Posted on 06/25/2010 3:31:48 PM PDT by mdittmar
YAKIMA -- Clint Didier smiled, talking about his endorsement from Sarah Palin.
Didier, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate in town to share a campaign rally with Republican state House candidate Michele Strobel, has followed races elsewhere in the country and seen how the former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate's blessing has helped others. He believes it could help him upset GOP favorite Dino Rossi, who, like Didier, is looking to oust three-term incumbent Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.
"It's all-important," the Eltopia farmer and former NFL tight end said during an interview before this week's rally. "(Palin) is one of the leaders of this country right now. Why? I believe it radiates from her, herself. ... She knows what it takes to get this country back."
"Getting this country back," which in this context was meant as a rallying cry against political liberalism, was a major theme of the evening. So was God.
"Someone came up to me and said this isn't like a political gathering," Strobel told the crowd of 200 during her speech, which followed Didier's. "I said, 'Oh, no, no, no. I make it more like church.' "
A vocal quartet from Heartland Bible Baptist College, who sang hymns during the hors d'oeuvre portion of the event only added to that atmosphere, as did the evening's host, the Rev. Dave Brown of Yakima Bible Baptist Church.
"It only takes one generation to go back to a heathen nation," Brown warned the crowd, urging them to vote for Didier and Strobel.
Strobel, a pastor's wife and cosmetics company owner from Selah, faces incumbent Rep. Norm Johnson, R-Yakima, and Yakima attorney Scott Brumback, a Democrat, for Johnson's seat in the state House.
Strobel's and Didier's speeches held close to the populist, anti-incumbent narrative that's been rising throughout national and local politics since the beginnings of the tea party movement early last year. The idea, they said, is that "regular folks" need to awake from complacency and retake control of the country in the wake of President Obama's election.
"I'm one of the worst people about that," Didier told the crowd. "I was happy in my own little world out there."
The answer, he believes, is an across-the-board deregulation of business, stringent enforcement of immigration laws and a halt to environmental policies such as cap and trade. He also argued in favor of expanded offshore drilling, a position he acknowledged is increasingly unpopular because of the ongoing BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
And to the media,we are not a populist movement,we are a Constitutional movement.
As a member of the Tea Party movement, We Are Trying To Take Our Country Back!
Hope he is a better politician than a TE. All he did was run in motion back and forth behind Theisman until the ball was handed to Riggins.
“Regular folks” are the ones that did it in the past and have shown time and time again, that they can do it any time they want. Education is the key. Study the past and bring our country back to what the Founders invisioned.
Didier is a fine man, but all I’ve heard him talk about is football and what needs fixing. For this game, he’s gonna need bettter coaching.
Populist movement my foot.
We’re citizens of the United States of America.
We were founded as a Constitutional Republic and we wish to remain so.
It’s all those other ninnies that are some sort of populist movement (progressive, socialist, marxist, communist, green)
August 17th,May the best man win.
PING for you!
Clint Didier, Libertarian: no thank you.
Pennsylvania Democrat Congressman Paul Kanjorski on “regular folks”: “ ...they’re not minorities and they’re not defective and they’re not all the things you’d like to insinuate that these programs are about — these are average, good American people.”
At this point even ir-regular folks would be welcomed.
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