A couple months back I spent considerable time sifting through Robert Hurts voting record and came to the conclusion that he “is a conservative”. Some have taken issue with my statements in the Lynchburg Tea Party’s press release and found them to be confusing. “don’t you want to ‘beat’ Tom Perriello?” SURE I DO! but lets give people a reason to vote FOR Robert Hurt and not AGAINST Tom Perriello. We can point all day to the fact that Tom is only pro 2A because he is allowed to be. Or that he is NOT pro Life. Or that he is NOT pro family. YET! This is not a compelling arguement to defeat him. What is a compelling argument is Robert Hurt is 100% supportive of my RIGHT to keep and bear arms. Is 100% supportive of the RIGHT to life. And 100% supportive of marriage between ONE man and ONE woman, and “THAT is why you need to vote for him.”
Is this an endorsement? No, I’m simply pointing out (for some) an inconvenient fact that Robert Hurt is a Conservative. Is that enough to get my vote in November? I’m not sure. Mainly because I want a guy that is going to push the traitors like Tom Perriello off a cliff and call a spade a spade. When the President lies I want my congressman to yell “YOU LIE!” during the state of the union. When the President shakes down BP for 20 Billion dollars I want my representative to call it what it is…a shakedown. Is Robert Hurt that transformational kind of candidate we need in D.C. ?
I realize that this nation has allowed such a big hole of debt and socialism to be dug that we may not be able to get out of it. That many of you think the solution is to let it come crashing down. You may be right, so you have justified your decision to continue lying about Robert Hurt’s conservative voting record and are thus speeding along the decline of the greatest nation on the face of the earth. But You’ll not do it blindly…Read On:
They say I voted for WHAT?
Robert Hurt’s Conservative Voting Record
By Kurt Feigel
Many people have brought into question Robert Hurt’s voting record. They say he is not a conservative. They say he is a moderate. Some even paint him to be the second coming of Satan himself. While he is part of the “establishment” It would seem that most of the arguments against him DO NOT check out.
There is currently a lot of anti establishment politics within the fifth district. I should know, I share in those same sentiments. This anti establishment wave has swept 11 unit chairs out and replaced them with, what we can all hope, will be a new fresh group of passionate conservative leaders. It has also led to a new 5th district chairman.
Having spent some time combing the voting records of Robert Hurt I wonder how much of people’s perceptions are based on facts and how much are myths based on a hatred for the establishment.
Here is a simple breakdown of his voting record. It is by no means a complete list. These votes were pulled from Project Vote Smart and only go back to 2006. I did look further but was unsuccessful in my search for the votes. I’ve no doubt that one of my haters out there will point out “how easy” it was to find them. Fine. Have at it. This post is not to serve to encourage you to vote for Robert Hurt. I remain a McPadden Supporter with McKelvey right after him. What this post is out to do is present the truth so that the VOTERS can educate themselves instead of relying on political pharisees with an agenda.
This started as a quest to find out “If Robert Hurt wins the nomination on June 8th, could I support him?”
Robert Hurts Voting Record
The site at Vote Smart is fairly accurate. I did find one anomaly with the site, in that it only records the first vote on a bill even if the bill had multiple votes. So in the instance of HB2035 (HPV Vaccine) it only recorded his initial Yes vote and not his later No vote (more details below)
Abortion:
Voting to prevent the funding of planned parenthood.
Voting to prevent forced or coercive abortion.
Voting to require Abortions clinics to get a license.
Voted to prohibit state funding of stem cell research.
Second Amendment:
Voted for Restaurant Concealed Carry
Voted against requiring a background check for gun show sales by private individuals
Has an A Rating from the NRA
Does not have a VCDL rating because ” Typically I do not do surveys. My vote in support of the second amendment speaks for itself. I believe the 2A goes to the heart of the government and the individual. If you believe the govt should trust the people then you will have no problems with the 2A”
Pro Family:
Voted in favor of defining marriage between one man and one woman
Voted against a bill Prohibiting “Discrimination” for sexual orientation in State Government Employment
Voted for a bill that allows people to designate anyone that they wish as a beneficiary on their life insurance. This vote has been harped on by opponents (Mostly Feda Morton and her supporters) as a vote in support of homosexuals.
“In 2008 life insurance benefits could not be designated to a beneficiary other than your spouse or child. The bill was designed to allow those life insurance benefits to be designated to whoever the policy holder wanted. I never looked at this as something as a benefit to homosexuals. I’ve voted against civil unions. We’ve made it the law in VA for it to be impossible. Voted for the marriage amendment. [this vote] It wasn’t about that.”
