Rasmussen: 50% of Voters View Democrat Agenda as Extreme

Wow, this is a surprise.  A recent Rasmussen poll revealed that voters are warming to a Republican, or conservative agenda while more voters view the Democrat or liberal agenda as extreme and out of touch.  Here is the break down of the results:

• 45% of likely voters view the Republican agenda as mainstream, a gain of five points from last month (versus 37% who view the Democrat agenda as mainstream)
• 38% state that the Republican agenda can be described as extreme (versus 50% who state that the Democrat agenda is extreme).
• 17% are undecided on how to classify the Republican agenda and 14% are undecided on how to classify the Democrat agenda.

Clearly this poll result is a testament as the nation weathers a failing economy, three wars and faces severe fiscal hardship due to $14 Trillion in debt that the confidence of the Republican plan and agenda is gaining steam.  On the flip side, voters are losing faith in the failed leadership of the President and Democrats. 

It is important to note that one poll is not a sign that 2012 will be easy for the GOP to continue to their electoral success.  The Republicans will be competitive if they continue the drumbeat on tackling the debt, and adhering to the Constitution. 

New Poll Shows Mike Protack is Republican Favorite for County Council President

Founders Values is a well known Delaware educational group that focuses on the founding principles of our nation. They strive to educate the electorate and children on those founding principles and on the Constitution and related documents. They have been active for about 18 months and they have organized many events including a number of TEA Parties across the state. Their members have been an active force in the recent political landscape in Delaware and have even impacted legislation in the state and nationally.

In June of 2010, Founders Values administered a survey of likely Republican voters in the U.S. Senate primary between longtime Congressman Mike Castle and Conservative activist Christine O'Donnell. The poll found O'Donnell leading Castle by nearly a 3-1 margin. It was the first (and almost only) poll that found O'Donnell in the lead among likely voters until her upset victory on Sept. 14th. While laughed at initially by local media personalities, the poll proved to foreshadow the results of the Republican Primary.

The group obtained the names of the two front runners for the Republican nomination in the Special Election for New Castle County President. Delta airlines pilot Mike Protack, who ran for Governor in 2008 and former State Representative Tom Kovach are the names who have been mentioned as the leaders for the spot. Protack ran unsuccessfully in a Republican Primary in 2006 against eventual nominee Jan Ting who faced Tom Carper(Christine O'Donnell was also a write in candidate in that Primary Election). He then ran in the GOP Primary for Gov. in 2008 but left the race to run as the Independent candidate. Protack ran in 2010 for the 3rd County Council seat but faced a primary opponent in Janet Kilpatrick who was seen as Mike Castle's personal nominee to oppose Protack who was backed by the TEA Parties. Kovach ran in the 2008 special for the 6th district Representative seat in Brandywine Hundred. He narrowly defeated the Democrat (by just over 100 votes) in the race but lost this year to Debra Heffernan.

The telephone poll conducted on 11/12 & 11/13 and was a survey of more than 300 likely Republican voters in the New Castle County Council President special election. 60% of the respondents chose Protack where just 40% chose Kovach as their desired nominee. See the Founders Values Press Release for more information.

Founders Values Executive Director Jon Sherman said "We believe that these poll numbers represent the mood of the Republican electorate and we hope that the leaders of both parties will understand that this is an important process that should be left to the people to decide."

Mike Protack has been tied to the Patriot movement in recent years. He was an early supporter and helped to organize the Wilmington TEA Party events in 2009 and 2010 and earned the endorsement of the conservative group Common Sense Communities Society in the Republican Primary. He has a very good name recognition and being a card carrying union member helps him with with a voting bloc that does not often fair well for Republicans. He has been plagued by the notion that he is a perennial candidate for one office or another but even that stigma appears not to hurt him among members of his party when compared to Mr. Kovach.

Tom Kovach is a contrast to Protack as he is the hand picked candidate by Mike Castle. Castle is the long term Congressman who was ousted by Christine O'Donnell and the TEA Party groups in Delaware. Castle and Kovach all but endorsed Chris Coons and publicly were quite critical of O'Donnell and her "TEA Party supporters" despite the fact that those supporters contained a majority of the Republican Party voters. Kovach is rumored to be a supporter of the policies of Chris Coons including the Stoltz development of the Barley Mill Plaza location that citizens group CRG has been a staunch opponent to. This could pose problems for Kovach when it comes to raising money and garnering votes from the Greenville and Elsemere areas affected by the development. Many Republicans believe that Congressman Castle has waged his own personal war against the majority of party voters who ousted him in September and considers those who supported O'Donnell his enemies. He has built a coalition of current and former legislators and party officials and some see Mr. Kovach, a staunch supporter of Castle, as yet another example of Castle's personal war with the electorate.

