Pierce-ing Posts (042406)

This is the first of daily “Pierce-ing Posts” that will continue until Primary Election Day.

Pierce-ing Posts will sample current blog posts both in and out of the S.O.B. Alliance, occasionally go to Old Media coverage, and bring important prior posts to the attention of late-comers to Ohio’s US Senate contest.

So, let’s go. And don’t forget to visit Bill’s site, his blog, and his Contribute page.

FROM THE CURRENT BLOG CROP

Rush Limbaugh “Radio Star” Speaks Out

Justin at Right on the Right is the teen blogger who had the good fortune to call into Rush’s show late last year and to get about 20 minutes of priceless air time with the Great One. He has consistently demonstrated that he’s up on the issues more than most adults, let alone kids, and that he understands what’s at stake.

His Rush call obviously did wonders for his blog’s traffic, and explains why we’re especially thrilled that he has interviewed and is backing Bill Pierce:

A lot of Republicans don’t know some of the facts, like the fact that Pierce has flat-out bested DeWine in some county-wide endorsement votes. ….. American needs more citizen legislators, as opposed to career politicians. Our nation needs more people like William Pierce.

Bill Pierce: It’s About Service

Mark at Weapons of Mass Discussion has had about half-dozen outstanding Pierce-ing posts of his own during the course of the campaign. One of his latest draws a sharp line between Bill Pierce and Mike DeWine (links within the post added by me):

When was the last time Mike DeWine visited your town or county? When was the last time he actually campaigned in Ohio? According to my sources, it was during the Miami County endorsement, when he used his time to speak before the voters to let a barbershop quartet sing patriotic songs. Where is the substance? Where is the concern? I thought Mike DeWine was “one of us.”

….. Bill Pierce is reminiscient of our Founders. He wants to go to Washington, serve the country, and get out. He wants to actually listen to the people of Ohio, and reflect THEIR values back to the nation, to represent us ……

He did as many of our Founders did, becoming an entrepeneur and starting a business. He served his clients and employees well, and paid for it. Undaunted, this man, in the face of personal struggle, decided to serve our nation by becoming a teacher, to help youth understand mathematics.

Bill Pierce has what many of our Founders had, which is so lacking in our leaders today: a servant’s heart. He wants to serve the people, to help them. It is not about getting the contacts to be a good lobbyist. It is not about photo ops and getting power and influence. To Bill Pierce, it is about doing the job and doing it well, then going back home to Ohio.

Read the whole thing.

OLD MEDIA MORSELS

DDN Piece Illustrates Obsession with Money

Friday’s story on the money situation in various Ohio races indicates that Mike DeWine has a war chest of about $5.2 million. I’m confident that Bill Pierce and the other challenger both have less than 0.2% of that. So? Paul Hackett showed in the Second District last summer (though in an otherwise fundamentally dishonest campaign) that money isn’t what turns the tide, especially in low-turnout races.

I hereby volunteer to help Mr. DeWine count all the money he has on May 3, because I’m hoping at that point that he won’t need to spend it. I’ll even consider recommending a good investment advisor if he is allowed to keep part or all of it, which I understand is indeed (outrageously) the case. :–>

BLAST FROM THE PAST

December 2005 — Mike DeWine’s Last Straw ANWR Betrayal Gets the Blogosphere in Gear

In late December, about six weeks after the S.O.B. Alliance’s initial meeting with Bill, Mike DeWine set off a firestorm of blog reaction to his vote to yet again reject drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge:

• That was the tipping point for soon-to-be and now-active Alliance member Steve Kelso at A Face Made 4 Radio, as he endorsed Pierce virtually on the spot:
  

  I have had enough of Sen. Mike DeWine. DeWine’s latest idiotic decision is to come out against America’s energy independence.

  ….. When I saw that William Pierce was going to challenge DeWine for US Senate I knew that I was going to have to make a choice. For that is exactly what Mr. Pierce offers — a choice (not an echo, as the old saying goes.

  ….. Mr. Pierce is right — the time for change is now. We need a senator that will keep himself firmly rooted in Ohio and will be receptive to out needs. Mr. DeWine has gone native. D.C. native.

  For these reasons and many more, I heartily endorse William G. Pierce for the US Senate.

• NixGuy also endorsed:
  

  Ohio is at core a Republican state structurally now and any GOP nominee will be favored to win against any random Democratic nominee. A stand up guy like Mr. Pierce can easily win election to the senate. This is not Rhode Island or even Pennsylvania where we have to put up with a certain amount of liberal foolishness in order to keep the Democrats at bay. Ohio has been trending Republican for 15 years now. We don’t have to put up with DeWine foolishness nor should we. Bill Pierce for Senate!

• Megablogger Hugh Hewitt, known in some S.O.B. quarters as Blew Blewitt, illustrated the hurdles any challenger faces when he criticized DeWine in the strongest terms but wouldn’t do the right thing and pull his support:
  

  Senator DeWine of my home state is no Lincoln Chafee. He gets most big votes right, though today he stumbled badly. There is no coeherent argument against exploration in ANWR, so Senator DeWine enters a difficult re-election year branded as the only GOP senator as light in the thinking department as Lincoln Chafee. It isn’t an enviable place to be. If DeWine helps Judge Alito, though, all will be forgiven, though not forgotten.

  As I said at the time (go to Update 3 at the post), “Speak for yourself, Hugh.” Bill Pierce understands why Alito’s not enough, and explaining Thursday night why the “Gang of 14″ deal is unacceptable, and decrying the lasting damage it may do to our constitutional form of government.

• Large Bill also rendered his large endorsement:
  

  Bill Pierce for Senate — William Pierce, a businessman and school teacher, has announced his intention to challenge Sen. DeWine in next years Republican senatorial primary. Even though I’ve been less than thrilled with DeWine, I normally wouldn’t comment on the primary challenge because I understand how difficult it is to unseat an incumbent senator. However, DeWine’s latest ill advised votes have convinced me that I could not hold my nose and vote for him next year.

• The reaction wasn’t limited to Ohio — Here’s Blanton at RedState.org: “It should not go unnoticed that there were a few Republicans who aided and abetted the Democrats a/k/a Friends of Osama. The Republican leadership and grassroots should punish the aiders and abetters. ….. Oh, and Mike DeWine, your days are numbered on Capitol Hill. Not. One. Dime.” And here’s Save the GOP: “The Ohio GOP is beyond screwed up. I thought we had it bad here in Pennsylvania, but having lived in both states I can safely say Ohio’s GOP is far worse, and that is hard to imagine. Is DeWine really this obtuse?”
• Even the implacably liberal OH02 was surprised at DeWine’s tone-deaness.
• Then-active Project Logic summed it up best when he said, “Senator Mike DeWine seems determined to turn the grassroots GOP against him. There are too many bloggers weighing in on his latest vote to mention them all, and I’ve not seen one of them make a positive comment.”

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Note: I have endorsed Bill Pierce for Senate, and have provided nominal financial support for his campaign. BizzyBlog is a member of Blogs for Pierce.