There were several elections that received national attention yesterday and many people are wondering what they mean to us.
First was Virginia gubernatorial. The Republican thoroughly trounced the Democrat although the democratic machine and President Obama worked very hard to keep that seat democratic. With the victory going against Obama, it can be suggested that his coattails are not that big and his policies are not what Americans want.
The race that most resembles our upcoming special election was the New Jersey gubernatorial race. New Jersey, where I hail from, is a very blue state. Republican,Chris Christie was the underdog going against a very well funded, incumbent Democrat in John Corzine. Corzine had Obama come and stump for him 3 times recently and Chris Christie wound up with the victory. This goes to prove that our race is more than winnable in the economic climate that exists today.
The third race gaining national attention, New York CD-23, is also very important. That was a strange race where the very liberal, hand picked "Republican", Dede Scozzafava was running against the democrat Bill Owens and an independent, conservative candidate, Doug Hoffman. Dede Scozzafava wound up dropping out of the race due to overwhelming Republican support for the independent. When she dropped out, she supported the Democrat, Bill Owen who ultimately wound up winning with a plurality of the vote. Although Dede Scozzafava dropped out she still received 6% of the vote. This was most likely due from hard core Republican voters who were not aware of what transpired and voted for her because she had an "R" after her name. What is critical to understand is that Doug Hoffman was not an "independent" or "conservative party" candidate, he is a Republican.
The reason that the results in NY CD-23 are so important is because it really goes to prove that America is a 2 party system. When the Republicans ran a very liberal candidate, they lost the support of all of the Republicans and the grassroots groups saw this as an opportunity to push their own agenda. The Tea Party movement, which I am a proud part of and have spoken at most of the South Florida events, saw this as an opportunity to push a "non-partisan" agenda and claimed the real Republican, Doug Hoffman, as their candidate. The problem was, as it always is, that by dividing the Republican Party the Democrat won.
What we need to learn from this is that we need to realize that all of the various groups stem from true Republican principles and that they need to band together to make the Republican Party accountable and strong again. We must get behind one candidate who can actually win and fight together. When we present our principles and our platform based on the truth, we win.....period. When we divide our forces, we lose......period. We can win CD-19 here in Florida in our special election but we need to do it together.
I look forward to our special election and as the only candidate who has successfully taken on the democratic machine and won; as the only candidate who has a platform that has stood the test of time; as the Republican with the best name recognition; as the only candidate who has proven himself as a true fighter for our children who was willing to fight when no one else would WE CAN AND WILL WIN. If these elections have proven nothing else, they have proven that our country is not happy with the change that they got and that they will vote for us because we are the change that they were hoping for.
In your service,
