Running For Liberty

It’s late, we’re just getting in, and neither JoLynn nor I have slept much in the past 48 hours. So this will be short.

Thank you to all of the donors, volunteers, and supporters who have built our campaign over the past four months. Our resounding victory tonight is not about me — it’s about a message that will transform American government, and the future for our nation. Our victory is also a powerful statement that we Americans are ready for change. We’re tired of negative soundbite politics that divide us against each other, and we’re tired of agendas being forced upon us by party elites who are increasingly disconnected from reality, and the challenges we face.

We are ready to embrace a federal government that focuses on its Constitutional responsibilities, and stops being a suffocating burden that will haunt our children and grandchildren.

During our victory celebration this evening, I had a number of people ask me the same question, “So how are you going to take the message to beat David Price?” While we have much planning and work ahead, one part of the answer is easy: “Order more Constitutions!”

We distributed ten thousand copies for this primary. Here’s to distributing 100,000 for the general election!

Unfortunately, we didn’t get any video at the event tonight. But I found this video amazingly impressive:

If you haven’t voted yet, this is the day!

An informal survey of mostly-Republican polling places suggests that turnout is light - one precinct in Raleigh that’s about equally matched between Democrats and Republicans had 600 voters by lunchtime, as opposed to a more typical 1,200. How much of that is low turnout versus early voting? We will see. Just make sure your vote is counted!

Also, I was informed that a supporter has created a grassroots Web site, with a fantastic introductory video:

… see you tonight at the Chop House Grille!

This weekend was a blur. Saturday we gave away our last 200 Constitutions at Apex Peak Fest, and spread the word for our conservative judicial candidates at the Western Wake Republican Club booth. Special thanks to John Harvila, whose heroic efforts provided a great forum for educating Republican voters about the importance of voting in tomorrow’s election.

There is a lot more at stake than just a presidential primary, or even a Congressional race. We also need to support Judge John Tyson, Marty Miller, and Dean Poirier or Jewel Ann Farlow. Specifically, Judge Tyson has been involved in an expensive primary election, and TODAY is the last chance to provide needed financial support to drive his campaign through November.

At this point, it’s all about turnout. Yes, we have radio and television spots running today, signs are beginning to appear at polling places, and we have a fantastic network of friends who have volunteered to help staff the polls. I am also excited to report that I was endorsed by the national Republican Liberty Caucus over the weekend. But advertisements and endorsements won’t win the election — for those investments to pay off, we need voters!

Here’s where you come in. Today, please call five friends, and send an email to your contacts reminding, imploring, and cajoling them to get out and vote tomorrow. Even better, to save gas, call your friends and in the neighborhood and carpool to the polls! One car, five voters.

Ultimately, that’s how we win. Please help us get our voters to the polls, and we’ll have a lot to celebrate on Tuesday night as we prepare to take on David Price and the big-government elitists who have been ignoring our Constitution for far too long in Washington.

After you’ve voted, please join us tomorrow night at the Chop House Grille at the northwest corner of High House Road and Davis Drive in Cary. If we all do our part, there will be much to celebrate.

As we close out the National Day of Prayer, I was reflecting on the excellent experience my oldest daughter and I had this past Sunday joining folks at Abundant Life Church in Hillsborough for their Faith in Action Day. The motto for Faith in Action Day is simple: “Don’t just go to church, BE the church.”

We met ALC’s youth pastor, Ray McKinnon, while tabling at the Last Friday Celebration in downtown Hillsborough. We had a great conversation, and quickly found common ground around the need for a federal government that follows our Constitution. While Ray was staffing the Hillary Clinton table, many of the folks in his church are Republican — so he was kind enough to provide a steady flow of interested voters who are extremely interested in an alternative to the David Price and the status quo.

At the close of the evening, he invited us to join their church Sunday morning, when they were taking a break from the usual service and going out in the community to engage in a variety of service projects. That’s how Katie and I found ourselves in Hillsborough Heights, working with an enthusiastic group to rehabilitate a neighborhood park. Everyone brought their A-game that morning — David Bailey of Bailey’s Landscaping was among those directing the troops and equipment, and there were well organized piles of lumber, mulch, and tools for building play areas, flower beds, and a fence:

We spent a couple good hours digging post holes for the fence. Or rather, a machine bored the holes, and we simply scooped out the dirt. Needless to say, that was much more enjoyable than my prior experiences with post hole diggers. Then came the more detailed task of setting and aligning the fence posts:

Besides being a great way to improve the community, it was also an excellent opportunity to meet people and engage in meaningful conversations. The folks in this church come from various backgrounds, and have a variety of political views. But the common ground provided by putting faith in action through service is a great foundation for civic and spiritual dialog.

