The Race to the Glue Factory

This last few weeks have been quite revealing. The controlled opposition nature of Donald Trump’s MAGA movement has been distilled into a clear liquid. The only problem with that liquid is that it’s poison to conservative activists and the prospect of reigning in an out of control bureaucratic state. All a garbage Republican politico has to do now is paint some MAGA slop over their doorways and the angel of political accountability will pass them over. 

In a world where Congressmen, like Chip Roy and Bob Good, are seen as bad people for not kissing the ring, people like Elise Stefanik (Should be D, NY) are seen as leaders. This can’t be allowed to continue if we wish to see any sort of actual American revival. 

It’s now easy to see why the electoral cancer that is Donald Trump has gained traction over a competent and effective leader, like Ron DeSantis. The vast majority of Americans don’t want to be citizens. They want to be zoo animals or pets, for lack of a better description. Throw them some food and give them a few toys and they’re happy. Covid proved this to me. People don’t understand that the cheese in the trap is there for reason. 

On the political right of today, few are interested in doing hard things, like running a campaign on issues and policy points or actually answering questions from voters (paging Nikki Haley). Heaven help us if we want a competent ballot chasing operation like the Dems have. Trump has enough name ID to get himself and a few establishment wing nuts over the line in primaries, but when it comes to general election outcomes, the GOP is a disaster because of the stink that is transferred from the former president to anyone he’s associated with. Ask Kari Lake what the Governor’s Mansion in Arizona is like, if you don’t believe me. Just because you win a primary doesn’t make you a good politician. It means you found enough people to buy into your male bovine excrement to fill in a bubble for you in a low turnout election.

With no plan on how to run a competent presidential campaign in the face of 91 criminal indictments, I fear that the down ballot consequences of this shortest primary cycle in history will be disastrous. The Republican National Committee is essentially broke, while the DNC is flush with cash and a readymade slew of opposition ads in the can. All they have to do is have someone read Trump’s Truth Social feed on TV and any Democrat with a pulse will beat him. The GOP also has no ballot chasing enterprise in the works. Organizations, like Toilet Paper Turning Point USA say they’re going to step in, but I don’t expect people used to grifting to be able to run a competent ground game. The DNC is well seasoned in areas where the GOP is nonexistent.

We can likely forget holding the US House. With a multitude of resignations and retirement announcements, the GOP House majority is cooked. A toothless new Speaker is doing them no favors, either. We have to concentrate on keeping the few great members of the House in their seats. I think of three, specifically. Chip Roy, of Texas, must keep his seat. His voice is the most important one in DC. Thomas Massie, of Kentucky, must be defended at all costs. He has a Trumpcult nut running against him in the primary. I urge everyone to go to his website and pitch in a few bucks, as I have already done. The last one is the new chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, Bob Good, of southwest Virginia. Trump’s merry band of circus freaks have stood up a primary challenge to him. We need to help him retain that seat. After these, you do you on supporting individual congresscritters (as Chip Roy calls them). We need these three voices in the US House. 

In a year where the Senate map should be favorable for Republicans, I can’t see any outcome better than a 50/50 draw. The only sure pick up I see is in West Virginia. Sadly, the likely winner of that race is very likely to the left of the Democrat vacating the seat. Ohio and Montana should be easy pickups, but with the top of the ticket being a mess and the proven over performance of Dems in suburban areas, I wouldn’t bank on any other GOP pickup. One notable senator who is in trouble is Ted Cruz, of Texas. He is within the margin for error of both of his serious Democrat challengers. The Senate is irredeemably broken and a 50/50 split is actually closer to a 95/5 left wing majority. I will keep an eye on Michigan if Justin Amash chooses to run. I have no Senate race to vote on in my state, so I have no dog in this fight. 

While all of the above may seem like I’m in doom and gloom mode, I can say that I’m at peace with this election cycle. While I have no one to vote for this cycle at the top of the ticket, this makes it 16 years without a general election presidential vote for me, I see glimmers of hope at the state level. Texas has passed a few good reforms and it looks like Dade Phelan’s political future is on life support. Ron DeSantis, back in Tallahassee, has chosen to step right back in as the leader he’s always been. Iowa is seeing forward progress with this legislative session. Kim Reynolds is stepping up to defend sanity on several social issues, including working to break the gender cult in Iowa.

On the national electoral front, the 2028 presidential election starts the moment the race is called this November, especially if one of the two octogenarians is still taking the oath of office in January fo 2025. I’m not so sure that the Dems won’t replace Biden with someone who can walk in a straight line and read off of a prompter, but that is more likely to happen after his very likely reelection. The more the race is about Trump’s personality, the better for the Dems. 

Many people in the political realm call what I just wrote about a horse race analysis. In this case, the horses are on their way to the glue factory. I just pray the nation isn’t in tow. 

I Don’t Apologize

 I Don’t Apologize. 

I was at the Iowa State Fair all day Saturday, August 12th. I was overheard by a reporter calling the cult around the former president degenerates, regarding an airplane banner being towed through the sky above the fairgrounds. I stand by my words.  Raheem Kassem, a foreign national, seems to think I care what he thinks. Alex Bruesewitz, a paid grifter consultant, seems to think I care what he thinks. I don’t. 

