other missteps, including his flip-flop on high-speed rail — he was for it before he was against it — and his failure to reveal all his assets and business clients on his state financial disclosure form.”  -Miami Herald

The above are just a sample of the many stories that a simple google search reveals.  Now, many will say that these are attacks from political opponents, but the problem is that Haridopolos has admitted that these are true stories and, I am sorry, but I just don’t believe the “I forgot” excuse when it comes to an 11 year political veteran filling out campaign disclosure forms.

The really troubling thing is that these are not the worst of the allegations.  There is also the issue of the $152,000 dollars he received for writing a book for Brevard Community College.  No serious person believes that this was anything but a political payoff.  The book itself was almost as embarrassing as the deal he cut to write it.  I have serious issues with a man that is willing to enter into a sham deal like this.  His campaign has been pathetic in their response to these allegations, but in their defense, it is tough to defend the indefensible.  His campaign manager actually said “…he would have to think about it…” when asked by a reporter if he would do the deal again.

Oh, and there is also the little matter of his campaign manager being paid over $20,000 per month by the State Republican Party while working on Haridopolos’ reelection campaign.  This at a time when the party was doing all sorts of nefarious things that are now under investigation and leading to serious consequences for those involved.

Is this really the best we can do as Republicans?  Haridopolos has been in Florida government since he was 28 years old.  He began running for the U.S. Senate before he even began his term as the Florida Senate President.  I can’t speak for anyone else, but I am sick and tired of career politicians that look to government to line their own pockets while claiming to be conservatives.