Letter to the editor - McLaughlin is right choice

When is a politician worth backing? Is it when he or she comes bearing gifts in the millions?

At least that is how it appears in a letter to the editor dated April 23, 2008. I wonder if they didn't have these gifts, would they be so well liked?

I'm a Republican, and I am going to address only the Republican portions of that letter and the May 6 primary.

Primary elections were developed in order for particular candidates representing party ideals to be advanced to the general election. I feel (as do a fair number of his constitutes) the present congressional representative (Walter Jones Jr.) no longer supports the Republican or conservative platform. I am not saying he hasn't performed well in the past, but elections are about the future.

During this election, Jones hasn't met well with his electorate. This is evidenced by the fact that he didn't appear at the District 3 Congressional Convention held in Havelock this past weekend. Instead, he sent a lobbyist in his place.

A straw poll was held by attending delegates. The vote was 83 percent in favor of Joe McLaughlin.

This is Jones' district. It appears he doesn't attend meetings if there is going to be opposition, and if he does attend, he rarely answers questions.

I've attended many meetings where he said his ditty then just left. At one gathering during a question-and-answer segment, I asked a question, and Jones replied with a question.

I inquired if he had visited the war zones to meet with the military. His response was, "No. Have you gone there?"

My answer was "No. However, I have had an extended tour in Vietnam and I'm not a congressman with all the money of the U.S. behind me."

He turned and left.

Jones' campaign report and that letter make you ask some tough questions. Why would a Democratic politician support a Republican candidate during a primary? (Rufus Edminsten has donated to Jones' campaign twice).

Maybe Democrats think Walter is ready to cross over. It appears in the recent past, the Republican has been a better Democrat than a Republican.

Take notice that the congressman in his commercials does not identify himself as either a Republican or a conservative. He was first an independent, then just a candidate. Do I detect a change in the air as in 1994?

A few million dollars in gifts can sway opinions in a given direction.

I wonder if the letter writer is saying that Joe McLaughlin would not act in the same manner with the same concern and energy. Perhaps the writer thinks that Joe doesn't understand the problems of a municipality.

Joe comes from an area with a larger municipality and military complex than we have here. He has a knowledgeable grasp of the number of people about to relocate to the seven-county area and the infrastructure required to support them. He realized that the federal government is sending the foundation group of people that are the cause of this buildup to the area, and therefore has an obligation to assist the counties involved.

In regards to our military and veterans, the benefits we have, we earned and deserve. No one gave us anything. Joe is a former Army Ranger (no easy task) who achieved battalion grade rank. Believe me, he knows and understands the military and military retirement.

Jones says he is in favor of homeland security and enforcing the southern border. So does McLaughlin, and McLaughlin would have voted with the president in monitoring overseas phone calls for terrorist activities. Jones didn't. I guess he figures it will be easier to fight terrorism after it happens here.

I don't agree with the writer when he says "look at a candidate the same way he looks at anyone else." That would imply he'd treat the lieutenant governor and a sitting congressman the same way you'd treat an average citizen.

The election of May 6 is a primary, so we should vote for who we want to represent our party's ideals. It is about the future. Look at a candidate. Observe where they are and where they might be going. Associations are important, so examine who is backing your candidate. Walter Jones is being supported by the liberal left, and that bothers me.

As a Republican, I do know one thing: I don't need a Democrat telling me the best Republican to vote for in a primary. Unless this is operation chaos in reverse.

Tony Michalek

Havelock