Civil Liberties:
Voted to enhance the seatbelt law and make it a “primary offense” so officers could stop someone for that violation alone.
Voted in favor of Driver’s License Suspension for Unexcused School Absences
Voted against a requirement to get a permit to fish, or ride a horse on lands under the control of the Department of Forestry.
Voted for a transportation bill that included massive excessive fines for speeding and other “infractions”
“That was part of a larger 2007 transportation package under Governor Kaine. We wanted to make sure that there were no tax increases and we did prevent a gas tax increase. That provision was later repealed and I voted for the repeal.”
Health Issues:
Voted against forcing insurance coverage of children with Autism
Voted to allow a parent to decline medical treatment for a child with a life-threatening condition in certain circumstances.
Voted for State funded HPV Vaccinations Then later voted against final passage of the bill
When asked about this bill Robert Hurt said ” When it was first introduced the vaccine was optional and I voted for it” as the bill progressed Hurt said, “the government at the end of the day doesn’t have any business doing this…when it came back for final passage I voted against it.”
Small Business:
Voted against the Smoking Ban
Election Issues:
Voted to prevent felons from having voting rights restored
Voted against “no excuse” absentee voting
” I’m not opposed to absentee voting with a reason. Elections should be held on election day and should be done at the polls. Absentee voting has problems from a big picture perspective including fraud. Most people CAN qualify with a reason.”
Crime & Death Penalty:
Voted to expand Death Penalty Eligibility to Accomplices
Voted to expand the “Triggerman” rule regarding death penalty cases (The bill allows an accessory before the fact to be tried as a principal in the first degree if he ordered or directed the willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing.)
Voted to make murder of a Judge a Capitol Murder charge
Voted against a bill that would have restricted the death penalty to those 18 and older only.
Voted to fund Anti-Gang programs
Illegal Immigration
Voted to make employment of an Illegal Immigrant a Class 1 misdemeanor, punishable by a $10,000 fine.
Voted to pass a bill preventing undocumented immigrants from receiving in-state tuition at public universities.
Voted to pass a bill preventing undocumented immigrants from attending state public universities.
Taxes:
Voted against flat tax on communications services
Voted against the Internet sales tax
Voted in 2004 for a $1 to 1.6 Billion dollar tax increase. (there are lots of numbers floating out there) He was one of 15 other republicans to vote for this bill. If you look back at his website from March 2004 it does appear that he did not want to vote for this bill. Hurt said ” I voted for it at the time because of a total failure of conservative leadership on how to combat Governor Mark Warner and the Democrats. We never had a plan and got steamrolled by the Governor and the State Senate. The Senate originally voted for a 4 billion dollar increase. The house NEVER offered a budget that had spending cuts. From March to May we had no budget. June 30 would have resulted in a government shut down. It was my duty and my constitutional obligation to my constituents to avoid a govt shut down. We voted for a compromise vote of 1 billion and that got increased as the process continued.“ He further explained that this would not have just been government offices but, Fire, EMS, Police, Etc would have had to shutdown.
When I brought up the fact that after the vote that there was a release of information that the state had a surplus he said ” That was a total outrage! Governor Mark Warner failed to forecast revenue and did not do that till after the vote” This sounds like typical Democrat play-book politics. Create a crisis that doesn’t exist to get your agenda passed.
All of Robert Hurt’s opponents claim that…the line of defense broke with him. Hurt disagreed, ” Everyone votes at the same time. I pleaded with our leadership ‘show us a way out of this that balances the budget without raising taxes.’ We were left with voting with what was on the table.” He added. ” I learned a lot in that session about leadership and about how it is important to stick your ground early. A train like that once it gets moving is really hard to stop. The Governor and the Senate out manuvered us. “
When asked about the recent furniture plant closing in Southside Hurt said, ” Virginia has been heralded in Forbes magazine as ‘The best place in the US to do business’ because of the pro business environment that we have adopted in the legislature. The biggest problem here in Virginia is not Virginia, it is the Federal Government. Tom Perriello’s voting record of Pro Regulation CRUSHES BUSINESS so that we can not compete abroad. More taxes on power companies will get passed on to companies like Stanley Furniture [ and they will leave.] because of legislation like Cap N Trade ”
I brought up the FairTax. Hurt was honest and admitted he is only half way though the book. He said about the FairTax that “I’m interested in it. It’s the kind of bold thinking we have to have. I agree that we need to eliminate the IRS. Taxes must be simpler. We have a system that punishes success, I like how the FairTax gets away from that.”
He wanted to make sure I understood one thing before I hung up, “Out of 9 years, my record shows that I have voted for numerous tax cuts. That’s the kind of leadership you’ll get out of Robert Hurt in DC.”