Sunday was a gentle reminder of our ability to seek and do God’s will, and how we can meaningfully improve our community in the process.

Best of all, no federal funding required!

I have been advised to respond to my opponent’s “Cho vs. Lawson” page on his Web site, where he trivializes my positions on a number of important issues in an effort to draw overly simplistic comparisons. I do not believe his approach will resonate with the intelligent voters of the Fourth District, who have often told me that they appreciate the nuanced discussions of the issues on our Web site and in our campaign blog.

One important distinction is that my opponent consistently fails to differentiate between the Constitutional role of the federal government versus the appropriate domain of state and local governments. Beyond that difference, however, I am not going to compare myself to my opponent based upon the issues. I have already enumerated the issues most critical to our nation’s physical and economic security at this crucial time.

Instead, I am going to compare myself to my opponent based upon a different, but equally important, set of criteria: transparency and honesty. My campaign reflects the way I believe government should operate: an honest discussion of the issues, openness to questions, and transparency in operation. This commitment is reflected in our real-time fundraising ticker, my being available for questions, engaging in discussion on our campaign blog, and encouraging voters to personally engage with me and my family as fellow citizens.

Mr. Cho, however, feels otherwise. During this “job interview” for public service, he has repeatedly avoided questions about his background, current occupation, and fitness for office. In fact, I was surprised to learn that my opponent actually threatened legal action against a long-time party activist who persisted in asking him a number of basic questions. Not only did my opponent retain an attorney to send a threatening letter to this retired lady, who is currently fighting cancer, he also distributed that letter to the Fourth District Executive Committee and members of the NC GOP leadership.

His email with this threatening letter from his attorney is posted for your review. Is such behavior fitting for a Congressional candidate? What kind of candidate makes a statement like:

If she has told you anything derogatory about me, it is in your best interest to not believe it or repeated [sic] it.

Is he threatening the reader?

His justification for threatening this lady was a claim of “slander”. However, my opponent should realize that applying for federal office is an invitation to have your fitness for office questioned and tested on a daily basis. Threats and refusing to answer questions do not make the questions go away.

As a result, this individual responded appropriately. Her attorney replied with a letter questioning the slander claim when she was simply reflecting questions being raised by the broader community. The letter from her attorney, with the associated questions and documentation, is available here. I’m not going to list all the questions, but here are a few:

• Questions are being asked about your current occupation. When asked, you have told people that you are an “author”. However, you stated in a personal interview on December 5, 2007 that you have made no money from writing or the sale of your books. By what manner do you currently generate income? If you are not generating income yourself, how do you pay for the expenses of daily living?
• You have maintained that you are, or were, an ordained Presbyterian minister. When and where were you ordained? At which churches did you serve, and for how long? Can you provide professional references regarding your career as a pastor?
• Public record searches report that you own no real estate. Do you own any real estate, and if so, where? The house at which you are registered to vote (106 Aster Place) is owned by Mona Lee. Is 106 Aster Place your permanent residence? There is another property in Chapel Ridge also owned by Mona Lee. Who is Mona Lee, and how are you related to her?
• Public records indicate that you had a Delaware driver’s license, and no North Carolina driver’s license, until just before you filed to run for Congress in February. Public records further indicate you were cited for not having complied with North Carolina’s change of address/driver’s license law (NCGS 20-7.1), seen in court on 7/26/2007. When did you finally obtain a North Carolina driver’s license? Did you just move to North Carolina in 2007, or did you move to North Carolina in 2005 and violate North Carolina motor vehicle laws for two years?
• Public records indicate that you were cited for violating NCGS 20-174.1 in July of 2007: “No person shall willfully stand, sit, or lie upon the highway or street in such a manner as to impede the regular flow of traffic”, seen in court on 7/26/2007. Why?
• You stated to members of the Fourth District Executive Committee on November 13, 2007 that you have not paid back your student loan debt. How much student loan debt and/or other debt do you have outstanding, and how much is overdue? Are these federally subsidized student loans? Are these loans in default, and what are your plans for paying them back? Will you authorize a credit report?

