Observations©

By Donald S. Conkey

Date: February 25, 2010 - # 1008 - Title: It’s time to create your own ‘candidates file’ (000)

There were two events held here in Cherokee County last week that are worth noting. Both events were political educational events. They were organized to help county citizens meet and to get to know those men and women running for public office, and to gather information for their ‘candidate files.’ I have a ‘candidates file’ for Governor, Secretary of State, Insurance Commissioner, county commissioner, school board, etc. And I have a file for the constitutional issues that will be on the November ballot.   

            The first event last week was organized by the Cherokee County Republican Women led by President Lori Pesta. The Tribune publishing the pictures of the fifteen candidates invited to attend this event. The second event was organized by the Cherokee County Republican Party led by President Jeff Duncan.

If I sound biased toward the republicans it is because they invite me to their events, the democrats don’t. And equally important I attend the Republican Women’s meetings because Joan, my wife, is on their board and attend to support her, as she has supported me over the years. It is at these local meetings that I am able to see, talk with, and question those individuals who are running for public office. And, for what ever reason, candidates show up in droves at the Cherokee County Republican Women meetings.  

            At last week’s Republican Women’s meeting fifteen candidates attended. President Pesta’s format provided each candidate three minutes to introduce them selves and briefly explain why they are running for public office and their core beliefs on governing. It was standing room only at this meeting.

            The Republican Party meeting was held at the Lodge on Bells Ferry Road last Saturday after being ‘froze out’ in January and ‘snowed out’ on their scheduled meeting date in early February. Their agenda Saturday was basically an organizational meeting for the New Year but several elected officials were present and they provided updates and statistics on governing events at the county and state level that added greatly to the meeting. It’s too bad that every voter in Cherokee County didn’t hear those reports. These meetings are where local government becomes real to the people and where people get involved in their government.

Most people realize that three minutes is not sufficient time to really get to know a candidate but it is time enough to see that candidate in person, to hear them articulate their beliefs on governing, and to ask them questions about their governing experiences and to pick up their literature. But more importantly it may be the only time the voter will have to meet their future elected officials. For me it is a place where I can meet the candidates in person and ask them hard questions about their understanding and beliefs about the Foundational Documents of the United States. This is an important element of these meetings for me.

The two questions I ask each candidate are: do you have the guts to do what must be done to bring this county, state, or nation back to a fiscally sound foundation; and what are the cornerstones of America’s liberty? These two questions provide for me an opportunity to see their facial expressions, and to test their knowledge of America’s Foundational Documents. Few candidates understand what the cornerstones of America’s liberties are, or equally important where they are found as schools no longer mention them.  

Recently a letter to the Tribune took me to task for my beliefs regarding the Progressive Movement in America and why I believe their goal is to destroy the principles of liberty embedded in the Constitution of the United States. I read that letter with interest and I have saved it as a reminder that open differences are healthy and necessary in a country such as ours. I doubt if I will ever agree with that person on governing philosophy but I will always defend his rights, under the first Amendment of the Constitution, to express his opinions, opinions that are totally opposite my core beliefs for governing a free people.

This is why it is so important for each voter to begin a ‘candidate’s file’ for the up coming Georgia primary election in July, and the vital November election. These elections may very well determine if America will retain those liberties the Founding Fathers embedded in America’s Foundational Documents or if the Progressive agenda will win and place on all Americans shackles of bondage not unlike those shackles that led the ancient Israelites to pray for deliverance and the Pilgrims to risk their lives to escape their homelands that led to the creation of America, with God’s Influence, beginning in 1620.

Debate is healthy, but it is the ‘truth that will set man free,’ as we are told in John 8:32. Finding that truth requires effort on the part of all the people, and local meetings like these help voters find that truth!