Now is the Time…Pence for Minority Leader, Shadegg for Whip

If the Republican returns the same tired House leadership, you’re going to get the same results. It’s time for a change and no one better represents that change than Rep. Mike Pence (R-In.)

Pence is conservative and he is dedicated. He’s civil, but firm. Time and time again, he warned our party of it’s drift and our leadership would not listen. When he proposed we offset massive Katrina spending with cuts in other programs, he was taken to the woodshed by the House Republican leadership. He is a leader in the mold of Ronald Reagan, with optimism and an undying belief in the principles of conservatism. Here’s what Pence had to say at CPAC in February, 2006:

I met President Reagan in the summer of 1988. I was a 29-year-old candidate for Congress and he was winding down a presidency that changed the world. After we exchanged pleasantries, I told him I was grateful for everything he had done for the country and everything he had done to inspire my generation of Americans to believe in high ideals. He seemed surprised, his cheeks appeared to redden with embarrassment and he said, “Well, Mike, that’s a very nice thing of you to say.”

Moments later he took a minute to respond to my and others’ accolades with characteristic humility and optimism, saying: “Many of you have thanked me for what I did for America, but I want you to know I don’t think I did anything for this country—the American people decided it was time to right the ship, and I was just the captain they put on the bridge when they did it.”

It’s time for conservative Americans to do what Reagan did. It’s time for conservative Americans to right the ship again: To celebrate our great Republican President and Republican Congress that are leading our nation’s progress in national security, economic prosperity and value of human life, but also to see her listing to port, in the direction of big government, and set her right again.

This is not a sign of disloyalty, but of true loyalty to principle. When a ship is approaching a rocky coast, the life of the ship and its crew depends on the navigator with his sextant to counsel the captain and crew to steer clear of the shoals and, if need be, to forcefully oppose the captain when the fate of the ship hangs in the balance. This is our cause. To stand with our captain as he leads us well. And to right the ship where she is adrift.

It’s time for a new Captain on the bridge for the US House Republicans and a new first mate to boot. The Pence/Shadegg team will bring true Conservative leadership to the House. Both have stood firm and disagreed when the party was wrong. They opposed No Child Left Behind. They opposed the largest expansion of the federal government since LBJ.

They’ve excited conservatives across the spectrum. In the midst of the immigration debate, Pence proposed a compromise that avoided a path to citizenship, but angered many advocates of reform. However, the most ardent immigration reform advocates in Congress, Steve King (R-Ia) and Tom Tancredo (R-Co.) have decided to back Pence!

Dr. James Dobson laid into Republicans for their lack of committment to principle, but at the end of the show the topic of the next Minority leader came up and here’s what Dr. Dobson had to say:

Minnery and Dobson both backed Indiana congressman Mike Pence in his effort to become House Minority leader.

Minnery called Pence “one of the most impressive young, social conservative members of Congress,” and said it “would be wonderful if a man like him could get that job.”

Club for Growth had this to say before the election:

Both men are top-notch fiscal conservatives and would be perfect at rebuilding the GOP in the fashion of the $6 million man – bigger, stronger, more powerful. Da, da, da, da, da, duh….

Pro-Life Blogs…on board.

Red State on board

Washington Examiner on board.

Human Events on board.

Why the support from such a diverse group of Republicans? Because he gets it. In announcing for leader, Pence wrote:

Some will argue that we lost our majority because of scandals at home and challenges abroad. I say, we did not just lose our majority, we lost our way.

While the scandals of the 109th Congress harmed our cause, the greatest scandal in Washington, D.C. is runaway federal spending.

After 1994, we were a majority committed to balanced federal budgets, entitlement reform and advancing the principles of limited government. In recent years, our majority voted to expand the federal government’s role in education, entitlements and pursued spending policies that created record deficits and national debt.

This was not in the Contract with America and Republican voters said, “enough is enough.”

Our opponents will say that the American people rejected our Republican vision. I say the American people didn’t quit on the Contract with America, we did. And in so doing, we severed the bonds of trust between our party and millions of our most ardent supporters.

This is great, but Mike Pence needs your help. That’s why I urge you to call (202) 224-3121 and get on the Capitol Switchboard and talk to your Congressman’s office if you’ve got a re-elected Republican Congressman. Do not e-mail. Call! They need to hear from you. We can make a difference. Now is our time.

UPDATE

Center for Individual Freedom on board. One word. Wow!

—–