I stand by my statement. The only part of the record I’ll correct is that I do all of my activism as a volunteer. I take no money. I knock doors, make calls, and help in any manner I can. I know people in the Iowa’s House and Senate. I know people in the Never Back Down PAC. I know people in the DeSantis campaign. Everyone of them I’ve met have been genuinely decent people.

I’ve been heavily involved in politics on a grassroots level for my whole time here in Iowa. I’ve seen our efforts start to move this state in a better direction. The last 18 months have been a huge victory in this state that had long suffered under a regime of corporatist hacks and social progressives. We aren’t where we need to be, but we’re no longer running head long in the wrong direction. I credit our governor, Kim Reynolds, for pushing back against the federal government when they pushed for her to issue stay at home orders during the federal covid tyranny of 2020. After 6 weeks, she recognized the errors of their thinking. We had youth sports in the summer of 2020, before anyone else in the US. 

I traveled extensively in 2020 and early 2021. Iowa was the most free of any of the states I traveled to and through, including Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. I was glad to be back home to iowa every time I left. 

I have never supported the former one term president. I saw his economic interventionism coming. I didn’t see 2020 coming, though. We were governed from DC for the last 10 months of his term by the medical industrial complex. The former president gave gave the nation over to Anthony Fauci. Previous to the worst management decision in world history, he governed as dyed in the wool Keynesian, pushing the non government/government central bank to expand our money supply at rates never before seen, to keep interest rates artificially low so saving was dissuaded and spending beyond means through cheap loans was encouraged, thereby creating a bubble that burst 18 months after he signed that disastrous CARES Act. That bill was the single most damaging piece of legislation ever signed in our history. Ask Thomas Massie about that legislation and our former president’s reaction to his objections. 

States, like California, were bailed out. People were paid not to work. Supply chains shut down worldwide. The massive amount of new dollars had nothing to buy after inventories were diminished. That’s what we’re paying for now. Too many dollars chasing too few goods.

This same guy who lost by his own doing in 2020, to a potted plant of a man, had the temerity to come back to my state at a dinner in front of a few thousand Republicans at the of July and tout his corporate welfare payments to farmers and his infatuation for ethanol production. The former president said nothing about the disaster that he left in his wake that allowed the forces behind Joe Biden to take over. 

 

When the RNC and our former president knew about a push to harvest ballots in certain states, no counter effort was put in place. The party and the former president gave up that ground, instead choosing to peddle grievance and “release the kraken” nonsense. Instead of looking inward to see where they had failed, that former president and his merry band of degenerates(I said it again) chose to fundraise off of the backs of baby boomers to “stop the steal” instead of looking at what they did wrong to lead to the mess that was the election of 2020. I believe there was malfeasance, funded by the CARES Act, that went on. That’s been going on in large cities for a very long time. Again, the RNC and the former president had no preemptive plan to deal with it. 

This was all happening while the former president also plowed forward with a planned transfer of wealth from taxpayers to big pharma, called Warp Speed. That will go down as one of the most evil decisions in world history. We’re still coming to grips with that evil decision. 

I say all of that to say this. I watched every leader in states and at the federal level over the last 8 years, since the former president rode down his escalator at a building he financed with funds from our societal enemies. I saw a few good ones, like my governor. I saw one great one: Ron DeSantis. I saw a guy who admitted his mistakes when he made them. I saw a guy who changed course when better data became available. I saw a guy who made his state a destination for people seeking freedom.

It was then I noticed Governor DeSantis’s pivot toward fighting back against the enemies of truth in the education, banking, and financial systems. He brought in Jimmy Patronis to help guide Florida financially. They divested from ESG companies. They fought Disney when Disney sought to make an issues of Florida’s proposed plan to protect young children from the religion of gender ideology being pushed in government schools. 

DeSantis fired his surgeon general when that guy pimped mask policies against his administration’s policies, in favor of Dr Joseph Ladapo. Dr Ladapo is the only righteous public health official in government anywhere in the country today. After initially promoting the covid quasi therapeutics being peddled as vaccines, when the data started coming in, Florida became the only state to start recommending against the shots. Contrast that to the former president giving presidential commendations to the evil cabal of people involved in Warp Speed as one of his last acts in office. 

In combination with Florida’s Attorney General, Governor DeSantis has landed the only real blows for justice against the evil that has become the cadre of Soros backed district and state attorneys. His removal of two pro criminal prosecutors is one of the very few righteous deeds in the nation in the fight against violent crime, in total contrast to the First Step Act signed by the former president after a certain influencer waved her ample posterior in his face a few times. 

The paid grifters currently propping up the former president’s less than energetic personal campaign,  many of which live in Florida because of the Governor, were effusive in their praise of Governor DeSantis…until they got paid not to be. Three days before the midterm 2022 elections, I saw it. I’ve been watching and studying these people since 2015. They never change. They’re transactional quasi populists with no coherent worldview. Worldview is destiny.

