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Thanks for all your patience all 
It seems every election is the “most important election of your life”; at least, that is what you are most likely told. The statements may be considered correct at the time they are made; how may anyone be aware of what the political climate will be during future elections? One may assume, however, that if citizens remain on their current path every election will be “the most important election” while the off years are simply stacked full of inaction and disaffected behavior. While American citizens are more concerned with the latest reality show than the latest legislation our rights will continue to be voted away.
Why does this need to be explained? Because right now many people are interested in what will happen on November 2nd when another major focus needs to be what will happen on November 3rd. People have put a large emphasis on getting the “right candidate” into office yet those same candidates are given a relatively free-reign when in office. Delaware’s own Republican Mike Castle, during his Senate campaign this year, discussed an apology because he voted for Cap and Trade. Many were pleased to hear him talk in this way, yet few paid attention to the fact that he should not have voted against his constituents wishes in the first place.
What can the average person do about holding their representatives in check? Despite the mantra now being echoed “Remember in November” there are eleven other months in the year. There are basic and easy ways for the average citizen to help their representative remember to vote appropriately; that’s where this series comes into play.
Activism 101 will be tips and advice to help ensure your representative remembers your existence no matter how close they are to their re-election. Some of the information shared may be new, some may be old, and some may be of no interest to you personally. Regardless, hopefully you will appreciate some of the information shared.
When we make donations to a political campaign, many of us don’t spend much time thinking about what it gets used for. We later hear reports of misuse of certain campaign funds and are affronted that the candidate of our choosing had the nerve to spend OUR money in that manner (of course, once the money is donated it becomes THEIR money). One candidate in particular has been using their meager campaign contributions in a surprising manner.
Current Attorney General Beau Biden is running for re-election in 2010. He maintains a website where he accepts campaign donations despite the fact that he is running unopposed. As the incumbent Beau was already at an advantage; with no opponent it would take a lot of mistakes for him to lose. There was much speculation near the beginning of the year with many saying that Beau would run for his father’s old Senate seat.
So, if no one is running against him, why should we focus on Beau Biden right now? For many Delawareans, the social networking website Facebook is forcing us to pay attention to Beau. He has recently put advertisements all over the popular website (we have most likely all seen the little ads on the right hand side of the screen), at least enough to draw the attention of this writer. And why not? What’s wrong with a little bit of premier targeted advertising?
Nothing is wrong with advertising, unless you make a mistake.
What mistake could Beau Biden have made that could draw negative attention to his campaign?
Putting the proverbial foot in his mouth (or I guess you could say the kink in the typing hands) seems to run in the Biden family as Beau Biden’s latest advertisement spells his own name wrong. Since his last name is the one with all the recognition it’s even more interesting that Biden was the misspelled name.
One may only guess that since his will be the only name on the ballot the spelling is not as important as the party.
The picture of the misspelled ad is a screenshot and unedited. This is exactly how the ad was shown on Facebook. (I tend to have issues when it comes to adding images to blogs so simply click on the image in the left hand corner of the screen)
Much ado has been made about Eric Bodenweiser and Joe Booth in the past two weeks mainly in conjunction with a personal smear campaign run by Eric’s own brother Paul. Joe Booth has claimed ignorance regarding the rants and obscenities posted on Paul’s page “Vote Smart Vote Joe Booth” and stated that he has never been on the website. You may hear his interview with Dan Gaffney shortly after the initial website launch here. In my opinion, Joe is not dealing well with this issue.
Joe Booth’s election website has no mention of the rambling rants which have caused his campaign to receive its largest amount of press to date. Paul published a new rant today stating that he is not in “cahoots with Joe Booth’s campaign” although he admits making financial donations to Joe. Despite the personal outcries from all over Sussex County, Joe has, to the public’s knowledge, made no effort to have his name taken off the Blast Bodenweiser website. In fact, Joe has begun to ignore the people of Sussex County!
On Joe’s own website, the first event listed on his calendar is the Delaware primary the headline reading simply “Vote for Joe Booth – Primary Election!” It has, however, been noted that Joe Booth has an event planned in New Castle County on Monday, August 16th. Joe will be teaming up with Representative Tom Kovach for a fundraiser. One can’t help but wonder why Joe is fundraising in New Castle County when the voters of his own district are waiting for a valid response regarding the personal smear campaign which is littered with Mr. Booth’s name.
