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Yes, we are all partisan here, and proud of it. But as the devil is in the details, it is not always clear which labels we apply to ourselves and to others really mean something.
I am a classical liberal, at times a radical progressive, but am too often mis-characterized as a Republican or a conservative. Thankfully, I am rarely identified as a Democrat. You might be a Trotskyite, but you find yourself as being called a liberal Democrat. You see how that goes!
The Club for Growth goes beyond the labels. They take a look at voting records and policy positions instead of a straight Party label. They look beyond the rhetoric to support candidates that are enthusiastic about fiscal conservatism and seek out candidates that are anti-tax and anti-big government. And they are now looking very closely at the Republican Party.
As we all know, the Republican Party is often held up to be fiscally conservative. Unfortunately, the Republican Party too often tries to be just a little bit smaller than the REALLY BIG ELEPHANT in the room. And that doesn't count for very much and it doesn't win enough votes, as the last few elections have shown.
Club for Growth Policy Goals:
* Making the Bush tax cuts permanent
* Death tax repeal
* Cutting and limiting government spending
* Social Security reform with personal retirement accounts
* Expanding free trade
* Legal reform to end abusive lawsuits
* Replacing the current tax code
* School choice
* Regulatory reform and deregulation
If you find yourself revulsed by the current government policies of big-government redistribution and restrictions on economic freedom, you owe it to yourself to get some relief by joining The Club For Growth (it's free!) and making a contribution to the Club's PAC. Independents are going to be a major force in 2010, and working in concert to make sure the candidates that represent your interests are nominated and elected will put the country back on track for prosperity in 2011.
http://www.clubforgrowth.org
Of course, if you don't believe in the Club for Growth policy goals, but also can't stand either of the major parties, you might find a third party more to your liking here -
http://www.politics1.com/parties.htm
There are several options even for you unrepentant Stalinists!
********************
Conservative club targets GOP
By: Jeanne Cummings
POLITICO
November 17, 2009 05:17 AM EST
The Club for Growths recent claim to fame or infamy, for some has been mixing it up in House Republican primaries by backing conservative candidates running against moderates.
But the anti-tax, anti-big-government group now is positioning itself to be a major 2010 player in Senate races, too, a development likely to cause headaches for both parties.
In Pennsylvania, the clubs former president, former Rep. Pat Toomey, is the runaway favorite for the Republican nomination and has a chance to take on party switcher Sen. Arlen Specter, assuming Specter survives his own Democratic primary challenge from Rep. Joe Sestak.
In September, the club sent letters to all of Specters donors encouraging the Republicans who donated before his party switch to ask for refunds. The mailing included a handy draft of a refund request letter.
Based on October financial disclosure records, the clubs mischief has cost Specter about $100,000 in refunds so far.
In the Florida Republican Senate primary, Club for Growth is backing former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubios challenge of Gov. Charlie Crist, who has the support of national party leaders but has been dubbed by the club as one of the worst RINOs in the country (RINO = Republican In Name Only).
A recent e-mail solicitation for donations sent by Club for Growth President Chris Chocola urged recipients to Click here to send a message to the Washington establishment by making a contribution to Marco Rubio for Senate today.
The club is considering an endorsement in the New Hampshire Republican Senate primary and is already contacting potential GOP convention delegates in Utah to air its opposition to Republican Sen. Bob Bennetts position on some issues.
The club hasnt endorsed a Utah candidate, but officials are watching the field to see if a viable candidate emerges to run against Bennett, a party leader and a nearly 20-year incumbent, said Mike Connolly, a club spokesman.
To get a sense of just how much clout the Club for Growth has gained at the party leaders expense, look to Kentucky and the race to fill the seat of retiring Republican Sen. Jim Bunning.
Both of the leading Senate Republican primary candidates there are vying for the clubs endorsement and neither wants one from the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
I think our race is shaping up a lot like the other races: There is a sort of establishment candidate and a conservative who wants to defend a party platform that is against bank bailouts and a lot of the things going on in Washington, said primary candidate Rand Paul, the son of Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul ofTexas.
Paul, who has been active in Kentucky Taxpayers United, a local fiscal conservative group, said, We hope we hit a chord with Club for Growth officials. I feel we represent the conservative alternative in our primary, he said, adding that his chief opponent, Trey Grayson, was feted at an NRSC fundraiser in September.
But Nate Hodson, Graysons campaign manager, hotly disputed that assessment of the primary.
There is no establishment candidate in this race. There is no incumbent. We reject the label. We reject it completely. We are not the establishment candidate, said Hodson.
Grayson has been a member of Club for Growth, Hodson said, and would be thrilled to have the endorsement of the group that is well-known among conservatives as a strong organization that gets behind candidates and helps them win.
