Aren't We Missing the Obvious? We Need to Get DICK DURBIN!

[acptulsa]

Yeah, McCain and Graham stood up to Rand Paul in defense of death and tyranny. Who expected them to do anything different? I doubt the people in their respective states did. But what about the third great defender of Hellfires As A Substitute For Justice? Dick Durbin pretends, when not subverting Rand Paul's statements and obviously alleging he said things he obviously never said, to be a compassionate and magnanimous liberal. So, what's he doing on the Senate floor trying to sound exactly like McCain--and beating McCain to the punch?

Yeah, you can't beat a Democrat in Illinois, right? But what if he's not really a Democrat? What if, when push comes to shove, he reveals his true neocon colors a mere twenty months before his next election day?

Am I the only shark that smells blood? Instead of spending all our time trying to primary Republicans, why not show our fellow Republicans that libertarianism can carry the sweet smell of victory--even in the most unlikely of states?

 

[sailingaway]

We have to see the patchwork of where we have terrible people in congress and where we have really good candidates and think about stretching resources. Is Amash going to run for Senate? I want him to make his own decision, I would hate to lose his House seat, but then how often does an incumbant in a GOP leaning district retire? If he runs we will want to back him (as least, I would put that above taking out Durbin, personally). I also want to take out Graham. McConnell I'd love to cause trouble but given the pact he has with Rand I think that isn't likely, although I do put the fact that he is working with Rand in part to the independence of grass roots in KY who showed he had to move our way on policy, or at least loosen the rein on Rand. So pressure is a good thing.

Who good do we have running? I wish Davis would change his mind to this day, he did start sniping at Lindsay again during the fillibuster twitterbomb, otherwise, I want to support Bright, who is a good guy, but not Davis.

Durbin might just be too much for a real push in the same year, imho, but a distraction level campaign and then see how it catches on might be good. Unless we have a really good candidate there, in which case, that is different.

 

[acptulsa]

Well, I kind of see why you bring up Amash, because we only have so much in the way of resources. But, on the other hand, I don't really get it, since Amash couldn't run for Durbin's seat as he's already the Son of Another State. Seems to me, now that Durbin stuck his foot in Rand Paul's bear trap like a damned fool, and exposed himself as just the sort of Neocon Sympathizer that most Democrats hate with a green-eyed passion, that this is the kind of race we could put one of our lesser-known people into, get them happily financed by rank-and-file Republicans of every stripe (not just us), and show these GOP people that embracing liberty people is not merely a way to get their own deadwood primaried out before the Democrats get them out, but a way to get the Democratic Deadwood out even if they're in a serious stronghold like Illinois.

And what's more, if we could scrounge the right Libery Republican in the Land of Lincoln, I'm pretty damned sure (after Durbin's Disgusting Display) we could do it, too.

 

[sailingaway]

Well, I kind of see why you bring up Amash, because we only have so much in the way of resources. But, on the other hand, I don't really get it, since Amash couldn't run for Durbin's seat as he's already the Son of Another State. Seems to me, now that Durbin stuck his foot in Rand Paul's bear trap like a damned fool, and exposed himself as just the sort of Neocon Sympathizer that most Democrats hate with a green-eyed passion, that this is the kind of race we could put one of our lesser-known people into, get them happily financed by rank-and-file Republicans of every stripe (not just us), and show these GOP people that embracing liberty people is not merely a way to get their own deadwood primaried out before the Democrats get them out, but a way to get the Democratic Deadwood out even if they're in a serious stronghold like Illinois.

And what's more, if we could scrounge the right Libery Republican in the Land of Lincoln, I'm pretty damned sure (after Durbin's Disgusting Display) we could do it, too.

But if Amash and others need money that's where mine would go. Everyone needs to donate where they see best, but certainly activism and volunteering to give the guy trouble is a good idea.

Heck, if you find the next Ron Paul there to run against Durbin, I might switch my own focus. But I wouldn't give money for that over really good candidates, unless the one running there is a really good candidate, themself. Who do we have?

Also, if Amash doesn't run for Senate, we would have more resources, overall, I suspect.

 

[acptulsa]

I actually believe a good candidate who presses a good preliminary attack could get all the funding he needs without drawing much away from other liberty candidates. Surely the Illinois GOP would lick its chops at the thought of dumping Durbin. And I firmly believe he has left himself as vulnerable as he has ever been, and perhaps as vulnerable as he will ever be.

Who indeed?

 

[acptulsa]

Okay, but I think we're missing a bet. Democrats are awfully embarassed and disgusted (and more than a little confused) about the fact that it took a Republican to stand up for our rights and our very lives. They are getting increasingly sick of liberals in name only; this iron is hot right now and we should strike. And retiring Durbin would be a coup on untold multiple levels. Not least of which, it would lead to more liberty for us sooner or later.

Exposing these Democratic alleged Defenders of our Civil Liberties for what they really are is a scenario so full of win for us I can't begin to catalog it all. There's a chink in the armor right there, at that vital spot (how long has Durbin been in there pretending to care about our liberties but voting to curtail them time after time?).

 

[sailingaway]

I'm not against it, I just want to see the candidate. The party is apparently in turmoil there, they just cancelled their convention suddenly because they were afraid Brady was about to be voted out. We may have a path, but the candidate would have to be good. I'm just remembering we didn't really have anyone there for a congressional seat. I don't really have my finger on the Il pulse.

