February, 2010 Campaign Update

JOHN MCCAIN IN 2010 AND 2012

REALLY BAD NEWS: Senator John McCain has every intention of a rematch with Barack Obama in 2012. He has kept his presidential committee intact and when asked about Gov. Sarah Palin running in 2012 he said, “I’m not dead yet.” Nothing could be worse for the conservative cause and the Republican Party in 2012 than to have Senator John McCain at the top of the ticket again. The Senator will be 74 years old this year and 76 when he runs in 2012. The oldest man ever elected to the presidency was Ronald Reagan; he was 70 years old the day we was sworn in as the 41st president of the United States. Am I saying McCain is too old to be president? No, but I do remember Senator Bob Dole running for president in his seventies against a vigorous, younger Bill Clinton. In 1996 just about anyone could have beat Bill Clinton -- except Bob Dole. I believe the error is about to be repeated with an aging Senator running against a vigorous young president. I believe just about any Republican can beat Barack Obama in 2012 -- except John McCain.

That brings us back to 2010 and the Senate race in Arizona. My good friend Congressman J.D. Hayworth has decided to run against John McCain in the Republican Primary. The race shows what kind of man John McCain really is. Before Hayworth even made the decision to run, John McCain began running hateful negative ads against him. He demanded that the radio station that employed Hayworth as a commentator should fire him. He complained to the FEC about Hayworth having a radio show even though he (Hayworth) was not an announced candidate.

I have seen the vindictiveness of John McCain before. I have watched him turn red-faced and explode on the subway that runs under the Capitol between the various office building. McCain has a vicious temper which has not been tempered with age. On the other hand in his announcement for his run for the Senate, J. D. Hayworth said that John McCain had served the nation with honor, but that it was time for him to go.

THE TALE OF THE TAPE: J. D. Hayworth is far more conservative than John McCain in every area, including social issues. The American Conservative Union shows Hayworth in the top 4% of elected officials, but McCain only in the top 32%. That is a huge difference. Then there is this: McCain sponsored the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Act. The law prohibited conservative non-profit groups from campaigning but allowed Barack Obama to raise three quarters of a billion dollars for his presidential campaign. Much of that law has now been found unconstitutional. McCain sponsored the McCain-Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act, which would have capped CO2 emissions at the 2000 level. He also sponsored the McCain-Kennedy comprehensive immigration bill in 2005. McCain also voted in favor of the $850-billion TARP bailout one month prior to the 2008 elections, sealing the fate of his presidential campaign.

GING-PAC will back the conservative in this race and that is J. D. Hayworth.

OTHER SENATE ACTION: I had not planned on GING-PAC being involved in many Senate races not only because of the expense, but also because for a while it seemed hopeless for conservatives to take back the Senate in 2010. There are eight Republican seats vacant because of retirements and Senators running for other offices, such as governor. Our favorite Senator, Sam Brownback, is running for governor of Kansas. GING-PAC is supporting Todd Tiahrt to replace Sam Brownback in the Senate. Todd has personally promised me that he will take over the Senate Values Action Team and actively promote social conservative legislation, as Sam Brownback has. Dr. James Dobson, among many others, has endorsed Todd Tiahrt for the Senate.

With eight Republicans leaving, things looked a little bleak, that is until several high ranking Democrats also decided to step down. The latest is Senator Evan Bayh in Indiana. Indiana is a red state that has in the past gone blue for the Bayh family. Both Evan and his dad were governors and Senators in Indiana. Without a Bayh in the race, the seat will probably go to a Republican. GING-PAC does not have a candidate in that race as yet. Bayh’s decision comes after Sen. Chris Dodd, D-CT, and Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-ND, announced their retirements in January. Democrats also have to defend the seats of Barack Obama in Illinois and Joe Biden in Delaware. There are also vulnerable Democrat seats in other states.

In Missouri GING-PAC is supporting Congressman Roy Blunt who stepped out of his leadership roll as House Whip to run for Senate. Roy’s son was a popular governor of Missouri who did not seek reelection, but the Blunt name has a very good reputation in Missouri. Congressman Blunt is very conservative and 100% pro-life.

In my position as chairman of the Religious Freedom Coalition I have worked numerous times on pro-life and other social conservative legislative issues with Congressman Blunt. This is a man who will help social conservatives once he is in the Senate. The most likely match-up in November appears to be pro-life Roy Blunt against pro-abortion Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan.

THE HOUSE

On the House side we have added another candidate to the endorsed list. Tim Walberg was a true activist for social conservative and pro-life issues who lost his Michigan seat last year to a far left leaning liberal who was swept in with Barack Obama. Tim Walberg has a good chance at getting this seat back. A National Research Inc. poll has Walberg leading Schauer 46-37, and 50-40 with "leaners." It appears that voters in the conservative leaning 7th district of Michigan are having buyer’s remorse after watching Mark Schauer vote consistently with Nancy Pelosi in the House.

GING-PAC will also step forward to defend great conservative spokesmen who will be under attack by wealthy far left organizations such as Moveon-org this year. These include Michele Bachmann in Minnesota, Dr. Paul Broun in Georgia, Trent Franks in Arizona and Todd Akin in Missouri. While we want to get more conservative congressmen elected, we have to watch our back and make sure that some of the conservative workhorses we have in the House keep their seats.

OUR NEW INTERNET SITE

Last year Government Is Not God - PAC’s new Internet site went up. The old site was at www.govnotgod.org, and to archive our old material we kept that site. The new site is located at www.gingpac.org and is friendlier to use and has modern features. As we get closer to elections I urge you to check the site for information and the latest candidates we support.

To have impact in these races GING-PAC must have funds. It is crucial that we have at least an additional $50,000 as primaries begin in earnest. Please send a check to help today, or give an online gift at www.gingpac.org.


William J. Murray, Chairman
Government Is Not God - PAC
P.O. Box 77237, Washington, DC 20013

GING-PAC did not endorse Scott Brown

Government Is Not God – PAC (GING-PAC) did not endorse Scott Brown for Senate in the Massachusetts special election. GING-PAC gave no financial support to Scott Brown either directly or indirectly.

There has been a lot of enthusiasm for Scott Brown from conservatives and some pro-life leaders have stated that his election saved the nation from the pro-abortion “health care reform” plans of President Barack Obama. Social conservatives should not be celebrating because Senator-elect Scott Brown by his own admission is “pro-choice,” not “pro-life.”  During his campaign he avoided the questionnaires of social conservative and pro-life groups. His campaign did not respond to calls from GING-PAC and Brown did not reply to the GING-PAC questionnaire which asks many sharp questions on pro-family issues such as abortion and homosexual marriage.

GING-PAC is the nation’s oldest social conservative political action committee and does a not support any candidate who believes Roe v. Wade should be the law of the land.

While conservatives were still shouting for joy after his election to the Senate, Scott Brown flew to Washington, DC where he told Republican leaders that the party could not count on his vote in several areas including on the abortion issue.

Scott Brown’s victory came during a special election and he has only two years remaining in the Senate seat that was vacated by the death of Senator Joe Kennedy. That means he literally must start running for reelection now and he will probably move to the left on social issues despite the fact that he ran as a “conservative.” Scott Brown may be another Arlene Specter who will vote with the party most of the time, but neither the party nor conservatives will be able to count on him as a full time participant in the conservative movement.