OPERATOR ERROR YESTERDAY ON MY PART KEPT MY COMMENTARY FROM APPEARING ON THE SITE.
I have to run to an event for work this morning, but please enjoy yesterday’s commentary…today!
Obviously if you read the FR blog yesterday, you know that the trip with Eric Roach to DC was successful, but you all missed out on an important mid-trip update, which is important because my entry belows makes the clear case why Democrats DON’T want Eric Roach to run – which is GOP turnout. Brian Bilbray is ill-equiped, as a GOP nominee, to inspire conservatives to the polls… Anyways, check it all out below, and if you missed out on yesterday’s featured piece on Tax Freedom Day by Doug Wilson, you can toggle to yesterday’s FR in the upper-right hand corner of the main page…
YESTERDAY’S COMMENTARY POSTED TODAY…
TAX FREEDOM DAY
Today, April 26, 2006, is Tax Freedom Day. What does that mean? It means that the average 
American has worked all of way up to this year just to pay their accumulated tax burden. I reached out to a friend of the FlashReport, Doug Wilson, who is Chairman of Townhall.com, one of our favorite websites (a great source of conservative commentary) and asked if he would pen a column for us commemorating this special day. Doug (pictured to the right) has just recently finished writing a book (okay, well he co-wrote a book with the Heritage Foundation’s Ed Feulner) entitled, Getting America Right. I encourage you to take a moment to read this piece by Wilson. It’s quite excellent!
Once again, a very special thank you to FlashReport Guest Editor Nicholas Romero who really has stepped up for almost the past week in crafting the main page of the website. He really has gotten more than he bargained for — as I was in Northern California this last weekend, went to go see President Bush speak on Monday morning, and now am in Washington, D.C., on a two-day trip. Thanks, Nick!! Speaking of Washington, D.C….
WITH ERIC ROACH IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
As I mentioned from a post to the FR Weblog I made from my Blackberry yesterday, conservative businessman Eric Roach, who narrowly missed making the run-off in the "open" (i.e…Democrats can vote for GOPers and visa versa) special election to fill out the unexpired term of disgraced and jailed former Congressman Randy Cunningham, invited me to come with him back to Washington, D.C., for a quick trip that he is taking to meet with many conservative leaders. Roach is seriously looking at an active candidacy in the closed "GOP-only" regular primary election for the full two-year seat in the 50th Congressional District.
We’ve only been in the nation’s capitol for a few hours, and already Roach has had made a lot of key contacts. In this photo to the right, Roach is seen with Congressman Tom Feeney of Florida. Feeney is nationally recognized as one of the conservative leaders of Congress. Feeney had a lot of great advice for Eric.
Nearly 70% of the votes cast for Republicans in that recent special election went to conservative or reform-minded candidates with 14 candidates, including Bilbray, vying for votes. It is clearly the case that a unified conservative movement behind Roach could catapult him easily into a primary victory over the extremely moderate lobbyist and former Congressman Brian Bilbray.
To quote Charles Dickens, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." A Roach candidacy truly is good for Bilbray (in his short-term goal of winning the runoff) and bad news (as Roach would have a huge leg-up against Bilbray to win the GOP nod for the full-term). One of the biggest challenges facing the GOP in the June run-off election is that Brian Bilbray is ill-equipped to inspire and turn out values-driven conservative voters or fiscally conservative voters on election day. Bilbray chalked up a reputation for being a moderate Congressman when he was in Congress before, and that (along with being a lobbyist) is not a very great credential for inspiring GOP turnout. Add to this that he garnered only around 15% of the votes that went to Republicans. Of course, this is also a regular June primary election where both Governor Schwarzenegger and his running mate, Senator Tom McClintock are running unopposed, while Democrat turnout will be increased by the competitive Democrat Party donnybrook between Treasurer Phil Angelides and Controller Steve Westly.
We have certainly had it articulated to us by a few folks here Inside the Beltway that there is a very real concern about being able to turn out enough conservative votes for Bilbray to win a one-on-one against ultra-liberal Francine Busby (between Bilbray and Busby, he is clearly the lesser of two evils). A Roach candidacy solves that problem for Bilbray. Roach running with united conservative support will bring conservative Republican voters out to the polls in droves, and assure Bilbray that he will win that run-off. Of course, a vibrant contrast-campaign where Eric Roach is able to present a solid conservative agenda (that was the desire the vast majority of GOP voters in the special) would likely mean that Roach, and not Bilbray, would will the nomination for the full two-year term.
Why would this be important? Right now, we have a major problem looming for the GOP in the November elections. We stand to possibly lose our majority! There are a number of factors leading to this…but one of the big ones is disillusionment by Republican activists and donors over the fact that despite the fact that Republicans have a majority in both Houses of Congress, and the Presidency, spending is up in record amounts. Since the GOP took over control of Congress in the infamous "1994 Revolution" – Federal spending is up by well over 33%!
Tomorrow, Eric Roach will be seeing dozens of conservative leaders on The Hill (complete with his ‘entourage’ — dubbed the ‘conservative unity tour’ that includes Republican candidates who ran in the 50th and others, including yours truly who came along to take it all in and try to emphasize the excitement of the opportunity here.).
A vibrant and active Eric Roach candidacy would have a very important symbolic meaning — as Roach would be running to strengthen the hand and position of conservatives within the GOP caucus of Congress (organized under the auspices of the Republican Study Committee) — who have their finger on the pulse of GOP voters, who are unhappy with the status quo in the Republican Congress.
It is clear that while there is a Republican majority in Congress, there is not a CONSERVATIVE majority. Eric Roach would bolster the move towards a conservative majority if elected to Congress. Brian Bilbray, if elected to Congress, would certainly vote for Republican leadership…but based on his prior service in the House, we already know that his service will be…unremarkable. Sure, better than Busby, a Democrat. But he would symbolize a missed opportunity. The 50th district is a conservative one, and should send back to Washington, for the long-haul, an articulate, conservative Member of Congress.
Look to the FR Weblog throughout the day for updates on the trip from my Blackberry!
Happy Tax Freedom Day!
Jon