Now, we have freaks like Laura Loomer, Steven Cheung, the Dilley losers, the two I mentioned at the top, and a whole host of other world class degenerates making things up to smear one of the only righteous families in American political life. I think Ron DeSantis and his wife, Casey, are a mirror being held up to our country and people in the cult don’t want to look at their own reflection because it says something bad about themselves. Strong marriages and strong families aren’t the norm now and can be intimidating for people with empty souls. I believe that’s why Laura Loomer accuses Casey of not going through a cancer battle. I believe that’s why they’re obsessed by physical appearances and clothes. I believe that’s why they make things up about the personal lives of this couple.

Ron and Casey love each other. That’s plain to see. When you meet them, they’re in sync. Spend any time around them and you figure out that it’s 100% real. They’re good parents. They support one another and they believe the same things about life, family, and country. As the Bible says, they’re equally yoked, moving in the same direction. They believe in being servants. Leadership comes through service. 

I don’t have children. I do, however, have a nephew who I would do anything for, up to and including laying down my own life. I have friends who have many children. I see a nation that is quickly spirally toward utter moral depravity. I don’t want to leave this nation on the path it currently is traveling for the sake of our coming generation. That path, on the cultural front, did not change or even slow down while our former president was in office. He would sometimes use inflammatory rhetoric to placate his fans, but then he would let his leftwing cabinet members actually set policy, controverting his rhetoric. we got all of the blow back with none of the policy victoires. 

Now, do I think everyone who voted for the former president once, or even twice, is a bad person? No. Most people vote defensively against the other side. I do, however, think that the former president’s inner circle and his outer organization are some of the worst of people I’ve ever seen. They deny all reality to prop up a man who is so pride filled, he still touts warp speed as his greatest accomplishment. He’s willing to destroy the man who governs the state he chose to move to. Make it make sense?

In closing, I won’t back down. Donald Trump must lose the primary for our nation to have any shot at a new birth of freedom. Our best choice is Ron DeSantis. His record of service is something we haven’t seen in a presidential candidate in generations. He’s not running to be somebody. He’s running to do the work need to help turn our country back from the precipice of decline we’re teetering on right now. 

Matt Wells

The Convention

The Republican National Convention starts in 3 weeks. I have several friends(more like 80-100) attending. Some are very close to me, like my Pastor, who happens to be an alternate for the Iowa delegation(He has me to thank for that. We'll see when he gets back how he feels about my push to have him on our slate of delegates and alternates). 10 members of the Iowa delegation are people I can call at any time and for nearly any reason. The purpose of this post is not to attempt to sway any Trumpcult members into supporting a sane and rational candidate. I've done that and I will continue to do more of that in the future.
The purpose of this post is to call for fervent and serious prayer for this convention. The likelihood of serious violence, from both paid leftist protesters and Trump's own band of not-so-merry thugs is highly likely and even though security for this will be unprecedented, the possibility of people getting hurt and property being damaged is quite high.
We need to pray for the delegates, that they may have wisdom and courage to stand for what is right, not just what is politically expedient. We need to pray that the delegates don't let people who don't have godly interests in mind sway them from voting for a candidate who lines up with their values and the party platform. We need to pray for the safety of the general public in Cleveland.
We need pray for the police and uniformed security staff, that they may be wise in dealing with any uprisings and do so with justice in mind.
We need to pray for Donald Trump's soul. The man is lost. He is so wrapped up in himself that he can't see what harm he does to others as long as he sees personal gain. He needs to be convicted in the Lord and he needs to realize that he is a sinner, just as broken as any other sinner.
We need to pray that if the delegates should choose to nominate and select someone other than Donald, that that person would be open to the wisdom of the Lord. No single mortal man can make our nation great again, only Jesus can do that.
Lastly, we need to pray that God would raise up a servant to help guide our nation, not to rule over her or institute all manners of wicked and evil policies(like our current president).
In my own life, I can attest to the power of prayer. I've learned so much from my Pastor and my friends about praying for every little and big detail. You can feel God moving when you open yourself to His will. If the people of America would start their day, everyday, on their knees asking God to forgive them, guide them, and provide for them, we wouldn't be in the mess we are in now. I know that 2 Chronicles 7:14 gets thrown around quite often, but between that and the lessons from Jesus on how we should approach prayer, I think we could see a true revival in our nation, if only we'd get ourselves out of God's way and choose to follow His lead.

My letter to the Cedar Rapids Gazette

By the time you read this, Jeff Kaufmann, Steve Scheffler and Tamara Scott will officially hate me. Ask me if I care.
The truth matters more than party loyalty. My relationship with God matters more than anything. Therefore, I'll not support Trump or Hillary.
They need to see the writing on the wall. Trump is a boat anchor and should be cut loose at the RNC in Cleveland.

http://www.thegazette.com/subject/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/letter-let-delegates-vote-their-conscience-20160627

My Des Moines Register Op Ed

Here is a link to my Des Moines Register Editorial. http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/readers/2016/06/23/gop-delegates-should-able-vote-their-conscience/86241316/

The Laborers Are Few

Tonight, as I processed the New York primary results, I was struck by a point my pastor made several weeks ago. Just a few people, when serving a righteous cause, can do much. Jesus did great things with only a few disciples and they carried his church across the world.

