Big Govt Insiders Steal the Show?!?!?

[LaurieWeb]

I worked at the polls during the election. I also so the raw numbers from our precinct that were posted on the door of the polling station. I went back to read them because I didn't even have time to look while we were packing up. Many of my friends were asking me the night before who I was voting for. I watched as people were making decisions in the voting booth. On that day, except for the few minutes in the booth, I have no opinion. My goal is to see that the laws are followed and that those who are entitled to vote, get a chance to do so.

My big conclusion, it is all about name recognition. Cathy Cox was still on our ballot. We had notices posted that she was no longer in the race and that her votes would not be counted yet one third of our voters voted for her. The local names got the votes...Frank Ginn and Ralph Hutchens.

It was interesting, I had a very good with Mr. and Mrs. Hutchens on Monday night. They are 9 12ers at heart. They have struggled to develop the Republican party before it was popular. I found them to be very real, and very different from what I expected. Ralph Hutchens is a very practical man. He does know how to get things done. He knows the limits of system. I didn't vote for him, but I will next time.

I just learned about Eric Johnson later in the primary. I voted for him. I would have supported him more. It is hard to get your name out state wide.

I was very disappointed in Melvin Everson loss. I hope he runs again. It took Gary Black two runs. He may be seen as an insider, but for that job you need to know the business.

I think takes a few runs at things to get name recognition. Remember when Herman Cain ran for senate. People didn't know who he was, and Johnny Isakson was the name that people recognized. Herman Cain did well then, but not quite good enough. I am sure Herman Cain would win any election in Georgia. I don't know about national scene, he needs to get on nationwide radio and tv shows more if he wants to run for president.

Our little 9 12 world is small. Most people don't even know what 9 12 is.

It is interesting, people are coming to our meeting in Danielsville just from a little new paper notice. Not many, but each meeting reaches new people.

I don't know if we are too late. I hope not. I do believe we have to get our act together for November, or start preparing for a different world.

[SpringerRider]

I believe that you vote your deepest belief in the primary. That is what a primary is for. If you believe in McBerry or Hice, vote for him. The purpose of a primary is to inform the party who they like. You are expressing an opinion; not seating a candidate. The party decides to go with the most popular candidate. That is how it works. To try to manipulate the primary defeats its purpose.

The genreal election is a different story. They are for keeps. This is when you may have to hold you nose and cayote ugly candidate.

As far as low turn out. If someone is not interested in an election, I don't want them voting. We voted and then went to John and Buzz's victory party. Elections belong to those who care. I don't even want to stir the rest from their slumber. Let them sleep and I will elect their representatives for them.

Election day was not an erection day. It was limp! It was hot and the candidates were less than warm. To be honest, McBerry, Purcell (and Everson) were the only two candidates that actually had fire in their gut. The rest were skim-milk. We need a Jan Brewer or even a Perry. Someone to throw some challenging ideas in the ring. Now we have a choice between Ho and Hum.

You milage may differ.

[Rob in Adairsville]

I've started a response to this thread three times in a week and each time I end up feeling like I'm blowing smoke up my own @$$! I still have a head full of ping pong balls every time I think about how we can be most effective, while still being realistic and adhering to principles and values.

Yeah folks...we done overslept, had our car stolen while we slept, missed the bus and now we're having to walk to school!!

We're not going to get there in ten minutes! We lost some battles, but so did George Washington. Now we get to see who's willing to march bare foot through the snow and who's going to say were outnumbered and go back home.

I'll be honest, my strongest inclination right now is to put on a safety harness and hang myself over a bridge on I-75 with a sign that reads "WAKE UP PEOPLE!!", and then refuse to come down until all the major networks give me an hour in prime time to address the nation

But that would be irrational

So, as much as I'd like to say that I've had an epiphany since the Primaries, I can't. I do know that it's very clear that a tireless few are going to have to think outside the box and choose our focus wisely so as to maximize our effectiveness. We can't be shooting ourselves in the foot and in-fighting. We CAN win this thing on ideas and truth. Despite what some have reported, there were a few solid Constitutionally sound candidates who won big or made runoffs.

There's a video game called Tomb Raider that I used to play with my son. At the climax of the game you have to battle a huge dragon with only guns. After hours of going in circles, using all of our ammo and being repeatedly beaten by the dragon, we figured our that there were certain weak spots on it's underbelly that did real damage when hit. Instead of wasting all of our ammo shooting where bullets were useless, we out maneuvered the dragon and chose our shots wisely. Once we found the weakness, the dragon was easy to take down.

We have to continue to lean on God, educate those with a hunger and cultivate our minds with truth until those revolutionary, WOW ideas surface and some George Washington's, Ben Franklins and Thomas Jeffersons work their way to the lead.

[catocom]

Yeah folks...we done overslept, had our car stolen while we slept, missed the bus and now we're having to walk to school!!

That's it. I like that analogy.
and
you're right...
We have got to stick together.

Some want to lead too much, and some want to highjack...
Let some of those go, and put on the show.
Lets just speak out when they are Really Really wrong.

We need to focus on just a few things we all agree on, to stay together as a force.
When we start to try to get too many different issues agreed on at the same time, it ain't gonna happen.

We came together on 2-3 main principles, for a common goal.
I not saying we have to vote for the lesser of just 2 possible evils, but
we do have to come together when the time is right, to really make things happen.

Now is the time to be discussing....kinda quietly Who all we can deal with voting for to get
the top issues solved, like the economy, and immigration, without nit-picking Every issue.

[wpconan1]

The low turnout in Georgia's primary elections last week was not to be unexpected. As has been noted, based on the total number of votes cast from both major political parties in the primaries, the apathy to vote in the primaries is statewide. This has been an historical problem for Georgia voters when it comes to midterm elections. Primaries typically lack the luster to bring out the all-important votes by Georgian citizens. The question in the comments seems to be "where do we place the blame on?" I submit that we learn from this lackluster experience and improve our efforts, from every individual to the many groups within the state (aka, Tea Party groups, especially in South Georgia), and work on better methods to get the message by WE THE PEOPLE out to all Georgians (exs., continous editorial comments to your local newspapers, establishing radio spots and TV adds to provide more opportunities to reach a large number of citizens who do not participate in Internet-based websites (Tea Party and other reform-minded groups) or Facebook, Twitter, etc., establishing local conferences); all in our continuous efforts to educate the public on the abuses of the Constitution(s) by legislatures on the state and federal level, how legislative processes can effectively hide/discredit valid proposed legislation, and other local and state issues which affect the current generations and the future generations to come.
One bright spot is that vote tallies in certain liberal Democratic primaries was less than their corresponding Republican primary vote tallies. The question is whether the right candidate was being supported by the Republican constituents and the GA Republican Party machine. At this point, our choices are: vote for a conservative Republican over a potentially (or known) liberal Democrat in the general elections or vote on an independent candidate running (potentially splitting the votes, depending on the overall district or state popularity for such independent candidate). Tough questions to deliberate on but deliberate on them carefully. In the end, we need to ensure that we are placing Constitutionally-principled, fiscally conservative, morally ethical citizens into political offices.