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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

See What I Mean

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  May 2nd, 2010 at 09:58 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

From the mailbag.

From: Shawn Mercer
Subject: Indiana Senate
Date: May 2, 2010 8:50:43 PM EDT
To: contact@redstate.com

Good choice, Erick. Because nothing says Senatorial like a FARMER named “Stutzman.” What’s the matter, couldn’t find a “Klem Kadiddlehopper” running?

This habit of yours to immediately assume some kind of inherent superiority in purists of mediocre backgrounds is getting annoying. Yeah, non-Washington, populism, wisdom of the people, I get it. But Dan Coats is a far cry from a Crist or a Specter, and, ahem, “Marlin Stutzman” is no Marco Rubio. I think the lack of unity you’re fomenting here to banish a respected 90% ally who can win this thing in a walk instead of giving us another resource-draining dogfight is beyond stupid.

Pick your fights more carefully, please.

First, I never said Coats was a Crist, but the same people who picked Crist and Specter are telling us we should go with Coats.

Second, this is lunacy: “a respected 90% ally who can win this thing in a walk instead of giving us another resource-draining dogfight is beyond stupid.”

The Democrats are going to eat Coats up over his prior statements about leaving Indiana, his voting record while in the Senate, his lobbying ties, etc. Heck, King & Spalding lobbied for Planned Parenthood. I don’t think Coats had anything at all to do with that bit of business, but you can be sure the Democrats will, in a stunning act of hypocrisy, do their best to make it seem like Coats did.

Oh, and one last one — I got the exact same criticism when I went strong with Rubio. Everyone called me crazy and attacked me for creating an unneeded primary when everybody knew Charlie Crist was going to get in and clean Rubio’s clock. Rubio was at 4% in the polls and certainly no darling of the conservative movement.

How conveniently people forget.

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  • JadedByPolitics

    they are happy with the statists….you see 2010 is a Conservative Revolution and that means old school Republicans and Democrats have to be WEEDED out and a new day for America comes because of that cleaning.

    If you are for those who have been there before and helped create the laws that have placed US in this downturn then you are as big a part of the problem as they are. Did Barney Frank and Chris Dodd all of these years pass the laws by themselves that built up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? UHHH NO! they had Republican backing and when Republicans had the whole shebang they had MAJORITY Republican backing.

    That is just one bad area of contention there are so many more whereby the Republicans GREW the Federal Government instead of reducing the spending of the Government and giving the States back their individual RIGHTS!

    If WE as Americans do not step up and truly CHANGE the culture of Corruption of BOTH parties WE will just be going back and forth and WE CANNOT AFFORD that any longer, OUR time is UP, it is now or there is no stopping the slide to TYRANNY!

  • Adjoran

    Just because people don’t fall in line to endorse the “furthest-from-the-Establishment-no-matter-how-kooky” candidate Erick has selected from the Candidate Choice Dart Board is NOT indicative they “support the statists” . . . in many cases folks just may not want to throw in with crooks like Hayworth or fringe nuts like Paul.

    Personally, I like Stutzman a lot and agree he would probably be the most reliable conservative vote in the Senate of the three, but he did get a late start in a state with a short primary season. And Coats and Hofstetler aren’t exactly Crist and Specter, either.

    ~~~~~~

    Which brings up another point we’ve been hearing repeatedly: “…the same people who picked Crist and Specter are telling us we should go with Coats.”

    Yeah? Who are these guys? Name the names! Why be shy?

  • realskinny

    “Nothing says senatorial like a FARMER named Stutzman.” Well nothing says ELITIST like looking down your nose at small businessmen—which is what farmers are—and making fun of people’s names. If this clown, Mercer, had done nothing else to show how clueless he is about this country and what Republicans should stand for, this message alone should disqualify him for a position with the party.

    I have nothing against Coats and I imagine most lobbyists are as honest as the average denizen of DC. But when our biggest campaign issue is gangster government, the last thing we need to do is run inside Washington lobbyists when their is a perfectly good candidate who meets our requirements.

  • RedBeard

    It’s always entertaining to witness an elitist demean the lower (in his eyes) classes, like hopelessly dirty and ignorant sodbusters such as Marlin Stutzman.

    Poor Mr. Mercer, yearning for a candidate who would fit right in at the Algonquin Round Table, and instead being confronted with a mere uppity clodhopper like Stutzman, a man who should know his place and genuflect to his betters.

    Good grief.

  • RedBeard

    I was typing away below as you were posting this. ;-)

  • e_rowe

    A lot of people have wondered why there isn’t more about Hostettler (the most conservative candidate in the Indiana senate race, and who also happens to be polling higher than Stutzman). So here’s a diary I wrote about him.
    http://www.redstate.com/e_rowe/2010/05/03/hostettler-for-senate/

  • http://itsaboutfreedom.proboards.com Conservative Phantom

    colostomy.

    Keep giving them hell, Erick.

