FreedomWorks endorses Mack, calls LeMieux a RINO

Try as he might, he just can't get
 the Oompa Loompa off his back.

Throughout his campaign to be Florida's next Senator, George LeMieux has claimed that he had a "conservative" voting record during the sixteen months he served in the United States Senate after former-Governor-and-former-Republican Charlie Crist appointed him.

I thought that was nonsense, and a little quick research gave me several good examples why in a post I wrote back in September:

Sunshine State Sarah | Reality Check on LeMieux's "conservative" voting record

Let me ask you a question: when you were a child, did you ever sneak a cookie from the cookie jar? You waited until your mother had left the kitchen, right? No kid is dumb enough to try and swipe a cookie while Mommy is watching.

...during LeMieux's entire term in the Senate, conservatism was on the rise, and he knew he had to be on his best behavior...One thing George LeMieux is not is an idiot. Watching the growing power of the tea party movement and [Charlie Crist] falling lower and lower in the polls would have definitely sent a signal that if he wanted to return to the Senate, he needed to learn some conservative dance steps.

In essence, LeMieux's claims of a conservative voting record are the equivalent of attempting to get praise for not stealing cookies while Mommy is watching. 

I then listed four key votes where LeMieux failed to stand with fellow Republicans, publicly wavered on an important issue, or voted for an increase in meddling regulations.

...What we have with LeMieux's time in the Senate is someone who knew he was being closely watched by conservatives and intended to run for office in the near future, but still couldn't be counted on to vote a consistently conservative line, even when his votes didn't really matter. To go back to my earlier analogy, LeMieux is a kid who knew Mommy was watching and still stole a few cookies!

Do we really think we can rely on George LeMieux to fight for conservative principles? Do we really believe he will stand strong against not only the Democrats, but also the Republicans in Congress who seek dangerous, ill-advised "compromises?"

Regardless of whether the Republicans regain the White House or not, Congress is going to have to tackle some extremely challenging issues in the next few years, and we will need staunch conservatives with backbones of steel to lead the way. I do not have confidence that George LeMieux fits that definition.

Well, it looks like FreedomWorks agrees with my assessment that George LeMieux is no conservative.



In a viciously scathing email from Executive Director Max Pappas this morning, the FreedomWorks PAC endorsed Connie Mack and discussed LeMieux's record in meticulous detail. They noted many of the same issues I did regarding his voting record and support from liberals and moderates, noting that "the more we looked at [Mack and LeMieux's] records, the clearer the choice became."
The email continues to draw sharp distinctions between Mack and LeMieux, going so far as to apply the "RINO" label to LeMieux repeatedly:

Washington is intentionally opaque—so politicians can behave one way in Washington and then paint a different picture back home. LeMieux seems to be doing just that.

...LeMieux bragged, “I am a Charlie Crist Republican” and then went to the US Senate and proved it. He also said, “He’s (Crist) been the senior partner and I’ve been the junior partner. We make decisions together.” So it is not surprising that he came to Washington and acted much like Charlie Crist would have.

...It’s not surprising champions of limited government in the Senate like Sens. Rand Paul and Mike Lee are backing Connie Mack while RINOs like Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski are backing George LeMieux. They know from personal experience which candidate will be their ally.

...The grassroots leaders in Indiana worked together to defeat RINO Senator Dick Lugar. We will be working with the many great grassroots leaders we know in Florida to make sure one RINO (Lugar) isn’t just replaced with another (LeMieux). And we will be getting to work right away on helping long-time, consistent conservative Connie Mack beat ObamaCare-supporting Sen. Bill Nelson...

I endorsed Connie Mack a few months ago, and encourage you to join me and FreedomWorks in supporting him for the Republican nomination.


Here's the complete email from FreedomWorks PAC:

Dear Sarah,

As a Floridian, you may decide who controls the Senate and the White House next year. 

No pressure!

Barack Obama and Bill Nelson are both on the ballot, and as one of FreedomWorks’ 102,576 Florida members, I hope you’ll agree with me that both must be defeated.  Together they brought us ObamaCare, Obama’s Stimulus, and Obama’s far-left judges.  Together, they brought us more debt, higher unemployment, and Food Stamp Nation. 

Democrat Bill Nelson is sitting on about $10,000,000, enough to attack and destroy his Republican challenger as soon as the Republican primary is held. We can’t wait until then to decide who the right candidate is to beat him. Every day we wait is another day Bill Nelson gets further ahead.

Our top grassroots allies in Florida know this, and that is why they have asked FreedomWorks to help them in this race.  They’ve asked us to dig deep on the Republican candidates and their records, and to talk to our members.   We have had lengthy discussions with our grassroots allies—including meetings, emails, and conference calls—and a clear majority is now in agreement on who that candidate is.

Of course, the beauty of democracy is that everyone is free to have their own opinions.  There are several candidates in the Florida Senate race and different people will see different merits in each.  Our experience tells us that what matters most—what prevents us from getting burned—is focusing on the candidate’s record, not their rhetoric, or how they makes us feel.  What matters for the country is how they will vote and the best predictor of future action is past action.

At this late date, with early ballots starting in six weeks, the deadline has passed for someone else to credibly get in the race, or for an underfunded candidate to suddenly raise enough money to compete.  That narrows our field to the only two candidates within $9,000,000 dollars of Democrat Bill Nelson:  George LeMieux and Rep. Connie Mack.

Senators Rand Paul and Mike Lee have endorsed Connie Mack.  Sen. Rand Paul said in his endorsement of Connie Mack:  “From standing against the Bush Administration on TARP and fighting against President Obama’s failed stimulus, to his introduction of the Penny Plan … Connie Mack has proven time and again that he is a staunch conservative and the very type of principled leader that we need in the United States Senate.”

