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View Full Version : What can we learn from Dave Brat's winning Strategy?




Todd
06-11-2014, 11:44 AM
So I think it would be a good idea to try to nail down what the factors which contributed to this guy primarying a strong Republican. Or was Cantor not so strong?

What were the key reasons that Brat was able to win a primary where he was outspent nearly more than 10 to 1?

I just can't help but believe there are many lessons our grassroots efforts need to take away from something like this.

CPUd
06-11-2014, 12:08 PM
Just from what I have read from members here, it has to do with how the state party is run, compared to other state parties. Also, it goes back to organizational efforts that were started at least 2 years ago, and the Cuccinelli election was a major flash point.

Also, it seemed like Cantor was trying to run the state party by proxy, while he spent most of his time in DC.

mosquitobite
06-11-2014, 12:32 PM
Just from what I have read from members here, it has to do with how the state party is run, compared to other state parties. Also, it goes back to organizational efforts that were started at least 2 years ago, and the Cuccinelli election was a major flash point.

Also, it seemed like Cantor was trying to run the state party by proxy, while he spent most of his time in DC.

This is my research as well.

We here should not get tied into the "immigration" angle the MSM is selling.

It was about the establishment cutting off the knees of their base, simply to show their power. Well they might have won a battle, but they lost the war.

Strategically for us? I think we sometimes need to let them put the noose around their own necks more often. I see it locally here even.

We need to be willing to lose the battles to win the war. And be in the right place, at the right time, with a STRONG candidate.

http://thebullelephant.com/top-ten-reasons-eric-cantor-lost/


Cantor’s district is dead center in the state and its not that hard to get to. Nobody would have given Dave Brat the time of day no matter what he attacked Cantor with if it weren’t for this colossal mistake rooted in Cantor’s vanity and dream to somehow become the Republican boss of Virginia. Cantor needlessly angered so many people that suddenly everyone was willing to give Brat a listen. He is a college professor, this is not someone who will easily be distorted as some sort of nut job unfit for office. He is thoughtful, smart, and hardworking.
https://www.redstate.com/diary/mason_beer/2014/06/10/reason-eric-cantor-lost/

Matt Collins
06-11-2014, 12:58 PM
Go to the Leadership Institute and Campaign for Liberty and learn how to win elections:
www.leadershipinstitute.org

http://www.facltraining.org/facl2/schools.htm

devil21
06-11-2014, 01:23 PM
From what I've read, Brat and his grassroots supporters did a lot of door-to-door retail politicking. He won the old fashioned way. Not with money but with a message that resonated with likely GOP voters.

Carlybee
06-11-2014, 01:34 PM
http://video.lauraingraham.com/Who-is-David-Brat-26250636?playlistId=993#.U5iuudq9KK1

nayjevin
06-11-2014, 03:50 PM
From what I've read, Brat and his grassroots supporters did a lot of door-to-door retail politicking. He won the old fashioned way. Not with money but with a message that resonated with likely GOP voters.

He said he focused on people instead of money. And he is a very good speaker. It's almost obvious without even hearing the words he's saying that he's telling the truth, but the words make sense too. For people like that, it just takes talking to enough people for enough time about the important things.

juvanya
06-11-2014, 04:13 PM
http://washingtonexaminer.com/meet-dave-brats-23-year-old-campaign-manager/article/2549565

This short interview tells you basically all you need to know.
- stay positive
- talk about issues
- knock on doors (leather and wood)

This is the problem with third parties and other upstarts. They dont know the value of college students. You just need to get a group of them together, interested, and organized, and theyll do anything. Brats campaign manager is a few months younger than me and apparently has the same playbook as me. Maybe I should put myself out there more as a campaign manager. And now this guy will have money tossed at him from across the country for unseating the House Majority Leader.

