My Fellow Patriots,
On Saturday, the House passed the Health Care Bill that would takeover our health care and 1/6 of the economy! However, the war is far from being over. This is just one battle. Do you remember Bunker Hill in the Revolutionary War? The British took the hill, because we ran out of ammunition. While the result was a victory for the British, they suffered a large amount of losses: over 800 wounded and 226 killed, including a notably large number of officers. The battle is seen as an example of a Pyrrhic victory, as while their immediate objective (the capture of Bunker Hill) was achieved, the loss of nearly a third of their forces did not significantly alter the state of siege. Meanwhile, Colonial forces were able to retreat and regroup in good order having suffered few casualties.

On Saturday, we ran short on votes. The war for freedom and liberty is far from being over. The Liberal Left who pushed through this bill know that it is has cost them more than what it was worth. Their actions tonight will be the reason for the loss in 2010 and 2012 – if we can regroup and fight back. Yes, we must regroup. Now is the time to fight back. They are weak. Have you forgotten that WE won last Tuesday in Virginia and New Jersey!

America’s fight for freedom has always been won by hard work and perseverance. On September 23, 1779, John Paul Jones fought one of the bloodiest engagements in naval history. Jones struggled with the 44-gun Royal Navy frigate Serapis, and although his own vessel was burning and sinking, Jones would not accept the British demand for surrender, replying, “I have not yet begun to fight.” More than three hours later, Serapis surrendered and Jones took command.

Don’t Give Up – Keep On Fighting!!!
Your Brother In Liberty,
Everett Wilkinson

Join The Fight at SouthFloridaTeaParty.org

Tuesday's Elections in Virginia and New Jersey have some saying that the GOP is back and in a big way. As much as I and most every other 2008 College Republican volunteer campaigner would like to believe that the sequence has fallen out of voters eye's; we need to be realistic about what these victories mean for the GOP. Do they signal a severe shift in the voters thinking; or were these simply what happens when the democrats do not have Jimmy Buffet tickets and other razzle dazzle to throw in voters eyes?

I for one hope that these elections in VA and NJ signal a unifying message for the GOP and a call to action for a President who seems to be unable to make the tough decisions like Afghanistan (We're waiting Mr. President; how many Soldiers will it take for a decision?) and spent the first quarter of his Presidency appointing over 30 Czars' and implementing programs that last a week (Cash for Clunkers) or bailing out failing companies.

I think that American people have removed all of the sequence and razzle dazzle of 2008 from there eyes and what they saw was a President who is indecisive and non-bipartisan. In spite of all of this we as the GOP need to make sure we do not over emphasis these wins. We need to take the lessons we learned in 2008 and from Tuesdays election and implement them into our 2010 plan. We can take back the seats we lost and more if we remember to stick together and talk with a unified voice. As the Democrats learned Tuesday when you give the American people the old razzle dazzle they may not ask you why then but 12 months down the road they will.

Virginia and New Jersey have given us energy for 2010 let's use this energy for unifying ourselves and preparing our message for the next election.

Today being Halloween and all, it is fitting that some state and federal politicians have provided us with some old fashion trick-o-treat fun. In NY Congressional District 23, Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava has just treated us with her withdrawal from the contentious race-leaving Conservative candidate Hoffman to duke it out with the Liberal Democrat who is also running in the race.  

In New Jersey, we have another treat in the making as we may very well see Liberal Governor Jon Corzine lose to his Republican counterpart Chris Christie. As we all know, New Jersey is as blue of a state as they come. President Barry Hussein Obama is expected to continue to stump for Corzine in the upcoming days. So far, Barry’s coat tails have not helped Corzine’s cause.

Back here in the beautiful state of Florida, we have a different set of tricks and treats. When you think of Florida, you think of Governor Charlie Crist- the tanned man. And it is so funny to say that all of the states’ Halloween festivities revolve around his tanning bed, I mean his campaign.

First Crist appointed Republican Kevin Tynan to the Broward County School board-treat.

Now the Governor has to appoint someone to the Broward County Commission, hopefully it will be a solid conservative Republican. This may turn out to be a trick since, Crist is notorious for bucking the GOP by appointed Democrats instead of Republicans to public office. Most notably, his appointment of Liberal Justice Perry to the Florida Supreme Court and a Democrat Palm Beach County Commissioner only served to undermine the chances for responsible conservative governance.

Broward GOP Chairman Chip LaMarca is very confident that the Governor’s pick in Broward will be a Republican. He and other local GOP leaders have lobbied the Governor to choose another Republican to replace Commissioner Josephus Eggeletion following his arrest for corruption.

