Tag: Pete Hoekstra (page 3)

Five conservative candidates vying for the Republican nomination felt its was worth their time to speak on matters of national importance, policy and principle. Scotty Boman, Gary Glenn, Randy Hekman, Peter Konetchy, and Chuck Marino attended the affair, with Pete Hoekstra, and Clark Durant conspicuously absent.

This particular clip is an introduction by the moderator, and a follow up self intro by the candidates.  

The Independence Caucus is not a political party, nor is it affiliated with any political party.  It is, rather, a group of concerned citizens devoted to electing candidates truly committed to constitutional loyalty and fiscal responsibility, regardless of party.  The goal is the election of such candidates to not less than 40% of the available seats in the several state legislatures and both chambers of Congress . . . in each election year.  It is a not-for-profit organization of concerned citizens from all walks who recognize the responsibility to act now to protect future generations of this nation from the disastrous consequences of our systematic abrogation of constitutional principles, exists to teach us how to govern our country as citizens, and provides the practical tools and resources to actually make it happen.

In the last two weeks, I have had at least 5 separate invitations to participate in conference activities. Each of them more tempting than the last.  Maybe next time.  And as it turned out, the business needed my presence Friday, and today the funeral for a friend's father. And overall, my significant other who has suffered well through the miscellany of political activities that keep us apart too often, seems to be happy.

The Lord does indeed work in many mysterious ways.

One of those ways is how we move the debate here.

As noted a couple of days ago, there was a concern I penned about Michelle Bachmann endorsing Pete Hoekstra, who would not go on record supporting right to work.  As expected there was a bit of noise going on in the background throughout the state party and establishment types.   As expected it was picked up in a national piece the following day.

Strategic National (Yob) who is managing Hoekstra's campaign likely had not planned for the "Tea Party" blast advertisement to come out a day early, as the "official" endorsement was to come out the next day.  It did. the "Tea Party" email blast by the way, is from merely another group who likely believes in most Tea Party values, yet is willing to capitalize on the theme as much as it is there to advance it.

This site for example will take advertising from nearly anyone who doesn't violate core principles.  I get it.

From the department of unhelpful praise, former President Jimmy Carter tells Rachel Maddow he's a-ok with the idea of Mitt Romney as the GOP presidential nominee.

"I'm not taking a position, but I would be very pleased to see him win the Republican nomination," Carter told the MSNBC host, according to advance interview excerpts.

I'd be willing to bet that the Party power brokers at Walbridge, Alticor and certain capitolcritters are none too smiley faced right about now.

I present to you a compelling piece I found by Gary Glenn on the choices available to Michiganders as we look to the next year of selecting our US Senate Candidate, a primary race of which Glenn is a part. It highlights differences between Hoekstra and Glenn on issues that should be important to not only conservatives but even those moderates within the Republican party of Michigan.

Glenn, one of several candidates looking to be the challenger to Stabenow in 2012 tends to speak to the Tea Party concerns more clearly in my opinion than Pete Hoekstra, and possibly one or two others vying for the same chance.  In fact the only candidates who come close (as I have observed during speeches and presentations) would be Roscommon businessman Peter Konetchy, and former Kent County Probate Judge Randy Hekman.   I have not yet had the opportunity to vett Clark Durant, who is being heavily pushed by National Popular Vote advocate Saul Anuzis.

I should note that candidates who wish to air their opinions here are more than welcome to publish at will, subject to reformatting to fit the front page.

Of course, making an informed choice is always useful, and for that we should go below the fold.

The general consensus, on these pages as well as statewide, is that a republican governor will serve Michigan better than a Democrat.  Given that the epic failures of Governor "protobama" Granholm have been on national display, this is not surprising.  However, there has been considerable disagreement as to precisely which republican candidate would be the best choice.  Personally, I took my time making up my mind, not settling on a choice until about two weeks ago.  For the record, the polling didn't drive my decisions . . . I actually did my own research.  What follows "below the fold" are strictly my personal opinions and conclusions based on that research.