Does anyone believe that a candidate who cannot answer these questions in a satisfactory fashion, or is unwilling to do so, is a viable candidate against David Price? How can the leadership of the Fourth District not insist on these questions being answered by a candidate who could potentially represent the Republican party? Isn’t it time we expect more of our elected representatives? And what on earth was he doing standing, sitting, or lying upon the highway in such a manner as to impede the regular flow of traffic?

Before you cast your vote, remember: character matters.

I understand you have been extremely busy articulating your unquestioning loyalty to the GOP platform, and supporting blatantly unconstitutional federal power-grabs like the federal “war on drugs”. But one consequence of the unwieldy and unconstitutional federal government that you advocate is that our campaigns are subject to a wide variety of rules and regulations.

One particular requirement with which you might familiarize yourself is the Pre-Primary Report that must be filed with the FEC. Just to save you the trouble of checking your P.O. Box, I’ve made your Failure to File Letter available here.

Your campaign was notified of your failure to file the Pre-Primary Report back on April 25th, and given four business days to remedy that deficiency before the FEC published the violation. Apparently your campaign chose not to file the report, because the FEC published your Failure to File Letter on its Web site. To quote:

IT HAS COME TO THE ATTENTION OF THE FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION THAT YOU MAY HAVE FAILED TO FILE THE ABOVE REFERENCED REPORT OF RECEIPTS AND EXPENDITURES AS REQUIRED BY THE FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN ACT, AS AMENDED.

YOU WILL BE ALLOWED FOUR (4) BUSINESS DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THIS NOTICE TO FILE THIS REPORT TO AVOID PUBLICATION.

…

IN ADDITION, THE FAILURE TO TIMELY FILE THIS REPORT MAY RESULT IN CIVIL MONEY PENALTIES, AN AUDIT OR OTHER LEGAL ENFORCEMENT ACTION. THE CIVIL MONEY PENALTY CALCULATION FOR LATE REPORTS DOES NOT INCLUDE A GRACE PERIOD AND BEGINS ON THE DAY FOLLOWING THE DUE DATE FOR THE REPORT.

You might consider filing this report, or it may appear that you have no more respect for our campaign regulations than you do for the original “contract with America”, our United States Constitution.

Why is fundraising so important? So we can take our message to the voters, win the primary election, and prepare for a great campaign and victory in November.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve discovered that taking the message to the voters via radio and television gets pretty expensive. But I think you’ll be pleased with the results.

First, here is the radio advertisement (lo-fi version for download) featuring Col. Steve Acuff’s endorsement that we’ll be running into the primary.

Next, here are three 30-second clips that we produced — we’re going to air the final one, entitled “Local Control”:

What do you think? It was a challenge to film the second and third videos, as it was in the thirties that morning in D.C. and my face was just about frozen. Should have brought a coat!

We’re going with the third commercial since it actually has the “ask” for election day. Also, please help us leverage this media investment as much as possible — forward these links to your friends and family in the Fourth District, and remind them to vote on or before May 6th!

Finally, we really do need your financial support. Please make a donation today so we can air this message to as many voters as possible, and be well positioned for the next step in this battle to reclaim our government.

My primary opponent has continued his negative campaign with a mailer accusing me of associating with Republican Congressman and Presidential candidate Dr. Ron Paul. Let me make several points perfectly clear:

• I am proud to support a Presidential candidate who is a strong pro-life physician, delivered over 4,000 babies, and never performed an abortion nor needed to perform an abortion to save the life of the mother.
• I am proud to support a Presidential candidate who has been a principled advocate of limited, Constitutional government for the entirety of his 20 years in Congress.
• I am proud to support a Presidential candidate who, as a Congressman, does not participate in the lucrative Congressional pension program. (I won’t participate either — a Congressional pension is an insult to working Americans everywhere.)
• I am proud to support a Presidential candidate who understands economics, and understands that our government’s disastrous fiscal and economic policies are putting our survival as a sovereign nation at risk.
• I am proud to support a Presidential candidate who served his country honorably in the Air Force, and who has attracted the most donations from military personnel.

