WOW!
Jul 17th, 2010 by David Anderson
I loved it. The Delaware Conservative Coalition worked. Between 1200 and 1500 people showed up to the middle of where? Outside of Houston, Delaware in the middle of July to an event with little advertisement. Fliers, the guide, coalition emails to members, the blogs, Facebook, and WGMD. It was big.
It was great political theater. Over 1200 people representing all ages, ethnically diverse, and economical circumstances (we have sign in sheets and counted cars) showed up from across the state to a barn in the middle of nowhere from all across the state. Colin Bonini rocked the house with his fiscal conservatism. George Allen fired them up and Glen Urquhart really owned the crowd with repeated applause and a rousing ovation when he signed his pledge. Governor Allen said Glen Urquhart has what it takes, the right values, principles, and ideas to be a Congressman. The Energy tax was a big issue as well as broiler plate conservative red meat too much regulation, to high of taxes, and too many subsidies. The national debt killing jobs was also a theme by Mr. Urquhart. I was really pleased with an event that a small living room full of people put together in less than a month (the only date Governor Allen had open was today that didn’t conflict with the fair between now and primary day). The organization Delaware Conservative Coalition didn’t even exist a month ago, but it was promoted in true coalition fashion with thanks to everyone from the Patriot movement to the pro-family movement to the property rights advocates to the 2nd amendment protectors. The Libertarian candidates showed up and explained why they wanted to be on the primary ballots and their allegience to the Constitution.
This is what some of us have been trying to explain to the GOP that we need family friendly events to do for recruitment and to fire up the base. Have a fun event where people can get to know the candidates. If a bunch of hack bloggers, conservative thinkers and Patriot activists can do it on short notice, what is the Party’s excuse? GOP candidates and Libertarian candidates from Dover to Delmar were showcased and picked up volunteers. The Kent and Sussex Conservative movement was engaged and campaigns were energized. Networking was accomplished. This may become a turning point. Thank you Governor Allen, Senator Bonini, Auditor Wagner, and Ms. Tabitha Hale for stepping up to the plate. Thank you Glen Urquhart for securing former Governor and Senator Allen and being willing to be left off of the first tier of speakers so not to destroy protocol between endorsed and unendorsed candidates even though this was a private event.
All of the candidates did well for themselves from Brent Wangen to Christine O’Donnell to the primary rivals Senator Booth and Mr. Bodenweiser down to county row officers. For those who are curious, Ms. Rollins was not a sponsor (therefore couldn’t speak), but she did show up and stayed through the event. It was great event for Republican networking. Every statewide office was represented and almost every district in the lower two counties even for county level office. There is already talk of doing another one. Are you game New Castle County?
Thank you for inviting me to be a part of the movement. On a personal note, I was pleased to see almost every contributor from DP. Thanks guys for supporting each other. Thanks go to all of the readers who showed up many of whom greeted me through out the evening. Thanks to the cooks and prep crew as well as Bill Coley who was a great MC. The biggest thanks is to GOD who gave us calm weather and a safe event.
I was there; didn’t even get lost finding the place. Somebody really spent some money on food- thanks. The only negatives I can think of were the presence of Rollins and the stifling heat; hard to say which was more uncomfortable.
Great job!
I wanted to say hi, but I got pulled away. Thanks for coming. Yes te food was the real expense. At one point I think Angel and Lynn where praying for a fish and loaves experience. GOD please don’t let us run out. The people just kept coming. It was great. Thankfully more food came.
It actually felt cool for a while then by 6 it doubled to about 1000 folks and the doors kept being opened so the air conditioning had its work cut out in 98 degree weather. It would have been miserable without it. I think it was a good idea for Ms. Rollins to drop by, in the unlikely event she wins the primay, she will need these folks. I welcome her, sort of. I am a little intrigued that she stepped on Glen’s publicity and the News Journal forgot to cover what they came for which was the pledge and the Allen embrace of Urquhart.
