Rees Lloyd: A Spirited GOP "Lincoln Day Dinner" In Columbia County

            Energy and enthusiasm marked The Columbia County Republican Central Committee’s “2012 Lincoln Day Dinner,” on Saturday, January 21.

            It featured speeches by Rob Cornilles, GOP candidate for the 1^st Congressional District seat vacated by dysfunctional Democrat David Wu; Knute Buehler, the Bend physician and former Rhodes Scholar who is running for Oregon Secretary of State;  Anthony Miltich, a Scappoose police offer who is running for Columbia County Sheriff; and Robert Speirs, GCCRCC Chairman who concluded the event with a speech entitled “Let’s Rescue Freedom.”

            The Lincoln Day Dinner drew a spirited capacity crowd to the St. Helen’s Elks Club. At the event’s end,  Speirs  had high praise for Keith Forsythe, chairman of the event committee;  David Pereira, who served as master of ceremonies; as well as for the speakers.

             “ We are very pleased that we had such a large crowd, but retained our friendly, small town atmosphere of good people joining together for a good cause—rescuing freedom, and restoring our country to its founding values,” Speirs said.

 

            Anthony Miltich: Columbia County Sheriff Candidate

            M.C. Pereira  called first upon Anthony Miltich, a candidate for Columbia County Sheriff. Miltich has been a Scappoose police officer for four years. He and his wife are small business entrepreneurs, owners of “Scappoose Outfitters. ” Miltich said he knows the problems of business as well as problems in keeping the community safe. He said he was intent on serving the entire community, and bringing the community together, if elected.

            Rob Cornilles: 1st Congressional District--“It’s ‘Deja Wu’ all over again.”

            Rob Cornilles, a successful small business owner  has narrowed the gap to only 4 per cent behind Democrat Susan Bonamici in the heavily Democrat 1^st Congressional District race. Cornilles said the race may be even closer than that, due to the margin of error, and growing momentum for change.

            ““I believe voters are tired of the political elite picking who goes to Congress from the First District,” Cornilles said. “The same people who covered up for David Wu are now spending at least two million dollars on negative ads about me to deceive the voters because their candidate is so wrong on the issues.”

            “Its Deja Wu all over again,” Cornilles said, to strong applause.

            He noted that Bonamici, who admits she cannot remember ever voting against a tax increase in the Oregon Legislature, was part and parcel of the 2010 campaign in which Democrats covered up and deceived the public about Wu’s incapacity to serve. Cornilles said they now seek to deceive the voters again about Cornilles’ record in the private sector. He noted that while Democrats are spending millions on negative ads to elect Bonamici, she has failed to show up for at least two scheduled public debates.

             “Our country is in an economic crisis due to the failed policies of those political elites. We must adopt policies which allow the job creators, especially small businesses, to create jobs. That takes an atmosphere of confidence rather than uncertainty, about tax and regulatory burdens which prevent rather than advance job creation,”

            Cornilles said that despite the false negative ads attacking him by Democrats,  “I will be willing to work with anyone in Congress who is willing to work in good faith for legislation which will be for the good of the country.”

            Buck McKeon, House Armed Services Chairman, Supports Cornilles

            It was noted at the event (by me) that Buck McKeon, Republican Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, traveled to Oregon to support Cornilles’ candidacy.  McKeon told me in an interview after a Cornilles event in Portland, that he is urging Cornilles’ election “because there is a great threat to our military’s ability to defend the nation in light of the Obama administration’s decision to cut some $400-billion rom the defense budget. He is taking away funding from national defense because of the failure of the administration’s stimulus and other economic policies. 

            “The Super Committee that was supposed to come up with proposals for budget cuts, collapsed. That means, according to the terms of the creation of Super Committee, that an additional $600-billion will be cut automatically unless that provision is somehow changed. That means a possible total reduction of $1-trillion dollars in defense. That is an extreme threat to the successful defense of the country, especially in light of the unpredictability of possible attacks, including more than one at a time.

            “I believe that this early election in the First District is the most important race in the country,” McKeon said.  “I have great confidence in  Rob Cornilles He went out of his way to meet with me and my committee staff to fully understand and appreciate our military needs and condition. In contrast, former Congressman David Wu never contacted us for information the entire time he was in office.

            “I’m here in the First District because the country needs Rob Cornilles in Congress,” Rep. McKeon concluded.

            Dr. Knute Buehler’s “Three Point Prescription” For Oregon’s Health

            Knute Buehler,  the Bend physician and former Rhodes Scholar running for Secretary of State, spoke of three unhealthy problems affecting Oregon’s community, political, and economic  health —“Fiscal  Oversight, Election Transparency, and Job Creation” – and his “Three Point Prescription” for curing those problems by getting Oregon working: “Improve Quality of Life; Control Cost; Build Community.”

            Dr. Buehler, a native of Roseburg, Oregon, spoke in attitude of gratitude for the opportunities has had because he is an American, and an Oregonian, although he comes from humble circumstances.  “Unfortunately,  due to economic conditions, neither of my parents was able to even finish high school. But they encouraged me to excel in school and instilled  in me the values of hard work, a strong work ethic, and self-reliance. I was a pretty good pitcher in High School, and that enabled me to go to Oregon State.”

            At Oregon State, he not only pitched for the baseball team but went on to become Oregon State’s First Rhodes Scholar, earning a master’s degree in economics and political science from Oxford.

            That took him away from Oregon, as did his time in medical school,  where he earned his M.D., and where he met his wife, Mattie. He said they agreed they wanted to make their lives and careers in Oregon. They moved back, and he has had a successful career as an orthopedic surgeon.

            With all of that, why would he curtail his medical practice to run for the position of Secretary of State? He said he is doing so “because I really love Oregon; Roseburg is my home town, and Oregon is in my heart. I really think I can make a contribution as Secretary of State.”

            Dr. Buehler said he has found the many people do not know of the various aspects of the Secretary of State Office. He discussed aspects of the office, saying he believes he can make a difference in the quality of life in Oregon, including but not at all limited to the Secretary of State’s responsibility for ballot security and certification of elections.

            It was pointed out later (by me) that if most Oregonians do not realize the importance of elections to the office of Secretary of State, there is someone who does –George Soros, billionaire “Wall Street Leftwing ‘Fat Cat’.”  Soros is quietly pumping millions of dollars into the campaign to elect Democrats as Secretary of State in as many states as possible, and, thus, control the certification of elections. “Just consider the outcome in Florida if a George Soros Secretary of State was certifying the Bush-Gore election,” one person commented to me.

            Robert Spiers—“Let’s Rescue Freedom”

            Robert Spiers, CCRCC Chairman, closed the Lincoln Dinner with a thoughtful speech on what the race in the First District now, and the state and national elections in 2012, will decide. That is, the elections will decide what kind of America this generation of Americans will choose to be—the America of limited government, personal responsibility, and individual freedom based on the values of the Founding Fathers; or an America transformed by President Barack Obama into a nation of big  government,  group and personal claims of entitlement to be supported by others,  a nation of dependents exchanging freedom for a sense of security through government handouts to those it favors. 

            Spiers called on those in attendance to repudiate that transformation of America by actively working for Republican candidates committed to a restoration of the America of the Founding Fathers. He concluded by referencing Lincoln’s rescue of the nation and freedom, simply but pointedly urging: “Let’s Rescue Freedom.”

[Rees Lloyd is a longtime civil rights attorney, a veterans activist, and member of the Victoria Taft Blogforce. He also spoke at the Lincoln Day Dinner, standing in for intended keynote speaker, Victoria Taft, who could not appear because she had to attend to matters out of state.]