Confessions of an Establishment Neocon

I've been denounced! Finally!

Thus far she’s been accused by several “conservative” (read: neocon, establishment) bloggers of not attending a rigged 8th Congressional district candidate forum, not getting enough hits at her website, questioning the good health status of Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner...

So far their smear tactics have only added fuel to her candidacy. Quite clearly the bloggers at PartyofKnow, “RhymeswithClown”, and “BerryLaker” are desperate to defeat Terri McCormick.

What, no link? And why are The Laker and I surrounded by quotation marks? Is he dissing me with grammar? That's from the Aaron of the Republican LIberty Caucaus during the course of making the case that Terri McCormick is the best GOP candidate for Wisconsin's 8th congressional district.

Let me just say for the record, I hold no ill will toward Ms. McCormick personally. I've been critical of her on this blog, but only in relation to her campaign. When they trumpeted poll results showing McCormick was in the lead, I thought they should have disclosed that it was an internal poll. I was also skeptical of her endorsement by PeopleV.US, which I described as an endorsement by a class action lawsuit.

Having done the research that I have, including seeing the candidates appear together on two separate occasions, I don't believe McCormick is the best candidate to take on Steve Kagen. I believe both Ribble and Roth would be superior choices. This shouldn't come as a surprise to Aaron, or anyone else who reads this blog. I am a conservative, not a libertarian. There is a difference. McCormick has positioned herself as the most libertarian leaning of the three remaining GOP candidates and that is fine, but it doesn't necessarily appeal to me. Is that so hard to understand? It really isn't anything nefarious as the post above makes it sound. Besides, the charges that I am either "establishment" or "neocon" are so absurd they are laughable.

I'm skeptical that an anti-incumbent mood will show itself at the polls in November, but that hasn't stopped everybody from falling all over themselves in an attempt to be seen as an outsider. In a year where being establishment is beyond sacrilege, I feel compelled to admit that I am not now nor have I ever been a member of the GOP establishment. Who knows what the future holds, but I defy Aaron, or anyone else, to find a single county chairman who has even heard of me. GOP primary voters don't come anymore outside the establishment than me. I had to google Reince Preibus just so I could spell it correctly.

With respect to being a neocon, let me just say that I think it's hard to beat the advice of the original George W. warning us against foreign entanglements. That goes for whether they are the GOP preferred type or the liberal-hawk type that hatched under Clinton and now continue under Obama.

As far as the more recent George W. goes, the best antidote to President George W. Bush would have been candidate George W. Bush. Doesn't anyone remember the guy who was openly scornful of nation building and failed a "name that junta" pop quiz sprung on him by some European journalist. If only that guy had won the election. Instead, I now know there is both a North and a South Waziristan and that the Swat Valley is not a vacation spot for law enforcement officers.

If I'm desperate to do anything it is to beat Steve Kagen. I don't believe he reflects my values or the values of many of the voters here in WI-8. While it's completely OK for citizen Kagen and I to disagree on everything, I don't have to change my views just because he gets elected to Congress. It's also OK for me to work to defeat Congressman Kagen through the ballot box, so that is what I'll keep doing.