RandallFan
06-11-2014, 04:15 PM
The MSM is denying the immigration issue. Cantor blew up his own campaing with his stupid amnesty mailers where implied 6 million dont get amnesty but 6 million do get amnesty.

devil21
06-11-2014, 04:39 PM
He said he focused on people instead of money. And he is a very good speaker. It's almost obvious without even hearing the words he's saying that he's telling the truth, but the words make sense too. For people like that, it just takes talking to enough people for enough time about the important things.

You're right. He sounds like a more polished Brannon...or at least what I wanted Brannon to sound like as far as tone and delivery. I hope Greg can learn from Brat for his future campaigns that going slower while speaking the truth wins more votes than going fast while speaking the truth.

From Brat's website:

Monday, June 2

Spotsylvania Town Hall
8740 Courthouse Rd
Spotsylvania, VA
7 pm

Tuesday, June 3

Laura Ingraham Rally
Laura Ingraham Headlines Brat Campaign Rally - Featuring Laura Ingraham, Ambassador Alan Keyes, Dave Brat for Congress and Shak Hill for Senate

The Dominion Club
6000 Dominion Club Dr.
Glen Allen, Va
7 pm

Wednesday, June 4

Louisa Town Hall
Louisa Fine Arts Center
212 Fredericksburg Ave
Louisa, VA 23093
7 pm

Thursday, June 5

Culpeper Town Hall
19601 Church Rd.
Brandy Station, VA 22714
7 pm

Friday, June 6

Orange Town Hall
235 Warren Street
Orange, Virginia 22960
7 pm

Saturday, June 7

Ashland Strawberry Festival
Henry Street
Ashland, VA,
11 am- 2 pm

Yep, stuff like that. Glen/Gunny showed us long ago that this is how you win, not dumping boatloads of money into unaccountable campaign apparatus and hoping for victory. It's always been the way to win....seems some (ahem Collins) have forgotten about it.

devil21
06-11-2014, 04:43 PM
http://washingtonexaminer.com/meet-dave-brats-23-year-old-campaign-manager/article/2549565

This short interview tells you basically all you need to know.
- stay positive
- talk about issues
- knock on doors (leather and wood)

This is the problem with third parties and other upstarts. They dont know the value of college students. You just need to get a group of them together, interested, and organized, and theyll do anything. Brats campaign manager is a few months younger than me and apparently has the same playbook as me. Maybe I should put myself out there more as a campaign manager. And now this guy will have money tossed at him from across the country for unseating the House Majority Leader.

Many of us would make EXCELLENT campaign staff. It's already been covered in the Thom Tillis Wins thread that the Paul Inc controlled campaigns won't hire us though.

cjm
06-11-2014, 05:50 PM
Go to the Leadership Institute and Campaign for Liberty and learn how to win elections:
www.leadershipinstitute.org

http://www.facltraining.org/facl2/schools.htm

I second this^

We can say "knock on doors" is a key to victory but there's a right way and a wrong way to do it. I won't list the door knocking offenses that I have first hand knowledge of, but I will say that there's a lot of room for improvement in this area. The online training at the Leadership Institute site is very good.


http://washingtonexaminer.com/meet-dave-brats-23-year-old-campaign-manager/article/2549565

This short interview tells you basically all you need to know.
- stay positive
- talk about issues
- knock on doors (leather and wood)

This is the problem with third parties and other upstarts. They dont know the value of college students. You just need to get a group of them together, interested, and organized, and theyll do anything. Brats campaign manager is a few months younger than me and apparently has the same playbook as me. Maybe I should put myself out there more as a campaign manager. And now this guy will have money tossed at him from across the country for unseating the House Majority Leader.

In addition to the three items above, I would add 'earned media' as a factor in Brat's win. Getting the likes of Levin, Coulter, Ingraham, and Beck talking about Brat was a pretty unique event in a primary like this.