 

[FSP-Rebel]

Tulsa may be on to something if the right GOP candidate emerges. And yes, I can see this funding issue being taken care of easily a la the Scott Brown candidacy in Mass. He was pulling million dollar donation days back to back to back and then some and had the entire republican nationwide mindset hellbent on this race. The problem arises in that this won't be a special election and it may overshadow our other races which we'd like republican help on, idk. Granted, our Paul vacuum is growing indeed so we may be able to handle "our" races w/o much outside help, worth a glance tho.

 

[belian78]

LOL Durbin is going nowhere. Believe me, I would love for someone to 'get' DICK, but he won't be voted out. The ILGOP is a farce, the locals are Beck followers and the reps even at a state level are far past looking out for their constituents. This state just needs to collapse in on itself, after I am finally able to climb out of this pit that is.

 

[acptulsa]

LOL Durbin is going nowhere. Believe me, I would love for someone to 'get' DICK, but he won't be voted out. The ILGOP is a farce, the locals are Beck followers and the reps even at a state level are far past looking out for their constituents. This state just needs to collapse in on itself, after I am finally able to climb out of this pit that is.

Sorry to hear that. It's such a golden opportunity; seems a shame we can't capitalize. Yeah, it's an odd situation to have so many communities completely dominated by one corner of the state. Even so, one would think there were some Republicans in the state who could make hay while the sun shines.

Good luck engineering your exodus.

 

[NoOneButPaul]

I live here... and i'm telling you... it's not worth a second of our time.

Yes, the idea of beating Libs intrigues me as it will prove our point about indys and democrat pull over but Durbin is not the place to start. He's got this crooked state on lockdown.

 

[presence]

The font size I'm using; the only thing that showed up in the thread title was:


Aren't We Missing the Obvious? We Need to Get DICK

 

[mosquitobite]

Okay, but I think we're missing a bet. Democrats are awfully embarassed and disgusted (and more than a little confused) about the fact that it took a Republican to stand up for our rights and our very lives. They are getting increasingly sick of liberals in name only; this iron is hot right now and we should strike. And retiring Durbin would be a coup on untold multiple levels. Not least of which, it would lead to more liberty for us sooner or later.

Exposing these Democratic alleged Defenders of our Civil Liberties for what they really are is a scenario so full of win for us I can't begin to catalog it all. There's a chink in the armor right there, at that vital spot (how long has Durbin been in there pretending to care about our liberties but voting to curtail them time after time?).

Graham and Durbin both would send the BEST message to the power brokers.

 

[PaleoPaul]

Hahahaha yeah right, nobody's touching Durbin.

 

[Peace&Freedom]

Hahahaha yeah right, nobody's touching Durbin.

Probably. Most incumbents are just as safe, barring getting hit with a big sex scandal. Our best best is to look for seats with a sex-scandalized incumbent, or one who is retiring (like Carl Levin), then run a liberty candidate IN THE SAME PARTY in the primary to be its next nominee. This will give the candidate the inside seat to be the next safe incumbent. We should be looking at things from a pro-liberty vs. non-liberty/establishment candidate perspective, not Dem vs GOP.

Ultimately the goal should be to actually get liberty people installed regardless of whether it's a Democratic or Republican dominated district, instead of hoping for a given Democrat to be vulnerable. In the few districts/states where the non-liberty incumbent may be beatable (like Graham in SC) we should perhaps run strong liberty candidates in BOTH the Republican and Democratic primaries, to get rid of the guy in the election.

 

[georgiaboy]

Rand has spoken on multiple occasions about the need for Republicans to once again become competitive in the solid blue states, and he's talked about ways his message and plan can be the best opportunity to do just that.

Yes there are many obstacles, but chipping away like this and exposing those like Durbin are the steps needed to make this a reality and show the GOP leadership just how wide these ideas' appeal can reach.

 

[thoughtomator]

No matter how short on resources we are, advancing Amash should be, if not our top electoral priority, high among our priorities. With Ron Paul out of office, there's no one as solid as Amash - not even Rand.

 

[itshappening]

Dicky Durbin is a slippery customer. He'll probaby do enough to ensure his own survival. He's holding hearings in April he said on drones and Rand will be invited to testify. He'll make sure everyone back home is covering those hearings and will take the opportunity to grand stand on the issue and come out looking a bit more principled than recently.

 

[acptulsa]

No matter how short on resources we are, advancing Amash should be, if not our top electoral priority, high among our priorities. With Ron Paul out of office, there's no one as solid as Amash - not even Rand.

Amash has the same problem our hypothetical Illinois candidate would have--a state dominated by a city with about half the state's population in it, an overwhelmingly Democratic demographic, and an incredible Democratic machine. I don't think the man is even silly enough to give up his House seat for a chance at the Senate.

Dicky Durbin is a slippery customer. He'll probaby do enough to ensure his own survival. He's holding hearings in April he said on drones and Rand will be invited to testify. He'll make sure everyone back home is covering those hearings and will take the opportunity to grand stand on the issue and come out looking a bit more principled than recently.

True. Well, what we can do is spread that footage of him far and wide, and thus force him to carry water for us instead of the Military Industrial Complex (at least for a while).

 

[Crystallas]

Durbin and Kirk are just awful. I was pushing so hard to get Labno more love in my area, but the people here are party sheep that wear foam fingers to the polls and host tailgate parties on debate nights.