The competition to win the clubs endorsement may surprise some after the organizations recent, high-profile loss in the New York House special election that led to Democrats taking over a long-held Republican seat.
But the club-led uprising against the party-picked Republican candidate in that race sent a powerful and intimidating signal to Washington.
In the days after the election, NRSC Chairman Sen. John Cornyn announced that his committee would no longer get involved in contested primaries a promise that will give Club for Growth even greater influence.
That, in our view, was worth the investment in the New York race, Chocola said in an interview. Party leaders shouldnt be picking candidates. We believe that you should let the voters decide.
The Club for Growth was formed in 1999 with significant backing from Wall Street investors and as a proponent of free enterprise and anti-tax policy. Since then, its backers have expanded to include individual, small and large donors. But, true to its original founding, it is driven by conservative fiscal-policy priorities rather than social issues.
The club engages in politics by airing issue advocacy advertising, including a multimillion-dollar advertising blitz this summer opposing the Democrats health care reform plans that may have helped prompt Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley to abandon bipartisan negotiations on the issue.
It also has a political action committee, which donates and directs contributions to candidates. Because of its tax status, it is unclear how much money the organization has at its disposal, since much of its advocacy is not covered by federal disclosure rules.
Chocola took over the organization earlier this year when Toomey launched his Pennsylvania Senate bid. The ensuing months were good to him, as the club associated itself with the summers anti-tax tea party events and saw its membership jump and the rate of donations exceed previous off-year election takes.
In 36 days, the club sunk more than $1 million into the New York congressional special election, and it expects to spend millions in Senate races in which it endorses candidates, officials said.
Club critics say the organization is fostering a civil war within the Republican Party that is purging moderates, driving swing voters away and causing the loss of safe seats, such as New Yorks 23rd District.
But a closer inspection of the clubs activities in the past five election cycles shows it has more wins than losses, and its been instrumental in getting candidates through both contested primaries and generals.
Among its graduating class: Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) and Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.). All told, the club claims 37 members of Congress who were early recipients of its endorsement.
As for the races club candidates did lose, Chocola notes that the past two cycles have been hard on all Republicans including him. He lost his Indiana House seat in 2008, flotsam in the Obama presidential wave. There was a much bigger problem for Republicans than we had anything to do with, said Chocola.
And for the moderates who fret that the clubs fierce alliance to its anti-tax, free-enterprise, small-government mantra is driving them from the Republican tent? Chocola is unapologetic: There are certain core things the parties are based on. If you are not in favor of those things, why call yourself a Republican?
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29602.html
I am a classical liberal, at times a radical progressive, but am too often mis-characterized as a Republican or a conservative. Thankfully, I am rarely identified as a Democrat. You might be a Trotskyite, but you find yourself as being called a liberal Democrat. You see how that goes!
The Club for Growth goes beyond the labels. They take a look at voting records and policy positions instead of a straight Party label. They look beyond the rhetoric to support candidates that are enthusiastic about fiscal conservatism and seek out candidates that are anti-tax and anti-big government. And they are now looking very closely at the Republican Party.
As we all know, the Republican Party is often held up to be fiscally conservative. Unfortunately, the Republican Party too often tries to be just a little bit smaller than the REALLY BIG ELEPHANT in the room. And that doesn't count for very much and it doesn't win enough votes, as the last few elections have shown.
Club for Growth Policy Goals:
* Making the Bush tax cuts permanent
* Death tax repeal
* Cutting and limiting government spending
* Social Security reform with personal retirement accounts
* Expanding free trade
* Legal reform to end abusive lawsuits
* Replacing the current tax code
* School choice
* Regulatory reform and deregulation
If you find yourself revulsed by the current government policies of big-government redistribution and restrictions on economic freedom, you owe it to yourself to get some relief by joining The Club For Growth (it's free!) and making a contribution to the Club's PAC. Independents are going to be a major force in 2010, and working in concert to make sure the candidates that represent your interests are nominated and elected will put the country back on track for prosperity in 2011.
http://www.clubforgrowth.org
Of course, if you don't believe in the Club for Growth policy goals, but also can't stand either of the major parties, you might find a third party more to your liking here -
http://www.politics1.com/parties.htm
There are several options even for you unrepentant Stalinists!
********************
Conservative club targets GOP
By: Jeanne Cummings
POLITICO
November 17, 2009 05:17 AM EST
The Club for Growths recent claim to fame or infamy, for some has been mixing it up in House Republican primaries by backing conservative candidates running against moderates.
But the anti-tax, anti-big-government group now is positioning itself to be a major 2010 player in Senate races, too, a development likely to cause headaches for both parties.
In Pennsylvania, the clubs former president, former Rep. Pat Toomey, is the runaway favorite for the Republican nomination and has a chance to take on party switcher Sen. Arlen Specter, assuming Specter survives his own Democratic primary challenge from Rep. Joe Sestak.