Macaca, can you please show me the definition of “mecaca” and cite you’re references. What about the racist comments made by Biden, when he was talking about a store where you couldn’t understand what the people were saying because English wasn’t spoken, and the comment he made about Barrack being a handsome and intelligent black man. What the heck is that supposed to mean; is he saying that most black men aren’t? Harry Reid said that Obama was intelligent and could change the way he spoke based on his audience. He said he could speak with or without a “negro” dialect , depending on the crowd. What about the racism displayed by the New Black Panther Party AG Holder’s decision to not prosecute. Your comments about Gov Allen and Urquhart are both loquacious and pathetic.
They were deleted. Since M claimed that the word is a racial epitaph and we do not allow that here, he was deleted. If it stayed in the comments and tried to make a point, it would have stayed, but to make a fake name is just wrong and offensive.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by DelawarePolitics.net, Juliet Locke. Juliet Locke said: RT @delpolitics: WOW!: I loved it. The Delaware Conservative Coalition worked. Over 1000 people showed up to the middle of where?… http://bit.ly/a4DCIj [...]
” think it was a good idea for Ms. Rollins to drop by, in the unlikely event she wins the primay, she will need these folks. I welcome her, sort of. I am a little intrigued that she stepped on Glen’s publicity and the News Journal forgot to cover what they came for which was the pledge and the Allen embrace of Urquhart.”
Maybe the News Journal wanted to cover the real story, a Republican candidate with the guts to walk into an event orchastrated by her opponent and his supporters that she wasn’t invited to with an MC who has been openly hostile to her, just to prove that she also carries the mantle of “conservatism” proudly.
She’s got more guts than Urquhart, who obviously tried to design the event to keep Rollins out.
Real people were really there, having a really good time- and ‘quiet alice’ tells us all about it based on News Journal articles. Now I know how BO got elected.
Gee, Rick, I obviously read the biased right wing blog coverage of the event today, too.
The DCC supports conservatives not waffle queens or kings.
I guess by your logic Glen Urquhart should one up her by going to this to show that he has guts:
join Special Guest
Congressman Pete Sessions (TX – 32)
Chairman, National Republican Congressional Committee
for a cocktail reception to benefit
Michele Rollins
Republican Candidate, U.S. House of Representatives, Delaware
Congressman Sessions will provide an update on the status of the Republican effort to win back the U.S. House of Representatives
David don’t be ridiculous. No one knew that Urquhart orchestrated this event until you admitted it today. It was NOT advertised as an event for Glen Urquhart, it was advertised as an event for conservatives. She did not “crash” the event.
Too bad the organizers tried to create a Glen Urquhart pep rally without anyone knowing the truth.
Rollins event, however, is clearly an event for Michele Rollins.
Glen may have played a big role in the event and helped to draw in a national figure, however it was an event for multiple conservative candidates. It was a pep rally for Glen AND a bunch of other conservative candidates that were invited and chose to participate. It is clear that there were a lot of candidates present and there were a lot of canidates that helped sponsor and put the event together.
In the lead up to the Delaware GOP convention Glen was accused multiple times of of having done nothing for the Republican party of Delaware, and nothing for other candidates. It is still said ad nauseum that he is only in it for himself. While he didn’t help organize the event to help out his competitors in the Republican Primary, it seems like he is now doing exactly what he was accused of not doing. He is helping the other candidiates. I hope it is appreciated but I doubt it will be. Self interest behavior, to be sure, but it was also mutually beneficial to all of the candidates and citizens that worked together to throw the event.
Exactly, I do not know of anyone who would say a party building event was a Glen Rally. If he wanted to keep Governor Allen to himself, he could have. The reason it was not advertised an Urquhart rally was very simply it was not. It was for Conservative candidates. The group agreed upon citeria for supporting the candidates the very first meeting. It was not an Urquhart campaign meeting. It is a long term conservative coalition seeking to organize conservatives for electoral impact. It does not plan to disband after the primary, the general, or even 2012. The active leadership of the organization has Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, and Independents. It may have a Constitution Party member as well.
It was in no way a rally for any one candidate nor do should it apologize for any candidate it supports.
