Dold for Congress Updates

From the Dold for Congress campaign (10th District)…

Washington, D.C., June 7, 2010 — The National Federation of Independent Business, America’s leading small business association, announced its endorsement of Bob Dold in the race for the open seat in the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois’ 10th District.

The endorsement comes from NFIB’s Save America’s Free Enterprise Trust, the association’s political action committee, and is based on positions on key small business issues.

“As a small business owner himself, Bob Dold understands the issues and challenges that entrepreneurs face every day,” said Lisa Goeas, NFIB’s vice president for political operations.
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Dold for Congress Updates”


Video: Let ME Stir ‘Em UP, Baby

-By Warner Todd Huston

Illinois Congressman Peter Roskam held a townhall last week after which he had video stations set up for folks to add their own ideas to the mix. He called it “Speaking Out” and I sure did.

the good congressman may not have been all so happy with my speaking out… but, hey, he ASKED for it! Ha ha.

Congressman Roskam has a YouTube channel (HERE) where you can see the other voters speaking out, too.


We Need Less Partisanship? Bah, We Need MORE of it!

-By Warner Todd Huston

Last weekend I attended a townhall meeting held by my congressman. During the question and answer period one theme came to the fore that is all too common in America today. That theme was that we need less “partisanship” in Washington D.C., there is too much choosing of sides, too much party politics. Blah, blah, blah. Cry me a river.

What tosh. We don’t need less partisanship in our politics, we need more of it. At least the more honest kind, the kind based on real principles.

One thing was clear from those whining about partisanship, too. They were all the left-wingers in the audience guided there by MoveOn.org’s email blasts. Now the reason the lefties were piteously whining like this is because this particular congressman is one of the more conservative members of the House. (I am not naming him because this is not his opinion and I don’t want anyone to associate this op ed with him) So, their ideas were the ones on the losing end of this congressman’s votes, to be sure.

Of course, if this congressman were to be like most Illinois congressmen — a lefty — these lefty audience members would not be whining about partisanship at all. They’d be happy as clams with a left-winger’s votes and would find the whining about partisanship quixotic.
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We Need Less Partisanship? Bah, We Need MORE of it!”


Rep. Peter Roskam’s Townhall (IL 6th District)

-By Warner Todd Huston

U.S. Representative Peter Roskam held a townhall back home in his 6th Congressional District in Illinois this weekend in Roselle, Illinois. This was a sort of dual purpose event, part one meant to advertise the GOP leadership’s new website project AmericaSpeakingOut, and part two being an open forum for anyone to ask the congressman a question.

I must say, it was refreshing to see a townhall where both left and right leaning questioners were able to interact with a congressman without yelling and screaming. The left was well represented in this right-leaning district by an email blast from MoveOn.org that alerted the lefties in the area to attend. It seemed that about 1/3 of the questions were from the left perspective.

First up Roskam discussed AmericaSpeakingOut.com.
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Rep. Peter Roskam’s Townhall (IL 6th District)”


Kirk Bio Wrongly IDs Military Award, is That Worse Than ‘Mob Banker’ Alexi’s Financial Failures?

-By Warner Todd Huston

Representative Mark Kirk (R,IL) has admitted that the bio on his webpage has had to be altered to reflect a change in the identification of a military award it had previously accredited to him.

Kirk’s bio page originally claimed that he had been awarded the U.S. Navy’s Intelligence Officer of the Year award. This, however, was in error. It appears that his unit received this award, he did not individually receive the citation.

Kirk told the press, “upon a recent review of my records, I found that an award listed in my official biography was misidentified.” According to Navy records the Vice Admiral Rufus L. Taylor Award was issued to the entirety of the Intelligence Division Electronic Attack Wing at Aviano.

Kirk’s opponent, Alexi “the mob banker” Giannoulias has played this up as a major transgression, of course. Amusingly, Giannoulias comes from the same leftist wing of the Party that is currently excusing Connecticut Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal who didn’t just goof up a particular award he was given but completely lied about his service as a Marine in Vietnam… as in he never served in Vietnam.
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Kirk Bio Wrongly IDs Military Award, is That Worse Than ‘Mob Banker’ Alexi’s Financial Failures?”


