Bush-Cheney 2004 -- Spokane, WA

Spokane/WA GOP politics

2004-04-07T15:05:00.000-07:00

Todd Mielke withdraws from House race, will run for County Commissioner.

Shaun Cross steps down as Public Facilities District chairman to concentrate on the race for Congress.

GOP gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi has more campaign cash than Dem. Christine Gregoire (for now).

Wictory Wednesday!

2004-04-07T05:45:00.000-07:00

First, if you're not registered to vote, do it!

Get involved: Sign up as a volunteer.

Donate: At the official Bush-Cheney 2004 site, or (up to $200) through Amazon.com.

Attend pro-Bush, pro-America, pro-troop rallies and Bush campaign events in your area.

Show your colors: Buy some Bush-Cheney 2004 stuff at the official George W. Bush online store.

If you have a blog, join Wictory Wednesday. Not only will you be helping the effort to re-elect the President, but you'll get a spot on the Wictory Wednesday Blogroll which appears on each WW blog:

Parties for the President

2004-04-03T08:30:00.000-08:00

Help us reach our goal of 2004 Parties for the President on Thursday, April 29! Join thousands of Bush supporters and a senior campaign leader on a nationwide conference call at 8pm EST. Sign up now to host one of these fun, informal parties to help re-elect President Bush!

If you can't throw your own party, then plan on attending a party (after all, parties need partygoers as well as hosts). At the Bush website, you can enter your zip code and see all the parties planned for your area. You can request an invitation to the one you want to attend.

Get together with your fellow Bush supporters and party!

[Updated time to bump this post to the top.]

Update: Vice President Cheney will be making a conference call to the parties on the 29th.

WA: Locke vetoes "top two" primary.

2004-04-01T18:42:00.000-08:00

Good thing, too (much as it pains me to praise Locke). The "top two" system is what they have in Louisiana, where the top two vote-getters advance to the general election regardless of party. Yuck. That would have been worse than the horrible "blanket" primary we just got rid of (though my first impulse was to say that the court was wrong to find it unconstitutional; however, Scalia, Thomas, and Rehnquist all voted that way, so I figure I must be wrong).

Now we'll have a "Montana-style" system with separate ballots for each party. Voters must request one party's ballot, but will not have to register by party.

Personally, I'd prefer registration by party, but this is way better than what we used to have.

New Bush TV ads

2004-04-01T18:27:00.000-08:00

"Troubling" (about Kerry the tax-hiker) and "Wacky" (a comedic ad about Kerry the gas-tax-hiker).

New Bush supporter accessory: flip flops

2004-04-01T17:53:00.000-08:00

(Via SondraK.com and Army of One.)

We read with interest today's New York Times report about a campaign appearance by Sen. John Kerry. What caught our eye was this brief anecdote: "[T]he senator was greeted on Tuesday in California by Bush supporters who held up black plastic flip-flops and clapped them together as Mr. Kerry tried to speak."

I prefer sandals, myself, but I may have to invest in a cheap pair of flip-flops just to take them to Kerry rallies.

The Democrats are panicking

2004-03-31T13:54:00.000-08:00

What else can explain the astonishing errors they have made recently? John Kerry has, of course, been making an ass of himself every time he appears in public, most recently by attacking President Bush's religion while simultaneously telling his own church's leaders to shut up and stop presuming to give him moral guidance, insisting that every price increase is a tax increase, and having his spokesperson give credence to the lunatic idea that Bill Clinton will be his Secretary of State.

[Update: Being a steadfast ignorer of all things MTV, I missed the actual latest self-inflicted Kerry disaster: he publicly blamed Bush for terrorism during his "Choose or Lose" appearance (via Hugh Hewitt).]

And this last week the Democrats did something which only makes sense as an expression of blind, stupid panic: They invited the American people to cast their vote on the issue of terrorism.

Stupid, stupid. Thank you, Lord, for making them so stupid.

Before Richard Clarke popped up with his accusations, an unofficial truce had been in effect: the blame for intelligence failures and general lack of seriousness on terrorism would be parcelled out about equally between the parties. Although occasionally a Paul O'Neill or a Frank Gaffney would squeeze off a shot over the barricades, this truce, in the main, was holding. Both sides saw the danger in playing the blame game instead of focusing on the future. So why did the Democrats choose to break this truce and embrace Richard Clarke's bizarre and indefensible assertion that President Clinton was better on terrorism than President Bush?