So my conclusion? Is Robert Hurt a conservative despite the rhetoric being spread by so many people? Yes!
Is he my kind of conservative, one that understands the depth of the Constitution like Mike McPadden? I don’t think so. But, I’ve met so few that do understand it like Mike. There are no Guarantees in this race, but I now know that if Robert Hurt wins the Primary I would have no second thoughts about supporting him in the race against Tom Perriello.
Don’t misunderstand what I’m saying here. I still remain a supporter of Mike McPadden. I also like Jim McKelvey. But come June 8th I WILL be voting for Mike McPadden.
For a detailed history of the era of historic tax increases click here
Let the Ad hominid attacks begin!
Watchdog:
I think the argument is that Clarke is more trustworthy than Hurt. Certainly the perception is that Hurt ia a moderate. The information you provide here and earlier shows Hurt has voted conservative most of the time. But the argument against Hurt is based on Hurt’s past compromises in high-pressure situations.
For me the overriding concern is, as you intimate, whether Hurt will be a leader in speaking candidly, intelligently, and loudly about the socialist policy proposals of the administration and the liberals in Congress, and whether he is willing to buck his own party leadership when that leadership compromises principle.
Many, of course, are also upset with the establishment’s early support for Hurt and its meddling in our affairs, and for this reason Hurt is perpetually tainted. The taint exists because many feel that, because Hurt was supported by the GOP leadership, he will be easily swayed/led to follow party before principle. After all, biting the hand that feeds you means no more free lunch.
But I think a vote for Clarke is wasted and will help re-elect Perriello. I know the libertarians out there get angry when a statement like that is made, but truth is what it is.
Do you think outreach from the Hurt camp toward the Tea Party would help garner support for him? I think it would if Hurt is a true conservative and this presumed fact came through in his presentation/outreach.
Do you think Hurt will reach out to the Tea party crowd?
I think you people are, for some reason or other, ignoring the bottom line fact. We want Perriello OUT! Again, BOTTOM LINE, Hurt got almost 50% of the vote in the primary. How can you possibly obfuscate the facts of this situation so as to be arguing about Hurt’s and Clarke’s merits.
Clarke has no chance of getting more votes than Hurt. Keep Clarke in the mix and you dilute Hurt’s chance of beating Perriello.
Anything you may have to say, other than “Vote for Hurt”, will only dilute the vote.
Let’s get Perriello out, no matter who we get in, as long as he is a conservative.
Let’s unite, present a strong front and do this!
Perriello will win if we don’t give people a reason to vote FOR Hurt. Stop all this nonsense about “now matter who we get in” There are reasons to vote for Hurt. “Beating Perriello” is not the most compelling one.
Watchdog:
This may a simplistic question, but what would you give as the most compelling reason to vote for Hurt over Clarke?
thanks for the post.
and for “morprctgovt” i would say this about who do you trust more, Clark or Hurt: Hurt has a long legislative record. From a TEA party standpoint, a 2d A. standpoint & a social conservative standpoint (& that is covering ALOT of ground), he has made only 1 vote that any conservative/Republican disagrees takes issue with.
that’s trustworthy.
and never ever lose sight of how bad Perriello is. Today, I read an article on CNS that documented how $160 million FEDERAL money was going into high-risk insurance pool in Pennsylvania. this pool will FED fund abortions.
this is a hot button issue for many in the 5th. Perriello voted for Obamacare (twice) which allows fed funding to this high risk insurance pool.
Robert Hurt needs to raise money & get his message out. what is stopping you from helping him defeat Perriello?
Mrs Osborn what happened to all the money that Hurt was able to raise ?
I personally have issues with more than “just one vote” when it comes to Hurt. And Perriello for that matter. I doubt I am going to find someone that is going to vote the way I would all of the time. But I would like my congressman to take my phone calls or meet with me to let me give my reasoning as to why I do or don’t support it. I can tell you now… that person is NOT Robert Hurt. I agree he doesn’t come across as trustworthy and I am disappointed with his apparent refusal to debate if Clark is present. THAT is EXACTLY what Scott Brown did in MA. I don’t want a Scott Brown for the 5th!!
Will White- Your $ question is a good one. I heard this week that Hurt has something like $122 thousand, and that Perriello is in the millions. Of course it doesn’t hurt when you have Daddy Soros, and all of his non-profits propping up your campaign. It is bothersome that Hurt has so little money. I have to wonder if that is a sign of lack of support for Hurt.
