Should Republicans be seeking national, state or local office in 2010?

An interesting take in the American Spectator by Project Virginia founders Ford O’Connell and Steve Pearson who take a bit of exception to Karl Rove’s article that “ambitious Republicans” should be vying for Federal office. Instead, given that many states have state legislatures also up for election this year and this year also begins the redistricting process, Ford and Steve say to develop the foundation for future success by running in state and local elections.

“Such control will prove particularly crucial in [the legislatures of] five states that expect to gain seats — Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Texas and Utah. Successful redistricting efforts in those states could lead to success at the congressional level by 2012. New districting lines also could prove crucial in states, such as Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Ohio, that expect to lose seats in 2010.”

The article goes on to list several other key points where state and local races are just as important, if not more so, than running in Federal elections, such as a disconnect that exists “between the GOP brand and its grassroots” (which they say can be repaired only by candidates and elected officials that connect with the community), a “better return on investment” (state and local campaigns cost less), state and local races can be better targeted, and that winning both the U.S. House and Senate this year is a “long shot”.

Now, clearly, Ford and Steve want to take the Project Virginia model and implement in other states. And, in order to do so, there needs to be as robust a challenger crop iof candidates n Michigan and Texas as there was this year in Virginia. But the reality is that candidates like Barbara Comstock, Tag Grearson, Rich Anderson, Kerry Bolognese, and Ernesto Sampson did help bring a dialogue of ideas and choice for voters, whether they won or lost. They were that direct connection with the voter to the party.

And, in the future, should someone like Delegate Anderson be interested in running for federal office, he’ll have a legislative record to point to.

And, given the fact that in Virginia the GOP was able to gain seats in the House of Delegates and won the governor’s mansion – redistricting with the Democratically-controlled Senate won’t be nearly as painful if Democrats held every branch of government.

However, when you look at the expansive scope of government intrusion into our lives being proposed by the federal government, how can you possibly abdicate running a comprehensive federal campaign in 2010 either?

Bailouts? Card Check? Health care? Carbon taxes? It’s an absolute nightmare in DC.

The reality is that there is plenty of opportunity for Republicans to serve at both the state and federal level. Good people all around need to run for office and those that believe in the party still need to contribute time, treasure, and talent.

Perhaps the better argument would be – how come all these other states don’t have odd-year elections like Virginia!!

Сейчас уже никто не берёт классический кредит, приходя в отделение банка. Это уже в далёком прошлом. Одним из главных достижений прогресса является возможность получать кредиты онлайн, что очень удобно и практично, а также выгодно кредиторам, так как теперь они могут ссудить деньги даже тем, у кого рядом нет филиала их организации, но есть интернет. http://credit-n.ru/zaymyi.html - это один из сайтов, где заёмщики могут заполнить заявку на получение кредита или микрозайма онлайн. Посетите его и оцените удобство взаимодействия с банками и мфо через сеть.