At the California State Republican Party Convention, I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Chuck DeVore, the California Republican nominee for the 2010 United States Senate Seat. He will be taking on one of the worst Senators in the history of any government in any nation, Barbara Boxer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_devore
Mr. DeVore was overwhelmingly generous with his time. He has strong beliefs. He is not wishy-washy.
On Sunday he addressed the crowd. It was on this same Sunday that I also met the lovely and gracious Dianne DeVore.
Below is some of the wisdom of Chuck DeVore, followed by my interview with him.
“California has the highest state income tax in the nation, the highest sales tax in the nation, and the highest gasoline tax in the nation. At least Proposition 13 has kept property taxes around the national average.”
“California got in trouble because we did not live within our means, not due to not having high enough taxes.”
“The new budget gave us another massive tax increase. Who here believes the revenue from that will be enough? Mark my words, in two to three months a second tax increase will be proposed.”
“We have nine billion barrels of oil off of the California Coast. One billion barrels of that oil is within three miles of the California coast. This is state oil. This oil does not belong to the federal government.”
“By using slant drilling and other newer oil technology, we could put five billion dollars in the California treasury today.”
“Otherwise, we could buy foreign oil. That money we give to foreign governments is used against us in the form of suicide bombers.”
“Barbara Boxer has beliefs that are rooted in the 1970s. She does not believe that Americans should utilize American oil.”
“In addition to taxes and oil drilling, we must harness new technology, including the new media. We have to get on Facebook and Twitter, and talk to the bloggers.
While he was a star on Sunday, his interview with me on the previous Friday was a low key and cerebral affair. There was plenty of red meat to chew on.
1) The Republican Party keeps failing to take down Barbara Boxer. We had good candidates, but the national party is so cheap. They don’t support California financially. Will you have enough money to compete?
CD: “Yes, but 2010 is going to be a different election. I will have enough money to run a strong race, but dollars do not necessarily get people to vote for you.
Look at the 2008 campaign of President Obama. Hillary Clinton had the finest consultants that a 1990s campaign could buy. She got beaten by him. He appealed to the base and utilized modern technology. He connected to people in a new way.
We are going to run a web first campaign. The web is not going to be an adjunct part of the campaign. It will be the centerpiece. Only recently, I added 3000 people on Facebook, 1500 on Twitter, and every speech, people are showing up who are not members. A rally in Rosemead had 37 people, but only six of them saw it online. Three of them drove two hours. Word of mouth counts. You have to styand for something, and capture the imagination. There is no forcing friendship on Facebook. People have to voluntarily join.
I also write for Andrew Breitbart on his site, “Big Hollywood.” One article that was written was entitled, “Democrats gave me syphilis today.” This was written about the 400 million dollars given to STD research in the stimulus package.
The culture affects the hardwiring of people. Culture, religion, and how we are hard wired is all how we are affected and how we link. Don’t wait for an opinion poll or a focus group. My campaign it the 1000 donor threshhold in two months. The internet plus word of mouth gave President Obama the victory. Word of mouth will lead to more television, radio, and traditional media coverage.”
2) Republicans have won stateside in California, but only by being moderate such as Pete Wilson or Arnold Schwarzenegger. Conservatives such as Dan Lungren have gone down in flames. How do you keep your conservative principles and win over an electorate that has not been kind to conservatives?
CD: “Let me start by rejecting that assertion. I don’t believe Californians have a problem with conservatives. If you remember the recall between Governor Schwarzeneger and Cruz Bustamante, the highest vote total after that was Tom McClintck. Schwarzenegger was a celebrity, but the libral candidate Bustamente got trounced. Even with a Republican winner, there was strong support for the true conservative. In another race, McClintock came close to winning.
In 1992, Barbar Boxer benefitted from a climate that was against the first President Bush because he said “no new taxes,” and then raised them. In 1998, Lungren ran a 1980s campaign out of the George Dukmejian playbook. In 2004, President George W. Bush wrote off the state. He didn’t compete for it. Also, it was a generally pro-incumbent election.
2010 will be different. The stimulus package will prove unpopular. Plus, taxes have been raised again in California. By 2010, people will be anti-Stimulus and anti-Boxer. She opposes tax breaks. She opposes oil drilling. She has not helped create jobs. She will be vulnerable to her extremis policies.
The abortion issue has changed. It is less highly placed compared to the economy. Yet among those who do vote based on abortion, the pro-life voters outnumber the pro-choice voters. Her iron clad devotion to abortion is radical. She wants to eliminate reasonable restrictions that have passed muster in most other states. Her fellow Democratic Senator Bob Casey says that her bill can’t pass.
The economy is in trouble. People want jobs and dignity, not a lamaker stuck in the radical 1960s, who wants to overturn reasonable restrictions that have been accepted in 45 of 50 states.”
