You are here: Home / Archives for tom lee

Good, Bad, & Ugly

November 8, 2006 by Leave a Comment

The 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. (Limbaugh’s take on the election)

First, the Bad. Katherine Harris and Tom Lee lost their races. Katherine was not only beat- but embarrassed. Blame this one on the party. The Florida GOP didn’t get on board soon enough to make a difference in this race and this is disappointing.

I was shocked to see that Tom Lee lost this one or should I say that Alex Sink won. We can’t blame this one on our Get Out The Vote Efforts, because we walked, called and put up signs. No, this one was lost only because of Sink’s slick advertising. She was able to convince voters that she was right for the job. And there is nothing we can do to change that.

Second, the Ugly. Well, what can I say except, I wish it would have turned out different. We lost control of the House and we came close to losing the Senate as well. And it is no one’s fault but our own for failing to get our message out and get Republican voters to the polls.

The Democrats and Nancy Pelosi have a vision of the future that is different than ours. Right now all we can do is Imagine a world with no liberals- regroup and plan our strategy for 08. We need to remember, even though the election is over, there is still much work to be done.

Finally, the Good. We as SCYR’s should be proud of our efforts. While we didn’t have a good night nationally, we had a great night locally! Out of all the races that we worked on ( John Mica, Tom Feeney, Sandy Adams, Lee Constantine, Mike Ertel, Joanne Lucarelli, Chris Dorworth, Jeff Bauer, and Timothy Brodeur) we only had one come up short. Our efforts paid out. And that is something we can all be proud of.

Filed Under: Events · Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

On the Campaign Trail…

November 6, 2006 by Leave a Comment

Today was another busy day on the campaign trail. This afternoon I received a call from Jessica Brien who asked me to come by the victory office to see Tom Lee – who was making a stop in Orlando. I arrived at the Victory Office about 12:30 and spent the rest of the day in the OC.

When I arrived, the place was jumping with people- making calls, delivering signs, and whatever else needed done around the office. After pizza and a soda I jumped right in to making Get Out The Vote Calls- while we were waiting for Lee to show up. 2 hours and several pages of calls later, he arrived.

We all took a break to greet him and talk about the campaign. Then it was back to work. I made several calls- then went with Jessica to pick up and deliver some signs to the Firefighters who promised to put them out for us tonight.

On the way back to the office we stopped to join our fellow sign wavers on the corner of Colonial and Lake Underhill. Sherry McInvale and John Quinones had several supporters out there already waving them on to victory.

We made it back to the office just in time to greet the Channel 9 news cameras- doing a story on the election. And by that time the place was really jumping. We had so many people all over the office making get out the vote calls- that we ran out of phones. Pretty good, huh?

While I was at the office, I spotted several other YRs including Delmar and Lovejoy. Delmar, who dropped off literally a ton of Crist signs- gave me a high 5 on the way out- and said, ” See you on the campaign trail….”

Filed Under: Events · Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

On the Campaign Trail…

November 4, 2006 by Leave a Comment

Today, I went out and joined the Feeney team for a morning walk. The last walk of the campaign. We walked for Feeney, Tom Lee and Katherine Harris.

The area Chris and I walked was a retirement community in Oviedo. I have to say most of the people were not receptive. Granted this is a highly Republican area, but none the less, many people were not receptive.

Several people asked me if I had permission to be there. And several said that there was no soliciting allowed. I kindly reminded them that I was not soliciting, I was campaigning. But they responded the same way. “Same damn thing.” But still I pushed on- leaving literature on people’s steps.

Several people followed me around. I kept waiting for someone to call the cops on me. But no such luck. One of the other teams however, did get kicked out by the police. ( But not us! )

However, not all my responses were bad. I got several people that said they were planning on voting- some already voted Absenteee, and some said that they voted Republican. Very encouraging.

I got the feeling that most people just didn’t want to be bothered. Voter fatigue. One guy even commented that he had so many “damn brochures” that he didn’t want any more. Somehow, I don’t blame him.

I have to admit I’m getting a bit of voter fatigue myself. But none the less, I will press on and do my best to get Republicans elected.

See on on the campaign trail…

Filed Under: Events · Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

On the Campaign Trail…

November 3, 2006 by Leave a Comment

Well, it’s that time again! The election is soon approaching and I am anticipating a busy 4 days. Yep! 4 days.

On Wednesday night , I stopped by Constantine’s office to walk. To my surprise they had already left- but Whitney and I met up with them in Maitland.

Yesterday, I made a trip to Orange County for the Tom Lee Reception and Sign Waving. We had a very good crowd. I even bumped into Jim Stelling and Sharon. Of course, Jim gave me a hard time for being in the OC HQ. But while I was there I did get a chance to get my pix taken with Tom Lee. I’ve had the chance to meet him several times before- but I keep forgetting the camera. And wouldn’t you know it. I left the house again without it. Luckily, one of the UCF YR’s was kind enough to take a picture and email it to me. After the meet and greet we all proceeded to the intersection of 50 and 436 to wave our candidates Tom Lee, Andy Gardiner, Charlie Crist and Sherry McInvale on to victory.

Today I stopped by Mica’s office for the counter-protest. When I got there the Democrats were already setting up. All 3 of them. They did end up getting about 3 more people to come by- but that was it. I was a bit surprised to see them waving a flag- instead of burning it. Of course, the Dems brought their own press.

