I’ve been pondering a lot about the Christine O’Donnell victory this week. I used to think endorsements were a big thing. I still do, but, in a way I’m thinking differently. It took the TEA Parties in ’09 to rile people up. It gave those who were paying attention a way to find their voice. That’s fine, it was the first TEA Party in my area that got me involved in my local party. After the TEA parties I started paying closer attention. I started doing my homework. No one had to tell me who the better of the candidates were in this year’s primaries, I found that out for myself. There were no big endorsements for our primaries around here, yet, I was still comfortable with my choice for candidates. Did anyone else in Forsyth County have a hard time picking their candidates last primary season?
I’ll admit, being here in North Carolina, I do not pay that much attention to Delaware politics. It surprised me the other day, however, after a few days of chatter over Castle and his “RINO” tendencies, and putting his qualities beside O’Donnell’s qualities, the answer was pretty obvious to me. Why was O’Donnell running remotely behind? It was such an obvious choice! Then one day I happened to be listening to Hannity on the radio and he was talking to Sarah Palin about O’Donnell. She was going on and on about how good of a conservative Christine was, and Sean asked about some tweet she made concerning the candidate. Sarah flat out endorsed O’Donnell, right there on the radio. There was no mistaking that endorsement. Did you hear that conversation?
Then the next day it was like a whirlwind, and before you could blink O’Donnell went on to win the primary what- less than a week later? A week later? Does anyone else see what is potentially wrong with this picture? WHY did it take a national figure, a political “rock star” to get people engaged in the process? Was it not important BEFORE Palin endorsed O’Donnell, that fiscal conservatism make a return back to Delaware representation? Was it not important BEFORE Palin endorsed O’Donnell, to have a candidate that would block cap and trade, and repeal Obamacare? Truly, is it actually NECESSARY for this country’s conservatives that a “rock star” be brought into a campaign before they will go out and vote?
Why is it required a big name to fill county GOP meetings? If we TEA Party people are serious about taking our country back, we are going to HAVE to become engaged! We must take our PARTY back! Our state can potentially make history this year with the potential flip of the General Assembly- why is it that only when big names, or “popular” people are involved in an event, that the majority of conservatives show up? Why is it that state level candidates are HURTING for volunteer help? Why does it appear that North Carolina’s conservatives are failing their conservative candidates? All my growing up, all I ever heard was “Well, you have to be rich to be able to run for office”, and I thought that for a very long time. Then I thought, maybe the problem with politics is that … rich people are making decisions for poor people. No, that’s truly not the problem.
Do you know why it takes “rich people” to win elections? Because people are NOT ENGAGED!! It takes approximately $37,000 to reach registered REPUBLICANS in Forsyth County. What candidate, what MIDDLE CLASS candidate, has $37,000 to do ONE mailing, in the hopes that that piece of paper does not get tossed in the trash? What middle class, honest to goodness, PERFECT candidate (well, no one is “perfect”), a person you would WANT to represent you in Raleigh, (even Washington!), has that kind of money? If every registered republican in Forsyth County would give our, say 20 local candidates (school board, commissioner, etc..don’t think there’s twenty, but ..) ONE DOLLAR. ONE … DOLLAR. a hundred pennies. Each candidate would have $74,000 in their pocket. Instead, we have a state level candidate that has raised oh, $3000.
But you let Sarah Palin get in the game, and it changes everything. Why SHOULD it change everything, just because a political “rock star” gets involved in a race? O’Donnell has raised almost a million dollars in three days- because she was all of a sudden the candidate to support … because of a big endorsement. You know what? Sarah Palin has the same amount of votes available on election day that you have. One. This is our country. People should WANT to be involved. They should WANT to know who to support- not because someone tells them who to support, but because they were responsible enough with their own vote to do the research themselves, to know WHY they voted for someone. Not just because they had a popular endorsement. Not even because they see a name on a TEA Party website.
– Wendy
Disclaimer: I love Sarah Palin, but I cannot raise enough money to get her to North Carolina to endorse my state candidate of choice, and it upsets me to think that more North Carolinians would be involved in my candidate’s race IF she uttered his name.
I challenge every person who reads this: do you know who your state candidates are? If so, give them a shout out in the comment’s section.
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