Roanoke Tea Party

EW Jackson: Debate Winner

I attended the US Senate debate in Verona, VA. last night. A few take aways.

The Shenandoah Valley Tea Party did a fabulous job on the debate. The format and the organization of the event were absolutely superb. They should be proud.

Four candidates participated. A quick run down on the candidates.

Kevin Chisolm, an independent and former Green Party member came to the debate. He seems like a really nice man but he had never heard of Agenda 21 or the Fast and the Furious scandal. He admittedly has a limited knowledge of the Constitution, since he is an architect by trade and not a lawyer. He talked in broad terms about green jobs and a few other things. He’s not a serious candidate, even for progressives.

As for the GOP contenders…

David McCormick is running for the GOP nomination. He is thoughtful and a successful businessman.  He has obvioulsy spent a lot of time on dissecting the budget and coming up with ideas and very specific policy ideas. He is not terribly inspiring and while his general ideas are solid, I just can’t see his campaign catching on.

Tim Donner is also running for the GOP nomination. He is also  a successful businessman and I would qualify him as a serious candidate. He has the financial backing and speaking ability to appeal to GOP voters and, I think to voters in the general election. His ideas are very generic. For example, he supports the standard Cut, Cap and Balance idea and strongly supports a Balanced Budget Amendment (BBA) so there is an institutional check on Federal Government  spending.

I always find it interesting that some candidates will stake everything on amending the Constitution,  which will likely take years, and then depend on the Federal Government to actually follow the BBA and the Constitution that they currently systematically ignore. There also certainly have plenty of loopholes in the final version that Congress will find a way to exploit. While we don’t oppose a BBA, it isn’t the cure all that Tim Donner (and Bob Goodlatte for that matter) would like you to believe.

He sounds really good to the untrained ear, but his explanation of the 10th Amendment as the basis for endless state lawsuits against the Federal government I find silly. We need to nullify unconstitutional laws, not go to a corrupt Federal Court System, hat in hand and beg for our God given rights that we already have.  That being said, he is solid on many issues that our members are passionate about and can effectively articulate a message. He gave some really good answers to questions and was given a number of ovations by the audience.

All in all, I think Donner would be a better choice than George Allen. That being said, he seems more like a slick status quo politician than somebody that will go an shake up the establishment as he promised last night.

And then there was EW Jackson. Now I liked EW going into the debate, but he is a natural in the format as he is very sure of his answers, very concise in his phrasing and very forceful in his delivery. He knows what he believes and he doesn’t mince words. Candidates were given one minute or less to give responses. While almost everyone struggled to get there thoughts into 1 minute, EW rarely used the entire time allotted. And it was rare when the audience didn’t launch into applause after his answers.

He said things that most candidates won’t say. He supported state nullifiation, abolishing numerous federal agencies as unconstitutional and makes no apologies for the urgency in getting rid of the Obama Administration. While all of the candidates promised to shake things up, I get the sense that Jackson actually means it. He repeatedly and passionately discusses the need for immediate action.

I didn’t agree with a couple of his answers, but agreeing on every issue isn’t necessary for me. Agreeing that the Constitution is the ultimate authoirty for our laws is the critical issue for any politician. (Hey defending the Constitution is their oath of office after all)

I personally find his passionate defense of Judeo-Christian culture appealing as the fact that our rights are God given is the basis for all of our rights.

EW Jackson has a good knowledge of the Constituiton and the passion and speaking ability to defend it. They did a straw poll at the end of the event and I don’t know who won amongst the 50-75 people in attendance, but in my admittedly biased opinion, EW Jackson was the clear winner.

Again, I urge you to come to the Holiday Inn Tanglewood this Thursday evening. The speaking event starts at 7PM. We will have EW there for a meet and greet at 6PM. We really want you to get a chance to talk and question EW, so you can see why we our board is so excited by his candidacy.

I can see why Jamie Radkte and George Allen are scared to debate EW Jackson. Because he would mop the floor with them.

Yes Jamie and George skipped the debate. One word describes these two today and their cowardly behavior in ducking this debate.

Shameful.

Jamie in particular can make an effective candidate with her knowledge and background. But falling in line with the bad behavior of George Allen, while admittedly a “smart” political decision…will alienate some of the tea party groups that still support her.

The exucses from her supporters who were there last night were never ending and conflicting. She had a conflict. She said all along she wouldn’t come if Allen wasn’t there. It’s just politics. All 3 of those excuses came from the same person inside of 5 minutes. I told Jamie the other night I would vote for her in the primary if it were her and Allen, but I couldn’t actively support her based on some of the stuff she did during her time as the Tea Party President.

I still might vote for her if my choices were only Allen and Radkte, but her lack of integrity is extremely troubling.

But I pray that EW Jackson is on that ballot because then the vote will then be very easy for me.

Chip Tarbutton