This reminded me of the story of the American Revolution. The American Revolution was started by a small group of colonists who were tired of being under a far off King's rule. Fully 20% of the colonial population left after the war because they were loyal to the British Crown. Some estimates are as low as 3% of the colonists started the Revolution. That number grew by the Revolutionary War's end, but the laborers for liberty were still few.

Just think of what 3% of the current day population could do if they mobilized for liberty. 3% is roughly 10 million people out of the current estimate of about 330 million people in the United States. Imagine 10 million people rising up with a unified voice for our founding documents and advocating for limited government. Our legislators in Washington, DC wouldn't know what to do.

What I'm trying to say is that even if you can only spare a little time or give a little money, you can do something. If you are waiting until your situation is "just right", you may be too late. What if we lose to a Democrat or a Democrat in disguise, like the other two guys running for the GOP nomination? We could lose everything we hold dear. Our rights of religious liberty, self preservation, free press, free speech and the rights of the States to self govern could all be greatly diminished by the election of 3.25 out of the current crop of 4.25 presidential candidates(John Kasich rates as a quarter of a candidate). Only Ted Cruz has a record of standing for limited government and actually protecting our rights.

Now is the time to give your time, your fortune and your sacred honor to the cause of freedom and liberty. Not only are your fellow countrymen counting on you(even if they don't know it yet) but the rest of the world is counting on you. Whether we like it or not, a strong United States is necessary for world stability. We must band together and stop the bleeding or the greatest nation, the nation responsible for the vast majority of the Christian mission work across the world, will cease to be.

Do I think the country will just dissolve? Not really. We'll just cease being a Constitutional Republic in favor of either a more fascist and nationalist state or we'll lurch even further left and we'll collapse like the Wiemar Republic. We'll then have a period of rampant violence and fascistic nationalism as a response. Study history so we don't repeat it.

Now is the time to sacrifice. Now is the time to fast. Now is the time to fall to your knees and pray. Pray on 2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 

Join us. Now has to be the time.

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Fight For Principles, Not For Parties

Don't vote for a man. Vote on principle.

I've seen much hand wringing taking place over the last few days regarding the polling data that shows how bad a certain Combed Over reality TV star gets beat by Monica's ex-boyfriend's wife. It is no one's fault but those in the conservative intelligentsia and the so-called conservative/Republican media machine. The Orange Faced One could have been fully vetted when he threw his hat in the ring and roundly drubbed out for being the misogynistic, unprincipled boor that he is. Instead, he was dismissed and his rhetoric was encouraged by some in the media. I saw through him from the beginning.

He is just playing on people's fears and feeding a long dormant white power/populist nationalist movement that has now found their figure head. This isn't battle for a nomination. It is now a battle between good and evil. The forces of evil must be defeated. Last night, things became crystal clear to me as I spoke to a friend about the state of our nation and this presidential race. This election isn't about electing a Democrat or Republican.

Our nation is at a crossroads. I'm no longer just fighting for my candidate, Ted Cruz. I'm fighting for a nation that will respect our right to follow the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I am fighting for our ability to be able to send missionaries to all corners of the globe to tell people about Jesus Christ. A respected pastor said something to me several months ago that has stayed with me. The United States is the base for 83% of the world's missionaries and much of the world's charity.

I'm fighting for the ability of people to raise their children as they see fit, according to biblical principles and in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. I'm fighting for people to educate their children without federal government intervention. I want a country where one income is enough for a family to succeed so that children can have a parent at home so that they aren't raised by a government school that isn't looking out for their individual interest. I'm fighting to end the federal Department of Education.

I'm fighting for a fair and flat tax rate that doesn't penalize success. I'm fighting for a business tax code that encourages companies to make things in the United States again. I'm fighting so that a small business isn't buried under a mountain of federal regulation. I'm fighting so that a farmer isn't treated better than the hardware store owner in the small town that he lives next to. I'm fighting for equality in taxation.

I'm fighting so that each state can become the laboratory of policy and democratic experimentation. I'm fighting so that Texas isn't treated to the same stupid laws and policy that New York is. I'm fighting so that Iowa isn't subjected to the same policy that Florida is. I'm fighting so that states that haven't adopted backward big government aren't forced to do so by an overarching, all powerful federal government.

But most of all, I'm fighting for each and every staffer and volunteer that has become my friend during the course of this campaign. I'm fighting for the church that I've found through this campaign. I'm fighting for my family and my friends. I'm fighting for the people that have given so much and asked little in return other than a chance to see their principles reapplied. I'm fighting so that my nephew and my young friends have the opportunity to live in a country more free than the one they were born into, rather than have to live with the decline of a nation, once the freest in the whole world.

I urge you to join me. I urge you to get involved. Don't just vote. Volunteer. You can even volunteer from home to make phone calls. Don't sit back and waste the opportunity to stand for principle. We finally have an opportunity to do just that.