Instead of closing with a discussion regarding voting records accountability, one may wish to focus on a different aspect of Joe Booth. The side of Joe Booth where his constituents are calling out for answers and begging for information yet receiving nothing in return may be one voters wish to pay attention to, all the while Joe Booth’s constituents will continue to wait, and wait, and wait.
There are moments in your life when you know you are about to do something extremely embarrassing yet you can’t stop yourself. You know people will laugh when they hear your name, smirk when they see you, and probably give you a horrible nickname but you do it anyway. I am about to have one of those moments. Yes, that’s right; I’m going to make a gushing sports metaphor.
“He could go all the way!” We’ve all heard that phrase in football again and again and again (well, I’m an Eagles fan so I probably hear it less than most) and we know what that means. Someone has that football and they are sprinting towards the end zone. It looks like no one will be able to catch them; he’s going to score and no one will be able to take that accomplishment away. Even more importantly, the excitement builds, the momentum builds, and everyone else is inspired into stepping up their game. I just heard that announcer in my head this weekend at a Freedom Works Activist Boot Camp in DC.
I was surrounded by about 30 people who champion the cause of Liberty on a daily basis. These people sacrifice their time, their money and their personal relationships to be vocal and active regarding individual rights, limited government, sound economic strategy and so much more. These activists are on the front line for the battle for our civil rights every day. In the spotlight, publicly defending Liberty, Deneen Borelli is a household name to the Tea Party movement. She is the perfect example of the sacrifice being made by these individuals. Instead of writing about her actions, I would urge you to watch the video.
In order to preserve brevity, more will be forthcoming regarding the actual lessons learned and advice given, as well as the book “Give Us Liberty” which chronicles the Tea Party movement, history, and includes a Grass Roots Activism Toolkit (the toolkit is available for free download here). I will instead get to the point of my sports metaphor.
These people will not rest, will not stop, and will continue to champion the cause of Liberty in America. With the upcoming election in November there is a touchdown on the way. There have already been several points scored, the game is in the final quarter, and while everyone in the stadium enjoys their hotdogs and beer, some are on the field. They may be covered in sweat, dirt, and in some cases blood, but that momentum has built to the point where it is buzzing in the air.
We will score and Liberty will prevail. We must, therefore we will.
Many have come to realize that a political campaign may mean the proverbial skeleton comes out of the closet, yet none of us expected the bombshell dropped on the Eric “Bodie” Bodenweiser campaign this weekend. Eric’s brother, Paul, created an offensive website outlining some of the mistakes Eric had made in his past. The website, titled “Vote Smart Vote Joe Booth” not only insults Eric, but also lays insult to his wife Patty. Paul states he is “more than happy to help Joe Booth beat my brother even if he was running for Sussex County Dog Catcher”.
Throughout the day many groups have commented regarding this webpage. The News Journalincludes a quote from Sussex County GOP Chairman Ron Sams. “It’s one thing for a candidate or a candidate’s campaign to say something like that,” Sams said. “But when your brother comes right out, and from another state away, and makes these kind of statements, I would think that people would have to set up and say there’s probably some validity to what his brother says.” Ron Sams is a Joe Booth supporter.
This writer’s good friend and fellow writer David Anderson is not taking sides in the 19th Senate race, but “wouldn’t encourage anyone to vote against Mr. Bodenweiser based upon this” and would also encourage people not to blame Joe Booth.
Delaware Liberal seems to have no issue taking sides calling Eric names which will not be repeated on this site, but may be read here.
Bill Colley, evening radio talk show host on WGMD comments on the News Journal story stating “as for my County GOP Chairman… I believe that he’s already punched his ticket to the nether world”.
One wonders about the other aspects of this story which have yet to be examined.
Many of us know about sibling rivalries and may be curious as to what would lead a sibling such strong … dislike. This may never be known, yet much Paul Bodenweiser’s website seems to show anger towards Eric’s recent religious acts (those of us who know Eric know him to be a deeply religious man) yet he also shows another feeling many of us may know, jealousy.
If one reads the “Vote Smart Vote Joe Booth” diatribe one may notice many spelling and grammar errors. Why would anyone when writing such a hurtful piece directed at their own family fail to use spell check? The answer seems easy to this writer. This was written in a fit of passion.
Paul admits that he hasn’t spoken to Eric in years; therefore one may consider that Paul just became aware that Eric is running for a political office. Although the website may have taken a short while to set up this was obviously written in a fueled passion.
Paul will regret this later (he may already since the alcohol has worn off) and Joe Booth, although he has claimed ignorance, will forever be in the back of people’s minds when they consider the Bodie Brothers.