Also, collaboration with liberty minded organizations helped. Completing the C4L survey and the VCDL survey allow members of those organizations to know who Brat was and know where he stood on issues important to them. Cantor refused to return his VCDL survey and that bought him a robocall. From a VCDL email:


I was told by a 7th Congressional District poll worker that there was a lot of talk at his polling place, and at other polling places, about the effectiveness of the VCDL robocalls last week. Turns out a lot of gun owners who had put Cantor signs in their yards, based on the NRA's endorsement of Cantor, removed and replaced them with Brat signs when the robocall pointed out that Cantor had not returned his VCDL candidate survey! No doubt that Cantor’s prior support for One Handgun a Month had also caught many by surprise.

We should also note that all one can do is run the best campaign possible with the resources available. Brat's victory was a combination of a good campaign on his part and a poor campaign on Cantor's part. If Cantor had run a better campaign, his $5mil would have crushed Brat.

CPUd
06-11-2014, 06:19 PM
Ah, here is one I remember now that it just got bumped:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?447764-Virginia-GOP-grassroots-in-open-revolt

francisco
06-11-2014, 07:57 PM
...It's almost obvious without even hearing the words he's saying that he's telling the truth, but the words make sense too. For people like that, it just takes talking to enough people for enough time about the important things.

I know a couple of other politicians like that. Only one is retired.

Vanguard101
06-11-2014, 08:38 PM
It probably is really important to go door to door. Shows you care.

jjdoyle
06-11-2014, 09:28 PM
You're right. He sounds like a more polished Brannon...or at least what I wanted Brannon to sound like as far as tone and delivery. I hope Greg can learn from Brat for his future campaigns that going slower while speaking the truth wins more votes than going fast while speaking the truth.

From Brat's website:

Yep, stuff like that. Glen/Gunny showed us long ago that this is how you win, not dumping boatloads of money into unaccountable campaign apparatus and hoping for victory. It's always been the way to win....seems some (ahem Collins) have forgotten about it.

You just clearly haven't taken enough courses to learn how to win. The links were even provided above you.
When I get the PAC PAC up and running, I'll make sure to send you a PM with the details of our first shindig and invite you to it. It will be filled with lots of information (and food!), you can't get anywhere else.

NewRightLibertarian
06-11-2014, 09:34 PM
Go to the Leadership Institute and Campaign for Liberty and learn how to win elections:
www.leadershipinstitute.org

http://www.facltraining.org/facl2/schools.htm

Bravo to the guys at the Leadership Institute and/or FACL. This win seems to follow their blueprint pretty much to a T. I hope it builds momentum and galvanizes grassroots patriots all over the country.

devil21
06-11-2014, 09:47 PM
You just clearly haven't taken enough courses to learn how to win. The links were even provided above you.
When I get the PAC PAC up and running, I'll make sure to send you a PM with the details of our first shindig and invite you to it. It will be filled with lots of information (and food!), you can't get anywhere else.

The PAC PAC? lol Ok well I look forward to the invitation to the PAC PAC.

Matt Collins
06-11-2014, 10:58 PM
Yep, stuff like that. Glen/Gunny showed us long ago that this is how you win, not dumping boatloads of money into unaccountable campaign apparatus and hoping for victory. It's always been the way to win....seems some (ahem Collins) have forgotten about it.https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/strawman

MichaelDavis
06-12-2014, 01:06 PM
My theories:

-Cantor did not realize the seriousness of his threat until it was too late
-Cantor is part of the unpopular Congressional leadership
-Cantor focused on Washington D.C. and neglected Virginia

-Very conservative Republicans voted for Brat in the primary
-Democrats voted for Brat in the primary

-Cantor's negative ads against Brat helped him. There is no such thing as bad publicity. Voters did not know about Brat until Cantor began attacking him, making him a credible alternative.
-Brat ran an aggressive grassroots campaign. Cantor did not have a get out the vote operation.

No, it was not amnesty or Judaism that caused his loss.

Aratus
06-12-2014, 01:47 PM
From what I've read, Brat and his grassroots supporters did a lot of door-to-door retail politicking. He won
the old fashioned way. Not with money but with a message that resonated with likely GOP voters.

in an almost traditional GOP district that has not gone Democrat since the 60s he via a grassroots organization
at the local level defeated an "astro-turf" media~intense much more typical campaign from a ranking Republican?
does the groundswell against Rep. Cantor suggest that the GOP voters are in a flux & are wanting new answers?