I am confident that the DCC platform will be posted on the coming website. Though not being an officer of the coalition, I have no power over that. Those candidates who met the criteria were invited to be sponsors. Others saw the information and contacted on their own. The group agreed that the microphone and tables would be for the sponsors.
All of the sponsors were publicly advertised. The very same advertisement that you cite. Anyone could have used the contact information for more information.
Ms. Rollins is a better than our two senators, but there seems to be too little difference for our tastes between her and Mr. Carney. Glen Urquhart was supportive right from the start. He is not about merely electing himself. He wants to build the movement and elect great people all up and down the ticket. He did not want to be on the advertisements beyond a sponsor because it was about the movement. Putting him on the advertisements would have made it look like the Officeholders endorsed him. It is wrong to put them in that position. Still it was clearly stated here, at the facebook site, and on the ads that Glen Urquhart was one of the sponsors. It was also promoted on Candidate sites including Glen Urquhart’s facebook several times.
The organization is not an adjuct of the GOP but we did not want to offend protocol. Bonini and Wagner could not be mistaken to endorse Urquhart. He will get that support when and if he wins. They are not to be mistaken as attending an “Urquhart Rally”. You do them a disservice with such rhetoric. They were invited to and participated in a Conservative event.
The event was organized by independent conservatives and designed to highlight conservative candidates not just to rally and go home, but build organizations. One of those campaigns was Glen Urquhart’s. It was a rousing success for him for sure, but for the party as well.
If you claim this was an Urquhart rally and really believe it, then you need to pack it in. He is so popular that at his whim he can call a thousand people to anywhere in the state and every other candidate nearby just wants to be in his shadow. I can hear some of them laughing at that last statement now. It is a very simple equation. He is popular and a great draw for the movement. Everyone supported him in the coalition. He is willing to invest back into the movement by giving a national headline speaker to a brand new organization unlike Ms. Rollins who is keeping the Congressman for herself. That earns him respect that money can’t buy. He is a team player.
He was one of many. The DCC has nothing to be ashamed of just because you do not like one of or two of its choices. It makes its own decisions. I am sure that you would like 90% of the candidates. Are you going to argue with people whom agree with you 90%?
David, you know me and you know that I support conservative events and conservative causes. You know I am a Tea Party supporter.
You also know that when something stinks, I’m going to say it stinks. And calling Rollins a “crasher” doesn’t pass the smell test.
For Immediate Release:
July 17, 2010
NRCC Endorses Rollins
Chairman for NRCC and The Young Guns Program endorses Michele Rollins over Glen Urquhart in Delaware’s House race.
On July 23, 2010 Chairman Pete Sessions will be in Delaware for a photo opp with the NRCC’s newest Young Gun.
Join us for the $1000 per person cocktail reception to benefit
Michele Rollins
Republican Candidate, U.S. House of Representatives, Delaware
Friday, July 23
6:00 p.m. ~ 9:00 p.m.
1199 Owl’s Nest Road
Greenville, DE 19807
###
“The reason it was not advertised an Urquhart rally was very simply it was not.”
The reason it was not advertised as an Urquhart event is because the turnout would have been 10% of the total. It was a very clever way to manufacture support for Urquhart, but it was clearly an event planned to maximize the benefit for one person.
And the reason Allen calls Urquhart a “friend” is because Urquhart raised TONS of money for Allen through the years, including the $50K+ he raised when he came to Vance’s watermelon thing a few years ago. So Allen’s going to say whatever he needs to pay Urquhart back for his largesse.
Gee, Rick, I obviously read the biased right wing blog coverage of the event today, too.
Let me draw you a picture;
I was at a baseball game. I was there. You read the account of the game in the newspaper, then try to tell me (and everyone else who was at the game) about the game.
You weren’t there. You assessment is irrelevant.
Rick let me draw you a picture:
The News Journal is the largest statewide news organization in the state of Delaware. It has a circulation of over 100,000 people, then it has an online version that gets more hits per day than every blog in Delaware combined.
