By Chairman Chris Healy

It is time for all Republican leaders, from Hartford to Sacramento, but especially Washington, D.C., to zip their lips, pull up their socks, grab your baseball bats and get back on the field of battle.

As a Northeastern Republican with solid conservative credentials, I believe the basic tenets of our party will resonate with the voters of this country. The problem is our own people in Congress and their hired hands on K Street, have not lived up to them over the past four years and learned nothing from 2006. Many are friends of mine, but we locals need to intervene here and offer political quinine to Potomac fever.

We all get the joke out here on Main Street. For too long, Republicans in power have become accustomed to power and its trappings, its pork and living in a dream world where they think everyone agrees with them. The public and our base Republicans have grown angry and weary of this fact. Congress spent too much, grew the government to its greatest size ever and failed to produce the head of Osama Bin Laden.

The public expects Republicans to cut taxes and to win wars. We are the “grown up’s party” for a reason. President Bush has not sold the war or the positive impact of his tax cuts on a daily basis and paid for it in the polls.

While Republicans agree with the surge and know the stakes for leaving, the voices against our policy are winning the public debate. The good news is the public is somewhat split on the options and they give Sen. McCain high marks for his positions on making sure we get the job done.

But, politics is an amorphous state of affairs and the party that is always breaking new ground and offering new ideas keeps its head above water.

Republicans used to be about that – welfare reform, entitlement reform school choice, NAFTA, you name it, we were the party that drove the agenda, saved Bill Clinton from himself and backed the Bush tax cuts that created seven years of growth.

Newt Gingrich is right – we are not offering hope and not being bold. We need to stop cowering in the corner and hiding under the kitchen table. We are going to win this Presidential campaign with John McCain as our nominee and we better start getting used to fact that Sen. McCain is the best possible candidate we can have at this moment in time.

First, McCain has been on the right side of the issues of spending reform and an end to the pork that Republicans have grown accustomed to. He is against the current Farm Bill, which is a sop to agribusiness that don’t need more subsidies while adding more in long-term spending. His position on keeping our nation safe is without peer and McCain and Gingrich know we must educate the public of the growing danger of nuclear terrorism against a major city.

Voters hold their Presidential vote closely. They don’t give it away. Barack Obama will be exposed as a left-wing, lightweight poser in time. McCain embodies what we want in a leader, tough, experienced, not afraid to break some China, but able to work with others to get things done. McCain has worked with people he doesn’t agree with, something Obama has never accomplished - much to the consternation of some conservative purists. It’s time for them “to grow up,” as Barry Goldwater said once, and put their shoulders to wheel for John McCain.

As for Congress, stand up and be counted. Stop using Washington-speak. Start talking to local reporters and stop playing into the NY-DC media maze. Lose the professional talking heads we send to MSNBC and CNN and put state chairmen and local party officials on national TV to explain how the Democrats are ruining our economy and how it affects us at the local level. Localize each Congressional election on what Obama and a Democratic Congress will mean to every taxpayers in dollars and cents.

Stop voting for stupid spending bills like the Farm Bill. When a mega-liberal like Rosa DeLauro calls passage of the Farm Bill, “sweet” every Republican who voted for that legislation should be ashamed of themselves.

Start voting as a team and keep tying the Democrats up. The Democrats will eventually turn on each other. And get out of Washington now and start meeting with voters and explaining what the Republican Party is and will be – like we are the only party that will kill the bad guys overseas that can wipe out a city with a briefcase; we are the only party that will allow children to be educated based on what parent and teachers want, not bureaucrats and that we are the only party that will not let the government take more of your salary or your pension.

But most importantly, talk to people like you need them rather than they need you. Tell them what Republicans are going to do to offer hope on the economy and confidence on security. Make it real and appeal to the American trait of what can be done, not what can’t be.

Take no quarter. Admit we lost our way, but that we got the message and have a plan and the alternative would be devastating for national security and economic prosperity.

Fight, or die.

From the “Things We Missed Until Now” files, yesterday the New Haven Register reported that some of the Dearly Departed are still with us.  After the bombshell UCONN report and the Secretary of the State’s investigation of the matter, the 8500+ dead voters has been reduced to 1,451 voters who are suspected of being dead.  Attempts to contact the deceased voters will continue.

Republican delegates met in Convention last night to endorse candidates in multi-town House districts.  The results are still coming in from across the state, but there are a handful of primaries rumored.  Once the petitioning window has passed we’ll bring you the full briefing.

In the 13th State House District, South Manchester, Director Cheri Pelletier announced her candidacy for office at a press conference at the Lincoln Center this morning.  Director Pelletier is a tremendous candidate recruitment success in a traditionally difficult district for Republicans.  Competing and winning in seats like this will grow the Republican minority into the majority.

