We Must Defeat Wayne Gilchrest

Wayne Gilchrest is the Congressman who represents the 1st Congressional District in Maryland and he is my Representative. It is no secret to anyone who regularly reads this blog that I do not want Gilchrest to win another term in office. He is a liberal and when one looks up the word RINO in the dictionary his picture accompanies the definition. Gilchrest has sided with Nancy Pelosi and the rest of her Democratic gang more than he has voted with his own party. Gilchrest is also in favor of pork and has never voted against a bill aimed at ending that practice of wasteful spending. Gilchrest and I have gone back and forth in email and snail mail and his letters are patronizing and he distorts his record. It is time to replace him and there is no one better to fill the job than Andy Harris. The Washington Times has endorsed Harris and has this to say about Gilchrest:

For example, Mr. Gilchrest was wrong on the Iraq troop surge: In March, he was one of two Republicans to join Mrs. Pelosi and virtually the entire House Democratic Caucus in voting to set a timetable for troop withdrawal. He is also wrong on Iran: suggesting that Tehran is misbehaving because the Bush administration failed to conduct a “dialogue” with Iran.

According to the Club for Growth, Mr. Gilchrest earned a 0 percent rating in voting against 46 amendments to strip pork-barrel spending projects from fiscal 2008 appropriations bills. He earned a 100 percent rating in 2006 from NARAL Pro-Choice America. Mr. Gilchrest has a mixed record on illegal aliens: voting on at least three occasions in 2004 and 2005 against amendments denying certain types of federal funding to sanctuary cities; supporting amnesty for more than 800,000 illegal-alien agricultural workers in 2007; and voting in favor of awarding illegals from Mexico with Social Security benefits in 2004. Washington Times

Here are a few other votes from the so called Republican (from Wikipedia):
Gilchrest’s voting record is considered liberal for a Republican, and voted with Democrats more than any other Republican house member in 2007.

  • On February 14, 2002, Gilchrest voted for the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Act.
  • On June 24, 2005, Gilchrest voted to continue taxpayer subsidies for Viagra
  • Gilchrest is a cosponsor of legislation concerning District of Columbia voting rights
  • In 2006, Gilchrest voted against the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act.
  • On September 26, 2006, Gilchrest voted against the Private Property Rights Implementation Act of 2006 which would allow property owners access to federal court for their Fifth Amendment takings claims.
  • In March, 2007, Gilchrest was one of two Republicans to vote for a bill that required President George W. Bush to bring combat troops home from Iraq by September 1, 2008.
  • In April of 2007, Gilchrest was one of four Republicans (including Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina, Jo Ann Emerson of Missouri and Jimmy Duncan of Tennessee) to vote for a similar bill that required President George W. Bush to begin troop withdrawal from Iraq on October 1, 2007. This bill also provides the goal of bringing all troops home from Iraq by March of 2008.
  • Also in June of 2007, Gilchrest voted against a series of amendments offered by Representative Jeff Flake to strip earmarks from the Fiscal Year 2008 Financial Services and General Government appropriations bill.

As anyone can see, Wayne Gilchrest is anything but Conservative and his voting record runs contrary to the Conservative district he represents. President Bush received more than 60% of the votes from this district in the last election but Wayne does not seem to get it. He seems to think that the people work for him and not the other way around. As I have stated in the past, they work for us and it is time to let them know. We can let Gilchrest know by firing him from this job.

Unfortunately, Michael Steele and Newt Gingrich are supporting Gilchrest. This shows me that they are more concerned with keeping the status quo than putting Conservatives in office and that attitude might explain why the GOP lost control of both chambers in the last election. Andy Harris is the most Conservative of the people running. He is a physician, not a lawyer, and he is in the Naval Reserve and has been deployed. E.J. Pipken, a Maryland State Senator is a late entry in the race.

Pipken, who ran unsuccessfully for the US Senate decided to get into the Congressional race after seeing how well Harris was doing. Pipken likes to tout himself as a Conservative and though he would be better than Gilchrest, he is not more Conservative than Harris. Pipken donated $2000 to the gubernatorial campaign of Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, a Democrat who lost to Republican Robert Ehrlich.

Gilchrest and Pipken are not the people we need in DC. Andy Harris is the only choice for the Conservatives for the 1st Congressional District in Maryland. I also want to take this opportunity to squash a lie that is being reported in a TV ad being run by one of the opponents. The ad says that Andy Harris voted to give in state tuition rates to illegals. Harris voted for the first reading of the bill knowing that an amendment would be added to include the military and exclude illegals. The amendment excluding illegals failed and Harris voted against the final bill. It is a lie to say he voted to give illegals in state tuition when he voted against the final version of the bill.

I vowed that I would persuade everyone I know to vote against Gilchrest and if he wins the primary I will vote for the Democrat opposing him. I made it clear to him that I would actively work to defeat him and I am ensuring that everyone I know in his District knows of his record and encouraging them to vote for Andy Harris.

Wayne Gilchrest must go. He is a RINO and he sides with the liberals in Congress. Our party has too many RINOs as it is so I am doing my part to rid us of this one.

Other sources:
Red Maryland
Save the GOP
Project Vote Smart (Complete voting record)

Big Dog