Last Night At The GOP
Nov 10th, 2009 by Frank Knotts
Well , I was able to attend the Sussex County GOP monthly meeting last night .
The guest speakers were , Garrett Wozniak , Policy Director and Lee Williams, investigative reporter for the Caesar Rodney Institute.
For those who don’t know , C R I is a no-partisan group that investigates waste and fraud within the government here in Delaware. C R I also is responsible for the web sites , www.DelawareSpends.com and www.SunlightOnSchools.com , both sites allow the average citizen to keep track of exactly what we are spending within the government in general and schools specifically.
The two both gave a short presentation of their roles within the C R I and then took questions.
Chairman Ron Sams had flipped the usual order of the meeting to allow the two guest to leave early since Garrett is a Steelers fan and they were playing last night, won’t hold that against him , I guess !
So at the end of the meeting Mr. Sams opened it up for general business and questions. A lot of news of up coming GOP events was discussed . Some new comers to the meetings and to Delaware itself asked when the real push would begin concerning the 2010 elections, no real answer was forth coming.
Then in response to this question Rep. Mike Castle’s representative , Kate Rohrer went into a long plea for volunteers for Mr. Castle’s campaign. This was followed by more general questions.
Finally I raised my hand and was recognized by the Chairman. I will attempt to para-phrase my statement, and many of you have heard it before.
Basically , I stated that if we wish to avoid what happened in the New York 23rd , then we as voters must voice our discontent with any candidate that the party puts up, that does not represent our views. That we must contact our party chairs and committee members to let them know that we are not satisfied with certain candidates due to either recent votes or their positions on issues that will affect all of us.
I kept my statement generic and mentioned no specific candidates or elected officials. As I was speaking and looking around the room I noticed many smiles and agreeing nods to what I was saying. As it would happen mine was the last question and or statement.
The meeting was adjourned, and as is the tradition many of those in attendance milled about . I was approached by several people who I had a discussion with about what I had said, they knew immediately that I had been talking about Mr. Castle in particular. As I spoke with these fellow members of the GOP others walked past and thanked me or voiced their approval of what I had said. In particular the same lady who had asked about when would the big push begin and who was a recent transplant to the state ,wished to speak with me , and asked if it were Rep. Castle I had been speaking of and that it seemed as if I weren’t a 100% behind him. I informed her that I was not even 1% behind him and then had a short conversation with her about why.
My point is not to demonstrate how smart I am, but to show that within the GOP there is a growing discontent with Rep. Castle and that we as voters need to voice that concern before we end up in the same situation as they did in New York, with the party putting up a candidate that is not representative of the people and one which the voters will not support, and find out too late that the party has wasted too much time and money , only to lose out to the Democrats again.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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I second that, annoni. Last night I had a chance to hear a Marine colonel give an outstanding presentation on military justice (followed by Jill Biden saluting veterans who are members of the Delaware Bar).
I was again reminded of the esprit, professionalism, and dedication of those serving our nation in the Corps. Having served in the Army Infantry, I relate intuitively to my brethren and sistern in the Corps – where every Marine, no matter their occupational specialty, is ultimately Infantry.
We live in a liberal state, and Castle is the best we can get. I’d rather have him than a Democrat. If we lived in Wyoming, or even Virginia, I’d be for jettisoning Castle- but not here.
Castle lost my vote when he voted for Cap & Trade which will be an unnecessary financial burden on both comsumers and busineses in an attempt for government to control energy! When a Republican stops being a fiscal conservative and promoting less government, they stop being a Republican for me and are no longer worthy of my vote!
I sure hope the DE GOP can come up with a better candidate for Senator!
Careful, Rick. Logic is not welcome here.
Rick , don’t listen to anon. Why is it , do you think that we here so much support for Mr. Castle from the left ? Logically speaking of course. Because they are not forced to waste a candidate running against him, either way they win.
I believe that by saying that Mr. Castle is the best we can do is admitting defeat before the battle has been joined.
I hear far too often from people in the GOP or who identify themselves as such , that we must support Mr. Castle so that we don’t end up with a Democrat. But what have we gained if we do support him ? I hear that we should support him because he is a Republican, support him because he isn’t a Democrat, support him because he votes with the GOP “MOST” of the time, support him because he can win. But I think I can count on one hand how many times I have heard someone say that we should support him because he makes good choices when voting and that he represents their views.
We would be far better off in this nation if people would stop voting as if they are placing a bet on a sporting event and start voting their true beliefs and demanding that the people they elect actually represent those beliefs.
I was at that meeting as well and I’ve got a complaint. Though I’m quite sure that Mike Castle’s spy will read this as she’s every damn where.
Everybody has a point and Mike Castle’s vote against Cap and Trade was my point. All you who keep defending the man, especially with the lame, lame, lame “he’s better than a Democrat:, well this is your right. But MIKE CASTLE IS NOT BETTER THAN A DEMOCRAT. It is far better to have a Democrat vote with the Democrats than a Republican to vote with the Democrats forgive MY logic if you must. Cap and Trade is in NO way beneficial to Delawarians and I’ve got a bridge for sale to anyone who thinks so. I’ve got an even bigger bridge for sale to anyone who thinks Mike Castle thinks Cap and Trade is good for Delawarians. I don’t know why he voted for it but it wasn’t for the good of the citizens of Delaware and again, if you believe so, the bridge I want to sell has just been renovated.