CaptUSA
06-12-2014, 02:08 PM
Looks pretty good to me:
http://davebratforcongress.com/issues/

Issues


Obamacare
Obamacare has proven to be an economically disastrous law and an unconstitutional power grab by our Federal Government. The government cannot and should not be permitted to run and regulate nearly 20% of our nation’s economy. We must restore the relationship between doctor and patient. We must restore the relationship between price and service in medicine or we will continue on the Road to Serfdom. I support a plan to defund the law and replace it with free-market solutions that lower costs, improve quality, and increase access to care.

Fiscal Responsibility
Our national debt has skyrocketed, reaching over $17 trillion dollars. What our leaders in Washington fail to mention is the $127 Trillion dollars in unfunded liabilities (see U.S. Debt Clock). This lack of leadership on both sides of the aisle threatens our nation’s stability and long term growth and forces an undue burden on our children and grandchildren. We must balance the federal budget by reducing spending. I will support a balanced budget amendment which will force Congress to reign in the out of control federal spending and to restore confidence in the American economy.

Immigration
When addressing the issue of immigration, we must start by securing our border. An open border is both a national security threat and an economic threat that our country cannot ignore. I reject any proposal that grants amnesty and undermines the fundamental rule of law. Adding millions of workers to the labor market will force wages to fall and jobs to be lost. I support proposals that will secure our border, enforce our current laws, and restore an orderly and fair process to allow law abiding individuals to work towards becoming citizens of this great nation.

Term Limits
I am a strong proponent of term limits for members of Congress. Career politicians and special moneyed interests have corrupted our democratic system. I pledge to support and submit legislation that enforces term limits. Ideally, Congressional term limits would be for 12 years total, across both The House and The Senate. Thus, I pledge to term limit myself to 12 years in Congress.

2nd Amendment
I will oppose any efforts to undermine or limit the Constitutional right to bear arms.

I am a strong supporter of gun rights. The right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental right enshrined in the constitution for a reason - it provides the people with the ultimate guarantee of sovereignty. I will oppose any back door attempts to confiscate guns or create a national gun registry. All too frequently the knee jerk reaction to tragedies by the media and chattering class is to move to restrict our rights. In Congress, I will be a steady and firm supporter of our 2nd amendment rights at all times - not just when it is convenient. Our founding documents make it clear that our inalienable rights come from God and that the job of the government is to ensure and protect those God given rights. I intend to keep it that way.

Education
As an economist and educator for eighteen years, I understand the value of a good education. This is why I oppose top down approaches by the Federal Government such as Common Core and No Child Left Behind. I will support efforts to place Virginia’s teachers, parents, and local officials, who best understand the needs of the community, in control of our education system.

National Security/Foreign Policy
Ronald Reagan said it best: “Peace through strength.” A strong military is essential to the success of our nation. We must secure our borders, support the Armed Forces, both at home and abroad, and maintain a strong national defense in order to secure our country’s future. In addition, I support a full investigation into the Benghazi attacks.

Federal Reserve
I support a full audit of the Federal Reserve System.

Energy
I support a broad-spectrum energy approach that relies on the free market. The private sector must be set free to invest in natural gas, wind, solar, oil, nuclear, and other forms of energy as we move forward. Ending our reliance on foreign oil and moving toward energy independence is vital to the future welfare of America.

10th Amendment
The federal government has grown far too large. Our Founders envisioned a nation in which the federal government’s powers were explicitly listed and limited. I fully support the Constitution and enforcing the 10th Amendment and getting the government out of the way of economic growth. I will work to bring power back to the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Individual Freedoms
The federal government’s abuse of our freedoms has spun out of control. Whether it is the NSA violating our 4th Amendment Rights by collecting phone records, the IRS violating our 1st Amendment rights by targeting conservative organizations, or President Obama violating our 5th Amendment rights with the indefinite detention of American citizens, our freedoms have been under attack and they must be restored.

