The Other Republican Senate Candidate

I was reading in the Free Press that the other GOP US Senate candidate Greg Parke was not too happy with the “non-partisan” tone of the Tarrant kick-off extravaganza.

"I firmly believe in what President Reagan called the 11th Commandment, which is 'Thou shalt not speak ill of fellow Republicans,'" Parke said.

Parke said the problem with Republicans in Washington is not that they are too partisan. Instead, according to Parke, congressional Republicans are too willing to compromise their principles to pass bills that, in the end, drive up the nation's debt.

That is what is commonly referred to as hitting the nail on the head. I said the same thing in this post.

It was a Bush strategy to co-opt the Democrats’ issues in order to neutralize them, but that is part of what has lead to the obscene spending habits of our supposedly Republican-controlled government.

I have said it before, but it merits repeating, the problem with the GOP in Washington is that they need to get a backbone and stand up for conservative principles.

I have met both Parke and Tarrant and I can tell you that Parke is the real conservative Republican candidate that we conservative GOP faithful should support in September, if we vote on principle. Unfortunately, the conventional wisdom says that a real Republican can’t get elected in a blue northeastern state like Vermont.

What that means for the September primary, I don’t know. I’m not very good at predictions, which those of you who read my Town Meeting Day predictions should know.

Here’s what Parke thinks:

Parke said he can beat Tarrant in the Sept. 12 primary by rallying disaffected conservative Vermonters to his side.

"Conservatives have been beaten down and vilified so badly in this state they don't want anything to do with politics," Parke said. "Our goal is to solidify the conservative base and draw in moderates with rhetoric that is not divisive and stands up for principles."

And vilified we are.

Parke, who is not afraid to support our efforts in Iraq, also criticized Tarrant’s position on Iraq.

"He's talking cut and run," Parke said of Tarrant. "All that would prove is that Osama bin Laden was right, that we don't have the will to stand up for what we believe in." He said a withdrawal now would "earn us the hatred of freedom-loving people in the Middle East for at least the next 50 years."

This guy’s great. I would love to get him on She’s Right. I interviewed him two years ago when he was running for US House against Sanders. (That was before She’s Right when I often hosted the Burlington GOP Show.)

Regardless of his chances at winning either the primary or the general election, Greg Parke is a great candidate, who has firm conservative principles and really knows the issues. It’s a shame that the press thus far has insisted on making this race Rich Tarrant’s one-man-show.

Thanks are due to Sam Hemmingway for this great article reminding us that there are some who still remain proud to be a Republican.

Visit Greg Parke's website here.