[Update: And do it without even bothering to check on Clarke's past statements? Clarke himself is, at best, an egomaniac and a fantasist who might not have understood that his assertions would be questioned and contradictions publicized, but that can't explain why the Dems so eagerly jumped in bed with him.]

The only reason I can see is panic. Kerry's big chance--well, his only chance, really--was to get America's mind off terrorism and onto the economy and domestic issues.

But with the economy picking up steam, and with the Bush team successfully portraying Kerry as a tax-raiser and flip-flopper, panic set in. When Kerry's poll numbers started to fall (and I'd love to see the Dems' internal polling numbers), the Democrats decided (or perhaps they stumbled) on a desperation move: They would try to pin all the blame for our government's failures against terrorism on President Bush.

This was, of course, stupid. By doing this, not only have the Democrats ensured that terrorism is an even bigger issue in the campaign that it might have been, but they've opened the door for Republicans to point out Clinton's failings on terrorism, which are by any rational measure far worse than Bush's. Had the Republicans started the blame-throwing, they would have looked petty. Now, they merely look like they are answering the Democrats' charges calmly and reasonably.

And of course, it's only natural that the Republicans go on to point out that the Clinton anti-terrorism "strategy" would also be the Kerry "strategy." No one who is thinking clearly could have thought that was a good strategy for the Democrats.

So be confident...but not overconfident. President Bush will still need a lot of help. So join the winning team today, and help make it the winning team.

Re-elect President Bush: Reason #16,334,121

2004-03-31T09:55:00.000-08:00

Kerry considers Bill Clinton for Secretary of State:

When asked about making the offer to Clinton, Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter went out of her way to avoid denials.

"President Clinton would clearly help the United States regain the respect of our allies across the world," Cutter told the New York Daily News on Thursday, before insisting it was too early to name potential Cabinet picks.

Volunteer. Donate. Vote.

Because these people are nuts.

Wictory Wednesday!

2004-03-31T06:03:00.000-08:00

This is the most important Presidential election in a generation. The choice is between a President who knows what it takes to defend this country against its enemies, and a challenger who wants to call the cops on them.

President Bush's ads are working. It costs money to keep those ads on the air.

Washington is one of those battleground states which both sides are going to fight hard for. The President needs you to help him win.

First, if you're not registered to vote, do it!

Get involved: Sign up as a volunteer.

Donate: At the official Bush-Cheney 2004 site, or (up to $200) through Amazon.com.

Attend pro-Bush, pro-America, pro-troop rallies and Bush campaign events in your area.

Show your colors: Buy some Bush-Cheney 2004 stuff at the official George W. Bush online store.

If you have a blog, join Wictory Wednesday. Not only will you be helping the effort to re-elect the President, but you'll get a spot on the Wictory Wednesday Blogroll which appears on each WW blog:

The Kerry gas tax calculator

2004-03-30T05:46:00.000-08:00

Heh heh heh. I think the Republicans have got this Internet thingy figured out good.

Prepare for more whining from the Kerry camp.

Yard Sales for the President!

2004-03-28T18:13:00.000-08:00

I had this brilliant idea the other day (though a bit of websurfing tells me that some Dean supporters had it first, which scares me a little):

I was planning to hold a yard sale this spring. Why not, I thought, hold the yard sale to benefit the Bush-Cheney campaign?

Of course, ideally I would like to simply announce that "All proceeds will be donated to the Bush campaign," but I don't know if that's feasible under our current campaign finance regime (I sent the question to a campaign official; when I get an answer I'll post it).

Other possibilities:

"All proceeds will go to buy Bush-Cheney '04 materials for independent distribution."

Since none of the money from the Bush online store goes to the campaign, campaign finance laws wouldn't come into play. And such a move would reduce the necessity for the campaign to buy and distribute buttons, bumper stickers, and the like. For every ten bucks you and I spend on campaign materials, that's ten bucks the campaign can spend somewhere else.