As someone said above, one of Hurt’s biggest problems from the get go is because he was an establishment pick. Eric Cantor listed him as one of his Young Guns recruits. Well then one must ask, where are the dollars for your candidate Eric Cantor. Problem is, the NRCC is not collecting much money, nor is the RNC or NRSC. Most refuse to support the establishment R’s, and are donating directly to candidates they support.
Lokk at it this way, to send Hurt to Washington in 2011, it will be only for 2 years. Even if the R’s gain control of the House, and let’s include the Senate for arguments sake, nothing will ever pass, and be signed into law by the very Progressive Obama. The best that can come from an R House takeover, is to prevent funding for the O’s most horrendous legislation, such as Ocare. That would be the very best test to see if Hurt is a man of principle. If he simply talks, then in 2012 he walks.
It sad but true, anything but Perriello must do for now.
look at the FEC report. Perriello did raise more money that RH in the last quarter. But RH was in the middle of primary election during that time which cut down on fundraising time.
I guess I don’t understand the tenor of some of the posters here. Perriello’s millions will guarantee that he can be on every TV, radio & newspaper constantly between now & November. Many here sound happy about that. Is that what you want? Do you want Perriello re-elected?
Host a fundraiser for Sen Hurt. put up yard signs or 4x8s. Read the FEC rules re: advertising for him & start your own ad campaign. To beat Perriello, we must all be engaged.
Kelly- Please don’t put words in my mouth. If you read what I posted, I said “anything but Perriello will have to do for now.” That’s isn’t hoping that Perriello wins. You can’t simply tell/expect people to all of a sudden feel all great and enthusiastic if they don’t feel that way. It’s up to Hurt to give them a reason to feel enthusiastic about him. That’s what candidates are responsible for.
It is very true that Perriello can afford to have his weasel voice on the air all day every day from now until the General. He can have his mug on local TV as well, very often. My question was/is, if Cantor pushed Hurt, and felt that only he can beat Perriello, where is the NRCC money for his campaign. Maybe they will come in more toward the end of the season, but by then it’s too late. Hurt still has his Senate seat, and the responsibility to fullfill that role, which makes it difficult for him to be on the road constantly selling himself. That, plus the lack of funds is not looking good for him. It still is very possible for Hurt to win, as he should, but, it will mostly be because of anyone but Perriello.
I couldn’t stand McCain in the 08 race, but, I knew what the alternative was. That is going to have to be the way it is one more time, because it is getting dangerously close to us falling off the Marxist cliff, and Perriello is one of the worst of them.
Sandy, pardon any offense.
This is the reality: Robert Hurt is our candidate running against one of the most liberal members of Congress. If we don’t all get together & work for Hurt, we could have Perriello for 2 more years or even longer.
Get engaged. Don’t wait for Sen. Hurt to show up at your doorstep. Be proactive. Perriello will very likely have the SEIU going door-to-door later in the campaign; we need to be aggressive campaigners to overcome their money & numbers.
Kelley- Will you please take a course in reading comprehension. The biggest point I have been making is that this election must be another “anyone but Perriello” election. Perriello is the worst of the worst in DC today. He must be sent packing.
Kelley, you have been a big time supporter for Hurt since the get go, and that’s your choice. I’m glad you feel so passionate about your guy. What you fail to realize is that you can’t demand that others feel the same passion for Hurt. You got your guy, but you don’t have the ability, or right for that matter, to insist that everyone get on your train of enthusiasim. For many, there is a strong feeling of let down, and, a similar feeling many of us had with McCain as our candidate in 08.
The voter turnout for the primary was underwhelming at something like 8%. There certainly is enough of a presence of Republican/Conservative voters in the 5th district though that Hurt should have a heck of alot more money in his coffers than $122 grand. I must wonder if that number is so low because of a resentment that the national party elites are perceived to have forced the choice. The DC crowd, Cantor in particular, insured that Hurt had the money to win the primary. It is up to them to now increase Hurt’s coffers for the General. The constituients haven’t been quick to open their wallets obviously, even though Perriello has consistently been considered one of the 5 most vulnerable members in the House. That alone should have made this a nationally watched race. Unfortunately, Hurt doesn’t have the cash to run a radio add once a week for 3 months, while we hear the Weasel’s voice on there constantly. Where are all the Republican/Conservative 527′s with cash for Hurt’s race?
Here we are again, Kelly. You want us to get excited that RH isn’t Tom Perriello.
No one in my area is excited about RH. Strongest emotion I have encountered –> disappointment with the Republican establishment. Hard to win a race that way.
Sandy I really hope in November we aren’t wishing we had of picked a better candidate than Hurt.Like it or not Hurt hasn’t raised any money and hasn’t been seen very much at all.The Democrats are all united behind Perriello but nowhere near all the Republicans are united behind Hurt.This all in a year that should be very easy for any Republican to win.The establishment will have alot of crow to eat if Hurt gets beat this year and in my opinion that is where we are headed.
