The Republicans
Both Republican campaigns issued press releases in the last couple of days, so we thought we'd give them a little pub here.
Nick Reid blasts Obey for making global warming his highest priority
Seventh Congressional District Candidate Nick Reid today called Dave Obey’s postal patron mailing proof of how out of touch the 37-year incumbent has become. At a time when the hard working taxpayers of his district are dealing with high gas prices, scarce jobs, assaults on traditional marriage, and the war on terror, Obey claims global warming is the biggest issue facing us right now.
Tyberg talks about the minimum wage.
Jeff Tyberg, Republican candidate for U.S. Congress, believes that tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of jobs will be lost if Congress approves a raise in the minimum wage. “It will hurt working class families–people in small communities like in northern Wisconsin,” said Tyberg. “Small businesses will forced to shed workers to stay profitable if Congress raises the minimum wage.”
Nick Reid blasts Obey for making global warming his highest priority
Seventh Congressional District Candidate Nick Reid today called Dave Obey’s postal patron mailing proof of how out of touch the 37-year incumbent has become. At a time when the hard working taxpayers of his district are dealing with high gas prices, scarce jobs, assaults on traditional marriage, and the war on terror, Obey claims global warming is the biggest issue facing us right now.
Tyberg talks about the minimum wage.
Jeff Tyberg, Republican candidate for U.S. Congress, believes that tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of jobs will be lost if Congress approves a raise in the minimum wage. “It will hurt working class families–people in small communities like in northern Wisconsin,” said Tyberg. “Small businesses will forced to shed workers to stay profitable if Congress raises the minimum wage.”
posted by ObeyOut2006 at 11:42 AM
22 Comments:
Is there a clearer example of the differences between these campaigns? Reid's release is professional, and well written. Tyberg’s has misspelled and missing words in it, and is far too wordy and long to be effective. While a person shouldn’t make up his/her mind on who to support based on this, it is an indication of the quality of campaign each man would run. This is night and day.
Has anyone here heard a rumor about an endorsement process?
Heard Reid agreed but Tyberg said no, wonder why?
If this is true, then Tyberg is a fraud, because obviously this race is more about him that the people of the district. Is the fact that he has NO political experience the reason he can't recognize the fact that he can't possibly win? His campaign only serves the purpose of helping Dave Obey.
I hope the Republican Party gets off their collective backsides and just endorses Reid anyway. He's raising money, has a real campaign staff, has an organization on the ground, has people in Washington, DC who have actually heard of him. It will be hard enough for Reid to win without Tyberg in the race, let alone with him there stopping more money and assistance from coming Reid's way.
I agree with those who are saying that every day Tyberg stays in the race, he makes it that much easier for Obey to win in November.
You guys are all wet. You don't beat 37-year incumbents with professional campaigns. You beat a guy like Obey by running a candidate with no experience, political knowledge, money, staff, or volunteers. It's a secret campaign plan. Shhhhhhh! It also helps to be sloppy, so Obey will ignore us and we can sneak up on him.
Your right 1:32, I heard Nick Reid saying he couldn't believe how smart Tyberg's strategy was and how he was about to fire his staff and go to a one-man show campaign to try and cover the 15,000 square miles in this district, oh and he's going to refund the rest of his money because you don't need money to win either.
Here's my thought...2006 is going to be a huge year for Republicans. We have a lot to lose and a lot to gain. GOP volunteers are not going to waste their time with a race they can't win. I am one of those volunteers. I am slowly seeing that unless Tyberg backs out I am going to focus my attention on a race that has a chance to win. Right now, I'd say Reid's chances are getting slimmer. When Tyberg backs out and the race becomes a little bit more serious, get back to me. There are many others who feel the same way I do.
Get real, Jeff.
Everyone seems to have missed the fact that Tyberg was slamming a federal minimum wage that will have no relevance to Wisconsin. Wisconsin already enacted a minimum wage for the state that is higher than the federal proposal.
For the record, 91% of Republicans polled support Nick Reid. 100% of Obey-supporting Democrats will be crossing the line in the primary to vote for Jeff Tyberg. You pick.
I agree with tlk, Tyberg apparently thinks he can win in this district by intentionally antagonizing union members by attacking the minimum wage.
Reid's release is right on point because it clearly shows how out of touch Obey is with the district after 37 years. If you told a room full of people that Dave Obey said global warming was the greatest challenge we face, they'd probably laugh because they'd think you were making it up. That's what's scary, we're not making it up.