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My Experience in the American South (A Follow Up To Why I Can't Support Trump)

Wow. I've been in 15 states over that past 45 days. I've spent so much time totally engrossed in political ground work that I've had little time to write. This post will distill what I've now seen as the greatest threat to my value system in my lifetime. Whether you agree or not is of no consequence to me. I have friends that will attest to the validity of my claims here.

Donald Trump has done something amazingly horrible. He has turned approximately 30% of the primary electorate on the GOP side into zombies(45% if you figure the white populist nationalist herd in the South). He was right when he said he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and he wouldn't lose his supporters. No amount of actual evidence will change the minds of his core group of supporters. What I experienced while working with the Cruz campaign in South Carolina and Georgia was both fascinating and terrifying, all at the same time.

Let me start with the people of the American South. There are some nice folks. There are some good Christian folks. This goes for the ones that aren't those two things. Now, I'm going to be blunt. I don't fit in in the South. I am plain spoken and quite open about why I believe what I believe. Ask anyone that knows me. I hate(strong word, I know) fake niceness. Being polite is great but when you don't mean it, I see right through you. I can normally talk to anyone that has more than a few brain cells to rub together. That wasn't the case in South Carolina and Georgia. Self deprecation is not a trait of most Southerners. Those of us in Iowa and around the Midwest laugh at ourselves all the time(after all, besides cow tipping, what else is there to do in central Nebraska). See what I did there.

While I did have a few doors slammed in my face in Iowa, I equaled the total from 4 months of campaigning in Iowa in my first day of door knocking in the Greenville, SC area. People in the South are incredibly suspicious of those that are different from them while at the same time being insufferably polite to your face while holding you in contempt as soon as you turn your back. It was very hard to gauge a person's actual mood or mindset with just a few minutes of contact. Contrast that to the Midwest. In Iowa, I could talk to almost anyone and gauge whether they were with us or against us in just a few minutes. People in Iowa and the Midwest, in general, are easy to talk to and open about their views. Even the ones that didn't like my choice of candidate would usually talk to you. Many would debate you. I love that. The caucus system in Iowa encourages neighbors to talk openly about their views and the issues that matter to them. I got the sense in South Carolina and Georgia that politics was a private issue and that no matter what, people weren't going to discuss things. And we wonder why the sense of community has died in many towns...

Frankly(there's an inside joke here), I think we should be discussing our political situations with everybody we know. Politics in the US invades every aspect of life, unless you are an off-the-grid mountain man who can make it by hunting and gathering,(not going to lie, that idea does sound appealing from time to time) politics has an impact on your life. If you can't discuss the state of politics in your town, state or country, you are being derelict in your duty as a citizen of these United States.

Another disturbing aspect of the South that I encountered was the still alive climate of racism and bigotry that has long dogged the American South. This doesn't appear as much in the more urban and suburban areas but in the loose communities that dot the countryside in the South, the racist climate is still alive and well. Certain towns are still almost entirely voluntarily(or not) segregated. My heart was broken by what I saw and heard. I was screamed at for supporting someone with a "Cuban" last name. I was called stupid for not supporting Donald Trump multiple times. Confederate flag flying homes, almost 100%, could be counted on as a home of a Combover devotee. His supporters speak like him. They use the same empty words and phrases(all with a southern drawl). "We're going to build a wall", "We'll be so great", "America doesn't win anymore", "He'll make good deals", etc. When pressed to provide more information on why they support the Combed Over One, they started screaming and used foul language.

The final home on the last walkbook I worked in Georgia was a glaring example of this. I was with Elizabeth(she's 12). Her brother was turning the van around, so we both jumped out and as soon as we approached the man in his front yard and introduced ourselves as Cruz supporters, he became visibly angry and told us to get the h*ll off his property. This was in a very well off neighborhood in Cobb County north of Atlanta. If I'd have been alone, I wouldn't have cared so much. I was seething inside because I knew Elizabeth didn't deserve that kind of treatment. Being rude to ladies, no matter the age, really chaps my hide.

What my experience with people in the South illustrated is that the lack of awareness of others has become a glaring hallmark of Trump supporters. They are only looking out for themselves and see no importance in principles that built this nation. Never once did they cite the Constitution as a reason to vote for their figurehead. Some openly said that the Constitution was old and that was Ted's problem. He held too tight to it(I'm not kidding). The support of this man, this demagogue, can only be described as a cult of personality. No amount of factual evidence was able to move the needle with them because they were projecting all of their problems onto one man thinking he was going to assuage their anger and vanquish their demons. A very small few were able to be reached when I started to quote the Bible and by the end of my time down there, the Bible has become my only real defense. Some folks still thought highly enough of the Good Book to listen. Some didn't. They will come crashing to the earth if they ever awake from the trance they are in.

As Ted Cruz says, no one man can make the country great. God made us great by inspiring a people to be free to pursue greatness, all while giving thanks to Him for his divine providence. It is the people, under God and indivisible, that make the country great. We need to work on ourselves and get the government out of the way. 2 Chronicles 7:14 is the most manifest testament to this, directly from the word of God.

