Now the election 2010 is over and the new members of Congress have gone to work, it’s time for us to start looking forward to 2012 already. The game never stops.
Depending on how well some of these new people do, they may or may not need to be replaced. Some of the “old guard” definitely need to take a hike. Some because they have forgotten why they wanted to go there in the first place and are now only looking out for themselves and their special interest groups. For others it may simply be time for them to step aside because they have been there long enough. Congress was never intended to be a lifelong career.
The later is the case in the 4th Congressional district of Washington. Doc Hastings is a good man who has served the constituents of his district with honor and distinction for 8 terms and is now beginning his 9th term. First elected in the Republican resurgence of 1994, Rep. Hastings will have served in Congress for 18 years at the end of his current term. I submit that 18 years is long enough.
In football it does not matter how good you are. If there is someone better, younger and faster on the team… you get to sit on the bench, get traded away, or forced into retirement. Doc Hastings has always been a good reliable conservative vote, but I would argue that it’s time to bring in a new player. One who is looking for a fight and is ready, willing and able to stir up a little dust.
When I first heard Clint Didier speak last year in Yakima my first reaction was that there was a bit too much anger in his voice and manner to be effective in public office. That was before I listened to Nancy Pelosi tell us that they needed to pass the health care bill so that we could find out what was in it. That was before Barack Obama shut down even more domestic oil production and sent oil prices climbing toward $100 a barrel. And that was before the democrats ignored the security problem at our southern boarder while they tried to ram the “dream act” down our throats. After all that, and more, I’m thinking Clint Didier might not have been angry enough. There’s plenty to be angry about. If you’re not mad as hell, you’re just not paying enough attention.
It’s going to take someone with a lot of fire in the belly to combat the entrenched D.C establishment and actually role back the scope of a government that has grown beyond the consent of the governed. Someone who also has the courage to stand up and take the heat when they’re attacked in the press for defending what they believe in. Clint Didier has shown that he has that kind of courage and determination.
Last year after Dino Rossi won the primary and Clint refused to give Rossi his full endorsement, the republican establishment unloaded on him with every thing they had. All the “smarter than everyone else” people on the other side of the mountain called him everything short of a traitor, but Clint Didier stood his ground and could not give his full endorsement to a man who would not fully commit to conservative principles. I think Clint Didier will show the same kind of courage and loyalty to his values in Washington D.C that he has shown here in Washington state.
We hear a lot of talk about “civility” and “compromise” these days. I have no use for either one. Barack Obama can go down to Arizona and talk about the need for us to have civil discourse, but this is the same guy who in 2008 told his supporters how he deals with opposition. “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.”
And who could forget this bit of civility? When telling his supporters how to deal with people who have different views, Candidate Barack Obama said, “I want you to argue with them… get in their face.” This is the guy who tells us that we need to be civil? Yeah right. What he’s really saying is that he just wants conservatives “get in the back”, sit down and shut up. I don’t think that will work very well with Clint Didier.
America is at a time now where we can’t afford to have conservatives that are not willing to stand up, take the heat and make hard choices. The measly 10% cuts recently proposed by the “Deficit Commission” are not going to cut it. We’re going to have to make 20% to 30% cuts across the board with the exception of Defense. We may actually need to INCREASE defense spending. Nations around the world who are not overly friendly to the United States are investing billions of dollars into new state of the art equipment while at the same time we are cutting back on our high tech weapons.
Since all funding bills begin in the House of Representatives, this is the first line of defense against the growth of government. This is also the place where it’s going to have the best chance of getting it rolled back by slashing the funding of programs that need to go away. The democrats are going to fight us every step of the way, and by whatever means possible. That’s why we need someone who understands that you don’t win by making deals and giving up some of what you believe. You win by making the other guy give ground, sometimes with brute force.
Now, because some people may take my comments a bit too literally, I feel the need to clarify. I am in no way suggesting that Clint Didier, or anyone else, go to Washington and slap that aging queen Barney Frank upside her head. That just wouldn’t be civilized. Fun, but not civilized to be sure. I am however talking about a knock down, drag out, take no prisoners fight WITHIN THE ARENA OF IDEAS.
Clint, if you’re reading this, I hope you’re ready. One season is behind us, but another one is coming fast. It’s time to pull that game plan out and blow the dust off of it, grab your pads and get ready to take some hits.
To the rest of my Tea Party friends let me say that it’s time that we begin finding our own candidates and “drafting” them. It’s not longer good enough to wait and see who throw their hats into the ring at the beginning of the election season and then choosing the “lesser of evils”. We need to be looking for people who have never been in public office before. In other words, people who have actually done something with their lives other than run for office year after year. There are a lot of positions coming up next year that we should be focused on now and finding candidates for. You might say that it’s a target rich environment.
Welcome to the 2012 Congressional Draft. The first round is under way and Clint Didier is my first round draft pick.
For me, I think the current state of things has turned me into a single-issue voter. ALL that I care about is finding a politician who will represent me, and not the people who put money in his pockets. In fact, I plan to show the Republican insiders that I mean business by insisting that I will only vote for candidates who include some kind of campaign finance reform or restriction on bribes (oops, I mean donations). Hopefully other people will take up the cause, because our congress right now isn’t doing anything for the citizens.