Tyberg is sounding more and more like the Lordge of the North. I think TLK is on to something here, Obey's forces will get involved in our primary to back the weakest candidate. And anyone who's reasonable we'll see that's Tyberg.
great strategy for Tyberg, play the fool and attract Democrat votes to win a primary. It won't work, but what it could do is force Reid to spend all his campaign finances to win the primary then have nothing on hand with six wees to go. GREAT JOB JEFF, THANKS FOR NOTHING, DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT RUNNING FOR ANYTHING ELSE AGAIN.
You know.... Weeks ago, I had made a post that I supported Tyberg because I felt he more represented "me". Some people posted some thought-out, compelling, and above all reasonable arguments that sometimes you have to bite the bullet, forget your heart for a minute and go with what is best for the party. I believe the example used was in a presidential race. I had actually given serious thought to those arguments. Whatever it takes to get a Republican in office, right?
I like Reid, a lot. And for a long time, I was so on the fence between Reid and Tyberg. I anguished about it to my county chair, to Jeff and even to Nick. They all listened to me rant, talked to me a bit, and no one put pressure on me to sway me one way or the other. Despite that, I cannot, in good conscience, cast my lot with a bunch of mean-spirited Reid supporters. Because that is what that last post, and to a lesser extent most of the ones before it, was - Mean-Spirited.
If you want to create a "Tyberg Out" blog, that's fine. But I don't think an anit-Democrat board should be used to flame a fellow Republican. Have your opinions...cool. Support Reid...cool. But the flaming of a Republican by Republicans is just ridiculous.
Nick, if you check in here, you probably can figure out who I am. You're a great guy, and I cannot bring myself to believe that you condone this. There's just too much "nice" in you. But you need to know that your supporters here lost you my vote.
11:00, I have been very critical of Tyberg as of late. This is evidenced on my blog. But I think you have to look at the bigger picture.
It's not just that a Republican wins that seat. Obey has not been good for the 7th. Nick has operated a stellar campaign from day one. Tyberg, not so much. Is this mean or is it simply the truth?
I have been very critical of Tyberg lately not because he's a Republican, but because at this point he is helping Obey. Nick is the frontrunner no matter how you cut it. Every day Tyberg stays in is another day closer to Obey's re-election.
I would venture to guess that the frustration of many conservatives in the 7th stems from the fact that Jeff is out of touch with reality. Not out of touch with conservative values, but out of touch with political reality: his chances are VERY slim to none.
He is not furthering the deabte, he's not raising money, and he is not taken seriously by most conservatives in the 7th.
The mean-spiritedness, as you call it, I see as great frustration both in Obey's arrogance and Tyberg's ignorance. The 7th has hope for the first time since Scott West to knock Obey Out.
If Jeff is serious about seeing to it that the 7th has quality representation, then he needs to wake up to reality and get out of Nick's way.
I think I asked this before, maybe not on this blog, but what does Tyberg offer that Reid does not? Both are clearly conservative. But as I, and most people see it, what Tyberg offers is not enough money to beat Obey, disorganization, and the foolishness to stay in the race and help re-elect Dave.
I certainly see justification in strong dissatisfaction, and borderline mean-spiritedness toward both Obey and Tyberg.
I see absolutely no downsides to the Reid campaign. His supporters want him to do the best that he can, because it is true that Nick is the 7th's best chance in a long time. Tyberg is dreaming if he thinks he has a shot.
I do not at all see supporting Nick as biting the bullet. I mean, if Tyberg would jump into an assembly race against Marlin Schneider or something like that, I would be much more supportive of Jeff. I honestly think that Jeff has bit off more than he can chew and he needs to get out of this race and take on something in his league; something where he is the lone conservative in a political race. Maybe he should run for county sup. or for city hall. ANyway, WI-7 is the wrong race for Tyberg.
As I see it, you cannot separate Tyberg Out and Obey Out, because Tyberg, whether he will admit it or not, has become part of the problem.
In closing, I will cite the Scott Walker example. Scott bowed out in the best interest of the people, not just the party. Scott lost no respect from conservatives and is seen as a great man by the early Green supporters. Scott bowed out in class. Tyberg should do the same, just as Robinson did. But the longer he waits, the more he hurts the conservative base in NW Wisconsin, and the more he hurts his chances for a run for anything in the future.
Thanks for your well thought-out post, Josh.
You say, "It's not just that a Republican wins that seat. Obey has not been good for the 7th. Nick has operated a stellar campaign from day one. Tyberg, not so much. Is this mean or is it simply the truth?"
My reply is that that may very well be the truth. I won't argue that with you at all. Now, let me point this out.
Anonymous 2:31p writes, "GREAT JOB JEFF, THANKS FOR NOTHING, DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT RUNNING FOR ANYTHING ELSE AGAIN."
