Why I am Supporting Jamie Radtke in
Virginia’s 2012 U.S. Senate Primary Race
Written by Scott Cooper
Preface:
2012 is
going to be a decisive year for the future of The United States of
America.
Most of
those paying attention to the 2012 elections have their attention focused on
the Presidential election. The
Presidential election is critically important; however it is the tireless
minority of true conservatives that were elected in 2010 to both houses of Congress,
who joined the few that were already there, who have fought valiantly for the
conservative cause. I was in Washington
last spring on the day of The Debt Limit Increase Vote. In a small group setting, I had the privilege
to hear from several of the Freshman Congressmen, as well as Congresswoman
Bachmann who had literally just come from Caucus Meetings where attempts had relentlessly
been made to force them to tow the party line.
I could literally see the stress in the eye’s, facial expression and
body language of one freshman congressman, the tremendous pressure he had just
been placed through was clearly visible in his demeanor – yet this individual
stood firm, against the leadership OF HIS OWN PARTY! I am convinced that in 2012 we must send
significant re-enforcements to these entrenched conservatives in both houses of
the U.S. Legislative body. While I pray a
true conservative wins the White House, history has shown both Parties need
accountability, thus we need strong conservatives in Congress to keep both
parties in check, regardless of what happens with the Presidential race.
I am engaged
in The Tea Party in my local community, in the state of Virginia and
Nationally. I hold elected leadership positions in both a local group as well
as in the Virginia Tea Party Patriot Federation, which is a coalition of almost
50 Tea Parties, representing the majority of counties in the Commonwealth. I mention that simply because my personal
endorsement is being done as an
individual who has been studying all of the six candidates, now five
since Tim Donner dropped out, since January and February of 2011.
Why Jamie Radtke?
Even though Jamie
has been involved in holding elected officials accountable for over 15 years, I
first heard of Jamie Radtke in 2009, shortly after the Tea Party Movement
began. I continued to follow her
activities from a distance through that year.
While we shared a couple of e-mails, I did not know her personally. In December 2009, many citizens were
travelling to Washington DC to protest Obamacare. Following the scheduled rally outside the U.S.
Capital, I had arranged meetings with both of the Virginia Senators. I had a few people coming with me, but I
wanted more, so on the morning of the event I called Jamie to tell her about
the two appointments. She informed me
that she had a prior commitment, but would pass the information on to some key
players. Within minutes of getting off
the phone with Jamie, my phone started ringing due to her spreading the
message. Our meeting that afternoon with
Senator Warner had over 100 people in it.
Many of those people showed up because of Jamie Radtke’s influence. That was my first exposure to Jamie Radtke’s
leadership and influence. That last
sentence is something I want to stress. Leadership is
influence. I love the quote by John C.
Maxwell, “He who thinks he leads, but has no followers is only taking a
walk.” Jamie is not on a walk, she has
an army of followers behind her.
The media
likes to downplay the movement that Jamie led, but the fact of the matter is
she led a grassroots volunteer organization in Richmond that had over 5,000
members. Following that she co-founded
and led a coalition of
like-minded groups from around the entire commonwealth of Virginia which today
consists of almost 50 like-minded organizations. Anyone who has ever led a volunteer coalition,
which consists of a multitude of “Type A” personalities, understands that this is
not a small accomplishment. Those that
minimalize it have never done it. While
leading that organization her “Team” organized the largest Tea Party Convention
held to date in our nation, and it was only for the state of Virginia. Those who are planning the sequel convention view
this accomplishment with awe, because it is known we have extremely huge shoes
to fill – and a record to maintain.
An
interesting side-note, at the time of the convention in October of 2010, I remember
watching her now competitor George Allen on the stage with Ken Cuccinelli and
others, and thinking that George Allen was desperately trying to ride the
coat-tails of this movement. To me, it
seemed odd that George Allen was even on the stage in front of the 2,200+
Virginian conservatives who had gathered to learn how to reverse the trends in
our country that he had been a part expediting while he was Senator the first
time – when Republicans had controlled both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue!
In the last
12 months I have personally gotten to know Jamie. There are a few main reasons she has my
support:
First,
through personal conversations, as well as attendance at events, I know that
she is not only a woman of great influence, but she is a woman of substance,
who can speak intelligently about all the issues. In a recent Candidate Forum, she articulated
policy solutions on every question raised, not in generalities like career
politicians, but with specificity. In
addition to her ability to articulate policy ideas in conversation Jamie has
surrounded herself with policy experts who are volunteering their time and
expertise to her campaign and will continue to be there when she is our
Senator.
Second, she
is a servant leader. There is so much I
could say here. I will simply say that I
have personally witnessed her do the hard work of holding elected officials
accountable as well as organize groups to do the same. She expects accountability to continue once
she is in office, and I know for a fact that you will never have to worry if
your phone call will be returned once she is in office. She knows that “We The People” are in charge,
and she will not forget that when she is our Senator.
Third, I
have personally seen her resolve conflict.
She is known for being able to disagree without being disagreeable, and
this is a trait that is sorely needed in Washington. In my opinion, if you cannot demonstrate this
type of leadership at the local and state level, we cannot expect it to be
demonstrated at the Federal level. Jamie
Radtke has demonstrated her ability to navigate the waters of building
coalitions, and I am confident the standard she bears at home will be carried
out in Washington.
Fourth,
Jamie is a woman of character. John
Adams said “Our Constitutional Republic would be wholly inadequate without
virtuous leadership.” I believe this is
true, and know Jamie meets this standard.
Finally, I
already mentioned her influence. It
takes an Army of grassroots activists who will give their time, talent and
treasure to make a candidate’s vision a reality. Each of her competitors who want to take on
the establishment candidate, are men of noble character with good ideas,
passion and a desire to take our republic back to the principles we hold so dear. I have personally met and like each of these
men, however the reality is passion and ideas alone will not win the election.
All except
one candidate, who entered the race in January have been campaigning for almost
a year or longer and Jamie is the only “Non-Establishment Candidate” who has been able to raise the financial backing required and establish the
grassroots network required to defeat George Allen. I personally know and can attest to her
leadership structure set up across the entire commonwealth, and you can review
the Federal Election
Reports for yourself. When you take
out loans the candidates have given to their own campaigns, Jamie has raised
more than all the other 4 “non-establishment candidates” combined. The list of individual donors to her campaign
is 500 % greater than all her competitors combined. This is a key indicator of who can win against
George Allen.
If you live
in Virginia, and you truly want to change Washington, and have a Senate that
will hold the Executive branch accountable, regardless of who wins the White
House, I encourage you to take a strong look at Jamie Radtke, and then get
behind her in the Virginia Primary. If
we allow our Primary vote to be split, we will not send the conservative we
need to Washington, so I implore you to look at all the reasons I listed above,
especially my final point.
Click
here for a brief introduction of Jamie, and if you want to know more,
please check out Jamie’s website and
sign up for her updates.