Uphold Human Life
Human life is sacred, as proclaimed by our founding documents, and I will always support laws that protect life. Our fundamental rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness precede the existence of government and come from God, the Author of Nature. These core constitutional rights have been usurped by the Judicial and Executive Branches and must be returned to the people and their representatives.

mosquitobite
06-12-2014, 08:33 PM
Everyone wants an upper level story.

Cantor pissed off his base.

Read about the Virginia conventions ya'll. Cantor flexed his muscles and played the role of bully. He thought he was safe and could do whatever he wanted, with impunity.

thebullelephant.com has much of it and bearingdrift.com does too.

I have a feeling many of the people who voted for Brat were former grassroots supporters of Cantor's. He just went too far this year.

I'd love to say it's a harbor of things to come, but I really think Brat was in the right place at the right time against an asshole - nothing more, nothing less.

The easiest way to see that is to compare it with McConnell in KY. He stayed in, yet he is also for amnesty.

RabbitMan
06-12-2014, 10:33 PM
Sorry to be off topic but...is it just me or does Dave Brat looks like a cross between Rick Moranis and Rick Santorum?

Natural Citizen
06-12-2014, 11:58 PM
So I think it would be a good idea to try to nail down what the factors which contributed to this guy primarying a strong Republican. Or was Cantor not so strong?



Republicans are getting sick of the establishment. That is all there is to it. Brat himself probably had very little to do with the voters' decision.

Todd
06-13-2014, 09:56 AM
Republicans are getting sick of the establishment. That is all there is to it. Brat himself probably had very little to do with the voters' decision.

I would tend to agree but some establishment types continue to win thier districts by big margins even with disenchantment.

Brat was outspent more than 10 to 1. Cantor held significant leadership. And few of us here were paying that much attention. Something was different.

Todd
06-13-2014, 09:58 AM
Sorry to be off topic but...is it just me or does Dave Brat looks like a cross between Rick Moranis and Rick Santorum?

I think he looks like Chuck Baldwin.

http://binaryapi.ap.org/852e0994530b44588830d80bf5c211c0/460x.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7yrpxWkP_Zg/SroFJ_5LhiI/AAAAAAAAAoY/gKrLJnAbSvk/s400/chuck-baldwin.jpg

William Tell
06-13-2014, 10:17 AM
I think he looks like Chuck Baldwin.

http://binaryapi.ap.org/852e0994530b44588830d80bf5c211c0/460x.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7yrpxWkP_Zg/SroFJ_5LhiI/AAAAAAAAAoY/gKrLJnAbSvk/s400/chuck-baldwin.jpg

That bodes well, and I agree.

Aratus
06-13-2014, 03:34 PM
did eric cantor have a string of internal polls that had a discrepancy equal to those
up in Wisconsin in 2010 that thought scott walker and his opponent had the voters
split 50/50 in the days prior to the election? the 7 percent victory margin is legendary.
cantor's internals had him presuming things were to be politics as usual? if dave brat
electrified the GOP base and cantor was too aloof & remote, and the more energized
citizens were totally tight~lipped---is this the letter perfect Objectivist perfect storm?
dude has read more than a few books by AYN RAND, he is an academic gone pragmatic.

Okaloosa
06-13-2014, 04:38 PM
http://thebullelephant.com/top-ten-reasons-eric-cantor-lost/

Jamie Radtke has been a grassroots leader in Virginia and deserves credit for her years of work that added up to this along with many others. Virginia does have a small group of activists that have worked very hard and have the RINO's on the retreat after Tuesday.


Top ten reasons Eric Cantor lost
By Jamie Radtke

As I watch the national pundits and media try and analyze the huge Dave Brat victory against Eric Cantor yesterday, it is clear that most are completely clueless about why Brat won and Cantor lost. This election was not won because of Cantor’s view on illegal immigration. It played a factor at the polls yesterday, but it was not the determining factor. Those of us who have lived in this district for over a decade and have been on the ground can tell you the real reasons Cantor lost yesterday – and it was years in the making.