Last fall, Enfield residents went to the polls and voted for a decidedly different direction in their local government. Seven Republican Town Councilors were elected, giving the GOP a 7-4 supermajority on the Enfield Town Council. Though residents had already noticed the big change - like no more crazy Mayor shouting at citizens in the grocery store, the real rub came last night at the Enfield Town Council meeting when they passed a No Tax Increase budget.

According to the Journal-Inquirer:

With some residents waving pompoms and clapping, Republicans on the Town Council approved a 2008-09 budget with no tax increase Wednesday night, keeping the mill rate at 23.88 mills.

Connecticut already has the highest per-capita tax burden in the United States of America.  Of course, our liberal friends will immediately cry “wolf!”, pointing to the distortive effect of Fairfield County’s immense wealth.  But even Fairfield’s deep pockets do not distort the fact that Connecticut’s employment growth has ranked last in the nation since 1991 (according to the U.S. Census, County Business Pattern, CERC), Connecticut is losing 18-34 year olds at the fastest rate in the nation (U.S. Census 1990-2000), and Entrepreneur Magazine in 2006 named the Nutmeg State is the 48th best state to do business.  Expensive electricity, expensive insurance rates, high utility costs, skyrocketing gas prices, and burdensome regulations are smothering the Connecticut economy.  All this in a State which was once the economic engine of New England, now traded away for class warfare rhetoric and blatant pandering to public service unions.

Weighing down the Connecticut economy hasn’t - shockingly! - created new opportunities for many Connecticut families.  High praise goes to the Enfield Republican Town Councilors who passed the No Tax Increase Budget last night, for finally listening to the people of Connecticut who want to grow the economy again.

After wall-to-wall media drooling over twice-failed Presidential candidate John Edwards’ endorsement of Sen. Barack Obama, presumptive Republican nominee John McCain is “reflecting” on four years of his Presidency this morning in Columbus, Ohio.

The McCain campaign is rolling out the full court press for this one, complete with splashy web ad, cleverly dubbed “2013″.

Many of the headlines are already picking up on McCain’s comments related to Iraq, in which he predicts “most” of the American military presence in Iraq will return home, and take a far lesser role in that country.

By January 2013, America has welcomed home most of the servicemen and women who have sacrificed terribly so that America might be secure in her freedom. The Iraq War has been won. Iraq is a functioning democracy, although still suffering from the lingering effects of decades of tyranny and centuries of sectarian tension. Violence still occurs, but it is spasmodic and much reduced. Civil war has been prevented; militias disbanded; the Iraqi Security Force is professional and competent; al Qaeda in Iraq has been defeated; and the Government of Iraq is capable of imposing its authority in every province of Iraq and defending the integrity of its borders. The United States maintains a military presence there, but a much smaller one, and it does not play a direct combat role.

McCain took aim at one of his favorite targets, partisanship in Washington, for a key section of the speech:

For too long, now, Washington has been consumed by a hyper-partisanship that treats every serious challenge facing us as an opportunity to trade insults; disparage each other’s motives; and fight about the next election. For all the problems we face, if you ask Americans what frustrates them most about Washington, they will tell you they don’t think we’re capable of serving the public interest before our personal and partisan ambitions; that we fight for ourselves and not for them. Americans are sick of it, and they have every right to be. They are sick of the politics of selfishness, stalemate and delay.

Of all the ideas floated by McCain today, one of the most interesting was in the practices McCain hopes to employ. McCain seems intent on showing not only the policy differences with the current administration, but also the style differences that will change the way the Presidency “feels” to most Americans.

I will hold weekly press conferences. I will regularly brief the American people on the progress our policies have made and the setbacks we have encountered. When we make errors, I will confess them readily, and explain what we intend to do to correct them. I will ask Congress to grant me the privilege of coming before both houses to take questions, and address criticism, much the same as the Prime Minister of Great Britain appears regularly before the House of Commons.

McCain is gearing up for a summer of speeches, outlining his vision for the nation’s next four years. The grand finale speech of the summer will be his Sept. 4th address to the Republican National Convention upon acceptance of the GOP nomination for President.

Last night, Republican delegates to State Senate Conventions gathered to nominate candidates for the Connecticut State Senate.  Though a number of terrific candidates were nominated, there were very few competitive Conventions.  The only contested Convention was in the 8th State Senate District, where State Representative Kevin Witkos, of Canton, and Simsbury Selectwoman Moira Wertheimer sparred for the Republican nomination.  The seat is being vacated by Sen. Thomas J. Herlihy, whose 2006 race was among the closest in the State.