"All proceeds will be donated to [insert name of independent pro-Bush group]."

As long as the group is independent of the campaign, what can the FEC do about it? When last I looked, the First Amendment was still part of the Constitution.

Any other ideas for what to do with the money? Leave a comment at the end of this post.

Of course, another option would be to simply keep the money from the sale, and then make a donation out of your own pocket which just happens to be in the amount you made at the sale. However, I think it's preferable to announce that proceeds will go to help the President, even if they won't be donated directly to the campaign.

I know that advertising it as a "yard sale for the President" will turn off Democrats and reduce potential customers, but the money is really only one part of the scheme. The idea is also to register new Republican voters and recruit Bush campaign volunteers. If you advertise a "Bush-Cheney yard sale," you will disproportionately attract Bush-friendly patrons.

Remember to pick up some voter-registration forms at your local elections office (in some states, you can photocopy forms, in others you need originals). Also, contact your local Bush campaign or Republican Party to get some forms for campaign volunteers to fill out.

Here's a draft newspaper ad (composed on the assumption that donations to the campaign are out):

Re-elect President Bush! [ADDRESS DELETED], Sat. 8-4. Books, sci-fi, VHS and DVD movies, knick-knacks, collectibles, cold pop, misc. Also: register to vote, and volunteer for President Bush's campaign. All proceeds will go to buy Bush-Cheney '04 materials for independent distribution in Spokane. This sale is not affiliated with, nor will any proceeds be donated to, Bush-Cheney '04, Inc.

If a whole bunch of people in the same area had their sales on the same day (or banded together and threw one big sale), it might even get some media coverage.

Anyway, it's something to think about.

That sound you hear is Sen. Kerry choking on his ketchup.

2004-03-28T16:24:00.000-08:00

"U.S. employers added more jobs in March than in any month since December 2000, and an increase in orders caused manufacturers to boost production, a pair of reports may show next week."

(Via Ace of Spades.)

Your country needs you.

2004-03-28T10:48:00.000-08:00

Jack Kelly nails it.

We now know how Campaign 2004 will unfold: A Democrat will accuse President Bush of having started the Chicago fire, or poisoning Halloween candy or whatever. The news media will trumpet the charges, no matter how preposterous. When Bush aides deny the charges, and provide evidence refuting them, journalists will accuse Bush of making "personal attacks."

Yep. And we can't trust anyone to make our case except us. We are not only fighting the Kerry campaign and the Democratic Party, but the major media as well. If we sit on our butts hoping that people will learn the truth, we will lose, because most people think "the truth" is what they get from Peter Jennings and Dan Rather.

These people will say--and do--anything to win.

It's up to you and me to get the truth about President Bush and John Kerry out to voters.

And the way to do that is to volunteer for the campaign.

Don't have time? Nonsense. You can find an hour or two a week. Or is playing golf or watching TV more important to you than the future of your country? You'll wait until later? Why?! The Democratic assault has already begun and we need to fight right now! If you wait long enough, you may find yourself watching President Kerry's inauguration on CNN.

You don't even have to leave your home. You can make phone calls for the campaign right from your own house.

Volunteers are especially important in battleground states such as Washington. The Bush campaign is going to fight hard for Washington's eleven electoral votes. But to do that, the campaign needs you.

If you are in the 5th Congressional District, download this form (.TXT file) and fill it out in any text editor (such as Notepad; don't worry about formatting, as long as I can tell which answer goes where). Then e-mail it to me and I will send it on to the campaign.

Only you can ensure the re-election of the President. The fate of the country is in your hands.

Kerry: Don't call that liar a liar!

2004-03-27T16:06:00.000-08:00

"John Kerry said Saturday the White House is committing character assassination with its treatment of former counterterror chief Richard Clarke to avoid responding to questions about national security."

And remember, Mr. President: John Kerry knows something about assassinations for real!

Update: Edward Jay Epstein catches Clarke in at least one out-and-out lie (via Instapundit).

Of course, it should not surprise us that Senator Kerry desperately wishes to delegitimize the exposure of lies.

Volunteer. Donate. Vote.

Update: Insight magazine article from June 18, 2001 on the Bush Administration's pre-9/11 anti-terrorism strategy (unearthed by a Free Republic poster), including the role of Richard Clarke.

