Remember the fib Matt Mackowiak told Bill Flores to say if he was ever asked who he voted for in the 2008 election?

Chet Edwards does and scores a field goal to increase his lead.

Edwards unleashed his first commercial today, sending an unlisted link to Congressional Quarterly for the video he has posted on his YouTube Channel. Congressional Quarterly posted the video and wrote up the story here.

Here’s the video: (more…)

Meet The Candidate - Matt Mackowiak. Yep, it scares us, too!

Matt Mackowiak is Bill Flores’ Campaign Manager. When you hear Bill Flores speak, see his campaign material or the campaign strategy played out, or experience a tactical response from him or the campaign relative to something Chet Edwards does – you are seeing Matt Mackowiak – NOT Bill Flores.

That is my firm belief: that you are NOT seeing Bill Flores. The Bill Flores who has been described to me by dozens of party leaders and supporters is not the one you see. The one you see is trying to win on national issues and losing on local issues. He’s taking statistically calculated positions that are not in congruence with the Conservatives and Republicans in this District – but mesh perfectly with the national party’s playbook.

The quarterback is Matt Mackowiak, who in essence works for the NRCC, whether they pay him or not, because his future clients will come from the NRCC. He is The Candidate for future jobs…gunning for something important in the 2012 election cycle.

The NRCC has a playbook for national politics that includes recruiting self-financing candidates so they can save money yet still control the outcome by providing that candidate with “support” in the form of “consultants” like Matt whom they say are top-notch.

The self-financed Bill Flores has never done this before. He is smart enough to let people who know what they are doing do it, which is probably one of the keys to his success in business. The Henry Ford rule in practice: I’m not the smartest guy in this industry…so I hire the smartest guy.

However, Matt is 28, has never run a campaign before, and has only cut his teeth in the field of public relations in Washington, better known as the field of “spin.” A field he perfected as Spokesperson for Kay Bailey Hutchison…most likely the connection that got him the position with Bill, who was an ardent supporter of her gubernatorial run.

Bill is a straight shooting Texan. So are (more…)

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While I still believe Bill Flores is not a Conservative to the standards of Ronald Reagan by which I measure a politician’s claim of ideological bent, I believe he is a Republican and not a RINO, and Conservatives have a good chance of being represented by him in Congress merely by the fact that we do not know what he will do when he gets to Washington. Bill is a smart man, and knows that continued Congressional tenure relies on dutifully and faithfully representing We, The People.

Scott Kimble wrote a very good piece about the use of the term RINO vs. Republican, and we at American Writes have taken to using that terminology he explores. If you missed it, check it out here before you go on.

Facts are stubborn things. Mr. Flores has experienced that at the hands of this very blog. Chet Edwards is about to experience them more pointedly.

But first… (more…)

My apology is for more than Bill. It includes his entire family and campaign, except The Candidate, whom I mentioned in my previous post is not Bill Flores, but somebody completely different in name, body and soul. This is not some trick of words. The Candidate is really some entirely different person than Bill Flores. But I will save that for another post…

First, I am sorry if my blog has degenerated into some pit of nitpicking or anger, or if it even comes across that way. I want to focus on facts, and in my mind that is what I am doing every time I write. But I am now aware that it can come across in ways I do not intend, no matter how hard I try to keep it neutral.

I know that some readers see me as a kook or wing-nut. As my confidant said to me, (more…)

They say politics makes strange bedfellows...

Bill Flores is not a RINO. Yes dear readers, I have put into print, stored electronically forever, Bill Flores will no longer be referred to as a RINO in my postings.