Reminds me of the 1976 GOP convention (a very divisive nomination battle between Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford) when, after Gerald Ford gave his speech as the GOP nominee, Ronald Reagan was asked to come on stage to show his suport for Ford. The convention delegates then clamored for Reagan to address the convention. The effect of Reagan’s impropmtu address was to cause those on the convention floor and those viewing the convention via television to wonder whether the convention had chosen to wrong person as their candidate. Reagan was electrifying and heart-felt able to inspire the GOP delegates, while Ford’s words fell flat on the convention floor.
Ford won the nomination because he was sitting president (i.e., Ford was entitled to the position), and the GOP establishment would not stand for their sitting president to be unseated at the GOP convention.
In our 5th District race, the establishment GOP’s hand-picked nominee, Robert Hurt, has fallen flat since even before June 8, but with the money he was able to pull through. But it has now become embarrassingly obvious to all – he was not the best candidate. He is uninspiring. He seems disorganized. He seems unenthused himself.
A congressional seat that should have been easily won by a GOP candidate now is at least in serious jeapardy of remaining in marxist hands. WHO is to blame?
Damn GOP establishment types like Cantor should have kept their hands and mouths out of this race and let us decide ourselves.
Remember, sitting President Ford lost the general election and the GOP lost the White House because the GOP establishment would not let the best man win the GOP nomination.
In a day when the groundswell of conservative political activists are demanding an end to the top down approach to governing, the GOP establishment bucks the grassroots trend to tell us who our candidate will be. Who the hell would be enthusiatic about supporting one of Cantor’s Young Guns? Is this not the same Cantor who supported and endorsed Dede Scozzafava, the extremely liberal GOP candidate in the NY 23rd Race over the true-blood conservative Doug Hoffman?
Why does he think we would be enthusiastic about his candidate? Does he think we are just a bunch of red-neck hillbillies who cannot read or follow the news. We can keep better tabs on these political illiterates now than at any time in our history. We can detect double-facedness very quickly. Gone are the days we will simply trust them because of a few letters after their name, or because the person appears on some newscast, or because he rises in the House or Senate Chamber to deliver a speech written by three of his staff-persons working ’round the clock to write his speech for him. We want to know and will find out his voting record, his statements unawares, and those to whom he throws his political support.
It’s a new day, Mr. Cantor, and Boehner, and McConnell, and Cornyn. You better wake up to it.
You too, Mr. Hurt. You will have to earn our support. Tell us why we should support you.
while I cannot demand that everyone feel my level of enthusiasm for Robert Hurt, I can demand & will continue to demand, that my fellow conservatives of the 5th do everything in their power to defeat Perriello.
Perriello is the problem. Be part of the solution: work to defeat him.
Kelley where is all of the big money that you said Hurt was going to be able raise ? Where is the tv ad’s ? Where is Hurt ?
Now that the July FEC reports are out, I decided to compare Robert Hurt’s haul with that of his fellow Republican candidates in VA.
Here is a list of the amount of individual contributions received by Republicans running for Congress in Virginia during the last quarter (rounded):
$195,000- Keith Fimian
$185,000- ROBERT HURT
$183,000- Morgan Griffith
$167,000- Eric Cantor
$130,000- Frank Wolf
$102,000- Randy Forbes
$82,000- Rob Wittman
$75,000- Scott Rigell
$19,000- Bob Goodlatte
$10,000- Chuck Smith
$3,625- Matt Berry
Also compare:
$630,000- Robert Hurt’s total individual contributions
$270,000- individual donations received by ALL other Va5 candidates
$185,000- Robert Hurt’s individual contributions this quarter
$185,000- individual donations received by Goode same qtr last year
As far as fundraising goes, I think Robert Hurt is doing just fine.
130K cash on hand compared to Perriello’s 1.7 million cash on hand isn’t doing just fine in my opinion.
does RH need more money? he sure does. host a fundraiser for him. send him a donation today. Don’t let Perriello with his Pelosi/Soros/union money steal this election.
Any candidate running for office can always use more money, especially when you’re running against a Liberal “cause celebre” like Tom Perriello. The Republican running against Allan Grayson in Florida will likely not be able to outraise Grayson, but just like we found out in New Jersey, where Jon Corzine vastly outspent Chris Christie, money isn’t all that matters.
If we do what we are supposed to do, on the ground, Tom Perriello will not be reelected, no matter how much crap he blares over the radio (or steps in on his tv commercials).