In September, the club sent letters to all of Specters donors encouraging the Republicans who donated before his party switch to ask for refunds. The mailing included a handy draft of a refund request letter.
Based on October financial disclosure records, the clubs mischief has cost Specter about $100,000 in refunds so far.
In the Florida Republican Senate primary, Club for Growth is backing former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubios challenge of Gov. Charlie Crist, who has the support of national party leaders but has been dubbed by the club as one of the worst RINOs in the country (RINO = Republican In Name Only).
A recent e-mail solicitation for donations sent by Club for Growth President Chris Chocola urged recipients to Click here to send a message to the Washington establishment by making a contribution to Marco Rubio for Senate today.
The club is considering an endorsement in the New Hampshire Republican Senate primary and is already contacting potential GOP convention delegates in Utah to air its opposition to Republican Sen. Bob Bennetts position on some issues.
The club hasnt endorsed a Utah candidate, but officials are watching the field to see if a viable candidate emerges to run against Bennett, a party leader and a nearly 20-year incumbent, said Mike Connolly, a club spokesman.
To get a sense of just how much clout the Club for Growth has gained at the party leaders expense, look to Kentucky and the race to fill the seat of retiring Republican Sen. Jim Bunning.
Both of the leading Senate Republican primary candidates there are vying for the clubs endorsement and neither wants one from the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
I think our race is shaping up a lot like the other races: There is a sort of establishment candidate and a conservative who wants to defend a party platform that is against bank bailouts and a lot of the things going on in Washington, said primary candidate Rand Paul, the son of Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul ofTexas.
Paul, who has been active in Kentucky Taxpayers United, a local fiscal conservative group, said, We hope we hit a chord with Club for Growth officials. I feel we represent the conservative alternative in our primary, he said, adding that his chief opponent, Trey Grayson, was feted at an NRSC fundraiser in September.
But Nate Hodson, Graysons campaign manager, hotly disputed that assessment of the primary.
There is no establishment candidate in this race. There is no incumbent. We reject the label. We reject it completely. We are not the establishment candidate, said Hodson.
Grayson has been a member of Club for Growth, Hodson said, and would be thrilled to have the endorsement of the group that is well-known among conservatives as a strong organization that gets behind candidates and helps them win.
The competition to win the clubs endorsement may surprise some after the organizations recent, high-profile loss in the New York House special election that led to Democrats taking over a long-held Republican seat.
But the club-led uprising against the party-picked Republican candidate in that race sent a powerful and intimidating signal to Washington.
In the days after the election, NRSC Chairman Sen. John Cornyn announced that his committee would no longer get involved in contested primaries a promise that will give Club for Growth even greater influence.
That, in our view, was worth the investment in the New York race, Chocola said in an interview. Party leaders shouldnt be picking candidates. We believe that you should let the voters decide.
The Club for Growth was formed in 1999 with significant backing from Wall Street investors and as a proponent of free enterprise and anti-tax policy. Since then, its backers have expanded to include individual, small and large donors. But, true to its original founding, it is driven by conservative fiscal-policy priorities rather than social issues.
The club engages in politics by airing issue advocacy advertising, including a multimillion-dollar advertising blitz this summer opposing the Democrats health care reform plans that may have helped prompt Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley to abandon bipartisan negotiations on the issue.
It also has a political action committee, which donates and directs contributions to candidates. Because of its tax status, it is unclear how much money the organization has at its disposal, since much of its advocacy is not covered by federal disclosure rules.
Chocola took over the organization earlier this year when Toomey launched his Pennsylvania Senate bid. The ensuing months were good to him, as the club associated itself with the summers anti-tax tea party events and saw its membership jump and the rate of donations exceed previous off-year election takes.
In 36 days, the club sunk more than $1 million into the New York congressional special election, and it expects to spend millions in Senate races in which it endorses candidates, officials said.
Club critics say the organization is fostering a civil war within the Republican Party that is purging moderates, driving swing voters away and causing the loss of safe seats, such as New Yorks 23rd District.
But a closer inspection of the clubs activities in the past five election cycles shows it has more wins than losses, and its been instrumental in getting candidates through both contested primaries and generals.
Among its graduating class: Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) and Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.). All told, the club claims 37 members of Congress who were early recipients of its endorsement.
As for the races club candidates did lose, Chocola notes that the past two cycles have been hard on all Republicans including him. He lost his Indiana House seat in 2008, flotsam in the Obama presidential wave. There was a much bigger problem for Republicans than we had anything to do with, said Chocola.
And for the moderates who fret that the clubs fierce alliance to its anti-tax, free-enterprise, small-government mantra is driving them from the Republican tent? Chocola is unapologetic: There are certain core things the parties are based on. If you are not in favor of those things, why call yourself a Republican?
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29602.html
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