With the alphabetized, acronym filled world of politics we live in, we have all become “Alphabet Kids”. For those who may be new to this blog, allow me to give a brief cast of characters:

RNC—Republican National Committee—the controlling entity of all things Republican

TX CD17/CD17/TX17—Texas Congressional District 17—the Congressional District in Central Texas that includes all or part of Bosque, Brazos, Burleson, Grimes, Hill, Hood, Johnson, Limestone, Madison, Mclennan, Robertson and Somerville Counties: gerrymandered into existence after the 1990 Census in an attempt to unseat liberal Democrat, Chet Edwards

NRCC—National Republican Congressional Committee—an entity of the RNC that “recruits” candidates for congressional seats

RINO—Republican In Name Only—label attached by Conservatives to candidates who do not represent their Conservative views

ABC Crowd—Anybody But Chet—those voters who believe that our current Congressman in TX CD17, Chet Edwards, must be defeated no matter what this fall

Now the cast has been introduced we can get on with this tragedy.

Conservatives have known for years that the Republican Party was (more…)

There’s a headline for ya. In fairness, it should say “My Perception Of Bill Flores Was Wrong,” but that doesn’t roll off the tongue so easily.

I cannot explain to the full extent how wrong I was or why I think I was wrong in one short blog post…and a long one would make you lose interest and take away an opportunity for me to have you come back for more over the course of a few days.

So, let me set this up, and then invite you to return here as I unwind this story.

I have the good fortune and blessing to be friends with (more…)

Shortly after finishing my last post, I attended the public swearing in of Texas State Senator Brian Birdwell. While there the opportunity to speak with Matt Mackowiak, Campaign Manager for Bill Flores, presented itself.

During our conversation, I requested a personal meeting with Bill to which Matt said he would see what could be arranged. Good to his word, Matt arranged the meeting while Bill was attending a meet and greet in Joshua the next Monday.

I did not take a recorder or even a note pad to the meeting. This was strictly off the record-my idea, not Bill’s. As usual, Bill was prompt, attentive, polite and respectful. We had a good discussion. I have always said Bill is a personable guy, very engaging and the type of person I would like to be good friends with so the discussion was easy.

Bill and I agree on three major points (1) Chet Edwards has to go (2) Nancy Pelosi must be defeated as Speaker of the House and (3) Barrack Obama has got to be stopped. We also agree that the Republican Party has strayed far from the Conservative causes that put it in power for a short time. Our differences are how we accomplish these goals, how we get the RNC to turn back to Conservatism and the definition of a Conservative.

Bill Flores is today’s Republican, not (more…)

Colin Witt, most recently the Communications Director for the 2010 Rob Curnock For Congress campaign, has launched his long-anticipated blog. You can find it at www.ColinWitt.com.

Colin is a talented and smart young man, wise in his years of Central Texas living and in tune with the politics of Middle America – and Middle Texas. He hails from the Waco area, right smack in the middle of Congressional District 17.

As a member of the media I enjoyed working with Colin while he juggled campaign communications, and Colin was always respectful of my time and my questions…no matter how hard they were. Colin gave me complete (more…)

Another example of earmark politics in TX CD17 and just like Pork Creek Park (aka Hamm Creek Park) Congressman Chet Edwards secured it for the county. We here in Johnson County will be stuck paying the tab—both in our Federal taxes and in our county taxes. Once Mr. Edwards has gotten his pat on the back and your vote, the county will forced to maintain these projects at YOUR expense.

Liberal politics and politicians will never change. Their first priority is to make us dependant on them for everything. Second, they bring home the money to make our lives nicer by creating more government jobs, road projects, parks, bike paths, etc. to help secure their re-election. Hey, we should get our fair share of the money, right? Bring that money from Iowa to Texas and send Texas money to New York! (more…)

You know the old saying…because people won’t be able to tell the difference.

I’ve been stuck in a silly argument with Dan Hunt, that I mentioned a few times before and you can follow by clicking this tag.

Here it ends, for multiple reasons.

Primarily, it degenerated to Dan’s calling me a liberal Edwards plant and I summarily end conversations when they get to that point, because the person on the other end has resorted to name-calling, which is a classic liberal tactic. But I allowed Dan to call me out, as if I were abandoning the conversation because his accusations were supposedly right.

I should have let them go. Aside from revealing his RINO tendencies, they simply allowed me to get distracted and therefore increased the How Bill Flores Will Lose posts by a (more…)