10 – LOST TOUCH: There has been significant discontent in the district for years with Eric Cantor. He earned a reputation as someone who cared more about Fortune 500 companies than he did voters in his own district and he proved it by spending all his time with them and no time with the people in his district. It was baffling to many of us. When the tea party first sprung up people were angry with Cantor. I had known Cantor and Ray Allen for years and thought it was just a misunderstanding. Surely this could be resolved by opening the lines of communication and just having a meeting together for Cantor to hear our complaints so we could work together. I still remember the private meeting I had with his consultant, Ray Allen, five years ago when he told me, “Eric Cantor will never hold a town hall meeting. Over my dead body! You hear me?” Fatal mistake.

9 – IN YOUR FACE: Cantor decided to then ratchet it up another level when Cantor decided to run off to Amelia Island to help a PAC that was partially funded with labor unions and Soros money. The primary objective of Main Street PAC was to target the tea party for destruction. This really angered the tea party and fueled their discontent. Fatal mistake.

8 – UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES: Eric Cantor and his consultant, Ray Allen, wanted to control the Republican Party of Virginia and he was willing to use any means necessary to accomplish his goal, including slating tea party and conservatives out of the political process. He created such outrage that we removed Cantor’s 7th district chairman, Linwood Cobb, at the convention last month. We left the convention with 700 delegates that energetically and enthusiastically worked the doors and phones for Brat. It is really not smart to make enemies of your friends, and especially when you are in a primary. Fatal mistake.

7 – CONSERVATIVE MEGAPHONE: A shot out to The Bull Elephant, Sara for America, Doc Thompson, Laura Ingraham, Ann Coulter, Mark Levin, and Glenn Beck for getting the truth out to the public. Social media is a powerful vehicle for disseminating your message and we were able to cut through $5 million of Cantor’s false advertising. The Bull Elephant pulled the curtain back and showed what has really been going on in Virginia politics for years. I think people were shocked to read about the intentional and crooked politics that has been plaguing Virginia politics for years with Ray Allen. Cantor and Ray Allen discounted these voices on the internet and did not fully appreciate our influence and power. Fatal mistake.

6 – POLICY MATTERS: Eric Cantor thought that as long as he said the right things in slick mailers it was sufficient to gain the trust of voters. Washington DC politicians are having difficulty with the tea party curve ball – we actually look at your record now, not just your rhetoric. Further, we look to see if you are actually fighting for our issues or just casting safe votes to pacify voters. Cantor stated he was against Harry Reid’s amnesty bill, which was a cute way to skirt the fact that he opposed Reid’s bill because he supported the House bill on amnesty. Cantor was weak on spending, focused on corporate handouts to the fat cats, consistently raised the debt ceiling, supported TARP, supported the Patriot Act, rigged the Stock Act, and was weak on Obamacare – to name just a few. Cantor had bought into the idea that Washington could provide solutions for all problems. He forgot that Washington IS the problem and they actually prevent solutions. Fatal mistake.

5 – DEMOCRATS VOTED: Democrats voted in the primary yesterday. They were not the determining victory with a resounding 11 point victory, but they certainly contributed to the numbers. The irony is that Ray Allen created that monster. Ray Allen spent $5 million telling Democrats why they should come out and vote for Dave Brat by sharing a lie that Brat was a “liberal college professor” who was best friends with Democrat Tim Kaine. He spent $5 million letting raising Brat’s name ID for us and letting the grassroots know they had an alternative. Fatal mistake.

4 – VOTE SUPPRESSION: The irony is that the negative campaigning by Cantor backfired on him. Not only did he turn out Democrat votes with his ridiculous lies about Brat, but he suppressed the the enthusiasm of his own activists and volunteers in the more traditional wing of the Republican Party who were completely disgusted with Cantor’s all-negative campaign. I heard more than once, “this is so beneath the Majority Leader. I am so disappointed with him.” Fatal mistake.

