- est 2010 -
COVERING THE GLORIOUS GEORGIA PIEDMONT
| Covington, GA | Newton Co. |
Shafer the Right Choice for Lt. Governor: A TPC Editorial Endorsement
David Shafer is a Conservative's Conservative, but that's just part of the story. A co-organizer of the Republican Liberty Caucus in Georgia, he also has major "street cred" when it comes to the Liberty wing of the GA GOP that this writer closely follows. And that convergence of ideas - think an intersection of Rand Paul & Ted Cruz - is why many feel like Shafer is the clear choice to be the next Lt. Governor of the Great State of Georgia.
This writer has followed Shafer's career fairly closely the last several years & am usually in support of most of his actions & positions, certainly, at least, as it compares to several of those other folks who descend upon the Gold Dome every winter. I've had some really good conversations with this fella. I like him.
As a local politico & observer remarked to me a couple of years ago, you can always count on Shafer to view things through the lens of logic with an adherence to free market ideas while striving to hold taxpayer dollars in the highest regard. That's pretty much the epitome, at least in this writer's opinion, of what you're looking for when it comes to a State Senator, and definitely when it comes to picking the President of that quasi-august body. Also, as many who've worked with him will tell you, he doesn't pull any punches; he ain't gonna deal you any bad cards (unless maybe you deserve it). A fair dealer, he seems to place a premium on what is truly equitable.
As keen a political mind as the Senator has, and he does, he's really more a policy wonk than anything - he knows the issues & inner workings as good as anybody in our state, and even his detractors will tell you that.
So, at this point you may be thinking something along the lines of this:
"Well, he's a political philosopher & a policy geek. He must be one of those socially inept politicians."
Not hardly.
He's a natural. One of the best stump speeches you'll see anywhere in this election cycle, he's even better at working the crowd before & after. A real folksy, Southern charm complemented by the obvious fact that he's very comfortable in his own skin & really seems to enjoy engaging with folks. It's a talent, for sure. Honestly, I don't see how folks like him & the others I've covered do it. For me, I'd likely reach my breaking point after a certain number of moronic questions & the constant lip-flapping. I'd probably just start going off on folks; however, fortunately, I'm not a politician. But I digress...
To use the jargon from a fairly recent movie, he's almost kind of divergent - policy-fiend/political-deep-thinker meets a larger-than-life Kingfish persona. It's really great, actually. And to riff off that point, this may be the most important attribute of David's: he truly believes in what he's fighting for & he has the political capital & wherewithal to get it done in that lion's den. Again, that's what you need up there, in my estimation.
You can read about his issues. You can learn more about his interesting life story. I feel as if between those things & the thoughts & arguments I've just laid out, it's very much a clear choice.
On a final note, I'd just like to say how despicable & outrageous the campaign tactics of one of his opponents was. How are you going to run an entire campaign just nippin' at the heels of the front-runner? To me, it's weak. Low energy, if you will. And I'm not going to touch on the pathetic "March Surprise" we witnessed other than to say that, as we all saw, it was totally blown out of the water & Mr. Shafer was totally vindicated just a few weeks later. Obviously there's some folks out there that are afraid of Mr. Shafer & were willing to ooze themselves & expel their political flatus down into the gutter to play dirty. My word, just how unfortunate...
But again, we're a fan of David Shafer. This publication may end up doing one more endorsement in this GA GOP primary cycle, and that's about it. It's our pleasure to endorse State Senator David Shafer for Lt. Governor of Georgia.
As always, thanks for reading. Til next time.
Very Truly Yours,
M.B. McCart
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