Don't get me wrong, I met some good people, as previously stated, but those good people must become more vocal and involved to help salvage what I saw down there. As it stands now, I don't really have a desire to visit the south ever again, unless I was to be called down there for a Christian mission of some sort. The "Bible Belt" is frayed and the buckle is highly tarnished and the people need true spiritual revival. The one saving grace I cling to is Ted Cruz has won the youth vote in every state he's competed in. Maybe the younger generations are turning away from the backwards thinking down South. One can only pray that is the case.

All of the hate and distrust emanating from the people in the South had one glaring effect on me. I turned toward God even more. I found myself praying between homes or between phone calls. My pastor was incredibly helpful in sending me Bible verses to help me get through the days. A friendly call from a friend or two also helped. Working along side of friends made the work fun, even if we did get yelled at a bunch. Knowing people back in Iowa were praying for me also gave me comfort.

I guess you could sum up my experience down South like this. I'm so glad I grew up in Nebraska, lived in Colorado and now live in Iowa. I'm also happy that my sister lives in Kansas. I guess you could say I'm a westerner Midwesterner(think that one through), and I'm glad to be one. #GBR for all of you Husker Twitter followers.

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Jeremiah 29:11   For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. 

  Jeremiah 29:12   Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. 

  Jeremiah 29:13   And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 

  Jeremiah 29:14   And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive. 

Rock Chalk Jayhawk, Go Ted Cruz!

I'm writing this piece from the 14th state I've been in over the last 30 days. What a wild ride! I feel the tide starting to shift. 

Just yesterday, I spent 5 hours at a caucus site in Emporia, KS. I was blown away at the support Ted Cruz has here in the middle of the country. Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas have provided an anchor. Add Maine and Alaska and you have the start of a wide ranging base of support. The late votes broke heavily toward Ted Cruz in Kentucky and Louisiana too. 

I feel a change coming over the electorate and I think the last debate had a lot to do with it. Ted Cruz was the only adult in the room. With the one who shall remain nameless and Marco Rubio just trading insults, Ted Cruz prosecuted the aforementioned unnamed one while staying out of the mud.

While having a conversation with 5 friends last night by text message, the mood was decidedly lighter. We've all worked so hard for the same causes that Ted Cruz champions. I remember having a conversation with one specific friend on Tuesday before the election results started coming in(Thank you, Texas!) and I told this person that I was no longer nervous about the results. Her response was one of the most beautiful things I've ever read, "It is one of the many blessings of our position as children of God - sweet peace in the midst of storms." After I read that, I knew I had worked as hard as I could and God was in control. She's totally correct. There's peace knowing God will never give us more than we can handle while also knowing that our trials will only serve to make those of us who know Jesus stronger in the long run. 

This has been such a whirlwind experience that I've only slept in my own bed 4 nights in the last month. I'll write a more in depth review of the last month in the coming week. So, for now, good bye from Kansas. Perhaps a Rock Chalk Jayhawk, Go Ted Cruz chant is in order.

The Ground Game

The Cruz ground game. It is talked about in terms that put it in a class by itself. The #CruzCrew in South Carolina had a good one started. Then, the Iowans showed up. So much so that I did an interview with NBC Nightly News yesterday regarding our ground game and the need to help Ted Cruz in any way that I can.

The Iowa staff and volunteers that are down here now are putting their vast knowledge and expertise to good use. In the past few days, we've been able to add to the team down in the Palmetto State. There are some cultural differences, to be sure, but we have a significant leg up. We know Ted Cruz and he knows us. Retail politics in Iowa is to Iowans like Friday night lights football is to Texans.

In the next week and a half, we will put the hammer down. The sprint to knock more doors and make more phone calls is in full swing. Because this is a primary state, the emphasis is on the Get Out The Vote effort. It is easier to ask someone to spend 5 minutes to vote for us but that also means that we have to talk to more people. Our advantage in Iowa was our network of amazing precinct speakers. We don't have the ability to have that final influence here. We must be done next Friday.

When I arrived down here, I was so pleased to see Lyndsey Blagrave and Daniel Bradshaw on the team. These two young folks are examples of what make the Cruz campaign great. Lyndsey is the best volunteer coordinator there is. She helps keep the office running. Her light shines to everyone she meets. Daniel is the best field  operative I've seen. He gets it. These people aren't political mercenaries. They are believers in God, in the cause and in Ted Cruz.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention my dear friends too. I know I talk about these people all the time but they have helped so much. Yesterday, the Bontrager Family stopped by the office in Greenville and took care of the volunteers by making lunch(I'm not talking about a simple lunch either). We had grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, a black bean dip, vegetables (always) and Allison and Chelsy made hundreds of no bake cookies. They also made hundreds of phone calls and helped me get to over 100 doors in the area in a short amount of time. 