3 – SEND THEM A MESSAGE: This cannot be overstated. I heard this repeatedly at the polls yesterday. People are angry and frustrated. Middle class America is struggling to make a living and local businesses are fighting to survive. They are tired about it being all about Washington DC wants. They want it to be about THEM. They want Washington DC out of their lives. They want more control of their own lives, their own pocketbooks, their own healthcare, and their own privacy. The most popular expression I heard yesterday, “We need to fire a shot across the bow of Eric Cantor and all those Washington elites.”

2 – STRONG CANDIDATE: The conservatives and tea party put up a strong candidate. A lesson should be learned here by others. Brat has an impressive resume with his PhD in economics, his seminary degree from Princeton, and his work in ethics reform and education policy. He was an intelligent and articulate candidate that brought credibility to the movement. Brat ran a positive and upbeat campaign that solely was focused on the Republican Creed. Cantor refused to engage Brat or even participate in debates with Brat. Fatal mistake.

1 - GRASSROOTS DOMINATION: This is really the number one reason for victory last night. It cannot be emphasized enough the significance of the grassroots. Literally hundreds of individuals volunteered over the last five months to door knock and phone bank for Dave Brat. I could never give all the appropriate credit to the people who deserve it, but a special shout out absolutely must go to: Nancy Smith, Anita and Mark Hile, Kim Singhas, Dale Taylor, Bob Keeler, Ken Davis, Debbie Wetlaufer, Susan Lascolette and Phil Rapp – just to name a few. This was a ground game that was not put together overnight. This was an organization of volunteers that started four years and grew stronger with each subsequent campaign. Dave Brat benefited from a strong foundation that had meticulously laid over the last four years by some amazing individuals. They are truly my heroes. No mistake here!

I was also at the Virginia Beach Republican Mass Meeting were Cantor's forces slated us and that got us into overdrive these last few months. So Eric Cantor really did this to himself, but this can be applied strategically in other races.

Aratus
06-13-2014, 04:42 PM
number three --- "send them a message" has its wisconsin in 2010 scott walker echoes

idiom
06-15-2014, 05:29 PM
- knock on doors (leather and wood)

Who the hell has a leather door? Brothels? Tanneries?

O.o

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zIosOkgAzuM/TwupjQD1_gI/AAAAAAAABCs/c0uIqi0qaq4/s1600/ws+17.JPG

Todd
06-16-2014, 08:35 AM
Raimondo is most often insightful.




The Coming Storm (http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2014/06/15/the-coming-storm-2/)

The upending of American politics

by Justin Raimondo, June 16, 2014


The defeat of Eric Cantor – GOP House majority leader and a leading light of the party’s neoconservative-corporatist wing – has the pundits in an uproar. They are flummoxed: what could have led to one of the biggest upsets in American political history? After all, a party majority leader hasn’t been defeated – let alone in a primary! – since 1877. And who is this guy, Dave Brat, anyway – who raised around $200,000 total, but only spent half of it, while Cantor – the Chamber of Commerce’s best friend – raised and spent millions?

They settled on a neat little narrative early on: the election was all about immigration, they told us, and Brat is a "Tea Party" politician with "nativist" tendencies. That explanation, however, soon fell apart when it was revealed that the Tea Party groups had done exactly nothing to help Brat: indeed the leader of Tea Party Patriots, one of the biggest national groups, wouldn’t even take his phone calls.

Furthermore, it turned out Brat had campaigned not only or even primarily on the immigration issue – which only came up in the last few days of the campaign – but on what he called "crony capitalism," hitting Cantor over and over again on his subservience to corporate interests. And it wasn’t the typical left-wing egalitarian demagogy that condemns any successful business for not putting "people before profits," as the old Communist Party USA slogan puts it. Brat was steamed that businessmen were going to Washington asking for special favors – subsidies – in order to boost (or maintain) their profit margins, and Cantor was a major cog in their political machine.

