Posted on 04/28/2012 11:51:23 AM PDT by Maelstorm
I reported the other day that the Young Guns Network, a group led by two former top aides to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, is spending $100,000 in the primary between Sen. Richard Lugar and state treasurer Richard Mourdock in a bid to protect the Indiana incumbent - and here's what some of that mail looks like.
A lit piece that the YG Network dropped focuses, as they'd said it would, on energy policy - but it is targeted to non-Republicans, as it reminds voters that Indiana's GOP primary is an open one in which Democrats and independents can vote.
"Indiana does not have party registration," the mail piece says over a picture of a smiling child giving a thumbs-up sign. "You simply need to show up at your polling location on May 8, 2012 to vote for Senator Dick Lugar in the Republican Primary."
In case anyone didn't get the point, the piece adds, "You can vote in the May 8th Republican Primary election! The May 8th Election is open to all voters."
At other points ,the piece says Lugar, who is seen as facing an uphill battle against the conservative-backed insurgent, "has always represented mainstream Indiana values."
Republicans urging Democrats and independents to vote in open primaries was a major point of contention in the Mitt Romney-Rick Santorum fights in the Midwest in recent months. But in this case it's a group with ties to House GOP leadership urging non-Republicans to vote in the primary, and against the conservative favorite.
As Alex reported a little while ago, the establishment backing of Lugar is already showing cracks, with the American Action Network canceling its air support of the incumbent. So having a different group allied with the House leadership encouraging non-Republiacns to vote against the conservative-backed choice is almost certainly not going to play well with the base, or some of the Republican caucus.
There are also still ruffled feathers over the $25,000 donation Cantor made (he blamed a staff error) to a super PAC geared toward knocking out several House GOPers facing primaries.
Barney Keller, a spokesman for the Club for Growth, which has been laying down heavy cash on Mourdock's behalf, said of the mailer, “Regrettably, Eric Cantor’s actions confirm the worst of what grassroots conservatives dislike about a Washington Republican leadership that is more interested in protecting its own than in promoting conservative principles and candidates.”
I've emailed a spokesman for the group and will update if I hear back.
http://loop21.com/eric-cantors-wife-pro-choice-pro-marriage-equality
How is a group called young guns focused on maintaining the career of a nearly century old relic like Lugar? Sometimes the blinding stupidity of inside the beltway thinking is just not comprehensible.
For a guy like Cantor who has invested his own career and legacy into passing policies like the Ryan plan and balanced budgets, he is now supporting the very person who is most likely to prevent it from passing the Senate
My mother, a lifelong registered Democrat inspite of the fact she has hardly voted for anything but GOP in 40 years, will be voting for Mourdock.
This is very disturbing as the NRCC has been a rather well organized and effective organization and was not as notorious for doing things like this as other party orgs have been. The Young Guns program is supposed to be exclusively for assisting nonincumbents in House races win either open seats or seats currently held by Democrats. Now these funds are being used not only for an incumbent in a primary, but not even for the House - a double whammy inappropriate use of these funds. $100,000 is an entire media campaign that could have helped, for example, Jesse Kelly in the special election coming up.
Its when I see things like this that I begin to believe there is really an unseen game afoot. That individuals like Cantor really have zero intention of ever passing anything close to ‘The Ryan Plan’. I’ve sensed this for a long time. Maybe I’m wrong but it appears that their is a political class that never is what it appears to be. There are also a sizable number of GOP that appear perfectly happy with big govt when it is THEIR big govt and they have the purse strings. I’ve met Eric and I generally like him personally but I always get this ambivalence vibe from him.
Excellent! Its not that Lugar is a ‘bad’ guy its that his time has passed. We need Senators with the fortitude to fight with clarity. Some of them like him just don’t get it. There is never an appropriate compromise when our liberty is at stake. There is no trading game with socialists because they don’t have any skin in the game. They are demanding more and more of OUR skin and act as though they are doing us a favor if they allow us to keep any of what we earn. We will never win with individuals like Lugar, Hatch, McConnell running the show.
I was just thinking the other day how nice it is that we have some Senators that we don’t have to worry about. Would we have rather had Bennett instead of Mike Lee or Grayson instead of Rand Paul or Charlie Crist instead of Marco Rubio? That is why it is so important we hold the line. We can’t elect people who then we have to fight to get to do the right thing.
It would appear there is truth to this. The various groups that organize at the DC level consistently seem to work against passing anything meaningful. My opinion is this....I am 100% behind the GOP in 2012. The Republican party is the vessel which is the best route to changing course. If we succeed at the ballot box and the GOP works against these goals after the election, I am ready to part ways. I do not expect everything to pass, but they must muscle through some significant changes. If we win the White House and win a Senate majority..and continue to send more good conservatives to congress...they have the political will and the wind at their back to do some good things. If they can't, it is time for plan B.
Cantor and The Club, that willingly showed up at Blair House, for the “Health Care” conference with The Coffee Server.
This will be the group that will be pushing, and are behind Mandate-Mitt pushing State-Mandated “Phony-Care”, after the current one is declared unconstitutional.
The Neo Democrat party at work.
Eric Cantor is an enemy of God and Liberty.
Because the so-called young-guns are establishment hacks interested in maintaining the status-quo and protecting their own fiefdoms. Cantor just wants to keep riding the gravy train and he has demonstrated that more than a few times. This Lugar thing is about protecting the regulars they dine with at the Hill Club so they can have some one to lean on for a reciprocal favor later on. McCarthy is just a mutated narcissist limb that fell off of former Congressman Bill Thomas and took on a life of its own. Kevin has the biggest ego of anyone I've ever known in this business, his agenda is KEVIN, more fame and power for KEVIN and that's all that matters. Ryan has made himself king of GOP Wisconsin and his goals are to protect his kingdom while riding the train with his two pals to see who can go the farthest, and climb the highest. You may hear them utter conservative mantras now and then but don't let that distract from what they all have already shown is their number one goal -- looking out for number one.
I’ve always had a gut feeling that this Cantor guy isn’t really a conservative. You can just look at him and listen to his voice to get that feeling before you learn anything about him. In that respect, I lump him in the same category as Lindsey Graham. He seems a little light in the loafers, if you know what I mean.
“I’ve always had a gut feeling that this Cantor guy isn’t really a conservative.......”
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I’m beginning to get that same feeling!
Distance himself?
How about Cantor coming out and tell them to stop!
I’ve long been done with Cantor and Bonehead.
“Young Guns” (drumroll) Here they are:
http://www.creativedirect.net/team.html
Odd, Lugar’s been doing what he does for 36 years, and his opponent received the NRA endorsement, but the Young Guns are behind him.
One Side Real Conservatives
On the Other, GOP-E.
BUT, The GOP-E are liberals at heart and therefore don't qualify to be on the "Right".
So I am unsure how to Classify our current political war, How About instead of the "Republican Civil War" we have the "War of Conservative Succession"
Make no mistake people we are at war with the Liberals in the GOP, and if they aren't somehow defeated we will TWO Permanent Left-Center parties.
The GOP is at war with the tea party. There are still a few good republicans in Washington but they face a tough fight against people who hold the reins of power.
We really need to concentrate on a party leadership change. Personally I’d love to put Michele Bachmann in the speaker’s chair. She’s obviously tougher than Johnny the Jellyfish. That Preibus clown needs to go too.
You can expect all sorts of things out of that crowd.
Why would you want Michelle? She’s clearly a Romney groupy.
Cantor has been shot at by Democrats.
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