State Rep. Witkos is a six year veteran of the State House and a sergeant with the Canton PD.  Wertheimer, in addition to her work on the Board of Selectmen in Simsbury, is an RN.  Wertheimer focused on her diverse background of achievements while highlighting the strategic advantage of running as a Republican candidate out of Simsbury a la Sen. Herlihy.  Witkos emphasized his experience and compelling biography as a law enforcement officer when making his pitch to the delegates.  In the end, the Convention voted 36-12 in favor of State Rep. Witkos. 

The race may not be over, however.  Wertheimer’s 25% of the delegates automatically qualifies her for a spot on the August primary ballot if she so chooses.  It remains to be seen whether the race is headed to primary or not.  Regardless of the candidate that ends up the Republican nominee, it is clear that the Republican line will be occupied by a terrific candidate when Labor Day arrives.

Presumptive Republican nominee John McCain has beat the Democrats to the punch on this one.

Yesterday, McCain for President head honcho Rick Davis sent out an e-mail to the Faithful pushing a new set of McCain for President wares - the “eco-friendly” product line.  You can now purchase your “unstructured organic cotton canvas” hat or a tote bag, the description of which is: “5 ounce organic cotton, lightweight and affordable, is woven in the United States where each part of the process can be certified organic”.  Neither Sen. Clinton nor Sen. Obama have such featured items yet.  It is a heady day for Republicans, who have often been far behind the curve when it comes to 100% organic cotton onesies.

Less heady by far for the GOP was the surprising special election loss in Mississippi’s rock-ribbed Republican 1st Congressional District.  In the low-turnout special, Travis Childers, a “Democrat” whose policy positions actually make him more conservative than many New England Republicans, won a 54%-46% victory over Republican Greg Davis.  Fortuitously, the National Republican Congressional Committee is on the second floor of the RNC Building, so those jumping out the window this morning won’t have far to fall.

With this loss, and the continued jitters in some circles about the portent of a Barack Obama candidacy, some Republicans are already starting to eulogize the 2008 election season as a wipeout.  We finally discover who were those people that bought into that “permanent Republican majority” talk of not so long ago.  Add this all up, then pile on the “John McCain hates Global Warming” messaging from this week from Camp McCain and you quickly get the Old Guard looking for the exits. 

But while they are running away, cooler heads are starting to wonder if this year’s Republican primary voters had looked into their crystal ball and seen what was coming.  McCain’s big breaks with President Bush over global warming, Gitmo, and pork barrel spending may be just what the doctor ordered for Republicans in 2008.  Generic balloting is all doom-and-gloom for Republicans - if you haven’t heard “1994 in Reverse” yet, just wait a bit - but McCain is competitive in battleground states across the nation. 

So stop snickering - order your 70% bamboo, 30% organic cotton, biodegradable t-shirt now.

In her acceptance speech Monday night before Third District Democrats, nine-term incumbent Rosa DeLauro praised herself for “making the tough decisions,” as the most liberal member of Congress. She said the “middle class is being squeezed like never before,” and promised continued vigilance against big oil and mortgage lenders.

One of DeLauro’s recent “tough decisions” was her leadership on the issue of horse meat, or rather the “slaughter” of horses who have come to the end of their lives in the pen or prairie.

According to the Jim Santomaso of the Livestock Marketing Association, the ban creates a humanitarian problem since there is no way to properly dispose of horses who are dying or head to the final grazing area in the sky.

DeLauro’s Agriculture subcommittee ending funding for oversight of three horse slaughtering facilities in the country, effectively ending the practice. You, know, a day doesn’t go by when someone from Derby or East Haven calls this office to complain about horse slaughtering and how cruel it is. But that is the DeLauro mindset. Turns out this policy, a priority for someone who represents a district with a few horses grazing in maybe Orange, has consequences.

“We told the lawmakers that horse owners want and need a legitimate, practical and humane way to dispose of their horses that have come to the end of their useful life, but still have value as a slaughter animal,” Santomaso said.

The “terrible result” of legislation banning this slaughter, he said, “is to close legitimately operated food processing plants, based solely on cultural and emotional arguments. And that sets a very dangerous precedent of banning a legitimate meat product for reasons other than food safety or public health.”

Supporters of the ban, Santomaso said, have been successful in framing the issue “as an emotional one, similar to a person dealing with an ailing pet. What we told members of Congress, and their staffs, is that the horse slaughter issue can, indeed be an emotional one. But it’s much more than that.  It encompasses humane animal treatment, private property rights, and economic rights.  LMA’s member businesses are the marketing agents for thousands of U.S. horse owners.

So, while people struggling with higher energy prices, pay more taxes than any other state in the union and watch the equity in their homes evaporate, Rosa DeLauro continues her quest for animal justice.

There has to be a joke in there someplace.