  • partyof1

    in Washington. And more guys who have never been there. Stutzman is both. And we need guys with funny names. And guys who the press will make fun of for being backwoods hicks; Citizen Legislators. I want guys who don’t know how the game is played so they won’t play it.

    Supporting someone because “they can win” is exactly the wrong thing. That’s the Dede Scozoofava rationale. No I don’t think Coats is the same as Scozoffava but the test should be quality of conservative values, not electability.

    I think one of the things that draws people to a cause is how much the supporters of that cause believe in it. The scam of man-caused global warming is slowly being revealed and the tide turned. The killing blow to this farce will be when independents (not the phony Crist variety) migrate to our side.

    When independents see Republicans like Coats lobbying hard to pass cap-and-tax legislation, what message does that send? If we don’t believe enough in what we say to abstain from lobbying for liberal causes for the sake of a payday, why should the rest of America? Are you listening Senator Graham?

    I watched the John Wayne classic “The Cowboys” recently and this scene struck me as a great metaphor for what we need to do in November. The guns are political power, Mr. Knightlinger (even though he’s a good guy) is the establishment, and of course the cowboys are us, the base. We need to lead them to the goal just like Reagan led the establishment. Tie ‘em up and throw ‘em in the back of a wagon if we have to. Let’s finish the job.

  • http://www.theprecinctproject.wordpress.com ColdWarrior

    was a precinct committeeman.

    My guess: no.

    For Liberty,
    ColdWarrior, PC (that?s ?precinct committeeman,? not ?political child!?)
    Conservatives, UNITE! CHANGE the Republican Party and save the world by UNITING INSIDE the Party as precinct committeemen. NOW!

  • http://todaysasbestos.wordpress.com scotteiland

    The fact that Marlin’s a farmer, to me, HELPS his candidacy. Professional politicians got us where we are.

    Stutzman is the real conservative in the race. Hostettler and Coats are both fine men, but Marlin’s the best candidate available. I wholeheartedly agree. Let’s finish the job!

  • JadedByPolitics

    and if you want what has been there you are voting for the STATIST! just ask Mark Levin!

  • http://impudent.blognation.us/blog kyle8

    Bite me,

    I would rather be governed by an unknown farmer than a career politician any day.

    yours truly

    Kyle8

  • legacyrepublican

    Erick,

    You keep picking new wineskin. What is so bad about that?

    Fresh ideas and candidates who may often have paid the price for being conservative are being ignored by the old guard.

    I appreciate the quality and care you have shown in getting behind and supporting new wineskin.

    If we are going to make a difference and change the party, we need more competition from the alternatives like the ones you find, not less.

    Keep up the great work!

  • Brian Hibbert

    And I think it fits. We need new wineskin to provide us good aged wine in the future. If we try to use old wineskin, they will burst and spill the wine on the floor.

    So far, Erick’s picks have been spot on. When we get Marco Rubio and Nikki Haley and Michael Williams, etc elected our party will improve with age. If we don’t pick new people, we will fade away.

  • earlgrey

    Farming is not an easy line of work. I personally don’t farm, but I know enough about it to say it is not easy. Besides, last I checked, we need food. It is one of those things required to live.

    His reponse makes me feel ilike it is even more important that we get a farmer into the Senate. People need a little bit more education. Is the suggestion that we try and get another lawyer in the Senate, or a comedian perhaps?

  • Common_Cents

    That sending lawyers and “elite” liberals to washington hasn’t worked out too well

  • RedBeard

    …it requires a tremendous amount of work, intelligence, education, business skills, and financial expertise.

    Anyone who demeans a farmer as being like ?Klem Kadiddlehopper? is simply an ignoramus, probably someone who thinks a pile of milk bottles is a cow’s nest.

  • Achance

    but only if you start with a large fortune!

  • Ausonius

    Farmer to Clem: “Clem, how on earth did you get to be so stupid?”

    Clem: “It’s easy! I got friends in Congress!”

    An actual joke I recall from Red Skelton’s old show.

    Amazing how nothing has changed in 50 years! :)

    And we assume Clem’s friends are all Dems! :)

    Which at the time would have been true, since the Dems held control of Congress then. I recall Red Skelton being a conservative Republican.

    “Kadiddlehopper” comes from Ohio/Indiana slang: A “briarhopper” is anybody from south of the Ohio River, and is the equivalent of “dumb hillbilly.”

  • RedBeard

    I want to scream whenever I hear someone suggest that we should send lawyers to Washington because they are the best ones to understand the complex laws being passed. Talk about a vicious circle. Lawyers pass obtuse 2000 page laws that require other lawyers to understand them. Do some folks just not see the obvious solution to this problem?

  • realskinny

    When asked what he was going to do with 2 million dollars, he said, “Oh I expect I’ll keep farming ’till it’s gone.”

  • leemajesty

    I never thought of it that way. Thanks for enlightening me. I completely agree with you.Attorney