For our counter- protest we ended up having about 6 people as well. Jim Baumford came prepared with signs and people. The Maitland Police refereed the scene- I guess hoping to break up a fight- but they got none.

The highlight however had to be when Chagnon showed up with his golden retriever. I think he must have been lost when he came over and shook Skip’s hand. (Who was wearing a Katherine Harris T-shirt!) Baumford spoke up and told him that he was at the wrong party and directed him to the other street corner. How sad. I felt sorry for him- he obviously couldn’t read- since we also had a sign that said- ” Is that what you call an apology, John Kerry? Must be a product of liberal education.

Filed Under: Events · Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Waving on To Victory

October 27, 2006 by Leave a Comment

Tonight I went out to the I-4 Conroy Overpass with the several RPOF volunteers to wave our candidates on to victory.

While we were out, We received lots of responses: horns blared, people shouted, and a bus full of middle schoolers flipped us off. Several people stopped and asked us for bumper stickers. And several people were confused since we were waving signs for Tom Lee, Andy Gardiner, and Charlie Crist. One woman thought Tom Lee and Crist were running against each other for the same office. And if that wasn’t bad enough one person even stopped and asked us what Charlie was running for. Even though we just waved a sign in his face that clearly stated “Crist for Governor”.

I’m guessing, or rather hoping that he’s not planning on voting. And if he is, hopefully he won’t have any problems reading the ballot.

It was exciting, not just because this was my first sign waving, but because every time someone tooted, waved or yelled out the window at us- the more it revved me up for the election. I suppose, because in my heart, I knew they were waving us on to victory.

Filed Under: Events · Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

The Last Push

September 4, 2006 by Leave a Comment

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!

Filed Under: Events · Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

SCYR’s Attend OCREC Dinner

June 10, 2006 by Leave a Comment

I got a call the other day from Ariel, our new region chair about an opportunity to work for Tom Lee at the Orange County Republican Executive Committee Lincoln Day Dinner. At the time I thought this might be a good opportunity for me to get out and meet some more Movers and Shakers.

To my surprise I saw several of our YRs there as well. Michael Patterson, Adam LoveJoy, Heidi Watzak, Abby Birch, and our representative from Tom Feeney’s office. Several of them were there working for candidates as well. This is a great showing for our club.

There were also several other representatives from Seminole County. Sandy Adams, Jim and Virginia Baumford, Sandy and her girls, Mike Ertel, and several others.

Pretty much all the major candidates for office were there including Katherine Harris, Will McBride, Peter Monroe for Senate. Also spotted were Bill McCollum and Joe Negron for Attorney General. And of course Randy Johnson and Tom Lee for CFO.

The Marco Rubio, Speaker of the House of Florida was the keynote for the evening. I was very impressed with this Young Republican. He is truly an example we should all apire to.

Probably the best part of the evening for me was meeting Katherine Harris and eating Dinner with Tom Lee at Table 2. When I got home I kicked myself for not getting Katherine’s autograph. But I hope to see her on the campaign trail again in the near future. When the evening was over Tom thanked me for coming out to help and gave me a hug. Now that’s a candidate I’d vote for!

Filed Under: Events · Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

The It Factor

June 4, 2006 by Leave a Comment

Over the weekend we sent a full delegation of 5 to the FFYR Annual Convention in Boca Raton. That Delegation included: our President, Jason Brodeur, our Vice President, Clay Archey, Past President, Alex Setzer, Webmaster, Jennifer S. Wilson, and member Michael Patterson.

The convention started off with a bang when we attended the Lincoln Day Gala and saw perhaps the most powerful man in Washington, Mr. Karl Rove. I was moved by his speech and it was an honor just to be in his presence. But the best part of the evening for me wasright before we went in to the dinner. We had just finished standing for a picture with him when I turned around he was shaking hands and greeting several people in our group. I reached out my hand and said Hi. He greeted me with a smile and shook my hand. His grip was indicative of his personality powerful and firm and something that we all as Republicans should strive for.

In Rove’s speech he referred to the It Factor: When you’re it everyone wants to be it and talk to it. And that night Karl was it.

But while Rove was the biggest dignitary we met, he was not the only one. Over the weekend, the YRs met, and talked to some very powerful people in Florida as well. Some of the candidates that we rubbed shoulders with included: Peter Monroe, Joe Negron, Randy Johnson, and Tom Lee.

Joe Negron, candidate for Attorney General gave a great speech at lunch on Saturday. His name was on everyone’s mind when we voted in the straw poll. And thus he beat out Bill McCollum in the poll almost 2:1.

The Senate Race was a statistical dead heat with McBride receiving 37.1% of the vote and Harris receiving 35.5%. These two candidates were only separated by one vote.

In the CFO race, Tom Lee edged out over Randy Johnson. This was mostly a comment on the candidates style.

The weekend was full and informative. Besides shaking hands and going to dinners, we got some recognition for our club. Jason attended the New Executive Committee Meeting and was elected to office. The Tropical Gala was fun but not all we hoped for. While we did not win any awards, we did bring home a consellation prize, the first annual FFYR Softball Tournament Trophy.

We did not let that get our spirit down. We resolved to come back to Miami next year in force and sweep the awards. But there was one award that we won hands down: Best After Parties. We were it. Our place was the the place to be. And everyone who was anyone was in our room.

Filed Under: Events · Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,