Rep. Biggins Votes for Illinois Pension Bailout, Should he be Thrown out of GOP Caucus?

-By Warner Todd Huston

State Representative Bob Biggins (R, Elmhurst) was one of two Republicans to vote yes on a bill to borrow $3.7 billion to shore up state pension funds this week. The vote caused tongues to wag that the retiring representative was offered a job or some other goodies by the Illinois Democrats through Governor Quinn’s offices to change his previous vote to side with Quinn.

It isn’t that Biggins sided with Democrats and against the Republican leadership, but that he ducked a meeting with his own caucus in order to hide away in Governor Quinn’s office with chief of staff Jerry Stemer raises eyebrows.

For his part Biggins claims he was offered no incentive to change his “no” vote to a “yes.”
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Rep. Biggins Votes for Illinois Pension Bailout, Should he be Thrown out of GOP Caucus?”


Tea Party Pushes Idaho Dark Horse Republican to a Primary Win?

-By Warner Todd Huston

State lawmaker Raul Labrador beat party establishment pick Vaughn Ward to win the Republican nomination for U.S. Representative for Idaho’s 1st District this week. While Ward was supported by the national party, Labrador received the support of Idaho’s largest Tea Party Group, Tea Party Boise. The question that immediately comes to mind is just what effect did the Tea Party group’s support have on the race?

Labrador won in a 47.6 percent to 38.9 percent tally on Wednesday afternoon. Sadly it was again a low-turnout at the polls.

Late in the race Tea Party Boise endorsed Labrador as campaign troubles mounted for party pick Vaughn Ward. Labrador had trouble throughout raising money, but still won the primary. One wonders if the support of Tea Party Boise was enough to bridge the money gap for Labrador?
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Tea Party Pushes Idaho Dark Horse Republican to a Primary Win?”


Shame: Nine GOP Reps Supporting Union Bailout

-By Warner Todd Huston

For decades unions have mishandled their pension funds. These funds have been embezzled into the pockets of union chiefs, they have been wasted on needless expenses, and have been spent away on left-wing political causes not to mention simple mismanagement and bad investing. It has gotten so bad that few union pension funds for the rank and file members are adequately funded and retirement money for millions of union member’s is now at risk — naturally the separate pension funds for union bosses are almost universally in the black.

So, what’s the solution? What will befall the retirement funds of these poor rank and file union schlubs? As far as Illinois Representatives Aaron Schock and Peter Roskam and seven other Republicans are concerned you and I should bailout out these union thugs that have filled their pockets with their member’s retirement funds by giving them our tax dollars in a bailout plan supported by the Obama administration.

Apparently union crooks and neer-do-wells are too big to fail and Reps. Schock and Roskam think that our taxes should go to reward the criminal behavior and neglect by union bosses.
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Shame: Nine GOP Reps Supporting Union Bailout”


AmericaSpeakingOut.com: Listen, Learn and Lead

-By Representative Peter Roskam (R, IL)

If you’ve noticed the uproar around the country over the direction America is heading, you are one step ahead of the Democratic Majority. It appears everyone from Nancy Pelosi to the intern answering the phones has their fingers in their ears and their eyes clamped shut when it comes to responding to the will of the people. Unfortunately, their mouths are still working overtime.

Alexander Hamilton stated the fact best: “Here, Sir, the people govern.” Congress would be wise to listen to the American people. Thankfully, in our social media age, it’s possible for Congress to be wise in ways almost unimaginable a few years ago.

Today/On Tuesday, May 25th, I joined my colleague Congressman Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), in a major national announcement unveiling an exciting new project we are spearheading called “America Speaking Out.” This effort will equip men and women all across America to dramatically affect the direction of our country by offering solutions to the tough challenges we face. This initiative draws on first-of-its kind technology to enable a meaningful two-way conversation about the policies our nation needs to pursue to get back on the right track.

