Yesterday, schools around Florida and the US celebrated Constitution Day. Constitution Day is an American federal holiday that recognizes the ratification of the United States Constitution. It is generally observed on September 17, the day the U.S. Constitutional Convention signed the Constitution in 1787.

The law establishing the holiday was created in 2004 with the passage of an amendment by Senator Robert Byrd to the Omnibus spending bill of 2004. In May 2005, the United States Department of Education announced the enactment of this law and that it would apply to any school receiving federal funds of any kind.

We as Republicans, celebrate the Constitution and defend our liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights daily- especially in light of the pervayance of liberal activists judges that want to limit our freedoms or extend freedoms to illegal immigrants, terrorists, and others who are not citizens of our great country.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

And let us not forget the many who have given their lives to defend our freedoms around the world. If not for their sacrifice we would not be able to celebrate this day or any other. Patrick Henry reminided us of the importance of this when he stated, “Give me liberty or give me death.”

That has never been so more relevant. The war on terror that we are currently fighting is a struggle to preserve our first ammendment rights from those who would like to see us dead- for the simple fact that this nation stands on traditional Judea-Christian ideals.

Our enemy has declared this a “jihad” or holy war against us. Until we acknowledge the nature of that fact- we cannot understand the magnitude that the events of today will have on tomorrow. I believe that Bush understands that magnitude, though I wish he would express it more directly. And I am glad that he, a good Christian man, is at the helm.

Let us, a Republicans not waver in our beliefs and contiue to defend the freedoms of our country. Because, if we don’t no one will.

For more information on Constitution Day visit constitutioncenter.org

Last night I attended the Seminole County Unity Dinner. It was a good showing. We had so many people there at Luigino’s it was standing room only. Jim Greer, campaign chair for Crist in Seminole County, was the master of ceremonies. Crist was not in attendance again, though he did make an appearance at the rally downtown with Jeb earlier in the day. Some of the other speakers of the evening included: Our Chairman, Jim Stelling, Tax Collector Ray Valdez, and our own Alex Setzer who was named co-chair of the Crist campaign in Seminole.

Jim and Alex both stressed the importance of a united front in the upcoming election, especially if we want to get good Republicans elected to office. It was a good start to the next election cycle.

So lets all try to get along and get out there and get Republicans elected this fall!

Video of this event coming soon!

The Primary Election is over and that in itself is reason to celebrate. This has been a long, hard week for all of us and I for one and glad it is over. Some races turned like we wanted, others not so much. But we got through. Here is my take on the election: the good, the bad and the ugly.

First, the good. I was glad to see that two of our school board members retained their seats for another term. The bad news is that Sandy did not get 50% so she faces a run off. But none the less, all those ladies deserve a round of applause for all the hard work and the finger pointing that they had to endure. Kudos to you!

The bad. Many of us are sad that Gallagher just couldn’t pull it off, especially after all the hard work that we put into this one. But in the end it just wasn’t meant to be. And that my friend is politics. It’s not the first race that I was disappointed in the final results and I’m sure it won’t be the last. I don’t particularly like it, but I will have to learn to live with it and move on.

I keep thinking about the 11 year old boy that came to Gallagher HQ the other day all fired up about electing Tom and how disappointed he must feel tonight as well. He was such an inspiration to me and Christina. A well spoken young lad with political aspirations of his own- running a successful campaign now for student council president. I have no doubt that he will go far. Maybe all the way to the Governor’s chair himself.

Finally, the ugly. I was extremely disappointed in many of the comments between candidates in the County Commission race. It was uncalled for and unnecessary- and I hope that we can all put our differences behind us and move on. I was talking to a friend the other day that reminded me, ” This is the sort of thing that can split a party.” And that is so true. When it is all said and done at the end of the day we are all Republicans and we still have a job to do come November, so we need to come together and do it.

And that’s what the Unity dinner is all about. I hope you will join us on Thursday with your head held high to celebrate what it truly means to be a Republican.

The last two days have been extremely busy as we make the last push into the election tomorrow. I spent several hours yesterday and today down at Gallagher HQ helping Christina put together sign packets, make calls and drive around putting out signs. We worked hard, but we had a lot of fun.

Last night, Christina, Ariel, LeAnn took a bit of a break and went to dinner at PF Changs then we headed back to HQ to pick up signs and put them out. Another girl, Sara, joined us to put out signs. Christina, Sara and I drove around till about 2 am canvassing the area with signs.

I got home about 2:30 am on Mon. I spent the day at home and returned to HQ tonight about 4:30 pm. I worked on calling voters in Seminole County urging them to vote for Tom. I left HQ about 9 pm with a few Gallagher signs, which I put up on the way home.

When I returned home, I grabbed the rest of Tom Lee signs and went back out to get them up before morning. I jfinished about 11:30 pm.

It sure has been a busy two days for me- and I know for a lot of other people too. But it is worth it to get good Republican candidates on the ballot and hopefully elected to office in November. If don’t see you before then, I look forward to seeing you on Thurs at the Unity Party. And if you have not voted–don’t forget tomorrow is the last day. Polls are open from 7am – 7pm.

If you’ve already voted, there are still plenty of candidates that need your help tomorrow to get out the vote. Phone banking, Sign waving, Poll watching, and Passing out Literature- so get out there and make a difference!

Last night I made a stopped in to cheer on the school board ladies in their debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters. We had a pretty full house- not every seat was filled but the room was at least 2/3 full. Dorworth was there also and several members of the Executive Committe including Jim Stelling, Sharon and the girls, and Sandy Adam’s right hand gal. I can’t remember her name. oops!

Anyway, it was a good debate. I wasn’t really up on all the logistics that they were talking about- but gimme a break. I’ve only been here a year. But I understood the political posturing and other tactics used.

My take is that the school board ladies looked good. They came across as the most intelligent and had the most thought out answers of everyone on the panel. I suppose it comes down to this: they know their s*** ! Their opponents many times had to stumble to get their words out.

Afterward, I hung around and listened in on the room murmur to get everyone else’s take. I overheard that Jeanne and Diane are both polling well. But that it is Sandy that is in danger of losing her seat. This is in part due to the 3 man race. People are just not sure that she will get enough votes to make it to the runoff. I sure hope she does. But she still needs our help.

Today, Mark and I went to the Gallagher Rally downtown. It was great. We saw Jim Stelling, Ariel Christenson, and some OCYR’s there. (By my estimate about 50 turned out for this event.) We cheered and waited for the bus. Tom greeted everyone outside. Then we went inside. They had a short program. Then Tom posed for pictures, signed autographs ( another one to add to my collection), and listened to voters concerns.

He was very positive about the race. Many of his comments today centered around florida families, right to life, and gay marriage. He stressed the importance of protecting Florida’s families- and why we need to send a family to the governor’s mansion not a bachelor. lol. He was accompanied by his wife Laura, who stood by him during his speech. Son Christopher was not in attendance today- since it was a school day and he missed a day last week for the debate. But he mentioned that Chris would be joining him again soon enough on the campaign trail.

The past two days have been good and a lot has been accomplished so far. We still have four days to go so get out, make appearances, walk for candidates, pass out literature, call voters, work the polls- let’s do what we can to get good Republicans elected to office.