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Back
in the Saddle Monty
Rainey
November
10, 2004
Loyal readers, in case you might be wondering why I haven’t written in over 8 months, I took a hiatus to run for county office. I was trying to unseat an incumbent that has been in office for 26 years. I didn’t win, but still accomplished a lot.
Now I’m ready to get back into writing commentary, biographies, book reviews and historical essays for the Junto Society. There have been dozens of topics I wanted to write about in the last few politically filled months, but running my office for 57 hours a week and then running a campaign just ate up all of my writing time.
Conservative Americans can be proud of what we collectively accomplished in this campaign season. We kept America from falling into the hands of what promised to have been one of the most liberal administrations ever. We even ousted chief Senatorial obstructionist, Tommy Daschle. That, in and of itself, was a major victory. We gained seats in both Houses of Congress. But we cannot rest.
Now is the time to mobilize. Now is the time to organize. Now is the time to lay the groundwork for even further solidifying conservative ideals across the nation in 2006.
I learned a lot in my campaign. One thing that became blindingly obvious towards the end, was the necessity of campaign workers and supporters. Mine was simply a small precinct campaign. For most of the duration of my campaign, it was me against my opponent. The last two months, that changed dramatically. The last two months, it was me and a small handful of supporters against the Democrat party. They were well organized and highly motivated. I estimate my opponent had no less than 50 people working behind the scenes on his campaign. I saw other Republican candidates in my area fall prey to the same kinds of insurmountable numbers. Countywide, Republicans won only 1 of the 5 contested races. This in a county that voted 58% for George W. Bush.
While it’s great that we retained the White House and strengthened our hold on Congress, we cannot take our eyes off the government closest to the people, our local governments.
I’m challenging all conservative Americans to get involved in politics in your area. If you’re already involved, get more involved. Local party clubs are always looking for more help in the way of precinct chairs, event organizers, election workers and other volunteers. If there isn’t a good strong club in your area, start one! Go to your county Elections Administrator and get a list of who voted in this year’s primary. Talk to local conservative politicians and find out who they know who might help organize a club.
It’s not too early to start looking at the 2006 elections. During the next 4 years, President Bush will replace two, and possibly three Supreme Court Justices. This, I believe, will prove to be the most crucial issue of this administration. We sent a clear message to the Democrat obstructionists. But as President Bush would say, we cannot “misunderestimate” them. They will come back fighting and are, no doubt, already looking ahead to 2006. Conservatives must meet them head on with well organized supporters, ready to help get their candidates elected.
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