That is what I considered mean-spirited, don't you? The only point to that statement was to flame someone else. So don't try to put your well-put point into the same category as the 2:31 post. There is a huge difference.
You say, "I certainly see justification in strong dissatisfaction, and borderline mean-spiritedness toward both Obey and Tyberg."
I will have to respectfully disagree. There are ways to state an opinion - even have a debate - without resorting to that sort of thing. I have heard "Well, that's politics," bandied about. In my opinion, that's a bunch of hogwash. No matter what I think of the person, my opinion will immediately go South when I come across someone being mean just to be mean. Frustration or no. And believe me, if I heard Jeff respond in such a manner, I would react the same way.
I've had agreement on this site that Tyberg is a man of integrity. A lot here feel Reid is the man for the job. That's fine (as I've stated before). But I do feel that Jeff is entitled to a little more respect than the 2:31 post, and a lot of others, have shown.
I wrote the ALL CAPS rant. Was it a written in frustration? Yes. Was it over the top? Yes. Was it a little mean to Jeff? Yes. I apologize if you were offended.
But let's look at the facts behind the rant. First, if Tyberg turns in signatures and qualifies for the ballot, he will be helping Dave Obey win because Nick Reid will have to use his financial resources to ensure he wins the primary. Those precious dollars should be spent to win against Obey.
Second, Tyberg has not run a Congressional campaign. He's run a good race if he were running for a local office, but he has not demonstrated the ability to compete on this level. Being a nice, conservative guy are not the only qualifications.
So, he's frustrated those of us out here who get it. I honestly can't believe Tyberg is staying in, particularly after watching what Scott Walker did. If you know Jeff and you care about winning, you should ask him nicely to withdraw. It's what's best for getting Obey Out.
Dear Sir,
I can understand totally that you don't care for the tone of several of the posts here. However I would ask this; Are you willing to have thousands of people suffer without real representation in congress because of the tone of internet posts?
The truth of the matter is Jeff deserves some elbows for how is conducting himself. I happen to know, that he agreed to a fair endorsement process on two seperate occasions only to back out at the last min. Why would he do this? Simple, he knew he would lose. And if that is what this is about, that means that this race, has become more about whats in the best interests of Jeff instead of whats in the best interest of the people. Which is supposed to be what running for congress is all about. Especially since Jeff has represented himself as a man of God who seeks only to serve the people? And that is to say nothing about about the value of a man's word.
In addition to this, condider the fact that in the face of overwhemling evidence showing he cannot beat Dave Obey or even win the primary he stays in the race and won't listen to reason. Shouldn't a candidate's judgement be open to question in this circumstance?
So we come back to the question, is ok for people to critize a person directly for failing to live by his word, knowingly harming the cause he's supposed to believe in, and showing incredibly poor judgement? With all due respect, Jeff deserves what he is getting because of how he is acting.
And here's another observation - I have never seen one Tyberg supporter get on here and outline why Jeff's candidacy and campaign is better than Nick's. I've seen plenty of evidence that Nick's campaign is better than Jeff's. Plenty have said Jeff is a nice guy, person of integrity, etc, but no reasoned argument why he has demonstrated in real terms why he deserves the nomination over Nick.
I too have called for a plan from the Tyberg camp to tell us why his camp is better than Reid's. Until then, they have no factual basis to argue here. Here's a thought...I am going to post this very comment every day on Obey Out until we here from Tyberg's camp. My vote is not solidified yet-I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU JEFF-HERE, ON OBEY OUT. I'm sure Reid's camp as well as yours pays attention to this site. If I hear good things from Jeff I will consider going that way. But, until I hear something other than "my campaign is going well" and start showing some results, I agree, this debate is well deserved.
If this debate is uncalled for, then put it to rest by telling us why your camp is better, Jeff.
Mr. Tyberg Supporter,
I do not think it is wise to judge Reid by his "supporters"....supporters who are posting anonymously on a small blog devoted to a congressional district in the upper midwest....My point is that this blog, as good a tool as it is, is not, and should not be considered an indicator representative of what the general consensus of anyone's followers is or ought to be.
In short, I can't judge Tyberg's following based on the self-proclaimed supporters who blog here, any more than I can judge Reid's supporters based on those who blog here. It may be the case that the followings of each candidate are reversed from what is indicated here. It defies logic to treat this blog as a basis for choosing a candidate, much less an indicator of the nature of any candidate's support base.
to the last post, I say exactly . . . saying you're making your voting determination based on what a bunch of young political activists say anonymously on a blog just isn't a good way to make up your mind.
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