Chris Christie had an electrified support base that propelled him to victory in New Jersey. Same for Scott Brown in Taxxachusetts.
I contend a GOP dog catcher running for governor, lt. governor, and attorney general in Virginia in 2009 would have beat the democrats, both because of poor campaigning by the democrats and especially because of the negative backlash against the Obama agenda.
Perhaps the negative backlash against the Obama agenda, and Perriello’s lockstep voting with Pellosi (the votes against the democrat initiatives was only because they had the votes to spare), will be enough to propel Hurt to victory. He better hope so, because thus far this is all Hurt seems to be depending on. I have not seen or heard from the campaign since the so-called unity rally in Charlottesville just after the primary.
If Hurt wants folks to get on board with his campaign he better start some outreach.
Maybe he takes conservative voters for granted ….
look, I don’t know where you live but I don’t hear anything about RH campaign either except by reading the news aggregators & going to the RH website & FB. We are serviced here by RTD & very small local newspapers which focus on local fires, car wrecks & town council news.
But I know he is campaigning to several or more spots daily because I make an effort to read what is going on across the district.
for example, RH plans to spend the better part of a day in Lunenburg in a few weeks. Where will you see that reported? There are alot of places in the 5th that are not on the TV or big newspaper radar.
It is Perriello that takes voters for granted: voters that work, pay bills, pay taxes, want a future for themselves & their children & believe in a strong economic base for America.
Perriello was on the radio today in Farmville talking about how much he has done for the 5th district it made me think WTH.Kelley like it or not if Hurt wants to win thisa election he had better step up his game cause what he has done so far won’t get him elected.Does anyone remember that Virgil Goode was loved by 99.9% of the Republicans and 60% of the Indy’s in the 5th district and he lost by 727 votes.Robert Hurt on the other hand doesn’t have 75% of the Republicans and 20% of the Indy’s in my opinion this is a major problem for Hurt.I knew if Hurt won the primary he was going to have to work hard to even get all of the Republicans on board and the Indy’s might not ever get on board.What reason has Hurt given the Indy’s to get on board ? If the establishment’s pick loses this race it will be hell to pay from now on in the 5th district.
I am glad Kelly has the time and resources to check the various media outlets across the district to find out what Hurt is doing. I certainly do not have the time or know of which media outlets pre- announce a candidate’s apperance – they usually feature the candidate in a story after the candidate has come and gone.
There is nothing on the Hurt website telling us where Hurt will be. I know at least one candidate in the primary had his schedule on the website and told whrere he would be more than a week ahead of time.
The Hurt website had a tweet that stated Hurt was in Lovingston yesterday. I live in this area and heard nothing about Hurt being up here.
This is embarrassing, y’all.
You are so correct.I made the same comment back a while and Kelley said there were pro’s and con’s for a candidate putting up a calendar of events whatever that means. If I were running for office I would make sure everyone would know where I was going to be. This to me would only make common sense but im not running for office.
A must read for Robert Hurt:
http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=ZWYyNjAyY2Y1NjkxMjkzMDIwNTc2NmJhYjZiYTUwMmI=
Kelly, if you know where to find Robert please give him this article, ask him to read it and to respond appropriately.
Very interesting article. I honestly don’t think Hurt has any big ideas. I think he thinks, and his advisers and fans believe, that simply not being Tom Perriello is enough. I worry he’s too much like Eric Cantor, unable to articulate not just why he votes for or against bills, but when against, what good alternatives would be. It seems like his meetings are all with local Republican groups, but if he’s not raising good money from them, what is he doing? Does he still need to solidify his base? It seems a little late for that.
Im afraid the establishment has made one hell of a mistake this time. The 5th district seat should have been a easy seat for the Republicans to take back but with a candidate like Hurt im not sure it can happen.Mike McPadden would have 97% of the Republicans behind him now along with alot of Indy’s. The establishment must have thought we were just talking out of our heads but this time they just might get proven wrong.
I just called the Hurt campaign to find out why Hurt has not put his schedule on the website. I was told that Hurt does not want to post his schedule because some worm from the Perriello camp follows Hurt around with a camera if Perriello knows where Hurt is going to be.
So, because Hurt is afraid of or gets annoyed at someone from the Perriello camp, he will not tell his supporters and potential supporters where he going to be.
I was also told Hurt would be in Bedford tonight to speak to “the committee.” It must be like you say, Chris. Hurt is speaking with Republican groups but is doing absolutely NO outreach to disaffected conservatives and independents.
Re Cantor. This guy supported Dede Scozzafava in NY 23rd over the known true conservative, Doug Hoffman. Cantor is with the likes of Newt Gingrich, the GOP general who, along with Bob Dole, lost the 1994 Republican Revolution less than one year after it started. Gingrich also supported Scozzafava. This tells me all I need to know about Cantor and Gingrich.