As news of Brat’s stunning upset made headlines, Boeing’s stock fell on fears the Export-Import Bank – a major source of federal handouts to the corporate sector – might not be reauthorized. A few liberal commentators, such as Ryan Lizza over at The New Yorker and John Nichols of The Nation, got this much right: but there’s much more to it than that.

A trip to Brat’s modest campaign web site tells a good part of the story. Here he is on the National Security Agency’s spying on Americans:

"Dave believes that the Constitution does not need to be compromised for matters of national security. He supports the end of bulk phone and email data collection by the NSA, IRS, or any other branch of government."

Not only that, but he went after Cantor for being one of the Surveillance State’s biggest defenders:

"Eric Cantor voted for the National Defense and Authorization Act (H.R. 1960, 6/14/13) which authorizes the unconstitutional bulk data collection by the government under the PRISM program. Congressman Cantor voted against an amendment offered by Justin Amash that would have prevented the NSA from collecting phone records of individuals unless suspected of terrorism (H.R. 2397 Amendment 70)."

Take a gander at Brat’s answers to a questionnaire sent out by Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty: he opposes US military action in the absence of a declaration of war, and he’s against all "foreign aid." Cantor – a neocon on foreign as well as domestic policy – is reliably hawkish: he opposed the US withdrawal from Iraq, says we should stay longer in Afghanistan, and supported the President’s scheme to bomb Syria. Cantor was a major supporter of Israel, and indeed once told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the GOP House majority would "serve as a check" on the Obama administration, which in Cantor’s view was insufficiently appreciative of the Jewish state’s value as a US ally.
These aspects of Brat’s views didn’t make it into the media narrative, and that’s hardly surprising: the "mainstream" media and their favorite "mainstream" politicians are in cahoots. Anything that doesn’t fit into their red-blue conservative-liberal dichotomy gets left on the cutting room floor. Yet it won’t be long now before they’ll be forced to recognize what is happening. As I put it years ago:

"The American elites are on trial in the court of public opinion and the verdict is just about to come in. The world economic system based on central banking [.pdf] and floating fiat currencies is crumbling beneath their feet, and the return of populism on both sides of the political spectrum has them in fear of losing their grip on power for the first time since the 1930s. While American troops are occupying Afghanistan, the folks back home are occupying Wall Street. For the plutocrats and kleptocrats – otherwise known as the Republicans and the Democrats – the jig is up, and the day of judgment looms. The political class is close to panic: those peasants with pitchforks are getting awfully close to the castle."

As Iraq disintegrates and our elites scramble for a "solution," the political system here at home – carefully designed to tamp down any significant dissent – is coming apart at the seams with the same rapidity. The coming storm threatens to overturn the entire unwieldy and top-heavy bipartisan apparatus. Built atop a foundation of debt and fueled by the unlimited hubris of our political class, the Empire is on increasingly shaky ground – and those of us who dream of its overthrow may yet live to see our dreams come true.

It’s interesting to note that all the dissident energy in American politics is being generated on the right side of the political spectrum, at least for the moment. One can’t even begin to imagine a similar revolt occurring in the Democratic party: say, Harry Reid or Nancy Pelosi losing their primary. The reason is quite simple: the "left," or what passes for it these days, is in power. Even their ostensibly "right-wing" opponents operate within a series of assumptions defined by the Powers That Be: that the governmental Leviathan is a permanent accretion, that any variety of populism is a dangerous phenomenon to be crushed in the cradle, and that the Empire can and will endure as long as we have the will to maintain and expand it.

Blinded by hubris, our elites are living in a fantasy world, but ordinary people are waking up to the fact that the long American afternoon is over. As night descends we’ll see many more casualties among the ruling class – and that, dear readers, is something to look forward to.

scrosnoe
06-19-2014, 01:30 AM
He was under the media radar AND knocking doors = winning combo with right message/messenger!

If enough people inject into the process and do the right things, the media cannot cover it all and some will get through...

Moral of this story is get out there and file for office and attend meetings and market the message of Life and Liberty!

You will change the neighborhood and you will grow in the process~