Comment Doodlings: Ovide, you have both lost your way and lost your mind - Granite Grok

Comment Doodlings: Ovide, you have both lost your way and lost your mind

Interview with Ovide LamontageI could only shake my head when I read this Op-Ed over at the UL:

Another View — Ovide Lamontagne: Why conservatives should support Kelly Ayotte

It was one thing when, after she had won the 2010 US Senate Primary here in NH, he waltzed her around the state in a show of unity.  Certainly she had “sounded” good and said the right words, but there were reasons why we had endorsed Ovide over her in that Primary; she wasn’t as good as the others running and her grasp on the issues that mattered to the base were more tenuous than the others – it just seemed that she wasn’t a natural conservative.  All she really had behind her was a ton of Establishment money and oomph pushing her along.  Even with that

Six years down the line, we now know that to be true.  But for Ovide to continue “the waltzing”, well, he has lost his mind.  WHY, in God’s green earth, would he try to encourage movement conservatives to vote for someone who has shown that generally doesn’t care about Conservative Principles?  All she really had behind her at the time was a ton of Establishment money and oomph pushing her along.  Even with that, she barely won over a surging Ovide – another week in the campaign and he might have beat her.

Here’s the comment I left:

Ovide, you have both lost your way and lost your mind. I can’t really believe that you both wrote and believe this dribble about Ayotte. Let me add her support for the EPA’s State crushing Clean Power Plan – a complete take over of the energy sector by an unelected and unaccountable Executive Branch entity. Is THIS what a “conservative” places her approval stamp on, Ovide? A continuation of giving away the Senate’s power and responsibility is something that you endorse by endorsing Ayotte? And she’s demonstrably given away the Power of the Purse (in hopes of keeping her **** in DC) in stopping the Obama agenda – which she campaigned on doing. And, oh yeah, YOU were there at those debates where she campaigned against illegal alien Amnesty – and now she’s for granting citizenship. Shame, Ovide, for shame.

Here’s the entire Op-Ed:

William F. Buckley Jr. once said the duty of Republicans is to support the “most right, viable candidate who could win,” and the Buckley Rule holds just as true today as when he said it. With that in mind, I am proud to announce my endorsement of Sen. Kelly Ayotte for reelection to the U.S. Senate.

So right from the get-go, I knew this a was a bunch of hooey – as the proper Buckley quote is different.  From National Review (the magazine he founded): to support the most viable conservative candidate

Bill Buckley was careful with words. If he had opted on that June day for the words “rightwardmost electable candidate,” we would all have recognized it as a victory for Team Rockefeller. And life might look very different today. If there had been no Goldwater, National Review might not have become so influential, and if there had been no Goldwater, no National Review, there might have been no Reagan.

Let’s continue with the Op-Ed

While there has been some legitimate debate within the conservative movement about this race, given Gov. Maggie Hassan’s recent decision to abandon the governor‘s office in an effort to unseat Sen. Ayotte, from a conservative’s perspective, I wholeheartedly believe Kelly Ayotte is the right person at the right time to win this election. Allow me to explain my reasoning, applying the factors implied in the Buckley Rule.

Ah yes, the set up for the “least evil” argument.  And not setting well is “some conservatives” and “some votes”.  Look Ovide, here is the bottom line: I don’t want to have to worry about ANY vote my elected representative takes.  Amnesty for instance, is a big deal as it will be a country changer – and a big win vote wise for the Democrats.  It will also reenforce the meme that the Rule of Law is being lessened.  And you want us to swallow that?

Kelly Ayotte is a woman of accomplishment who has served New Hampshire with grace, dignity and a selfless commitment, first as our attorney general and then as our U.S. senator. While some conservatives may disagree with some of her past votes, no one can question Kelly’s strength of character, her integrity or her resolve.

There can be no denying Kelly Ayotte’s priorities and record reflect conservative values. Whatever disagreement conservatives may have with her on one or more isolated issues, a brief comparison with Maggie Hassan’s extreme tax and spend policies, her radical agenda on social issues and her blind allegiance to the Harry Reid-Barack Obama-Hillary Clinton agenda leads to only one conclusion: Kelly Ayotte’s position on the issues will make her a far better senator for New Hampshire families, citizens and our country than Maggie Hassan.

You’re whitewashing, Ovide, trying to act like a magician on stage (or as that famous movie once stated, ignore the smoke and curtain).

An objective look at Kelly’s record shows that she has stood up and fought for conservative principles, while also delivering results for our state.

In 2010, Kelly told voters that she’d be a senator who was strong on national security. Kelly has challenged the Obama administration’s reckless promises to close Guantanamo Bay, she has stood up against appeasing Iran on its nuclear program, and she has fought to ensure the we take care of our troops both on and off the battlefield.