Active, enthused participation is perhaps the hallmark of successful democracies. Through AmericaSpeakingOut.com, and through in-person town halls in congressional districts across the country, House Republicans can now engage the American people in the process of governing like never before.
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AmericaSpeakingOut.com: Listen, Learn and Lead”


(Ill.) Brady Campaign’s First Step At Serious Campaign for Gov.

-By Warner Todd Huston

Not long ago, I asked someone, anyone, to take control of Bill Brady’s gubernatorial campaign. It looks like my wish is fulfilled because Senator Brady has hired a new press secretary, and one with some major experience at that.

The new media boss for Brady is one Patty Schuh, who has worked for the Illinois GOP for 25 years. Schuh started with the state party in 1985 and was until this month the press secretary and assistant to Senate GOP Leader Christine Radogno. Schuh also worked for James “Pate” Philip when he was president and minority leader of the Illinois Senate.

Schuh, a Chicago native, is a mass communications graduate of Illinois State University and worked as a news director for radio stations in Macomb, and then as political affairs director for Morton Buildings Inc. in Morton before joining the Senate staff.

This is a very good development. Through the grapevine I was hearing that Brady’s campaign was arrogantly ignoring every snippet of advice that so many top operatives were offering them and the result has been multiple mistakes, the sort that a well controlled campaign could easily have voided.
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(Ill.) Brady Campaign’s First Step At Serious Campaign for Gov.”


Hayes Applauds Rejection of Gitmo Transfer to Thompson

From the Hayes for Congress campaign (2nd District)…

CHICAGO: Republican nominee for Illinois 2nd Congressional District Isaac Hayes released the following statement today following the House Armed Services Committee rejects the plan to shift terror detainees to Illinois:

“I applaud the House Armed Services Committee for unanimously approving legislation that bans spending on any facility inside the United States to house Guantánamo detainees. From the very beginning this ridiculous idea was opposed by the American people. At a time when the federal government refuses to do anything to secure our borders, transplanting high-risk terrorists near Chicago would have resulted in a welcome mat for Al-Qaeda. These terrorists should remain exactly where they are – far from the American people and far from the possibility of escape.”

For more information, please go to: www.isaac4honesty.com


Pundits Missed that Illinois Started Tea Party/Anti-Establishment Primary Revolt

-By Warner Todd Huston

Political pundits and poll watchers all across the nation are abuzz with the “tea party win” of Rand Paul, winner of the Kentucky primary for U.S. Senator. Mr. Paul was not the party favored candidate but was supported by Kentucky’s Tea Party movement and this is being hailed as something of a first, an example that the incumbents are in trouble and the establishment is on the outs with voters. But the pundits seem to have entirely missed that this trend started in the nation’s first primary in Illinois back in February.

Three primary races in Illinois gave the first hint that the establishment candidates were going to find it hard sledding in 2010 because in the Illinois 14th, 10th and 8th Districts every party establishment candidate lost his or her primary and a tea party candidate or outsider won.

To be sure, the Illinois GOP is not much in favor with any of its voters, but the Illinois GOP has been nothing if not a power party that was always in the past able to force its own special picks down everyone’s throat in the Land of Lincoln. The 2010 primary, however, showed a chink in that armor.
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Pundits Missed that Illinois Started Tea Party/Anti-Establishment Primary Revolt”


Hayes calls Blago subpoena of Jackson ‘latest in corruption drama’

From the Hayes for Congress campaign (2nd District)…

Today’s subpoena of Congressman Jackson by disgraced ex-governor Rod Blagojevich is the latest development in the ongoing drama called Chicago Way politics. Mr. Jackson claims he will tell the truth, but the truth is that the day after he met with Rod Blagojevich, the former governor was arrested. The truth is that Mr. Jackson is ‘Senate Candidate 5’ in the criminal indictment and his representative ‘Individual P’ offered to raise $1.5 million in exchange for the Senate seat.

