I have been rather pre-occupied with other races to say much about this OH-15 race, but I wanted to throw this out there...In reference to this Columbus Dispatch blog post about Stivers' financial windfall, I received this bit in email from Team Wagner:
Yes....Money is important..But if money was the only criteria than Perot would be President and Huffington would be a senator from California.Here's what Dr. Wagner has to say about Mr. Stivers fund raising:I hate classifying Wagner as an "also ran" but I think we all have to admit that with these kinds of numbers, this is an awfully big hill to climb. It is possible to do it, but what a journey that would be... Wagner's candidacy is something of a throwback to an age where citizen legislators actually had a chance and that would be refreshing.
Points I would like to highlight:
1) 100% of my funding comes from Ohio contributors
2) 0% of my funding comes from PACs, I am truly the candidate of the people, not the powerful
3) I have held 0 fund raising events, and have preferred to focus on developing a platform of ideas that will better America. This platform is available on my website and titled Contract with Central Ohioans.
4) Deborah Price had all the money, all the establishment support, all the name recognition, was an incumbent and she won by less than 1,000 votes. She lost Franklin County. She had such difficulty because the Ohio Republican Establishment has betrayed their Republican voters.
5) I believe that if voters truly want change, money won't be the issue in this campaign. Ideas and confidence that the candidate voters select will represent true Republican values will be the deciding issue.
6) I am running on idea and leadership, not fund raising ability. My whole campaign is about sending a professional not a politician to Washington. I believe we have enough lawyers, lobbyists, career politicians and superb fund raisers in Washington, and I have no intention of adding to that bloated population. America simply needs more leadership in Washington, and business as usual is no longer acceptable to most voters. The major theme in the campaigns this year is change. I not only offer change, I offer change for the better.
Robert Wagner, Ronald Reagan Republican for the Ohio's 15th District
Unfortunately, ideas alone will not get the job done. Look no further than the Fred Thompson campaign for president if you need big picture proof, but I have worked on similarly themed campaigns as well... Those types of success stories exist only in Hollywood anymore...as much as I really truly wish that we had government by the People, of the People, for the People...what we have is government by the Party, of the Powers that Be, for the Pork.
Yeah, I'm in a mood lately... Why do you ask? :)