This next part only requires a couple of questions to debunk: Ovide, what was her vote on getting rid of the Squester that allowed Federal spending to go up?  And when she had the chance to defund Obama’s agenda, she led the screaming match to not shut down the government and hold firm to the Power of the Purse.  So tell me again about:

Kelly ran promising fiscal responsibility, and she’s lived up to that promise. She helped pass the first balanced budget in 14 years and has used her seat on the Senate Budget Committee to slash wasteful and duplicative spending across government. Kelly ran as a pro-life conservative, and she has defended life and religious liberty at every opportunity. And she ran promising to streamline the federal government and make it work better for us, which she’s done at the VA by increasing options for veterans seeking care and at the IRS by standing up for taxpayers’ rights.

NO, IT’S NOT!  Did you not see what I mentioned in my comment?  Or read us, GraniteGrok (one of your biggest supporters in the past) in writing about her?  Obviously not – or your time in DC these last few years has warped both your outlook and your definition of what “conservative” really is.

For the most part, the quarrel conservatives have with Kelly are over matters of degree not kind, and on balance, when it comes to the issues, Kelly Ayotte is in Buckley’s words, “right.”

Having campaigned in recent elections with Kelly and Maggie, I know both of them as candidates. While there will be a lot of special interest dark money spent by outside liberal groups in this race, when all is said and done, I believe Kelly Ayotte can and will win the general election against Maggie Hassan because she is both better on the issues and is a better candidate.

Buckley’s “winning” factor should be viewed from the perspective of the stakes involved: the higher the stakes, the more important the winning. This is not the time to gamble with a U.S. senate seat.

A Hassan victory in November would mean that New Hampshire conservatives lose an influential voice in the Senate and most likely control of the U.S. Senate.

Justice Antonin Scalia’s recent passing has highlighted the importance of which party controls the U.S. senate.

With potentially several U.S. Supreme Court justices to be appointed by the next President, challenging Kelly Ayotte in the upcoming U.S. Senate primary or mounting an independent campaign will increase the chances the Senate will be controlled by Chuck Schumer and liberal Democrats.

We New Hampshire conservatives need to be practical, not simply ideological. So now is the time to put action behind our words.

Let’s work to keep the strongest New Hampshire conservative we can in the U.S. Senate. Kelly Ayotte believes in the principles of liberty, limited government and individual rights. She has been an effective leader and legislator, and she can win.

Well, she certainly has been effective at being on TV a lot….that earned media ain’t cheap.

With so much hanging in the balance, I am proud to support her in this election, and I encourage New Hampshire conservatives to join me in doing the same.

Ovide Lamontagne is a shareholder of the regional law firm Bernstein, Shur. He narrowly lost the 2010 U.S. Senate Republican primary to Sen. Kelly Ayotte.

 

It’s almost as if he just brushed aside the last six years.  In toto, there just isn’t any “there” there that would mark her as a Conservative – and the commentors said it as well.  A couple here:

WAYNE STANLEY said Thursday, March 17, 2016 at 7:08 am
Ovide, are you losing your freakin’ mind? Kelly Ayotte has a 26% conservatvie ranking from Heritage and an F from Conservative Review. When your only argument is “at least she’s not as bad as the other candidate”, it’s time to look inward and see what it is you stand for. Voting for the lesser of two evils is still voting for evil.

SPIKE said Thursday, March 17, 2016 at 9:54 am
Pretty Kelly LEADS the surrender wing of the Republican party, sabotaging Republicans from Ted Cruz to even Bill O’Brien. Her work to discard the Sequester–which limited military spending to get limits on domestic pork–disqualifies her as a fiscal conservative. Her visit to New Hampshire Ball Bearing with loathsome Lindsey Graham was a house call to a recipient of Export-Import loot. Her work on a Balanced Budget Amendment was like Bill Clinton signing a law on rape victims’ rights. Kelly’s quivering voice is the sound of Republican cowardice. Her reach-across-the-aisle pablum was the reason I did not vote in 2014. Everyone who tells me that a conservative alternative to Pretty Kelly (and I do not mean perennial RINO straw Jim Rubens!) is “unelectable” is saying he cannot or will not defend conservative ideas but hopes merely to help an unprincipled Republican hang on to power on name recognition or a pretty face. It is putting your faith in the stupidity of the voter, which in retrospect Ovide did in his race for governor when he answered every abortion question with, “I’m running on a jobs platform” to deny his own essence. I am remembering the names of these people and resolving not to forget their argument that we cannot hope for a return to conservatism.

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