What has turned out to be a little bit of both trick and treat has been the alleged involvement and/or knowledge Governor Crist had about the anti-Rubio website and Youtube video that one of his advisors, Rich Heffley was responsible for.   Initially, Mr. Heffley, the Republican Party of Florida (RPOF), and Governor Crist adamantly denied involvement. Then their tune began to change, saying they had limited knowledge of the site. But now Heffley admits the site is his responsibility. See story-Heffley/Crist

Here are the indisputable facts:

-Heffley rents an office from the RPOF

Heffley has worked for Crist in the past

-Heffley is a current adviser to Crist

-Heffley gets paid by the RPOF

Enough said?

So this begs the question- What did Charlie know, and when did he know it?

Can anyone get a comment from RPOF Chairman Jim Greer? He’s been mysteriously absent of late. Was he aware of the shenanigans that were going on? More on Greer-Redcounty

There is speculation that Senator George LeMieux (REDSTATE) himself was indirectly involved or had prior knowledge of the website in question or the “Hitler” video. Read more-LeMieux-Redcounty

It seems as if the Crist campaign tried to trick the Rubio campaign and its supporters, but it’s turned out to be a major treat for Rubio. With all of the negative attention Charlie has brought upon himself, it looks like the Governor has tricked himself out. Happy Halloween!!!!

Should your average Republican and far conservatives split?  That seems to be the new idea being floated around by many deep conservatives.  Many of these so called "deep conservatives" are willing to paint anyone remotely left of extreme right as a RINO (Republican In Name Only). As for the more moderate Republicans... they love to refer to the deep conservatives as "right wing nut jobs." 

What happened to the days of the "big tent" party?  A party that accepted all walks of life and somewhat varying ideologies.  After all, many of Abraham Lincoln's economic polices would directly contradict Reaganomics.  Yet we embrace the finer points of both.

The Democratic Party split once upon a time... and so created the Republican Party.  Democrats have forever since had issues within their party due to a lack of civility and common understanding between "blue dog" conservative Democrats and your "ultra liberal" Democrats.  We can see the major divisiveness today in the Democrats lacking ability to pass ANYTHING while controlling both houses of Congress and the Presidency at the same time.  With that kind of power they should be able to pass legislation putting President Obama's face on the $1 bill with ease.  But, they can't because inner party fighting brings no resolution.

The basic idea here is that it's good to support candidates and policies YOU believe in.  But, it will kill your chances of bringing true compromise to the table in the future if one group in a party doesn't ever want to play ball.  Besides, calling people names like RINO or a nut job (logical fallacies ad hominem) never really help win an argument.

While problems could exist within party leadership and policies... we also have to remember that the NRSC, the NRCC, the RNC, RPOF, and REC's are all in place to ensure Republicans hold onto and gain seats.  It's never wise to bash the party infrastructure unless completely necessary.  I highly suggest becoming involved if you want to bring change about within the party.  Don't bash it and give Democrats ammo... get your hands dirty and be the person who changes things.

The "big tent" idea was never a bad idea.  I'm not talking about including truly extreme cases such as Senator Snowe of Maine either.  But, we also can't willy nilly cast moderates and other Republicans into that TRULY RINO category.  After all, the RINO title came about when Democrats switched to being Republican to win seats.  While one candidate might be a little more right of center than another... be careful to paint them into that true RINO category.  The same goes for when people outcast others like Congressman Ron Paul for example.  

The varying groups housed under the Republican brand need to fully understand that they have to stick together after primary elections.  We don't need to hand Democrats power on a silver platter.

Get ready for Obama to come to Florida on Monday.  We plan on protesting Obama on his way to the Fontainebleau in Miami (stay tuned in case location changes last minute).  South Florida Tea Party's website will have all the updated information as things change.

Currently, the only GOP favorite in the Florida Governor's race is Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum.  McCollum is having some trouble raising money against the Democrat favorite, Florida CFO Alex Sink.  Regardless, the GOP establishment has mostly backed McCollum in the race.

State Senator Paula Dockery has been mentioned as a possible contender for McCollum in the Republican primary.  Dockery, mostly unknown to the majority of Floridians, is highly regarded by some of the "ultra conservative" members of the party much the same as Marco Rubio is against Charlie Crist in the U.S. Senate race.

Dockery has been hinting over the past month that she is seriously contemplating the run for Governor.  Just today, the St. Pete Times reported:

State Sen. Paula Dockery sounds even more convinced than she did earlier this month about challenging Bill McCollum for the GOP nomination for governor. "I'm leaning very heavily toward doing it," she said today.

The question is... is it a good idea?  Will Dockery's run for Governor be a death nail for Republicans in the Governor's race? 

More to come.