On Saturday morning, a massive amount of Delawareans picked up their newspapers and went online and read about Michele Rollins at that event. When they read Urquhart’s name mentioned in the article, the only thing those readers will remember about him is that he’s the “Nazi” guy.
“Exactly, I do not know of anyone who would say a party building event was a Glen Rally.”
David You have been tripping all over yourself while acting as the Urquhart Communications Director. First you say the DCC is not associated with the Republican Party and then you say this was a party building event?
David there was no way there was 1200 to 1500 people at this event.
TW according to the event’s MC, the DCC wants to remain “clandestine” so as not to “alienate” the party, yet they want to be an anti establishment group. The inconsistencies are overwhelming.
We have sign in sheets and food counts. We know how many people signed in and how many were served. We also kept count of the cars.
When they read the article they see more about Urquhart and it was very positive. They also see that he won the day Q. A.
“They also see that he won the day Q. A.”
Of course he won the day. It was his day. He set it up, he organized it, he brought in (or bought) the speaker. The fact that he spun it by bringing in other candidates and speakers doesn’t hide that this was designed to do one thing: promote Glen Urquhart. Wonder what the FEC will think. Plus, in 30 days, the DCC will have to file campaign finance paperwork since they had a political event in a campaign year. So then people will know who paid for what.
So then we’ll all know who the “clandestine” DCC is by mid August, just in time to let the voters know the truth, that’s exactly the way it’s supposed to be.
The DCC does not reach any trigger reporting requirements see my comment under Great Cookout for details.
I am intrigued that you all want to know who paid for food and venue. In America we still have the right to assemble and speak without reporting to our federal overlords at least until the Disclose Act is passed. The law is actually pretty specific when combined with case law over what is express advocacy and what amount has to be spent for an individual candidate. If they choose to file a report, that is fine, but it is not required so I doubt you will see one until it is. No contributions were made to any candidate nor was any advertisement made expressly calling for supporting any. Even at the event the organization did not engage in express advocacy of one candidate or another. You can praise a candidate, say they have a good position on something or on the otherside ask them why they support killing puppies and beating babies as long as you do not say vote against them because they kill puppies and beat babies the feds say it is not express advocacy. McCain and Feidgold tried to oppress people by making speech more difficult within 90 days of an election, but the courts have wisely pushed back, but even they wouldn’t buy your interpretation.
Colley went a little rogue when he had fill time because the band was late and he said that this year he is voting only for Republicans and conservative ones not Rhinos. He did make it clear he was speaking for himself.
To the party building, the event was not a party event and certainly not controled by the party. The event did end up doing more for party building than the party has done in 10 years. Candidates were networked with volunteers, sign placements, and donors. It was a great event that energized and built a conservative election infrastructure instead of just people talking. It did it by networking instead of creating another organization.
I do find it interesting that in this case and in the case of the Pigs Fly group that people are talking about “standing up” and “courage” and “first principles,” yet they don’t want anyone to know who they are. It leads people to believe that the motivations are political in nature, and that in the case of the picnic, it was a front for Urquhart. Having had no involvement with it, and having not attended, that is what I believe, too. And, as you know DA, perception is reality in politics. If it is truly organic, those involved should proudly step forward, since it was a positive event.
The News Journal is the largest statewide news organization in the state of Delaware. It has a circulation of over 100,000 people, then it has an online version that gets more hits per day than every blog in Delaware combined.….misnomer alice
It is also a very amateurish, bush-league publication.
In any case, the writer was one person, with one person’s perspective, one person’s bias, one person’s set of eyes. A person who was searching for stories, not socializing with people and exchanging political ideas. Hence, the News Journal’s depiction of the event, as would be the case if it were a baseball game, was, by necessity, incomplete
I was there, you were not- that’s really the bottom line, isn’t it?
Is DCC filed with the state as a PAC or committee? Do they raise funds for political purposes? Because if they do not, they won’t have to file anything.
As of now, the state of Delaware’s web site does not have any statement of organization on its web site for a “Delaware Conservative Coalition”, either as a political committee or as a PAC.