Blogger and Libertarian, Mike Sylvester has posted his latest installment of the candidates for whom he plans to vote and his reasoning. Today he explains why he will be voting for Dr. Tom Hayhurst and against incumbent Mark Souder in Indiana’s Third Congressional District race. I’m going to block quote a lot of it because I think it Mike lives in the area, is familiar with the issues, and, as a Libertarian, isn’t especially pre-disposed toward Republicans or Democrats. His explanations are below the fold
The ten main reasons I do not like Mark Souder (Not in any particular order):
1. He was a Conscientious Objector during the Vietnam War. He got C.O. status by being opposed to violence. Mark Souder has changed his mind since the Vietnam Conflict ended… He now thinks violence is good and he is a big proponent of sending our armed forces into harms way. I am a military veteran and I have NO RESPECT for Mark Souder.2. Mark Souder originally ran on a platform of changing the entrenched culture in Washington DC. Now that Mark Souder is part of the entrenched Washington DC culture he now thinks an entrenched Washington DC culture is good.
3. Mark Souder reneged on his promise to serve for only 12 years. This really sticks in my craw. Mark Souder claims to be a Christian Conservative on one hand; but, he breaks his own promises when it suits him. I feel that Mark Souder is a hypocrite.
4. Mark Souder started his time in Washington as a fiscal conservative. He was part of the “Gang of 11.” This is a group that formed to shrink the size of government. The longer Mark has served in DC the more in favor of big government he has become.
5. Mark Souder has run a long series of negative attack ads against Tom Hayhurst on WOWO since May of this year. Some of the ads have been very negative and I absolutely hate it when someone in Mark Souder’s position think he needs to go “negative” to win an election. Mark Souder does not campaign like the “Christian” he claims to be.
6. Mark Souder refuses to cooperate with Project Vote Smart. He DID cooperate with Project Vote Smart in 1994. Since he has been in office he has refused to fill out online surveys telling his constituents where he stands. I hate that. Please check out [this] link.
7. Mark Souder made a campaign promise to debate all comers when he was running for office in 1994. He told everyone that he would be different. When William Larsen ran against Mark Souder in the Republican primary Mark Souder cowered in Washington and refused to debate Mr. Larsen. Promises seem to mean nothing to Mark Souder. I thought Christians took promises seriously?
8. Mark Souder is a Big Government Republican today. I admit he is a social conservative; however, he is not a fiscal conservative. Mark Souder continually votes to expand government and he continually votes in favor of increasing regulations that businesses must comply with.
9. Mark Souder ran on a platform of being a conservative. A conservative SHOULD believe in the separation of powers between the Federal Government and the fifty states. Mark Souder has a disturbing habit of voting to increase Federal powers and limit the powers of the fifty states; including Indiana. Conservative Republicans used to favor abolishing The entire Federal Department of Education. I favor abolishing the entire Federal Department of Education myself. Mark Souder voted in favor of the big government “No Child Left Behind Act.” Mark Souder voted with the most liberal Democrats in Congress to pass this terrible law.
10. Mark Souder voted in favor of the worst piece of legislation in recent history. This legislation is the largest expansion of government since Lyndon Johnson was President. Mark Souder joined the liberals in Congress to pass the Prescription Drug benefit program. This program has created another massive unfunded Federal liability that our children and grand children will have to pay for…
I will vote for Tom Hayhurst because:
1. He is NOT Mark Souder2. I believe in term limits. I almost never vote for elected officials of any party who have been in office for very long…
3. I have met both Mark Souder and Tom Hayhurst in person. Tom Hayhurst looked me in the eye and Mark Souder give me a silly smirk.
4. Tom Hayhurst is a military veteran and Mark Souder was a C.O.
5. I think we need gridlock in our government. I would rather see the Dems and Reps fight each other rather then pass laws that hurt my family and I.
6. Tom Hayhurst has a great reputation and we need new blood in Congress.
7. Tom Hayhurst told voters where he stands on issues at [this link]:
8. Tom Hayhurst is running a clean campaign.
9. The Republican Party is now a big government Party just like the Democratic Party. Many Republicans refuse to see it. I am hoping that if The Democrats can take Congress then maybe the Republicans will realize that they lost this election because they have become a large government Party and will be reformed by people like Mike Pence.
10. On a personal level I cannot respect Mark Souder anymore. Believe it or not, I have supported Mark Souder in the distant past… I am embarrassed.
I couldn’t agree more! I have been a Republican all my life and have already sent in my absentee ballot with a vote for Hayhurst, for all the reasons Mike listed so well. I would, however (just for kicks) add a couple more reasons not to vote for Souder:
1) his first claim to any fame was in proposing that Ronald Reagan replace FDR on the dime — now there’s some serious legislation;
2) his second claim to fame (or infamy, depending on how you look at it) was to introduce a bill overriding DC’s gun control laws. Apparently, he’s more interested in Washington DC than he is the 3rd District of Indiana.
I think the GOP is in for a rough election night in less than three weeks.
Here’s a link to CQ Politics.
Thanks to Taking Down Words for the heads-up.
(Comment edited by embedding long URL. —Doug)
Don’t forget Souder is also the one mainly responsible for transforming the I-469 bypass into a graven idol in honor of Saint Ronald Reagan. I doubt there were more than dozen or so local people that wanted it.
The CQ story on Indiana had an interesting tidbit at the end:
“The NRCC in recent weeks has paid for two polls in Indiana’s 3rd District, which six-term Republican Rep. Mark Souder is defending against Democrat Tom Hayhurst, a Fort Wayne city councilman. President Bush took 68 percent of the vote in the 3rd two years ago, and CQPolitics.com is keeping this race in its Safe Republican category for the time being.”
A second poll doesn’t seem to me to be routine, though other may know differently. It might indicate there is some concern on the part of Republicans, but I haven’t seen a sudden diversion of cash into the Souder effort from Washington.
I don’t know about the polling or how routine it is either, but I wouldn’t read anything into the lack of cash coming from the NRCC to Souder. There are a lot more endangered incumbents looking for money at the moment, including the head of the NRCC who has become severely embroiled in the Foley scandal.