I just got a fundraising letter in the mail from the National Republican Congressional Committee, asking for money to help them defeat the Democrats in upcoming elections. Here’s my response (and NO, I did not include a contribution with it…as will be evident from my letter):
To: Congressman Tom Cole, NRCC Chairman
Re: Membership contribution request
Dear Congressman Cole,
Thank you for the notification that my membership in the NRCC had lapsed. It is with good reason that I have allowed such a lapse to occur; it seems that members of Congress, elected to serve the people, have forgotten that they work for the American people and see us as more of a nuisance and hindrance than anything else.
You’re asking me for money to help you fight for reform…yet you had six years of total control in Washington in which to advance our agenda. Who fell asleep at the wheel? The same folks who want my hard-earned money now that they’re powerless to push anything through the House at all, and can merely stonewall Democrat bills in the Senate? What was my money paying for when you guys ran the joint?
The fact of the matter is, I am not sending you guys a penny. I, like many who vote Republican, am the antithesis of the “rich, evil Republican” that the Democrats like to portray. I make a modest living and am content doing so, and thought that sending some of my valuable money to you Republicans while you were in power would actually help you accomplish something. I was sorely mistaken, and I won’t be making such a poor investment any time in the near future.
Until I have assurance that Republicans in Congress will start representing the conservatives who stand by them despite repeated assaults from leftist Democrats, I will not support the NRCC in any way, especially with my hard-earned dollars. I will also suggest to my fellow conservatives that they do the same via my website and any other means at my disposal.
I was not one of those voters who “sat out” the last election in order to teach you Republicans a lesson. I do understand what’s at stake here. But for you to come back to us with your hat in your hand after a shameful squandering of six years in control of Washington is too much. I won’t vote with my wallet the way I will with my ballot. Either you Republicans in Congress had better start acting like conservatives, or you won’t have any support left from people who thought you were there to advance the causes about which we care most deeply.
Good luck. Your candidates will likely get my vote in 2008, but you won’t get one red cent. This time you earn it first. In the mean time, save yourself the embarassment of mailing your legal American supporters with your hat in your hand, asking us for money while simultaneously throwing us overboard.
PS: The same applies to Presidential candidates in 2008. At this point I remain firmly resolved to write-in Ronald Reagan.