Only time will tell who the Republicans support. What's a near certainty is that the Democrats will choose AFL-CIO Vice President Tim Sheldon. He will be backed by Paul Clark and Clark's wife Pam Scott who is an attorney with Stoltz in the Barley Mill case. Though Sheldon, the Democrat would be the party's first choice, it's not inconceivable that they could work out a deal with Castle to bring in the more moderate Kovach as Council President. If Protack or a more conservative candidate were to get the nod, it's likely that they would face off in a heated blitz with Sheldon. The date of the election has not yet been set but the Democrats are due to announce their choice this coming Friday.

O'Donnell - Witches, Sex and Silliness

I've seen the Mainstream Media sources, from FoxNews to CNN and MSNBC spending an exorbitant amount of time covering some clips from late night nobody Bill Mahr's former show "Politically Incorrect with Bill Mahr" and from MTV (what news sources! *please note the sarcasm*). Most of these clips come from the mid - late 90's when O'Donnell was in her 20's. O'Donnell has said, when asked at a debate at a Jewish Community Center in Delaware, that the statements on sex and masturbation were made when she was in her early 20's and perhaps overly excited in her youth about her new faith. She has said that her faith has matured now and that she sees sex as a personal matter.

Her statements about witchcraft made to Bill Mahr on his show in the late 90's have recently become news after Mahr began a public blackmail campaign against O'Donnell. Mahr has said that he would release 1 tape per week until O'Donnell agrees to come on his show. Interestingly enough, Mahr and his friends John Stewart and Steven Colbert who are all good for a laugh but who can't be considered "serious" commentators are rumored to be involved in a "Million Moderate March" this October right before the November elections. Ok, I have to pause for a second to make this point, it's biased so I may lose you here but... I doubt I'll be proven wrong about this but, I can't see how Mahr, Colbert and Stewart could get 15 people in a coffee shop to all buy a cup of coffee, much less rally a million people on the mall. In fact, I predict that all three hosts are likely to draw less than 1 10th of the number of Americans who showed up at the Glenn Beck "Restoring Honor Rally" on Aug. 28th in D.C. That event drew between 500,000 and 750,000 Americans from all over the country. I challenge these Three Musketeers to get even 50,000 people to slither over to their debacle on the mall.

So what does all this mean? Well, it means that the MSM and the Delaware Democrat Party either didn't get the memo or just don't get it period. My guess is that it's a little bit of both. The News Journal, specifically liberal hit piece writer Ginger Gibson, spent the majority of the campaign peddling petty garbage stories to attempt to eat away at O'Donnell's credibility. They have paid a dear price for their disgusting display of hit journalism and yet the mainstream media is all too happy to walk in the same footsteps. Perhaps MSNBC and CNN have simply lost so many viewers that the don't care any longer how many more they lose. The mainstream media often beats it's head against the wall so that is less surprising than the maneuvers that the Delaware liberal/progressive crowd have taken. Consistently peddling the narrative that Christine is flawed because she believes in God, has had the same financial problems as the majority of it's own party members and has "acted stupidly" in the past. Specifically it is interesting that the focus of late has been on her mid 90's "dabbling in witchcraft".

Let's first point out the TV series' "Charmed" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". There is also the movie "The Craft". These TV shows and movies came out in the 90's because at that time there was a LARGE sect of young people who became fascinated by these subcultures. Many of us, especially liberals, became enamoured with the characters and the romantic natures of them. So she dated a witch...well guess what folks, I played a Vampire role playing game called "Vampire: The Masquerade" for over a year. I suspect there are many others who did as well. So she experimented with other ideas. Clinton smoked pot...despite his claims the man likely STILL inhales and is suspected of womanizing with countless women and yet the left loves him. So why the hate for O'Donnell? Because, like Palin, Bachman and Haley...she's a conservative woman which means she MUST be a radical fringe right winger.