But you can’t discuss the problem of Mike Castle anywhere because…well first the GOP has got to support the guy I suppose. Then there’s the Mike Castle spy who is everywhere, everywhere, all the time, ready to give the evil eye to anyone who dares to question the deceitful Castle. Frank is right. When I went to sign the form to volunteer, I told the guy I will help but NOT for Mike Castle in any way shape or form. All around me were nods and whispers. Mike Castle is not liked, not here in Sussex County anyway.
Now a bunch of fools can jump in here and defend Mike Castle cause hey, fools got a right to an opinion. I like to think that Mr. Deceitful Betrayer Castle watched the saga of Deedee Scuzzyfuzzy with trepidation. What a joke SHE was.
What a joke Castle is.
But we can’t have an open discussion about him cause that spy of his is everywhere.
It bugs the hell out of me.
The Castle Rule of Thumb:
Individually, Republicans despise him while collectively, and more specifically while in the same room with each other, they’ll champion him.
It’s odd, and always has been.
Pat, in my opinion it is even more important to speak our minds about Mr. Castle when his representative is in the room.Since it is highly unlikely that Mr. Castle will ever find hinmself in the room , at least here in Sussex.
You know Matt, I find just the opposite is true. When in a room togehter , Republicans will agree that Mr. Castle is less than moderate and down right liberal many times when he votes and they will agree that the party needs to support someone else, and then when they are alone in the booth, they vote for him out of party loyalty.
That’s a good point Frank, and to put what I was saying another way, when talking to folks personally, one to one, or in small groups people will say how they really feel. But when they gather, say at the Convention every two years, they love to throw those damn Beach Balls for him.
Both situations have their inherent truth.
It was a couple meetings ago that Fitzgerald I think it was, got up right at the end of the meeting and said we all should apologize for Mike Castle’s “attack” at the Cheers Center.
My husband said it was Fitzgerald which surprises me because, well I like his wife anyway. My husband’s started going to the monthly GOP meetings cause…well he makes me look like a liberal.
I so wanted to ask this guy just why the hell the Sussex county GOP should apologize to Mike Castle cause WE DIDN’T DO IT.
But oh no, KR was there and she just intimidates me. Not many people intimidate me and trust it won’t last long.
My point came with Cap and Trade. I’m through with Mike Castle and I’M A FREE WOMAN. I’ll not vote for Beau although I once spent the better part of an hour with Beau Biden, sharing a cig and yukking it up about politics and making fun of his father…true story. But I’ll not vote for Castle either. I feel so free and less like I’m selling my soul. It’s a great feeling.
Anyway, warning….I’m going to lose my cool one of these days with this Mike Castle thing. KR or no.
Hiya Matt.
Yeah, I think NY 23 os better off with a Democrat voting Democrat than a Republican voting Democrat.
I think Delaware would be better off with a Democrat voting for Cap and Trade than a Republican although no sane person should vote for such a stupid thing. Democrats vote for stoopid stuff, Democrats and Mike Castle.
It’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Matt , I agree that you get a much different opinion of Mr. Castle from party leadership then you do from rank and file.
So y’all would rather have Beau Biden in for the next 36 years?
Cookie, I personally am not convinced that Mike Castle could have won the election before , and now that he has been exposed as the liberal many of us always felt he was, well he has lost a lot of the more conservative and independent voters and has no chance to win now. My point is that the GOP needs to cut their losses now and seek out a candidate that more closely represents the current mood among GOP voters but also the growing conservative mood of the independent voters.
I think to have the attitude that Bue Biden is some kind of juggernaut is admitting defeat before we have even begun to fight.
Let’s remember that Bue Biden will have his father campaigning for him, just think of being able to tie Bue’s ideas to those of V.P. Biden and Pres. Obama, and don’t underestimate V.P. Biden”s ability to palce his foot squarely in his mouth.
Great examples of Frank’s Grade A logic: Beau Biden’s not a juggernaut, but 13-time statewide winner Mike Castle, who has the highest approval rating of any politician in the state, can’t win. Love it.
Perfect example of Anon’s blind criticism. Reads a post and only sees what he wants and ignores the reasons I gave why Castle has been tainted and can no longer count on the hold their nose and vote, vote. And anyone who is thinking Bue is a juggernaut is doing so just because of his father’s name, I also pointed out how that can play against Bue. But Anon , if you didn’t get the point this time , I’ll try with pictures and arrows for you next time.
Surprisingly, Anon the Congressman does not have great approval ratings. They are good, but oddly enough he has a significant disapproval among — Republicans. The most popular pol is Tom Carper at this point. Mike Castle and Jack Markell are next. I think the Congressman could win. It is not a sure bet, but a decent one. Where I depart from you is the idea that no one else could win. Non partisan polls show Christine O’Donnell in striking distance. If Tom Wagner brings on a good fundraising team, he could win. I have no doubt that he would be the strongest candidate. Ray Clatworthy could win based on his performance against dad Biden.
We don’t need a savior. We need to pick the best availible senator. If you believe that to be Congressman Castle as many do, I am fine with that. I will not insult your logic. He is a good man. If Frank does not believe that because of the irratic votes and lack of good legislation, that is equally valid.
Frank,
You may not be voting against Castle, but Ed Heath and Pat Fish will not vote. IMHO not voting is voting against a candidate. Thus, we will have 36 years of Beau. I’d rather have Castle for 4 years than Beau for 36 years. We may not know how Castle will vote, but we DO KNOW how Beau will vote.
Cookie, I happen to believe I know exactly how Mike Castle will vote on many of the most important issues and that it will be counter to my way of thinking, so for me Castle is no different than Bue Biden or the most radical Democrat, and I believe Senate seats are six years.