Is Hurt also this the type of so-called conservative? Only Hurt can convince us otherwise. But instead of taking this challenge by the horns, Hurt is secretly meeting with GOP committees around the district, keeping his head low in the hopes that someone with a camera will not spot him.
I suppose Perriello wished McKelvey would have won – so Perriello could have seen that big bus and could have easily spotted the location of McKelvey. Instead, we have a GOP candidate putting on make-up, false eyelashes, a wig, and a girdle hoping Perriello will not recognize him.
In Hurt’s concerted effort to hide his whereabouts from Perriello, he is hiding his whereabouts from the independents and conservatives who are eagerly searching for a reason to support him.
Come out of the closet, Mr. Hurt. Whatever you are, we need to see it.
morprfctgovt, If that’s true that’s simply embarrassing. Say all you will about Perriello, I’m coming to the conclusion he’s more…testicular fortitude, than Robert. Tracker’s are a part of politics. Perriello gets followed, everybody does after macaca. What bothers me more is the fact that you never see quotes from Hurt even in the papers. It’s always Lacivita or Harrison getting quoted. I understand that sometimes you want someone else to do the negative stuff, but even the positive quotes come from other people. And the debate dodging! VAPatriot talks about Clark being a ghost, but Hurt is acting like a paper tiger.
Chris, back in June I read an article posted on the Hurt website (here is the link: http://www.roberthurtforcongress.com/news/Read.aspx?ID=72) Within two days of it being posted on the campaign website I called the Hurt campaign and left a message with this Harrison guy to tell the campaign of the six grammatical/factual errors in the article and asked/begged the campaign to clean it up and get the facts straight. This article is still posted on the Hurt website in all its erroneous glory!
It is bad enough that it was orginially posted with the grammatical and factual errors, but to still leave the errors on the site after a warning from a friend is simply inexcusable. Almost a month ago.
And now, for the bonus round. We get another idiotic yet telling statement from the Hurt campaign. (link here: http://www.roberthurtforcongress.com/news/read.aspx?id=81)
This, his latest press release, complains of Perriello’s vote for the Obama healthcare bill.
Hurt’s primary focus in the article is that the bill cuts $500 billion from Medicare. Hurt then accuses Perriello of trying to hide this fact from the voters.
But this was one of the foremost facts tauted by Obama White House as a way to pay for the bill – that the bill would cut $500 billion from Medicare, but that these cuts would be in the form of eliminating “waste, fraud, and abuse” in the system, and not result in cuts to services for seniors covered under the plan. Neither Perriello nor any other democrat politician tried to hide this aspect of the bill – they yelled and screamed this from the mountain tops because it seemed to exude fiscal conservative politics. So, Hurt got his facts wrong again while trying to appear tough on Perriello. Instead, he ends up looking like a mal-informed dweeb.
Hurt states most of the constituents in the 5th District oppose the bill because of the $500 billion in cuts to Medicare. But the fact is, Rob, that we oppose the bill because of its unconstitutional aspects, including individual mandate and its regulations on an industry that impinges on the right of privacy between a doctor and patient (more could be said). Someone please tell Rob to talk to Ken (Cuccinelli,that is) to see if Ken can remind Rob of the Virginia legislature’s vote against any federal requirement to purchase healthcare insurance. Remember the lawsuit, Rob?
Hurt then goes on to say he opposed the Obama healthcare bill because ” it is a job killer and a huge tax increase on middle class families and small businesses.” Well, Rob, suppose the bill did not result in huge tax increases and kill jobs. Would you then support the bill despite its unconstitutional provisions? Man, this ought to be an easy one for Rob? But he cannot even pull this one off. (I saw a poster at the 9/12 rally in DC that featured George Washington addressing Congress with the statement – “WT_!”)
Hurt then states he will go to Washington to “create jobs, cut taxes, and help our seniors.”
But no word from Rob on how he will accomplish this. All we ever get from Hurt is his “just-so”, so-called ideas. How will you create jobs, Rob? Vote for an earmark to federalize the tank museum in Danville thereby “creating” a few construction jobs? Cut taxes for who? Corporations? Low-income folks? What about McPadden’s idea of across the board tax cuts to get the economy running again? What about cutting programs and spending that have no constitutional basis, Rob? Has that idea popped into your head lately?
Upon what constitutional basis do you propose to “help our seniors”, Rob? Would that be shoring up Medicare and putting Social Security on a sound fiscal footing? Let’s see, would that be in Article VIII, Clause II, Paragraph 1 of the Constitution? But does this section of the constitution really give the federal government that power?