Having looked very closely at their records, we agree. 

That’s why today FreedomWorks PAC endorses Representative Connie Mack for U.S. Senate in Florida.  He is the clear choice for voters who support free markets, fiscal responsibility, and constitutionally limited government. 

While Constitutional conservatives in the Senate like Sens. Lee and Paul are backing Connie Mack, George LeMieux has received big campaign checks from his allies in the Senate—notorious moderates like Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski (who lost to tea party candidate Joe Miller in the 2010 Republican primary and continued to run against him anyway).  You can tell a lot about someone by their friends.

The more we looked at their records, the clearer the choice became. 

Washington is intentionally opaque—so politicians can behave one way in Washington and then paint a different picture back home. LeMieux seems to be doing just that. 

To shed some light on LeMieux’s Charlie Crist-ish record, which reveals why Washington moderates are backing him, here are some of the more alarming facts we found:

• LeMieux sponsored more bills with Democrats than Republicans (85 of 158 bills)
• LeMieux sponsored more bills with Democrat Bill Nelson (66 bills together) than anyone else—we don’t need Nelson-lite
• LeMieux worked with the progressive elites of the Democratic Party, including cosponsoring bills with Harry Reid (19 bills), Chuck Schumer (43 bills), Al Franken (23 bills), John Kerry (38 bills), Dianne Feinstein (36 bills), Dick Durbin (35 bills), and even Vermont’s self-proclaimed socialist Bernie Sanders (21 bills)!
• LeMieux supported S. 3442 to federally subsidize the research and production of electric vehicles and direct the federal government to purchase such vehicles for its fleet
• LeMieux supported S. 3464 to implement “green” initiatives such as mandating increases in car mileage standards and the amount of alternative energy being used by power companies
• LeMieux supported S. 3084 to increase the size of the Department of Commerce, creating new government positions at DoC to promote private businesses (crony corporatism)
• LeMieux supported S. 3990 to extend unemployment benefits
• And LeMieux introduced himself S. 3402 to allow HUD to grant loans to low income families to finance housing upgrades to improve their home’s efficiency
• …and the list goes on. You can see it all at the official record here

LeMieux bragged, “I am a Charlie Crist Republican” and then went to the US Senate and proved it.  He also said, “He’s (Crist) been the senior partner and I’ve been the junior partner.  We make decisions together.”  So it is not surprising that he came to Washington and acted much like Charlie Crist would have.

While LeMieux was working with Charlie Crist to grow government, Connie Mack was working to limit government.

Looking at Mack’s record, we see that he has consistently been one of the best allies for limited government in all of Congress.  He has stood up to the big spenders in both parties, even when it wasn’t popular.

• Connie Mack is one of the few Members of Congress who voted twice (see here and here) against the TARP/Wall Street Bailout.  This shows he is willing to stand up to Republican leadership to take a position he thinks is right.
• Connie Mack is a member of the Republican Study Committee, the conservative caucus that has pushed Republican leadership to rein in Washington.
• Connie Mack cofounded the "Freedom Caucus" in 2000 when he was a member of the Florida House with Jeff Kottkamp, Bruce Kyle, Jim Kallinger, Don Brown, Mike Haridopolos, Dennis Baxley, and Carey Baker.
• Connie Mack has consistently been one of the most conservative votes in Congress for his entire career.
• Connie Mack has a lifetime average rank of 37th of 435 Members of Congress with the Club for Growth (top 10 percent) and a lifetime score of 90 percent.
• Connie Mack ranks 43rd of 435 Members of Congress with the National Taxpayers Union (top 10 percent).
• Connie Mack has a lifetime score of 93.4 with the American Conservative Union.
• Connie Mack was named “Taxpayer Hero” by Citizens Against Government Waste.
• Connie Mack was named “Hero of the Taxpayer” by Americans for Tax Reform.
• Connie Mack was named “Guardian of Small Business” by the National Federation ofIndependent Business.
• Connie Mack has introduced one of the most innovative spending reform proposals we’ve seen, the “Penny Plan” which is now part of the Tea Party Budget. It would:
• Cut total federal spending by one percent each year for six consecutive years
• Set an overall spending cap of 18 percent of gross domestic product in 2018
• Reduce overall spending by $7.5 trillion over 10 years

We are fortunate that he is not only the most conservative candidate in the race but he is also leading in fundraising and in the polls—a rare trifecta for us!

It’s not surprising champions of limited government in the Senate like Sens. Rand Paul and Mike Lee are backing Connie Mack while RINOs like Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski are backing George LeMieux.  They know from personal experience which candidate will be their ally.

There are two wings within the Republican Party—the RINO wing and the conservative wing.  And the record clearly shows George LeMieux is a long-time member of the RINO wing while Connie Mack is a member in good standing in the conservative wing.

The grassroots leaders in Indiana worked together to defeat RINO Senator Dick Lugar.  We will be working with the many great grassroots leaders we know in Florida to make sure one RINO (Lugar) isn’t just replaced with another (LeMieux).  And we will be getting to work right away on helping long-time, consistent conservative Connie Mack beat ObamaCare-supporting Sen. Bill Nelson.

The balance of power in Washington may very well depend on it.

Will you join us?

Sincerely,

Max Pappas

Executive Director

FreedomWorks PAC

P.S. FreedomWorks PAC joins Sens. Rand Paul and Mike Lee in endorsing Connie Mack for the US Senate because he has been a consistent champion of constitutionally limited government over the entire course of his career.  If you want to help us help him beat the ObamaCare-supporting Bill Nelson, email our volunteer leader in Florida, Debbie Wilson.




[Cross-posted at RedState]