My greatest joy yesterday was seeing the littlest Bontragers go door knocking with their big brothers and me. Carson and Josh and Mitchell took their little sisters and brother and the absolute joy to be helping us was plain on the faces of Elizabeth, Rebecca and Hudson. When I asked Taylor if he wanted to knock on doors, his face lit up. Being homeschooled, these kids are getting a great education in being caring and involved Americans. This is something their government school counterparts just don't get to experience.

Right before the Bontragers left to go do their prison ministry concert, we heard the news that Chris Christie had dropped out of the race. 10 year old Hudson promptly opined, "I wish Christie would have stayed in and helped split the establishment vote." I looked at his two eldest sisters and laughed. I think he's heard one too many conversations with his siblings and me after church.

I also have received texts and had a phone conversation with my pastor in Washington, IA. It is such a blessing to have the members of Marion Avenue Baptist Church in our corner. Their prayers and phone call support from Iowa are so appreciated.

In short, those of us involved with the Cruz campaign are doing this for our country. Ted Cruz is an advocate for more freedom and liberty and his call has mobilized more people on the ground than any other Republican running. The difference in vision is quite obvious now. Ted has an aspirational vision for America. As the Bible says in Psalms:

Psalms 30:5   For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. 

  Psalms 32:11   Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart. 

These values are not just a small part of the Cruz campaign. They run though all aspects. There is an honest care for our fellow volunteers and staff. There is a palpable joy in our mission. This is a trait I've not seen in other campaigns. It really all boils down to the verse that has become part of this campaign. Ted quotes this verse at every campaign stop now.

 2 Chronicles 7:14   If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 

I urge all of you that love God, love our country and love your families to join us.

Join us.

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#CruzCrew #SCPrimary #IowaCaucus #CruzToVictory

Onward to South Carolina

Monday, February 1st, was the culmination of months of work in Iowa. The Cruz campaign did the hard, but rewarding work to win the Iowa Caucuses. Sitting around the TV at the Dutch Country Inn in Kalona, the sheer joy on the faces of my friends's faces was all the actual reward I needed.

Fast forward to Thursday, February 4th. I received a call that continued to reinforce my knowledge that this campaign, this cause for electing a Christian Constitutionalist, was blessed by God. I was notified that I would be able to go to South Carolina and continue my work for Ted Cruz. I will do my very best to make sure I don't waste this opportunity and let down those people that have put so much trust in my abilities to reach voters. I will talk to any and all voters of South Carolina. I will talk to them as someone who has had the chance to actually get to know Ted Cruz. 

I'm so glad that I will see so many friends too. Monday will be an Iowa reunion, so to speak. I can't wait to see Daniel Bradshaw, Lyndsey Blagrave, Bryan English and the Bontrager family. I've also counted my blessings as I'm writing this from my mom's place in Columbia, MD. I'll travel the rest of the way to South Carolina on Sunday.

My goal in South Carolina is to continue actually talking to voters. I'm not interested in just asking them to vote for Ted Cruz. I want to get to know them. God willing, I will be able to convey my knowledge from attending 24 Iowa campaign events with Ted to the voters in South Carolina. I ask for your prayers for all of us traveling from all over the country to the various campaign offices in South Carolina.

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Find out more about the Cruz Campaign.

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#CruzCrew #CruzToVictory

http://bontragersingers.blogspot.com/2016/01/why-christians-should-vote-for-ted-cruz.html

http://daughterwithavision.blogspot.com/2016/01/a-call-to-actionyour-duty-to-vote.html

The Iowa Caucuses Are Monday

Ted Cruz calling on Donald Trump to debate him, Lincoln - Douglass style, before caucus night.

The Iowa Caucuses are drawing near. Next Monday, this state that I've grown to love, not because of where it is or what it looks like, but because of the people I've come to know, will make a decision that will help shape the direction of country for the foreseeable future. The weight of a nation and the eyes of the world are now focused on Iowa.

Josh, Mitchell and Allison knocking on doors for Ted Cruz. Who cares about the cold? Iowans surely don't.

The next few days will be full of door to door campaign work, a debate watch party, a Sunday at Marion Avenue Baptist Church and a rally in Iowa City followed by some retail campaign work in Coralville, North Liberty and Iowa City on Monday before the caucus. I will then lead the precinct where I live for Ted Cruz and cast my vote in the Iowa Caucuses.

Chelsy, Josh, Jessica and Taylor helped me knock on doors in Fairfield, IA before a Rally with Ted Cruz

With the preparation and networking the Cruz campaign has done, we have been able to recruit about 12,000 volunteers in the state of Iowa. This is unprecedented. This is why we'll win. The people behind this campaign in Iowa are why Iowa is a good place to live. Young, old and everyone in between. It would take me days to list all of the people that I've come to respect and love during the course of this campaign. I've made friends that I will have forever and I thank God for that. For more on the people that mean so much to me, you can read this post from a few weeks ago.

Glenn Beck speaking in Waterloo, IA. Glenn has endorsed a candidate for the first time in his career. He believes in Ted and so do I.