Illinois’ Second District deserves better than corrupt politicians who engage in pay-to-play schemes while unemployment in the 9th Ward is 30% and the poverty rate in Ford Heights is 53%. Our country needs citizen legislators who are not entrenched in the system of corruption and have the integrity to put their constituents first.

www.isaachayesforcongress.com


Gov. Candidate Brady on Highland Park School Arizona Boycott

-By Warner Todd Huston

Gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady was cornered by NBC Chicago News and asked his reaction to the shameful misuse of power by the Highland Park schools that last week announced that they were banning a girls basketball team from attending a tournament in Arizona.

His first comment was a good one, one I’d like to see more often from our politicians. “I certainly respect the school district’s right to make decisions, I believe in local control.” That is exactly right. He went on to say, “just hope they haven’t overstepped rationality in this case.”

And so, according to his logic, he is clearly saying that the locals are the ones that should go to their school board meeting and either approve of disapprove of the superintendent’s politically motivated decision.

“They’re punishing students for something they think is important and using them as a political pawn. I don’t think that’s right.” By “they” Brady meant the school administrators. and he’s right, here. These two Highland Park superintendents are using these poor kids as a political pawn. It really is disgusting.

Brady finished up with, “The whole immigration issue just drives to the problem we have at the federal level. Immigration is a federal issue. It’s not a state by state issue. And the failure of this administration, and arguably even past administrations, to come up with a long-term solution to this just drives wedges in our society that we don’t need at this time.”

Again, exactly right. Brady came off very well on this issue.

View more news videos at: http://www.nbcchicago.com/video.

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Gov. Candidate Brady on Highland Park School Arizona Boycott”


Chicago’s WTTW Interview With GOP Gov Candidate Bill Brady

Led by Carol Marin, the Chicago public television station conducted an interview with GOP Gubernatorial candidate Bill Brady that is worth watching to gain some small measure of the man.

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Chicago’s WTTW Interview With GOP Gov Candidate Bill Brady”


When Does 2 + 2 = 5?‏ Illinois Doesn’t Add Up

From Adam Andrzejewski of For the Good of Illinois…

When it comes to Illinois politics, something just doesn’t add up.

Last week, the Illinois House voted down landmark school choice legislation introduced by Sen. Meeks (D). This decision denies 22,000 children from Chicago’s worst-performing and most-overcrowded elementary schools the opportunity to transfer to private or parochial schools.
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When Does 2 + 2 = 5?‏ Illinois Doesn’t Add Up”


Could Someone PLEASE Take Control of Bill Brady’s Campaign

-By Warner Todd Huston

I think Bill Brady will be a fair governor if he wins office in November. But he’s never going to get there unless he stops making all these foolish mistakes on the way to election day. Already he’s made at least three faux pas that alone are not that bad but added together they make his campaign look hapless, un-tethered to common sense. So far it’s just not very effective campaigning.

Right out of the box, as soon as he won the primary, Brady pushed forward with a bill to re-open a mass puppy killing facility for a veterinarian from his district. Brady obviously felt that re-opening the puppy euthanasia facility would be an economic boon to his home district as well as sever to help a local constituent. But what ever the reason that Brady supported this bill, the fact that one of the first things he did after he won his party’s nomination for governor was to announce a bill for killing puppies en masse is just an inept move.

Should Brady have still been just a State Senator, few would have made too much of this bill but that he had become the nominee for his party that safe anonymity goes away. The Old Media was sure to pounce on such a tone deaf, misstep. And pounce they did. The result was that Brady backed off his support for re-opening the puppy gas chamber. This messy situation could have been avoided if his campaign was on its toes.
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Could Someone PLEASE Take Control of Bill Brady’s Campaign”


The National Precinct Alliance — Conservatives Need to Get Involved

A while ago I was alerted to a group called the National Precinct Alliance and as we get closer to the election we should all make ourselves more familiar with the efforts they are making to assure that conservatives across the country get involved in our system. We got rid of one RINO in Utah when the tea party movement played a part in denying Senator Bob Bennett another term in Washington. We need to push our message throughout the country and the National Precinct Alliance is one way to do that.

