Stop overTaxing Our People

Note: this is my letter to the delegates of the Republican State Convention. For those who would like to see some public polling numbers follow the link. This is dated from November more recent private ones are more positive.

Dear Republican Friend,

Thank you for boldly standing up for our vision of a better America. Your service as a Republican Leader is vital to the political process. It is an honor and a privilege few people have. Your fellow Republicans will be aided by your diligence. Like me, you love our party and want its success.

For those of you who may be newer to the process, let me introduce myself. I have been involved with the party since I was a teenager in 1984. I called the Kent GOP to volunteer for Ronald Reagan and have been involved ever since. I grew up in Delaware. I am an African American Christian conservative. I believe in free markets, family, and freedom. I am involved in as a board member of a local charter school and served on the board of an alternative school. I volunteer with Angel Food ministries. I am active in my church and its ministry. I am proud to be a member of the National Guard (which at times has been more than one weekend a month post 9/11). I have been a City human relations commissioner and a citizen committee member. I ran for city council and came 8 votes from defeating an incumbent in a 5 to 1 Democrat district. I was De Life Pac Chairman. This will be my 14th state Republican convention.

I am concerned that some well meaning people are launching a Draft Bill Lee for Governor Movement. That would be a huge mistake. I say that as one who supported Judge Lee in both primaries and the general. Let me quickly explain.

First, Judge Lee does not want to run. He is driving home that point by heading to Florida during this convention for a vacation. With a race as tough as the one we are facing for Governor, a candidate has to have the fire in the belly. Judge Lee has served this party, state, and nation well. He is a great man. He deserves better than to be some sacrificial lamb. There is practically no way he could win by starting up a campaign from scratch at this juncture. It is a pointless endeavor. That is why he repeatedly said no.

Second, the entire movement is based upon a flawed premise that “we don’t have a credible candidate”. That would be funny if it weren’t so serious. I am sure everyone reads the papers or watches the local news. Mr. Mike Protack has been running for months. We already have a candidate. We don’t need to get our lamps out and roam the state. I know some of you are in disbelief that I would say that while others of you beginning to be resigned to this fact. Let me show you why that is not a bad deal, in fact it may be a “better deal” than you think.

Everyone in the general public and the media recognizes Mike Protack as a legitimate candidate. Why? He showed his electoral viability in the 2006 primary. He has been a sensible voice of reason for issues that matter to people for years now. He has the best developed plan for governing of any candidate. I respect the Honorable Carney and Markell personally, but have you looked at the plans they have outlined? My calculations are that it would take a half a billion dollars in new taxes to fulfill their promises. It seems like they are in a cradle to grave mode we can ill afford. With the right Republican opponent, they are vulnerable. The problem is that you cannot beat something with nothing. What I admire about Mike Protack is that he has been educating the public about a better way. He is addressing the issues which must be addressed in blue state Delaware, but in an innovative way rooted in our values of freedom and individualism. Mike is one of us.

He is gaining considerable traction. His name recognition is as high as Markell’s and other statewide officials, and it is overwhelmingly positive. That would be foolish to toss away. That is exactly what we would be doing if we self destructed by saying to the public this guy is not worthy of our endorsement. Even if for some reason you believe that, Sun Tzu said, when weak feign strength. If we drag down Mike Protack, we will doom our chances at keeping the state house of representatives in Republican hands. We can lose the Governorship and keep the house. We have done so for 16 years. What we can’t do is disengage the party leadership further from the party’s voters and fall into feuding factions and expect to keep the House.

Senator McCain is going to give us the best base Republican vote we have had in Delaware since 1988. Let’s use it to rebuild our party this year. Let’s start building a farm team at the local level. Let’s put our money into keeping the House and adding a Senate seat. Let’s build a party from the ground up. If we do that, we can win the Governorship. Regardless of the Governorship, we can’t lose the House because we will lose the one institution which keeps us a two party state. If we lose the House, we will be reapportioned in 2010 into certain oblivion.

Here is another reason why I think Mike Protack will perform credibly where few others would. The Democrats are focused on each other in what will be a very destructive race. In the meantime the voters, media, and potential donors take Mike seriously. That is the formula for an upset. Another ingredient is the fact that Mike knows how to communicate our positions to the working families. They say that he ‘gets it’. He alone among our potential candidates knows how to appeal to the disaffected Democrats whose candidate will not win the primary. All we have to do is let Mike consolidate the Republican base this spring and spend the summer courting independents and Democrats. We have a man who will help us build our party. Let’s help him, not hurt him.

Third, I have known Mike for 12 years. I know that he did not write the pink postcards. He has repudiated the offensive sections in the strongest terms. Mike stands tall on the issues not cowardly acts.

Fourth, he has apologized for running against Judge Lee in the primary. To err is human to forgive divine–especially if forgiving is in one’s best interest. It is interesting that no one else has ever apologized for running a primary against anyone. Why punish the guy who has for life? I admit that I was not happy with that decision, but I also know that he had selflessly put his own ambitions aside at our request time and time again. He stepped aside for Ray Clatworthy. Mike has been a team player for candidates up and down this state including distributing literature for me.

Some people criticize Mike for “wanting to run for everything”. I respect that fact he has the fire in his belly to serve. He served in the Marines and as an Airline Captain. Now he wants to lead our broken state to a better future. That is what we need. Someone with the vision to lead and the energy and motivation to do it.

Finally, there are those who are afraid that Mike won’t be credible. What? Is Mike going to do worse than our ‘credible’ candidates who have gotten as low as 20 to 28% of the vote? We have done a lousy job picking candidates the last 16 years as many of them have gone down in flames. Mike will do fine this fall. Even better if he wins, we can all claim credit. The only downside is in trying to stop him thereby dividing our party.