The bottom line is that just like when Mike Castle went negative on O'Donnell, the attacks from the left only draw voters to O'Donnell. The assaults are part of an old brand of politics where the idea was to see who could destroy who faster. The American people have woken up and they're looking for more than the attack politics of the past. They are looking for who has a record of supporting policies that they agree with and who has the best ideas going forward. So to Bill Mahr and his Comedy Central goons I say, have at it. Attack away. Sticks and Stones may break her bones, but words will never hurt her. And to Chris Coons and his Progressive friends, be careful when casting stones. Your homes are made of glass made in Marxist communes.

In the end I guess the election will come down to an ex-Witch vs. a Marxist.

Who is Chris Coons? - Marxism

Chris has graciously said that he would like to keep this campaign about the issues and not about smears and personal attacks. I appreciate that and I hope he continues that position. This campaign SHOULD be about the issues that Americans and Delawareans specifically, care about. It should be about how to get the economy back on track and growing, how to stop reckless spending, what role the government should have, the most effective way to stem the rising tide of healthcare costs, how to best manage our energy resources and what the tax policy ought to be. There are other important issues but these are what I hear about the most. All of these issues come down to a difference in ideology. On one side you have those who seek to continue spending, often recklessly, your tax dollars, increasing those taxes to spend more and increasing government control. On the other, you have those who understand the need for a limited government, emboldened AND restrained by the Constitution who will control spending and lighten our tax burden.

Now I said before, that Chris wants to keep this campaign about issues and I agree, it should be about issues and not a few sound bites from someone's past. We have all made mistakes...yes, even me...especially when we were young. However, there is something about Chris' past that concerns me, and many of you as well. Back in 1985, he wrote an article entitled "Chris Coons: The Making of a Bearded Marxist". When I saw this I was hoping for a satire or some sort of joke. But as J.E. Dyer from Hot Air's Green Room tells us, Coons was quite serious.

Upon returning from a trip to Kenya, Chris wrote:

“I became friends with a very wealthy [Kenyan] businessman and his family and heard them reiterate the same beliefs held by many Americans: the poor are poor because they are lazy, slovenly, uneducated,” wrote Coons. “I realize that Kenya and America are very different, but experiences like this warned me that my own favorite beliefs in the miracles of free enterprise and the boundless opportunities to be had in America were largely untrue.”

He also wrote:

“My friends now joke that something about Kenya, maybe the strange diet, or the tropical sun, changed my personality; Africa to them seems a catalytic converter that takes in clean-shaven, clear-thinking Americans and sends back bearded Marxists,”

However, it wasn't as if just the trip to Kenya aroused some deep part of Coons' questioning temporarily. Before Chris even left for Kenya, he was questioning America:

A course on cultural anthropology, noted Coons, had “undermined the accepted value of progress and the cultural superiority of the West,” while a class on the Vietnam War led him to “suspect…that the ideal of America as a ‘beacon of freedom and justice, providing hope for the world’ was not exactly based in reality.”

Although Chris does say that upon returning to Amherst for his senior year, he accepted that had "returned to loving America" despite discovering the nations faults, one must ask what faults he has determined America has. If Barack Obama, son of a Kenyan Marxist leader is any indication, our faults are many and great and the only pathway out is financial slavery and redistribution of wealth. There is reason to believe that Coons and Obama have much in common.


On September 16th, at a debate in Wilmington, Delaware, Coons reiterated his support for Obamacare as currently written and indicated that there is little going on in Washington that he would change. He also indicated his support for extending Miranda rights to terrorists. In fact, Coons sounded eerily like the "pet" that Harry Reid described him as. Coons did try to move to the center around fiscal issues but despite his polished debate skills (remember, he is a 2 time national debate champ) his record unfortunately doesn't bear out his claims. He made the obligatory reference to his TV Commercials which portray him as a fiscal conservative. Sadly, Chris has raised taxes three times ('05,'07 and '09), raided the county's reserve fund and increased water and sewer fees. He also references the corruption rampant during the Tom Gordon administration in his television commercial and suggests that he fought corruption. What Coons fails to mention is that the Democrat Gordon/Freeberry scandal took place while Coons himself was on county council. Additionally, what is not mentioned in Coons' commercials is that when Coons took office, the Gordon administration had left him with a balanced budget and a reserve surplus.