Kerry to have shoulder surgery

2004-03-27T14:35:00.000-08:00

Perhaps he injured it doing the "Holocaust shrug."

Re-elect President Bush: Reason #15,388,529

2004-03-27T06:21:00.000-08:00

Pro-Kerry thugs beat up Bush supporters.

Volunteer. Donate. Vote.

Re-elect President Bush: Reason #13,147,922

2004-03-26T14:10:00.000-08:00

European Kerry supporters unite to interfere in US elections.

Volunteer. Donate. Vote.

Keep Kerry's foreign friends from screwing with our elections.

The RNC Flog

2004-03-25T15:47:00.000-08:00

That's an oh-so-cute term for "fact log."

Washington State: SurveyUSA poll for KHQ and KING-TV

2004-03-25T13:25:00.000-08:00

(Via RealClearPolitics.)

March 21-23:
Kerry (D) 47% | Bush (R) 43% | Other/Undecided 10%
Sample Population 698 Likely Voters
Margin of Error 3.8%

This is in contrast to their poll of 975 registered voters from February 4-5, in which Kerry was up by 12%.

Four measly little points among likely voters. That's almost a statistical dead heat. We can win Washington for President Bush.

Volunteer. Donate. Vote.

Update: KHQ has a story with more details:

Kerry gets 47% of the vote, Bush 43%, 6% of voters choose another candidate.

Bush leads 2:1 in Eastern Washington; Kerry leads by 3:2 in metro Seattle. The 2 are tied in Western Washington.Kerry leads by 11 points among women. Bush leads by 4 points among men.

Bush keeps 88% of his GOP base. Kerry keeps 87% of his Democrat base. Independents break 4:3 for Kerry.Kerry leads by 22 points among moderates, by 17 points among voters age 65+.

New TV Ads

2004-03-25T09:26:00.000-08:00

"Differences" (about Kerry propensity to hike taxes)
"21st Century" (about President Bush's vision for the future)

Re-elect President Bush: Reason #12,096,876

2004-03-24T12:35:00.000-08:00

"CARACAS, March 23 (Xinhuanet) -- A Venezuelan government official said his country would not take seriously the criticism by US Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry against the Venezuelan government and its president, saying it is just Kerry's strategy to get more votes." (Via Best of the Web.)

Oh, well, that's what we need: a President whose words aren't taken seriously.

Well, so much for Clarke.

2004-03-24T08:58:00.000-08:00

In August 2002, Richard Clarke gave a background briefing to reporters in which he contradicted his current claims. According to Clarke, the Bush Administration began strengthening our counterterrorism efforts--including those directed specifically at al-Qaeda--in January 2001.

RICHARD CLARKE: Actually, I've got about seven points, let me just go through them quickly. Um, the first point, I think the overall point is, there was no plan on Al Qaeda that was passed from the Clinton administration to the Bush administration.

Second point is that the Clinton administration had a strategy in place, effectively dating from 1998. And there were a number of issues on the table since 1998. And they remained on the table when that administration went out of office — issues like aiding the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan, changing our Pakistan policy -- uh, changing our policy toward Uzbekistan. And in January 2001, the incoming Bush administration was briefed on the existing strategy. They were also briefed on these series of issues that had not been decided on in a couple of years.

And the third point is the Bush administration decided then, you know, mid-January, to do two things. One, vigorously pursue the existing policy, including all of the lethal covert action findings, which we've now made public to some extent.

And the point is, while this big review was going on, there were still in effect, the lethal findings were still in effect. The second thing the administration decided to do is to initiate a process to look at those issues which had been on the table for a couple of years and get them decided.

So, point five, that process which was initiated in the first week in February, uh, decided in principle, uh in the spring to add to the existing Clinton strategy and to increase CIA resources, for example, for covert action, five-fold, to go after Al Qaeda.

The sixth point, the newly-appointed deputies — and you had to remember, the deputies didn't get into office until late March, early April. The deputies then tasked the development of the implementation details, uh, of these new decisions that they were endorsing, and sending out to the principals.