There are certain individuals who believe Rep. Paul is somehow “extremist”, and represents “libertarianism” taking over the Republican party. These individuals need to listen to Ronald Reagan, in an interview with Reason magazine in 1975:

REASON: Governor Reagan, you have been quoted in the press as saying that you’re doing a lot of speaking now on behalf of the philosophy of conservatism and libertarianism. Is there a difference between the two?

REAGAN: If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. I think conservatism is really a misnomer just as liberalism is a misnomer for the liberals–if we were back in the days of the Revolution, so-called conservatives today would be the Liberals and the liberals would be the Tories. The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is.

It’s time we stop putting ourselves, and each other, in boxes. It’s time we stop feeding from the trough of the mainstream media, start reading, and start thinking for ourselves. Our nation and our future depend on it.

I am proud to announce that I will be introducing Rep. Paul at his speeches to UNC and Duke this Friday, May 2. As a fellow Duke Medical School alum, it is an privilege to introduce such a staunch defender of our American republic. Why is defense of our American republic so critical at this moment in history? Please take twenty minutes to watch the following three videos:

Do we have what it takes to transition into a Constitutional republic, where all are truly equal with certain unalienable rights?

The company that one keeps is incredibly important, and I am well-known for engaging with a variety of people across the political spectrum. Does conversation and discussion with others mean I endorse all of their ideas? Of course not. But how are we going to make progress as a nation if we do not talk with each other about the issues at stake?

If you want a candidate in November who will hide behind the philosophical moat defined by the Republican party, you should vote for my primary opponent. My primary opponent is running a campaign based upon fear and unquestioning devotion to a party that, based upon the national debt alone, has objectively lost its way.

If you want an honest and forthright candidate who builds bridges, can win in November, and will be a principled advocate for a Constitutional federal government, then I greatly appreciate your financial support and vote on May 6th.

David Gay, the only Congressional Candidate in New York State to receive an official endorsement from Ron Paul, is in a race against the clock to raise $50,000 before next Thursday.

To My Fellow Ron Paul Supporters Accross America,

The GOP has made it clear that the candidate who raises the most money by May 1st will receive their endorsement at the endorsing convention on that date.

So far, none of the other candidates have raised much money, except for Bob Oaks, a career politician, who has raised almost $60,000 in pledges.

I need to beat Bob Oaks and all the others by having CASH ON HAND in my campaign fund by next Wednesday. So far, I only have around $2,000.

It has been difficult getting everyone fired up about this campaign, but let me assure you I can win this, and Ron Paul will have another vote on his side in the House of Representatives.

I have faith in this group of supporters to carry me to this goal in the next 5 days.

Warmest Regards,

-David A. Gay, Sr.
Republican for U.S. Congress
N.Y. State – 25th District

PLEASE DONATE TODAY!
http://www.davidgay2008.com

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“I believe David Gay is the best qualified candidate to serve in the US Congress from the 25th district of New York. David would make a strong replacement for Jim Walsh, who recently announced his retirement. David believes very strongly in the traditional Republican principles of constitutionally limited government and free enterprize. I am happy to give him my endorsement.”

– Ron Paul

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Friends,

With less than 10 days remaining until the primary it’s crunch time for our campaign. We’re fighting hard and working hard to make sure we when on May 6th. Today, we received some encouraging polling data and remain cautiously optimistic about winning on May 6th. That said, we are cautious for a reason and today I am asking for your help to ensure that we not only win, but win big on the 6th.

How can you help? By donating. I’m hoping that with your help alone we can hit the $100K milestone by the end of this week.

Why is your money needed? Your money is needed to help pay for a media strategy that we have for the final days before the primary.

How much are we asking for? Only $25! That’s it! If we get $25 from each person here, or most of you, it will make a huge difference and we can hit the $100K mark.

Of course, you’re welcome to donate more. We certainly encourage that

Please donate today. Your donation will help ensure that we achieve victory on May 6th!

https://www.lawsonforcongress.com/donate/

Thank you,

Garland Ragland
Volunteer Coordinator
Lawson for Congress