As you know I have been GUERRILLA MARKETING AND RECRUITING for 10 weeks for the precinct delegate positions. This is a reminder message for everyone that is going to be engaged in the precinct position to help put our country back on its Constitutional Foundation.
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The National Precinct Alliance — Conservatives Need to Get Involved”


SB600: Let Illinois GOP Voters Control Their Own Party, Not the Insiders and Bigwigs

-By Warner Todd Huston

We’ve talked about SB600 many, many times here on the blog and with the end of the legislative session in our Springfield-based Capitol coming to an end, we need to make another push for this worthy bill.

SB600 would return to Illinois’ Republican voters the responsibility to again vote for their own members of the state central committee, a vote that was taken away from us by the good old boy network of the Illinois GOP powermen in the 1980s. As it stands today only GOP committeemen may vote for the members of the state central committee, the group that controls the agenda for the state party. This insider’s control of the central committee has taken away from the voters the right to affect what their own party does. SB600 would cancel this backroom dealing and again see state central committee members go before the voters to gain their positions.
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SB600: Let Illinois GOP Voters Control Their Own Party, Not the Insiders and Bigwigs”


HuffyPoo Helps Dems Smear Republican Govs Assoc Video

-By Warner Todd Huston

Oh, the OUTRAGE! It’s outrageously, outrageous enough to make everyone outraged, don’t you know? HuffPost gave space today to allow the Democrat Governors Association to vent its outrage about the Republican Governors Association video that proposes “domestic terrorism.”

Yep. Outrageous and stuff.

Mind you, no one was talking about any “domestic terrorism” but HuffyPoo and their pals the Democrats. But, well, they have to find something to try and hang their hat on what will all the Dems that are “retiring” just ahead of an electoral rout and all. The Democrats are desperate to turn the tide that is about to swamp them in November.

So, I want to help the Dems to vent. Here are the two outraaaaageous videos that the RGA posted over the last few weeks that got the Dems panties all up in a bunch…

Here’s the original video:

We Will Remember from Republican Governors Association on Vimeo.

And here’s the follow up the RGA produced:

I have to say, every time someone says the words “Huffington Post” to me I think of some stick of lumber jammed in the ground somewhere. And whenever I read something from the site I am sure that I’ve found the equivalent of the good sense that stick of lumber could produce on the web!
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HuffyPoo Helps Dems Smear Republican Govs Assoc Video”


Troubles Mount for Walsh Campaign (R, 8th District) — Walsh MUST Step down NOW!

-By Warner Todd Huston

Last December Joe Walsh, the primary winner for the GOP nomination for the 8th District Congressional seat, lost his campaign manager Keith Liscio. Liscio quit the Walsh campaign over unpaid consulting fees adding up into the thousands. Now two more top campaign operatives are quitting Walsh’s campaign adding to worries of financial problems, missed filing dates for federal paper work, and other questions of Walsh’s suitability for office.

Richard Cape and Ted Livengood, the campaign manager and field director respectively, have announced that they are quitting the Walsh campaign. In a recent email to supporters and media both the pair have also said they no longer endorse his candidacy. In the email are listed quite a few questions that have come to trouble Cape and Livengood about candidate Walsh.
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Troubles Mount for Walsh Campaign (R, 8th District) — Walsh MUST Step down NOW!”


Illinois, The Time to Act is Now!

From Americans for Prosperity, Illinois…

We’re at the time in the legislative cycle when the Illinois General Assembly will engage in a flurry of activities that may produce bills the public and for that matter lawmakers have never seen, bills that may request spending of billions of our tax dollars, bills that can become laws in a blink of an eye. Next week brings along certain legislative deadlines for the reading and passage of “Substantive” bills.

Please contact your lawmakers today.
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Illinois, The Time to Act is Now!”


Call the neighbors and wake the kids, it’s SB600 time!

-By Doug Ibendahl, Republican News Watch

The Illinois General Assembly is tentatively scheduled to adjourn by May 7th (a week from this Friday). That’s an early date, and it may not happen, but that’s the goal.

It’s a good time to make another push for final passage of SB600. Recall the bill passed overwhelmingly in the State Senate last year. We still need House passage.
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Call the neighbors and wake the kids, it’s SB600 time!”