Who knows what the future holds? All I know is that I will continue to be active in the political arena. I may get tasked to go to South Carolina in support of the #CruzCrew. If that is the case, I would be honored. But once the campaign is done, I think that Iowa will be the place I call home for the foreseeable future. There is much to be done here and it starts with returning the state to a conservative way of life. Our own Republican Party of Iowa has been infested by crony corporatist interests and it must stop. I will actively support and campaign for any Constitutional conservative that challenges the Branstad machine in Iowa.

A debate watch party at the Dutch Country Inn in Kalona.

In closing, I think that we will shock the world on Monday. The #CruzCrew is ready. We will help pave the way for the most principled candidate to run for president in my lifetime. This will officially be the first vote that I am truly excited to cast and I know there are thousands of Iowans like me. If you haven't joined us already, why not? I know I pledge my life, my fortune and my sacred honor to the restoration of this great land and its founding documents. Join us.

Daniel, Cris and me on a 15 degree day knocking on doors. This is how you really reach people.

For more Iowa campaign insights and information on the reasons to support Ted Cruz, read this post by my friend, Josh Bontrager.

For a great read on why Christians should vote and take a leadership role in our government, read this post by Chelsy Bontrager. Chelsy speaks the unvarnished truth in this piece.

For my opinion on one certain presidential candidate with a bad combover(he who shall remain nameless), click here.

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Email me for more information on the Cruz campaign in Iowa(that includes media and press types)

A Gift

On the Thursday before my birthday this last October, I was given one of the greatest gifts anyone could ever ask for.

I was at a Cruz campaign strategy meeting with radio talk show host, Steve Deace, getting the lay of the Iowa political land. I sat next to Marlin Bontrager and his son Josh. During the course of the evening, we talked and found out we lived just a few miles from each other and the topic of churches came up. I had told him that I was looking for a place to attend worship on Sundays. All he did was invite me to his church in Washington, Iowa. That Sunday morning, I got up and made the choice to go to Marion Avenue Baptist Church. That decision changed my life. 

From the moment I walked into Marion Avenue, I felt welcomed. I instantly had things in common with the people there. They spoke my language. They have a clarity of purpose and a vision of what a church should be and that is a place to hear the truth and proclaim the good news. Pastor Joseph Brown, whom I now call my friend, welcomed me that very morning. I heard a Bible based sermon that actually related to issues facing everyday Americans. I was blown away. This wasn't just a theoretical church, this was a church equipping the people in the pews to do battle with today's crumbling society. Near the end of the service, Marlin Bontrager leaned over and asked me to join his family for Sunday dinner. That was the second part of his gift to me that day.

Mitchell Bontrager rode with me so that he could show me the way to his family farm. We talked and I got the sense that I wasn't going to just any place, but a very special place. What I saw and experienced that Sunday afternoon will be with me for the rest of my life. It was a family of 12 people under one roof that work in concert with one another. The love they show for one another is nothing short of amazing. Maybe it shouldn't be but in today's culture, it is.

I'm writing this piece because the Iowa Caucuses are near and what I've known for the past 5 months is almost over. My friends that are from all corners of the country with the campaign will move on and the Bontragers are getting ready for another season of touring the country to minister to people all over. Lord knows that we need the ministering. I want to say thank you to every last one of them and I look forward to remaining friends with them for as long as I walk this earth.

Marlin, Becky, Chelsy, Mitchell, Allison, Carson, Josh, Denver, Taylor, Elizabeth, Hudson, and Rebecca have shown me Christian love and I just hope I've been able to return just a small amount of that same Christian love to them. I'll miss the conversations with Mitchell and Denver about college football. I'll miss seeing Elizabeth smile and be a light to all those around her. I'll miss Allison's no bake cookies and her playing violin while hanging from the ceiling. I'll also miss talking to her about faith and gratitude. I'll miss Taylor's wisdom that belies his age. I'll miss Carson's straightforwardness. I'll miss hearing Hudson singing along with the hymns. I'll miss Marlin's kind words and encouragement. I'll miss Becky's kindness. I'll miss Josh's biblical knowledge and I'll miss Chelsy's unvarnished opinions and I'll also miss seeing her with all the little children at church. Chelsy has a heart for little children like no one else I've ever seen. I think she's some kind of baby whisperer and it is quite a sight to behold. God has shown Himself to me through every member of this family and I praise Him for it.

I will keep every member of this family in my prayers. I pray for their safety in their travels and I pray that they are able to help lead others to know Jesus as the one true way to salvation. I knew that I was saved but I just needed a reminder. Marion Avenue and the Bontragers have done that.

I will stay in Iowa as long as I feel God working through me here. I look forward to joining Marion Avenue Baptist Church as a full member and seeing where God leads me in this area.

I encourage every one that reads this to find a Bible believing and Bible teaching church. If your church doesn't keep fast to biblical truth, find a church that does. Knowing that you are a believer saved by grace through faith in Jesus is the best feeling in the world. When I first became involved with this presidential campaign, I thought meeting all of these important and impressive people would be the most impressive thing I'd done in my life. How wrong I was. Finding my way back to a Christian life was the best thing to happen to me.

2 Chronicles 7:14   If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 

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