January 13, 2012

We Can Change Congress

How did we get a Congress that very few appreciate, that overspends their income by 30%, and are employed for life? The answer lies in how we select candidates. I will use Radtke, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, as an example of that process.

The candidate grows up in a military family immersed in patriotism; goes to college to earn a degree in Government; works in political areas for a few years; sees first-hand the broken system used to staff our government; gets involved in local politics.

Radtke develops the deeply held belief that she can play a role in helping to get our government back to Constitutional mandates. To do so she must:

1. Get the Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia to place her name on the ballot.
2. Receive a majority of votes at the Republican Primary June 12, 2012
3. Receive a majority of votes at the National election November 2, 2012

To be certified for the ballot, a candidate must get 10,000 registered-voter signatures. Currently there are five Republican contenders: Allen, Donner, Jackson, Marshall, McCormick, and Radtke.

The winner at the Primary will be on the ballot for the national election to face the Democrat Kaine, Lynch, or Modica.

The first challenge is to get enough supporters at the Primary to achieve a majority vote so she can go on to the national election.

A candidate like Jamie Radtke, who has an exemplary record of service and political savvy, must convince Primary voters that she is the best choice when she is relatively unknown to the voting public. A formidable task when her main opponent, George Allen, is an establishment Republican with 22 years in elected office.

To get fresh ideas in our government, we need fresh faces. Each of us can help make that happen by getting involved at the Primary level.

We simply need to show up and choose wisely!

Rex A. Hoover
Sumerduck