3) How would you like to be remembered? What would youwant people to say 100 years from now about Chuck DeVore the person?
CD: “That I was a man of faith, and that I deeply loved the lord, my family, and my nation.”
4) Who are your three political heroes?
CD: “Ronald Reagan, Abraham Lincoln, and Winston Churchhill.”
I would like to thank Chuck DeVore for being beyond generous with his time.
With help from God, the blogosphere, and a national party that truly decides to fight for the state that Mr. DeVore feels is treated like a “national ATM,” California can truly become the Golden State again.
It will not be easy, but as always, Barbara Boxer is beatable. The rest is up to us.
eric
Obamas use of the internet was no doubt one of the key elements contributing to his win.
Theres a lot of talk across conservative blogs that weve got to utilize this medium to a better advantage and its almost embarassing that we didnt see this sooner.
But like any technology it will soon be common for just about anyone to use the internet as efficiently as was done by the Obama campaign.
That time is now, it will without a doubt happen in this next election so I suggest the dems get a new message out because the ability to overwhelm like they did with the internet will no longer be as much of an advantage as it was the last time.
Obamas message was not really anything new, just a bunch of old ideas with a fresh coat of paint on them, only due to the overwhelming presence on blogs and websites did it appear as if something new was happening.
It shouldnt be that hard for the GOP to portray utself as being a little inovative next to the old tired and regurtitaed ideas that the left keeps putting out all the time under the guise of fresh new thinking.
Yea right, the difference in thinking between the 60s and now is almost non existant
If this guy continues to use the same old, tired Republican half-truths, he will be massacred by Mrs. Boxer, (a very popular “Progressive” Democrat).
Cannot we who tend to vote moderate to conservative (whether Democrat or Republican) see through the conservative economic
philosophy, which goes back to Reagan?
Look I am a moderate conservative..and believe less government and
stronger foreign policy is best for US. However, this guy just doesn’t get it.
When I first moved to California, from back East, there were about 20 million people in the state, now there are 38 million, not counting the illegals. Most of those who moved away, to Nevada, Colorado, Utah,
Oregon and Washington State, were Republicans.
This is the most blue of blue states, and Boxer knows where her bread is
being buttered.
Californai lost big time when it passed prop 13, which allowed strip malls and other businesses to benefit from the limits on property tax. To the extent prop 13 reduced the taxes..it had to be made up elsewhere.
We have seen the results of this ill-thought of prop in the current crisis, the 42 billion dollar shortfall.
Unless we want rioting in the streets, broken into shopping malls and food stores, danger everytime we venture out of our homes..we needed to
pass this budget. I for one, people will come down from the hills and angry if health, education, welfare and other state hand-outs are not forthcoming.
I hope I am wrong.
Obama won using the Internet..but McCain was also on the Internet,
@ John McCain. com, etc. Contributions to his campaign were solicited throughout. The Republican National Committee as Eric well knows,
also has a website. They regularly send snail mail for contributions to
their committee and various Republican campaigns nationwise.
The election of Obama was decided ASA the sub-prime mortgage crisis
erupted and got progressively worse. Had it occurred 6 months later,
I believe McCain would have been elected…1 billion in campaign contributions to Obama notwithstanding.
An interesting op-ed in the local large circulation paper tells it all about
Obama, who has taken entire pages our of Bush’s book.
From my observations, other than the stimulus package..which is
nothing more than welfare in drag, (back to Roosevelt’s days), the closing
of GITMO (250 remaining prisoners have no home to go to however), the long anticipated drawdown of US troops from Iraq ( are they going to Afghanistan?), and the desire to give unions ( fully a remnant of their
50s power) easier access to businesses, Obama has achieved nothing
NEW.
His foreign policy is worse than Jimmy (Peanut Brain) Carter’s administration, which resulted in the loss of Iran to US, and Bush 1st
premature withdrawal from Iraq (w/o entering Baghada and going after Saddam when we had it easy).
We have yet to hear from Russia’s Putin and a more aggressive
Cuba…(what will you do Hillary if Russia invades the Ukrain or No. Korea
fires that satellite into orbit as threatened this past weekend?
Oh I know, you will go to your hubby for advice.
The bottom line here is that any candidate for US Senate will have to
appeal to the majority of Californians who lean towards a liberal candidate who (they say often), is better for THEIR interests.
And perception is reality, as Doc Phil says.
The proven reserves off the coast of California are less than 1 bil. Where this guy gets his numbers from are beyond me. What? Does he suggest drilling in the Trench? Oh yeah, that’s realistic.
Californians would be loony to elect a a lame duck, conservative senator right now.
JMJ
Liberal absurdities abound in California. Manufacturing has been driven out. And now they say you can’t drill for oil while the state is going bankrupt. This is the height of irresponsibility. Somebody has got to get rid of Barbara Boxer–she is insane.