June Update from the Bartow County Republican Party

We are almost to the July primary season, which will be followed by the much anticipated November general elections. The landscape is covered with yard signs for a plethora of candidates, all seeking the most cherished of prizes...your vote. Over the next few weeks you will see these signs, get literature in the mail, and maybe get volunteers showing up at your door to ask you to vote for their favorite candidate.

Though you've heard the phrase used so often, this may be the most important vote of your lifetime. We have a national government that is dominated by Democrats. They have used not only their majorities, but archaic parliamentary tactics, bribes, threats, arm-twisting and whatever else is needed to pass their increasingly unpopular agenda. The results have been catastrophic. Trillion dollar annual deficits, an endless parade of bank bailouts, takeovers of the financial, insurance, auto and student loan industries, just to name a few. Complete incompetence in dealing with issues of homeland security and national defense. Corruption; not only did Obama and Pelosi not end the "culture of corruption", they have filled that swamp to overflowing.

At the state level Republicans hold control, but that control was not enough to pass wonderfully conservative, limited government bills. The JOBS bill was vetoed again, as was David Schafer's Zero-based Budgeting Act, the "Sunset Law" and numerous other bills. The merits of each veto can be debated, but there is no doubt that some good bills, bills which reduced the size and scope of state government, bills which increased personal liberty, bills that brought state government more in line with constitutional principles, were not signed into law.

The fact is that while the governor is a Republican and has made noteable strides in streamlining government in certain areas, he is not as conservative as many of us would like. He is better than the Democrat governors that came before, but there are still some significant philosophical differences between him and many at the grass roots level.

Please do not take this as a wholesale disparagement of the governor. He has done a number of very good things while in office. However, we need to do more. I have been inundated with comments from many of you expressing your frustration when policies we greatly support can't seem to make it into law, even when our party has the majority in both houses of the legislature and the governorship.

So what can you do to reverse this? Get involved! This year there are plenty of candidates to choose from. There are incumbents who are being challenged, there are open seats from retiring legislators or legislators seeking a different office than the one they currently occupy, etc. It is your responsibility as a citizen to go and research your candidates to find the ones that most closely represent your values. It is up to you to stay in contact with them after the election as well, to let them hear your views on various issues and legislation. Trust me, they are getting pressure from various interest groups to pass legislation amenable to those groups, and they need to hear from you as well. Sometimes that will be to express concern for the way they may be leaning on a piece of legislation, other times it will be to express your appreciation and support for what they have done.

I have heard many people express cynical views that it doesn't really matter who they vote for because all politicians are corrupt. I can testify that is not the case. In fact, I became involved with the Bartow Republicans after I decided to volunteer to campaign for Representative Barry Loudermilk, a stalwart conservative and constitutionalist that is now running for the seat Preston Smith is stepping down from. Barry authored the laws which eliminated the fingerprint requirement from Georgia driver's licenses, he authored an amendment to the red-light camera laws that has drastically restricted the ability of municipalities to use those cameras for revenue enhancers. Tom Graves was one of Barry's colleagues in the state House and has now won the special election to replace Nathan Deal in the U.S. House; and although he has only been there for a couple of weeks, he has already irritated House Speaker Pelosi, which is a sign of good things to come in my book.

In summary, we have an opportunity to move government at the local, state and national levels back towards the constitutional rule of law, as opposed to the current rule of man, in which those with the most power, money and influence control the levers of government.

So go out and study the candidates. Learn their background, their governing philosophy, their committment to the Constitution, and their positions on issues of most importance to you. If you fail to do this, then you have failed in your civic obligation to become an informed citizen, and have relinquished your right to complain about government. Visit the candidates' websites, go see them at scheduled debates and open forums, and come see them this Saturday at the Bartow Republican headquarters as they face off to answer your questions. Do your part to reclaim and restore this nation to one that the Founders envisioned, one in which we are all equal under the law and not burdened by an oppressive government.

We need truly conservative men and women elected to public office. Reagan taught us that the conservative message, when delivered optimistically and unapologetically, wins elections. If Republicans will hold true to that message, not only in words but in action, we can reverse the damaging tide coming out of Washington and reclaim our proud American heritage.