Currently, Chris Coons is presiding over his own scandal. County Council President Paul Clark is advocating for a project which he personally stands to gain from. His wife Pam Scott (liberals apparently love to keep a different name than their spouse so as to create doubt in issues like this) is a lawyer in the case. Clark has said he would recuse himself from any vote regarding the proposal but his involvement in lobbying for the case stinks. Coons has thus far not stepped in to suggest that Clark stop lobbying for the deal his wife stands to gain from. He's certainly no corruption hound.

Finally, Coons consistently calls on people to recognize that he was able to give County Council a AAA bond rating. There is truth in that statement but he doesn't tell you how Fitch Ratings gave New Castle County that rating. The fact is that Fitch only granted that bond rating to NCC because the County raided the reserve fund and decreased its value by more than 30% while Coons raised taxes 25%. The size of County government has grown every year under Coons and the budget has steadily increased. In 2009, Coons did make some cuts...he cut county employee pay by 5% and cut their benefits by 3% while the state cut worker pay even further. Meanwhile, county spending plans stayed in effect and other cuts were "avoided".

Who is Chris Coons? - Fiscal Conservatism

So, now that Christine O'Donnell has defied all odds and beaten incumbent Congressman Mike Castle to grab the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, the nation focuses on County Executive Chris Coons. Mr. Coons has spent the last few months flying inconspicuously under the radar. In fact, his name recognition outside of New Castle County is nearly zilch while Christine's is now in national headlines. That's all going to change now. Mr. Coons will have his record examined thoroughly and from initial conversations with members of all political parties, that spells problems for the current New Castle County Executive.

Chris has had his commercials running over the last 2-3 weeks and I have begun a cursory look into Mr. Coons' claims.

1.) He claims to have taken the reigns of county council steeped in corruption and debt. Interestingly, in 2005 Chris Coons said the County's finances were "fundamentally sound"

"While the county's economic health is ‘fundamentally sound,' Coons said, there's been a widening gap between expenses and revenues in the past several years. His proposals would help avoid a projected $152 million shortfall by 2009." (Angie Basiouny, "NCCo Exec Proposes Reining In Spending," The [Wilmington, DE] News Journal, 3/30/05)

It turns out that in 2009, The News Journal reported that Coons said "‘We're 18 Months From Being Out Of Money -- Unable To Operate, Not To Use The "B" Word,'"

"‘We're 18 Months From Being Out Of Money -- Unable To Operate, Not To Use The "B" Word,' Coons Said, In A Reference To Bankruptcy. ‘That's where we are, and it's at a time when many families are struggling, and they're looking to government to help them.'" (Jeff Montgomery, "Sobering Challenges Reflected In Speeches," The [Wilmington, DE] News Journal, 1/22/09)

Now this seems to me to be a bit of a quandary for Mr. Coons. His commercial says that he balanced the budget as County Executive, yet the County went from "fundamentally sound" to "unable to operate".

A deeper inspection reveals even more problems with his commercial. He uses the AAA bond rating of the County as proof of his fiscal conservatism but what he doesn't tell you is that he raised taxes 3 times since he took the reigns in 2005.

In 2006 Chris proposed a 5% increase in property taxes that his Democrat controlled County Council passed instead of cutting spending.

Just a year later in 2007, Coons again had to initiate a tax increase. This time the bill was blown up by 17.5%. Again, he chose to raise taxes instead of working to reduce the cost of county government.

In 2009, amidst the height of "the worst recession since the Great Depression" Chris Coons brought yet ANOTHER tax increase to his Democratically controlled County Council. The result was a 25% increase in property taxes and not a DIME cut from the budget.

In fact, the bond rating company (Fitch Ratings) that has given the County the AAA bond rating said they only did so because Coons increased takes by 25% in 2009 which made the County more stable. Between 2004 and 2009 (when Coons has been in charge) the County lost more than 30% of it's reserves. Despite his claims to have balanced the budget, New Castle County carries a debt burden of $1,639 per man, woman and child in the county.

Still think Coons is a fiscal conservative? The County's spending has increased 10% since he took over and the county budget has grown by a DRAMATIC 33%! Prior to becoming County Executive, Chris voted for every operating budget submitted by his predecessor whom he now claims to have save the county from. In 2008, as cash balances fell, Fitch Ratings put a watch on the county. That watch was a warning that downgraded the status of the county finances from "stable" to "negative". Coons' answer? Not cutting spending on rapidly accelerating union worker costs, not working to slash and cut budget line items that the county couldn't afford. No, his answer was to raise taxes by 25%.

This is NOT the resume of a fiscal conservative.