Tag Archives: Endorsement

Eric Hovde for US Senate

Posted by Tim on

I already posted my announcement to endorse Eric Hovde for the Wisconsin US Senate seat a while back. I gave a few positives for each candidate, and essentially called it a two-man race, between Eric Hovde and former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson. As of late, Mark Neumann has closed the gap, and Jeff Fitzgerald has picked up a few points as well. With all that going on, I still stand behind Eric Hovde, and for anyone still on the fence, I want to express why.

Each candidate has positives and negatives. No politician will ever be perfect on every issue, and that’s just the nature of the game. Tommy’s positives may be that he is very experienced, not only on the state level, but also as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. That certainly gives him a leg up – perhaps he won’t be the typical “freshman” Senator. His experience with healthcare could also be an asset when we repeal Obamacare and replace it with real reforms.

But to me, the most important issue is where Eric Hovde stands head and shoulders above his opponents (especially Tammy Baldwin, I should add). Not just today, but over the next 10 years, the domestic issue we will face is cutting our government’s spending, eliminating the deficit, and slowly whittling away at our national debt. These are the issues where a Senator with a background in economics comes in handy.

Paul Ryan, one of the most controversial politicians in Washington, is leading the fighting for fiscal sanity. He is chairman of the House Budget Committee, and is the brain behind the fight to reform Americas costly entitlement programs. Ryan needs a partner in the Senate he can count on, and while Ron Johnson is doing the job just fine – two is better than one. Paul Ryan went to college and earned a B.A. in economics. Eric Hovde went to college and studied… that’s right – economics. If we want a parallel to Paul Ryan in the Senate, Eric Hovde could very well fill that position.

I think the thing I like most about Hovde is that he isn’t from politics. He doesn’t come from a family of politicians, the Bush family or the Kennedys. He comes from a private sector background – starting a business at 24 years old and working to become a millionaire, supposedly being valued at around $150 million. He knows business. He knows economics. If we want to get our business climate turned around, and if we want to start paying off our debt, we need Hovde.

Some people may not feel comfortable with a candidate who is so wealthy. There’s another way to look at it though. If there is someone out there who is willing to give up their prominent position in the private sector making millions of dollars, and trade it in for a Senate seat earning significantly less money – he’s doing it for the right reasons. Hovde isn’t running for Senate to earn money; he already has plenty of that. He’s running so he can help save our country.

Furthermore, because he is able to finance his own campaign, he doesn’t need to make backdoor deals with his fundraisers. Eric Hovde’s biggest fundraiser is Eric Hovde – not some labor union, not “the rich” or “the poor”, not whites or blacks or hispanics. He can go to Washington and do what he says he’ll do, without having to answer to some company who gave him large campaign contributions. He specifically talks about these kinds of seedy arrangements that distort our free market system.

For all the reasons above, I’m still sticking with Eric Hovde. He’ll get my vote on Tuesday, August 14th, and I hope he gets yours as well.

Big Win For Santorum

Posted by Tim on

I love to say “I told you so.” Well, maybe I didn’t tell you, but I did tell my twitter followers. A week ago I said that there was one person who could give Rick Santorum a boost. Various candidates were giving their endorsements to Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney. Chris Christie, Donald Trump, and Ann Coulter all came out in support for Romney. Sarah Palin and Herman Cain both gave endorsements to Newt Gingrich. But we were still waiting for the most influential conservative voice to give his blessing.

I put out a message asking one person to endorse Rick Santorum – and later that day, guess who ended their radio show by saying there was only one candidate who hasn’t compromised their conservatism, referring to Santorum –  Rush Limbaugh. Following Rush’s pseudo-endorsement, Santorum fund raising went up 3 fold. If there is someone who can turn around the direction of an election – it’s the biggest, most powerful name in radio, and most influential voice for conservatism. Thanks, Rush!

Tonight marked a second “Santorum surge”. The first surge started after Santorum won Iowa, but was over after New Hampshire. Newt won South Carolina, and Romney won Florida and Nevada. But today Santorum won Minnesota and Missouri. (At the time of writing this he’s also doing well in Colorado, but with only 6% reporting.) Santorum is back on track, and isn’t showing signs of slowing down. He’ll be in this race for the long haul.

Santorum isn’t just another republican nominee. He sets himself apart in a few important ways. First of all, he’s the only true conservative in the race. While Romney and Gingrich both claim to be conservatives, only Santorum has the record to back it up. Government run healthcare isn’t a conservative principle, Mitt. TARP bailouts aren’t a conservative principle, Newt. On the issues themselves, Santorum wins. Hands down, he’s the most conservative candidate left in the race.

But we all know, it takes more than ideas to win an election. It takes money and organization, which is why Mitt Romney may seem like the best candidate. Frankly, the only reason Romney has done so well is because he has the money to run vicious attack ads on his opponents. Mitt has more money than the other candidates. But, (and this is important) he does NOT have more money than Barack Obama. If Romney’s only advantage is that he has money, that’s not enough to beat Obama, because he can’t beat Obama in the money game.

When the ads don’t matter (like tonight), Mitt Romney can’t win against his republican opponents. His ads won’t matter against Obama, either. Could Romney win in November? It’s a tough call. However, when money isn’t the issue, one candidate sets himself apart. Santorum is the candidate best suited to draw a stark contrast with Barack Obama in November.

Tonight we also saw that if Gingrich is out of the race (he wasn’t on the ballot in Missouri), not only does Santorum beat Romney, but he mops the floor with him! Gingrich ought to leave the race, endorse Santorum, and that would seal the deal for the nomination. Reports came out a few days ago that the Gingrich campaign is over $600,000 in debt! If this man can’t keep his campaign out of debt, how can we expect him to keep get our country out of debt?

Santorum said is best tonight. “I don’t stand here to claim that I’m the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney… I’m the conservative alternative to Barack Obama!” While Romney and Gingrich fight back and forth, the American people have gotten tired and are looking elsewhere – Rick Santorum. Game on!