Over the course of the summer — last point — they developed implementation details, the principals met at the end of the summer, approved them in their first meeting, changed the strategy by authorizing the increase in funding five-fold, changing the policy on Pakistan, changing the policy on Uzbekistan, changing the policy on the Northern Alliance assistance.

And then changed the strategy from one of rollback with Al Qaeda over the course [of] five years, which it had been, to a new strategy that called for the rapid elimination of al Qaeda. That is in fact the timeline....

JIM ANGLE: You're saying that the Bush administration did not stop anything that the Clinton administration was doing while it was making these decisions, and by the end of the summer had increased money for covert action five-fold. Is that correct?

CLARKE: All of that's correct....

CLARKE: ...And you know, the other thing to bear in mind is the shift from the rollback strategy to the elimination strategy. When President Bush told us in March [2001] to stop swatting at flies and just solve this problem, then that was the strategic direction that changed the NSPD from one of rollback to one of elimination.

This is almost too easy. Just remember: our opponents will say and do anything to win.

Wictory Wednesday!

2004-03-24T06:06:00.000-08:00

When President Bill Clinton referred to the United States as "the indispensable nation" during his second inaugural address in 1997, and then as other U.S. officials picked up the term, Sen. John F. Kerry recoiled. He turned to his longtime foreign policy aide Nancy Stetson to ask, "Why are we adopting such an arrogant, obnoxious tone?"

The Washington Post, March 20, 2004.

John Kerry believes that America is dispensible. President Bush knows better. That's the choice for America this November. And you--that's right, you--can help America make the right choice and re-elect the President.

First, if you're not registered to vote, do it!

Get involved: Sign up as a volunteer.

Attend pro-Bush, pro-America, pro-troop rallies and Bush campaign events in your area.

Donate: At the official Bush-Cheney 2004 site, or (up to $200) through Amazon.com.

Show your colors: Buy some Bush-Cheney 2004 stuff at the official George W. Bush online store. They have T-shirts, sweatshirts, scarves, hats, coffee mugs, and all kinds of cool doodads, as well as the more traditional campaign accoutrements such as lapel buttons, bumper stickers, and yard and rally signs (I'm partial to the "Americana" and "Bush-Cheney 2004" lines). Due to campaign finance laws, the campaign does not receive any of this money, but the campaign will benefit indirectly by not having to provide you with materials at its expense.

If you have a blog, join Wictory Wednesday. Not only will you be helping the effort to re-elect the President, but you'll get a spot on the Wictory Wednesday Blogroll which appears on each WW blog (see the left-hand sidebar).

Get involved now to re-elect the President!

Because America is the indispensible nation, and we need a President who knows it.

Tom Daschle: for the President to campaign is an "abuse of power."

2004-03-23T20:33:00.000-08:00

(Via Blogs for Bush.)

This is it for the Dems. This is the best they've got, and they're trotting it out every chance they get: the accusation that President Bush has the unmitigated gall to actually campaign for re-election.

This is not a tactic for a party which thinks it can win.

I hear (e.g., in Kate O'Beirne's latest National Review [print] piece) that some Republicans are "panicking."

For God's sake, why?! We should be battling overconfidence and complacency right now. Kerry is fast becoming a joke, his campaign is apparently in disarray, and the Democratic leadership is behaving like they see no chance of winning anything ths year.

So fight complacency! Volunteer. Donate. Vote.

Oooooh.

2004-03-22T20:57:00.000-08:00

I just got a link from Instapundit. I can't wait to look at my hit counter tomorrow morning.

Update: Geez, I've had like fifty hits in the last ten minutes.

I'm temporarily disabling comments due to the enormous (for me) number of visitors. The comments system is intended to be a communication tool for Bush supporters (especially from Spokane), not a free-for-all; I'll restore the comment functionality when the storm is over.

Update: Here's a fascinating picture of Glenn Reynolds's influence in the blogosphere (keep in mind that on a normal day, a lot of my hits and even more of my page views are from me, checking formatting, getting permalinks, and the like) (picture from Site Meter). (Update update: Here's an even better one.)

Update: Hmmmm. I just got a hit from eop.gov. That's the Executive Office of the President. I dunno, I just think it's kind of cool.

Update: I also got a link from Cox and Forkum (stop that tittering in the back of the room!).