But it should be noted that Mr. Nofs also received the endorsement of Right to Life, several business organizations and Citizens for Traditional Values.

Is he my idea of the perfect conservative?  No.  But very few mortals meet that level of perfection.

One has to also consider the alternative.  Letting Nofs' leftist Democrat opponent win the seat is simply unacceptable.

As such, I stand by my posting and hope you'll help the GOP pick up this very important state Senate seat.

Yep, let's defeat a guy with whom we likely agree on policy 70-80% of the time because he's not our idea of political perfection.  Then we can b*tch really loudly after November 3 about the new lefty Dem from Battle Creek we managed to get elected as a result.

Yep, that makes PERFECT sense.

Clearly, we're all on the same side. Let's remain productive.

And yes, I'm a hypocrite because I support Doug Hoffman big time in the New York congressional special election.  He's the conservative independent running against a WAY, WAY, WAY! liberal Republican and an even more liberal Democrat.  He seems to be picking up steam but could just as easily end up being the spoiler giving the election to the Democrat.

But that is a little bit different.  The citizens of Battle Creek do not have a viable 3rd party conservative candidate on the ballot.

So what does one do as a loyal conservative who puts their conservatism ahead of party loyalty?  Sit home and not vote?  Pull the lever for the Democrat?

Mr. Nofs is said to be pro-life - pro-life enough to win Right to Life's endorsement.  I think it safe to say his opponent is pro-abortion.

Are you saying it's better to have a pro-abortion state Senator than elect a pro-lifer you agree with on 70-80% of the issues?

Vern Ehlers is my US Congressman.  I'm way to the right of Vern and most of you are probably too.  Should I have not voted for the man in every election in which he's been our candidate?

I had very serious problems with John McCain as our prez nominee last year.  Should I have not voted for him last November?

I know.  For some this is black and white.  I'm a black and white kind of guy.  But this one has me flummoxed.  Good thing I don't live in Nofs' district.

1) Anyone that knows anything would've known the instant that Walberg's polls started going south that Schauer had a good chance to win, and that there would be a special election,  and that if you wanted a "true conservative" to be our nominee next week, you SHOULD HAVE FOUND ONE AND BUILT AN ORGANIZATION AND RAN AND WON THE PRIMARY.

State Party or the Republican"RINOs" didn't pick Nofs, he won an election.  And he had won some other difficult elections in that area, and is a good campaigner and so on ... and he ran a race and won.

So you have no one to blame but yourselves.

2) When Nofs wins next week, we will have 22 seats in the Senate. We will have 17 open seats next year, because of term limits.  We've got 4 seats that are extremely vulnerable... so worst/best case scenario, Nofs wins, we keep 2 of those seats, and we barely keep majority.  Or we pick up another seat from somewhere else.  And we keep majority in the Senate, which even with the mistakes they've made,  is the only thing that is keeping us from having a completely Democrat dominated government.

And if you think things are bad now, just wait if that happens.  

Oh yeah, and redistricting happens next year, so they'll be able lock in their majority for quite some time.

I was raised by conservative parents who held it in their hearts that Republicans were more careful with money.  I was one of those dummy conservatives in college that didn't have the sense to shut up about my beliefs, so conservatism and being a Republican run deep with me.

Things changes a few years ago when it was decided by the major political parties that I had no choice but to support a big wasteful government regardless of which major party I supported.  My opinions were discounted by the big Rs such as Lott, Stevens, Delay, and Bush.

Now I have to contemplate as a voter several things that I used to take for granted.

First, do I want to be associated with big government Republicans when their current makeup is, generally speaking, only slightly less progressive than their Democrat counterparts, or should I vote for and speak out in support of what I believe?  Secondly, I wonder if there isn't some value to a conservative uprising that lets establishment Republicans know that there is an electoral consequence for talking conservative in an election and then legislating/governing like the second political coming of William Delano Milliken.  

I know we've had these debates before and I'm not certain that much ever gets settled for me. I will agree with what gopartyreptile said, if the conservative wing of the party wants to affect elections it should send someone forward.  The problem is, of course, that the GOP establishment has soured so many conservatives on the party that there is some deep seeded resentment and distrust.  In just the past few years look at what happened to Arlen Specter.  We had a good conservative running against the old fossil but the GOP establishment supported the liberal Specter. Another troubling development was the savaging that Sarah Palin received by established Republicans during the election, and even by John McCain's own campaign staff after the elections.  While I often hear conservatives attacked for taking sides in the purity wars, I seldom hear many apologies from the moderates for doing the same thing. The NY 23 race just helps cement this distrust for me...what Republican in their right mind would support Dede Scozzafava?  (Oh yea, Newt and the establishment NY GOP.)

The Republican Party and many of its individual candidates, and excuse me if I'm overstating things a bit here, stand for a lot less than they used to.  Is there a better way to nudge the party back on its proper course than through principled voting and targeted campaign contributions?  

I am simply to the point that I can no longer tolerate watching our various governments bloat themselves on the taxes of citizens, expand their powers at every turn, and drive this country toward the brink of economic and cultural collapse.  

Sooner or later, I feel, we have to make a stand.  

I do have a question for each of you who've taken the time to post a comment and for all the others who've read them but not contributed to the conversation:

How many of you have run for office?  How many of you are currently holding an elected position in local, state, or federal government?

I'm an elected official.  

It's on the local level so I don't swing significant power - but that's not the point.

The point is I chose 4 years ago to finally put my money where my mouth is and put my name on a ballot and let the people decide.

I was tired of just bitching about how stupid all the politicians were and decided to actually try and make a difference.

How many of you are willing to leave the comfort of this blog and put your neck on the line for what you believe in?

It's really easy to type away anonymously "contributing" to this dialogue.  It's much harder to actually put your reputation on the line to make your community, your state, your nation a better place to live and raise your families.

So I challenge you...

I challenge you to get off your duff, get involved, put your name on a ballot, get your voters to the polls, and make a real difference.

Put up or shut up.

Okay, that was a bit harsh but you get the point.

If you're the "real deal," then run for office.  We need you.

DCuz

Put your money where your mouth is, buddy.

C'mon!  I dare you.

AND I want to vote FOR you.  Make that a reality, please.