Live Responding to Larry Grant’s Live Blog

The Grant Campaign has spent much of their time attacking Sali for pointing out that voting for Grant could make Nancy Pelosi speaker. They argue it’s scare tactics and negative. But from tonight’s live blog, Larry Grant got this question from Dave:

Hi Larry, I’m very proud of you for working so hard on this campaign. But I have to tell you, I am a liberal and I am considering supporting Andy’s campaign instead. Tell me what about your campaign should appeal to a liberal like me?

Answer from Larry Grant:

This is America, of course, and you are free to vote for the candidate of your choice. But this election is too important to throw away your vote on a third party with little hope of success. In this case, a vote for Andy would, in essence, be a vote for Bill Sali. Also, if Andy really wants to represent this district, it would be nice if he lived in it.

UPDATE:

This incredible question was asked:

Bill Sali says we should start another war with Iran, and that we have enough resources to do it. What is your view of the advisability of starting a third war right now?

I would really like to see a source for that question. Grant responded:

I realize that my opponent wants to stay the course in Iraq, use troops on the Mexican border and consider invading Iran. Unfortunately, we do not have the capability to do all this with our current forces. We have soldiers who are on their third deployments in Iraq and have to put in effect stop orders to keep people in the military to even keep troops at their current levels in Iraq. I have no idea where he intends to get the additional troops unless he is going to institute the draft.

Yes, it’s election time. That means, it’s time for the Democrats to start talking about a draft when the main proponent is a Democratic Congressman from New York. Grant does distance himself from the idea that Sali has said we “should” invade Iran, apparently more of an option to be kept on the table. ]

UPDATE II

Liberal Dave comes back re: the previous question:

I was hoping you would convince me that I could sleep at night voting for you, because I don’t want to waste my vote. I know you supported John Kerry’s presidential bid. I happen to proudly support Hillary Clinton and yes, I do want Nancy Pelosi to be speaker. Liberal leadership would be good for America. Do you agree?

He’s like, “Larry, throw me a bone here!” or a Republican trying to get Grant to sound like a liberal.

Larry Grant comes back:

Given the state of the world right now, none of us are going to sleep all that well until we can get a few things under control. I used to think I was a liberal too, but when I start talking about balancing the budget and personaly responsibility, I sound awfully conservative. But, mostly, I think we need to get away from labels. I actually think we need to move more toward the middle in the country right now, try to set aside partisan differences and work on solving the problems.

That’s a great answer, Larry. “I used to think I was a liberal until I realized I wasn’t an irresponsible idiot who thought we should spend to oblivion.”

UPDATE III

George asks:

In a recent speech Bill Sali said that he would pay for tax cuts by eliminting waste and inefficiency in the government. Is this possible? What can be done that Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and successive Republican congresses haven’t already done?

Grant fires back:

While there are certainly opportunities to save money by eliminating fraud and inefficiencies, you have to think that if the party in power could do it, they would have done it by now. We have heard Mr. Sali’s party saying these same things for years now, but they have been in power now for some time and haven’t solved them. Sending Bill Sali to Congress just gets you more of the same, people who say one thing and do another.

Grant is either ignorant or simply being dishonest in regards to the fight within the Republican Party. There’s a battle between the fiscally responsible Republicans who came in to back Sali in the primary represented by Club for Growth and other groups, and then there are big government Republicans. There’s few Democrats who are standing up against big federal spending and few have had any measure of success in moving a town that’s just as addicted to spending on both sides of the aisle.

Then Dave took a third try at getting Larry Grant to say something cerifiably liberal, though this was weak:

With all the talk about banning gay marriage and limiting the rights of gays, would you support a constitutional amendment or legislation in support of marriage for men and women as well as same-sex couples?

Yeah, Dave, I’m sure he’ll say yes.