Conn. Senate Race: McMahon Abandons Cash For Votes Plan

-By Warner Todd Huston

The quixotic campaign of Linda McMahon for Connecticut’s Senate seat took another turn toward the absurd last week. The ex-wrestling maven launched a cash for votes drive and then abruptly canceled the program once the media reported on the scheme. It was hard not to compare McMahon’s plans to the vote fraud-infested voter drives sponsored by ACORN in years past.

The McMahon campaign intended to pay college students to register voters on both an hourly and a per voter basis. On April 23, the Stamford Advocate reported that an email detailing the campaign’s plans said that, “each student who works will earn $10 (an hour) while working up to 5 hours a day and 4 days total, with a bonus of $5 per Republican registered.”

This scheme seems to emulate the practices of the disgraced left-wing group ACORN. “Paying to register voters for a political party is not illegal, but the practice has drawn questions, particularly during a highly publicized voter fraud probe of the non-profit group ACORN,” said the Advocate.
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Conn. Senate Race: McMahon Abandons Cash For Votes Plan”


Chicago Fox Attacks 8th District Candidate Joe Walsh

-By Warner Todd Huston

Fox News Chicago ran a piece on 8th Congressional District Republican candidate Joe Walsh who topped a field of five candidates in the primary. They found that Walsh’s campaign never filed his financial disclosure forms as required by federal election law. The Fox correspondent pointedly asked Walsh, “how come you didn’t file your personal financial disclosure forms as obligated by federal election laws?”

Fox News also found a couple of local pols that said they would ask Walsh to resign his primary win if these things were not figured out. Of course, neither of the guys they found supported Walsh during the primary, so it shouldn’t be surprising that they’d immediately jump to calling for Walsh to quit the race.

But my biggest problem with these stories about Walsh’s financial troubles is that they never came before the primary. They’ve all come after the primary. Even I wrote about Walsh’s financial troubles before the primary and I don’t have the investigative tools that TV and newspapers do! Yet all these high falutin’ Old Media outlets in Chicago ignored the issue until Walsh won the primary.

It is hard not to imagine that the Chicago media waited to “report” these matters until after the primary specifically so that they could hurt the Republican pickup of this seat.

Walsh’s campaign did file the disclosure forms and paid a $200 fine after Fox News brought it to their attention. Walsh says it was but an oversight. Here I’ll make no judgment, you decide.
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Chicago Fox Attacks 8th District Candidate Joe Walsh”


Republican Governors Association WIN, WIN, WIN

-By Warner Todd Huston

I have three wins to report from the RGA.

#1). The other day I was piqued at the Republican Governors Association over its muff up of the distribution of it excellent video for the November elections. I am happy to report that my concerns were immediately addressed and corrective action was taken on the spot. That is a win.

#2). Of course, the video itself is also a win. The thing is well made and hits the right notes serving to keep the faithful energized and perhaps bringing new eyes to the choices confronting us in 2010.

#3). And after the release of the great video and the quick response to a problem in distribution of that video, the RGA has some hilarious followup to the results of that video. Here is that info in an email I received today:

Tweets: ~1100
Supporters: 75,000+
“Video Loads”: 768,000+
Blog Referrals: 100+
Liberal Attackers: Huffington Post, Democratic Underground, Talking Points Memo, Salon, AlterNet and many more
Production Costs: $0

Now that is a third win! Way to go RGA.

Here is the video again, in case you haven’t seen it…

We Will Remember from Republican Governors Association on Vimeo.

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Republican Governors Association WIN, WIN, WIN”


14th District, Hultgren: The Momentum is Shifting!

From the Hultgren for Congress campaign (14th District)…

Great news from the campaign trail!

This week non partisan political analyst Stu Rothenberg came out with his latest House race rankings, and he’s moved Rep. Bill Foster’s seat closer to the Republican column, calling it a “Pure Toss Up!”

Additionally, thanks to the huge outpouring of support from around the district, our campaign had its best fundraising quarter yet!
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14th District, Hultgren: The Momentum is Shifting!”