An old friend of mine, Andrew Ian Dodge, has joined the senatorial race in Maine to get on the Republican ticket, running up against Olympia J. Snowe. She is very much a RINO Republican, as you can see from this legislative record on her official website. Andrew Dodge has been a key figure in the Maine Tea Party movement, and has caused a stir by making it clear that the TP must be about tax, spending and the deficit, and is not interested in any social conservative agenda. For instance, he wants to cut the drinking age from its current age of 21 and is relaxed on issues such as gay marriage, etc. He may be seen as too much of a “wild card”, but he’ll freshen up the primaries, that is for sure.
Of course, having spent a fair amount of his life abroad, including the UK – his late father used to be a senior oil executive and Andrew lived all over as a result – he has seen what socialism has done in the UK, and does not want the same to take root ‘Stateside. That is an argument he can throw at any locals who wonder, absurdly, if he is “American” enough.
I wish him luck. At least the campaign will feature loads of good heavy rock music!
Oh yes, would certainly get my vote.
I now wish I was registered in ME.
Almost anyone would be an improvement over Snowe. If I were voting in Maine I would likely vote for her opponent without even knowing anything about him.
It will be very hard for the msm to paint Andrew as a “Christian Fundementalist” (oddly enough not a very terrible thing to be, if one actually reads the “Fundementals” essays of the early 20th century, about the only problem I have with the essays is the anti Catholic statements by some of the writers, – still all that it is a tangent).
Failing to paint Andrew as someone who wants to burn museums with paitings of nudes in them (or whatever), the msm will paint him as a long haired freak.
However, Andrew will be prepared for such insults. I suspect what he is really trying to do (unless he has a lot of money I do not know about – which means he could actually WIN) is to drag the debate over to basic economic issues.
Pin the other candidates down on taxes, regulations and GOVERNMENT SPENDING (it is government spending that is the big problem).
Without someone like Andrew at the Republican debates (and so on) the debate could walk off into just about anything (politicians have butterfly minds – oh dear, I go off at tangents which means that I am ……) and need to be constantly dragged back to the main problem.
Otherwise the Primary voters in Maine will not even know the positions of the Republican primary candidates (as they will be busy debating their favourate sporting stuff, hair styles or whatever the debate would wander off into unless someone like Andrew Ian Dodge was there to drag it back to key matter).
I will Andrew every success in getting people to really think about the real issue – GOVERNMENT SPENDING.
By the way do not be concerned about the “danger” of a Republican “extremist” handing the election to the Democrats.
Those Republican U.S. Senate candidates who won in 2008 were no more “moderate” than those who lost – the losers did not lose on POLICY they lost on personal stuff (“being a witch”, “being a racist” and other media B.S.)
Besides if a “moderate” (like Snow) is nominated, a lot of people in Maine will vote Libertarian or Independent – and that really would hand the Senate seat to the Dems.
A fiscal conservative (an anti tax and spend person) must be the candidate in 2012 – otherwise the whole thing is pointless.
Snowe has been a PITA for the Republican Party for years — she and her co-Senator (Collins) are just about the most reliable Republican “yes” votes the Democrats can count on.
I don’t know if Andrew can win — the liberal contingents in Augusta and Portland are numerically significant — but as long as he sticks to economic issues (Snowe’s Achilles heel), he’s in with a chance.
If I have a few spare dollars at the end of the month, I’ll contribute to his campaign.
Go, man, GO!
Why didn’t I think of that? I’ll go and to it now.
Here – was a bit tricky to find, to tell the truth.
As a native of Maine I too can totally understand the “anybody but Snowe argument”. But as my visiting Dad has said, a stray hound has the same chance of beating her in the primaries as does Dodge.
However Maine is a state that has changed fundamentally over the last few decades. From a crusty, leave me alone type state full of pretty independent Yankees-it has become a refugee of sorts for liberals fleeing other northeast pestholes. In the process of that though, those same liberal refugees and the native parasites/pro government minority have turned Maine into a poorer copy of those same pestholes.
Governor LePage may signal a return of the old style Yankees but that will not be done without a fight. The government remains firmly in the hands of the statists. Those who could, have fled Maine for other states. Many of those who couldn’t have largely given up on politics and let the “foreigners” and native traitors run the show with disastrous results.
That doesn’t mean I can’t hope Maine finally has woken up nor that someone won’t beat Snowe/Collins in the primaries. It’s just that Maine will remain a nice place to visit but horrible place to live until things change there. I’m just not holding my breath or selling our place here in Alabama expecting improvement back home anytime soon
Here in Oz, it is the 14th, so a happy V.D. to all our samizdames! Bunches of air-flowers are being beamed your way right now!
Paul LePage ran as a Tea Party endorsed candidate and if he turns out to be just another brain-dead Maine Republican pol (the basic model up here), then the TPM gets a black eye. On the other hand, if he succeeds in radically changing the state for the better then TPM candidates for other offices get a big boost.
So I won’t say Snowe’s unbeatable quite yet, especially by a TPM candidate if LePage is doing well. The Maine media (whose version of speaking truth to power is “Oh, thank you Sir!”) have been in full ‘LePage the puppy-blender’ mode since before the election and can be expected to similarly attack any TPM challenger to Snowe. A successful LePage governorship would make that attack a lot less effective.
It is hard for ordinary people to do anything about leftist dominated education (the schools and universities) because they are funded by force – the government just TAKES our money.
However, we can do something about the commercial left media.
Stop buying the products.
Their newspapers, their magazines – and so on.
Undermine them commercially.
I am sure the newspapers in Maine are not just leftist – they are, no doubt, as boring as watching paint dry as well.
So do not buy them – ar watch local “free” television.
For local news – I bet there is a least one non leftist radio show in Maine (there is in most states).
And, of course, there is the internet.
Same in northern New Hampshire. Except we get the ones too lazy to go that extra mile. We have a different term fo em’. Have to agree with Chuck6134 almost to the letter. Northern New England, once protected by “Hey, it’s freakin’ COLD up there, and the work is HARD!” has been infested by welfare seekers
attracted to what was once deemed charity.
Just to help spoil (someone else’s perfectly agreeable) broth- Perhaps Andrew might consider Vermont-ish 2nd Amendment issues as well?
Every time I read the title for this post, I start thinking of “The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain”.
Any budding songwriters out there?
Funny, I was thinking of the old Styx song “Snowblind.”
It is not just “welfare seekers” – it often well off people who are victims of “education”.
They leave a place that has become terrible – and then they turn the place they go to into the place they have just left.
Why?
Because their minds have been polluted with collectivist IDEAS AND ATTITUDES (even if these are NOT to their benefit) – and that pollution occurs in school and university.
Some people resist it – but they should not have to.
The first X years of someone’s life should not be about resisting collectivist brainwashing (with no experience of life to help with the resistance).
Let the state (or “progressive” private schools) teach your children and you are letting the statists win.
If you can find an affordable (and anti Progressive) private school – good.
If not – then you are going have to teach your children yourself.