COMMUNITY COMMENTARY
by Jim Wagoner We patriots of Maui expected November 6th to be a wondrous day in our lives. It would be a day of remembrance – similar to Neil Armstrong’ s walk on the moon. We expected there would be toasts and merriment with high expectation for the good of mankind and the future of America. Our many upcountry conservatives gathered in the conference auditorium of Grace Church in Pukalani, bringing their own special family food delights to the loaded banquet table. Within minutes of the time Sue and I were seated, candidate Mitt Romney conceded the election to President Obama. My disappointment was one of the saddest moments of my life. The realization that conservatives, Christians in particular, had just suffered a terrible defeat. I was in no mood to commiserate with others or have dinner. We left within an hour and that beautiful banquet table had hardly been touched. Two months later, I am not debating the election. President Obama will be our president for the next four years. Yet in my humble way of thinking, I honestly can’ t make myself believe that the state of Wisconsin went Democrat. Please consider Wisconsin’ s recent history with me: Governor Scott Walker survived a recall election five months prior to the presidential election. He is the only Governor ever to sustain his office from a recall election and he did it by garnering 53 % of the votes cast. Governor Walker and President Obama represent such opposite values, I can’ t imagine any
It’ s Hard to Believe
of that 53 % voting for President Obama. In passing, Walker turned a $ 3.6 billion deficit into a surplus his first year in office. Further consider that Tommy Thompson was once elected to four straight terms as the Governor of Wisconsin. He was their statesman of renown and competed for an open U. S. Senate seat. He was beaten by a three term U. S. House member with no legislative achievement. Her claim to fame was that she was the first“ outed” lesbian in congress. How thrilling. Finally consider Wisconsin’ s native son Congressman Paul Ryan. Ryan is well recognized as one of the world’ s most brilliant intellects in economics. And there is more to respect, Paul Ryan was selected to run for Vice President of the United States. Guess what? The state of Wisconsin voted for Joe Biden. This is incomprehensible. I don’ t believe for a minute the vote tally for Wisconsin was correct. Also consider the state of Florida that went Democrat. This is the land of Jeb Bush – an honest man with tons of energy who turned the state upside down with his 8 years in office. Florida achieved great strides of prosperity under his leadership. Foremost in his bio however is that Jeb Bush took a broken school system, like Hawaii’ s own, from a state ranking in the high 40s to one of the top three in the nation. Connie Mack IV, is also a Floridian – a more pleasing or powerful name cannot be imagined for a politician. His father Connie Mack III, served 4 years in the US House and
12 years in the US Senate. Presently Mack the Fourth, has served 6 years in the US House. His record of getting votes shows an average of 65.2 % of votes cast. As a congressman he was an outspoken opponent of federal bailouts, he was a supporter for cutting federal spending, he co-sponsored an amendment to the constitution that required a“ balanced budget”, and he was a signer of the Taxpayer Protection Pledge. In my register he did everything right. Yet he was defeated by Senator Bill Nelson, a career politician, with nothing to show for his 24 years in Washington DC. Senator Nelson’ s single claim to fame is that he once hitched a ride on the space shuttle Columbia for 6 days as a payload specialist. If he were a Republican, he would be my number one RINO. As Florida is the land of Jeb Bush, it is also the land of Senator Marco Rubio and Governor Rick Scott. Senator Rubio is the nearest thing to a Jack Kennedy I’ ve ever witnessed. And yes, this rising Republican Star can talk too. In Governor Rick Scott we have something special. Upon finishing high school he joined the Navy. After completing his enlistment, he went to college and on to law school on the GI Bill. Governor Scott’ s motto agenda is to insure that every family in Florida has the same opportunity to live the American dream, to provide children an opportunity for an education and every adult an opportunity to a job. Right on Governor. Like Wisconsin, I can’ t believe that Florida
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Pono Press, March 2013, Page 7