How to lose an election

Why don't Republicans get it? Democrats win elections by running as moderates or what they call "blue dog Democrats"-Democrats who espouse conservative ideas (at least until they're elected and fall in line behind the likes of Pelosi, Reid and Schumer). Sure, there are some exceptions, like John McCain who, oddly enough, has turned right since the primaries.

Much to my chagrin, my Republican candidate for the US House of Representatives, Dale Sweetland, has come out in favor of releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Who does he think he is, Dan Maffei? Why not just come out and announce that we can turn the economy around if all Americans raid their 401k?

Dan Maffei vs. Dale Sweetland

Which candidate is more likely to represent the interests of Central New Yorkers?

According to the Post Standard, 80% of Republican Dale Sweetland's campaign contributions were raised locally. Sweetland said that if the National Republican Congressional Committee were to offer him funds he would accept, but other than that he's not trying to raise money in Washington, DC.

On the other hand, they report that Washington fuels Maffei's lead over Sweetland's local cash. Only about 14% of Dan Maffei's campaign contributions came from local donors. The majority of his funds came from Washington DC but he also raised quite a bit in California, New York City and Boston.

So who can we assume Dan Maffei is going to be working for? Us? That's doubtful.

One more thing to keep in mind, a vote for Dan Maffei (or any other Democrat running for Congress) is a vote to for Nancy Pelosis to remain as Speaker of the House. Wake up, folks.

What are the new "green technologies" the Democrats keep talking about?

The Associated Builders and Contractors has announced its endorsement of Dale Sweetland, noting Dale's history of fighting for business rights.

In the mean time his opponent for the open 25th Congressional District seat, Dan Maffei, has used some more of his far left-wing money to release a new television ad. He said he's going to take our money and invest it in "green technology". I would suggest that Mr. Maffei read up on where all of this green investment has gotten us thus far.

The government thought it would be a great idea to subsidize ethanol, which is more expensive to produce than gasoline and has helped to drive up the price of gas. According to this report of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, regarding ethanol and the energy bill proposed by the EPA:

Ethanol costs considerably more than gasoline, so the mandate benefits Midwestern corn farmers and the ethanol industry at the expense of the driving public. In addition, the logistical difficulties of incorporating ethanol into the nation’s fuel supply also have added to costs. In effect, the ethanol mandate is yet one more costly federal fuel requirement piled on to an overly complex regulatory scheme and has proved to be a step in the wrong direction.

Dan Maffei appears to be against competitive enterprise so it is doubtful he will take any time to read any of CEI's reports.

It's the Congress, Stupid

Everyone's attention is on the Presidential campaigns. Nobody's paying much attention to Congressional campaigns. Who we send to Congress is just as important as who we elect to be our next President. As we have seen, the current Congress is worse than useless.

Even if McCain is elected, with a Democratic majority we won't see any new refineries, nuclear power plants or domestic oil drilling. I keep hearing that Republicans are going to lose House and Senate seats this fall. Maybe that's correct, but I would argue it's too soon to tell.

Let's support conservative Congressional candidates. I have a link for Dale Sweetland who is running for the open House seat in my district. Dale is in favor of drilling domestically.

I was contacted by a backer of Hazelton, PA Mayor Lou Barletta who is running for Congress against 12 term Democratic incumbent Paul Kanjorski. I remember hearing about Lou Barletta because he's the mayor who cracked down on illegal immigration. He is also for a sensible energy policy.

Neither of these candidates is a "Washington Insider". These are the sort of people we need to send to Congress this fall. If you know of any others please let me know and I will post links to their websites as well.

Links: Lou Barletta-Congress 2008, Sweetland 08