(For those who care, the U.S. Constitution has only seven articles. There is no 8th article. Did I getcha? The one constitution that I know of that promises health care and payments to seniors is the constitution OF THE FORMER USSR!!) Did you know this, Robby?
I wonder if Hurt plagiarized the information for this article from one of his children’s homework assignments.
Substance, Rob! Passion, Rob!
It is indeed a dry and thristy land for conservatives in the 5th.
Just visited the Hurt for congress website…
“My family has been in the tobacco business for many decades in Southside Virginia. I know people in the 5th District, ****and we’re not nearly as dumb as Tom Perriello thinks we are****”
Somebody seriously needs to fire whoever is writing this crap for him… ROFL… His whole website is filled with high-school like material. He needs to call Beyonce about getting an upgrade.
Hurt is appealing to some of the 5th district voters. public poll (only one that i’ve seen–maybe there are others since the primary)shows Hurt 20 points up over Perriello.
why won’t Perriello release results from the 2 DNC polls run right at the time of the primary? do you think he won’t release them because he is AHEAD? nope, he is behind. he has tremendous name ID & he is still behind. not a good sign for Perriello.
Kelley Virgil Goode was up by 30 points at this time and he lost if you think Hurt will beat Perriello by 20 points you are in for a quite a shock in November.Virgil Goode also had almost all Republicans behind him which Hurt does not.What I think most people are not looking at is the FACT that Clark has 4% and Perriello beat Goode by less than 1% this spells trouble for Hurt.The people Hurt has working for him must the high school students out for the summer.
I think Hurt is banking on the fact that Perriello will not have Obama’s coattails to hang onto to pull him to victory (not that Obama has any coattails since the 2008 election).
I think what Hurt is NOT considering is that many conservatives were also very motivated to vote AGAINST Obama in 2008 because we knew of his communist ties and leanings. Many of us had determined not to vote for McCain because we knew he was a progressive, but once he picked Sarah Palin as running mate we threw in our support behind the GOP TICKET, although we were less than enthused by McCain.
But remember, this was pre- Tea Party days. Since the 2008 general election, many of us have awakened to what the Republican Party did to us while they held the majority in the Congress. Many of us are sickened by the national GOP that we have determined to individually support or not support a candidate based on that candidate’s individual merit. Mr. Hurt has not shown us he merits our support.
I still say – the burden is on Hurt. The ball is in his court. He needs to remember that while Perriello does not have the Obama coattails, neither does Hurt have the naive, blind support of conservatives in the district.
Where will Hurt be tonight? Anybody know? Oh, the campaign is not letting us know, are they?
If I was running an underground dog fighting ring, I would want Tom P to manage it for me. He is a great liar, has lots of connections, a very screwy moral compass, plenty of money and can talk his way out of a concentration camp.
The last guy I would want running it is Michael Vick. I am not sure that Clark or Hurt could handle the job. However, since this dog fighting ring happens to be in congress, I would rather have Jeff Clark or Robert Hurt running it. They are very similar on their dog handling skills, they both know how to feed and bathe dogs, and they both know how to dress wounds.
Two articles that should be read:
http://spectator.org/archives/2010/07/21/how-to-party-in-november/print
http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=MDkxNmY1NTc2ZDFmMDc2ZmZlOTI2OTgzZTlkOTU1MTk=
These articles hit both sides of the arguments put forth on this blog.
The first article was on point. The second article is trash. Mr. Hanson should be ashamed of writing such a piece.
Although the first article is one of these articles that pretends that there is an “anti-incumbent” mood in the country, when it is actually more of an anti-communist movement. And sure, there are republicans that are commie-lite.
The Jefferson Area Tea Party had Hurt as a guest this evening. The Forest Lakes Arby’s was packed to the gills.
Hurt talked a little, then took a lot of questions from the audience. I thought he did quite well.
This was a lot better environment to get to know him then the “forums” held during the primary.
He was poised, articulate, and said most of the right things. He was believable and likable.
He didn’t agree with all of the questioners and wasn’t afraid to say so.
He had a dopey answer about allowing for legal immigration so there will be people to do the jobs Americans don’t want to do, and he really needs to re-think his “I voted to raise taxes to avoid a government shutdown” explanation. I would be a lot happier if he were to just say that he is older and wiser now, and that he admits it was a mistake.
I walked away with a positive feeling about him, and think he will fair quite well in a debate with Periello, because the contrast will be so great.
For the first time I am feeling positive about our chances in November…
http://yankeephil.blogspot.com/2010/10/hurt-supporters-outnumbered-moveon-folk.html