GOP women make headlines with Senate candidates, straw poll

Republican National Committee Co-chair Sharon Day (left) with Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll and Florida Federation of Republican Women Man of the Year Mike Hightower. (Photo The US Report)

The Florida Federation of Republican Women made headlines after vetting three US Senate candidates and conducting a straw poll on Sunday. FFRW held its annual conference in Tallahassee at Hotel Duval, and just like in past years, the place was packed. Many people stood because there were no empty seats and there were a lot of reporters and other media attending.

I helped moderate the US Senate debate formatted more like a forum than a back and forth between candidates. Members asked questions and I filled in the gaps.

Overall, that format actually worked to inform better than most of the showbiz format debates we see on TV.

One takeaway was a sentiment I heard more times than I could count—each Senate candidate has his strengths and any of them are preferable to the current Democrat holding Florida’s other US Senate seat. As most know, Sen.  Marco Rubio is the Republican in one US Senate seat for Florida.

Former US Sen. George LeMieux won the straw poll. LeMieux served a partial term in the US Senate after then-Sen. Mel Martinez vacated his seat. LeMieux was a vocal critic of ObamaCare (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act).

I asked each candidate to name a current senator they admire, other than Rubio. LeMieux named Sen. Tom Coburn. LeMieux said he was influenced by Coburn’s report, ‘Back in Black.’ Coburn came up with the report after analyzing trillions in federal spending. The groundbreaking report contained examples of potential savings totaling more than $9 trillion taxpayer dollars. The Democrat majority Senate and the president didn’t make good use of Coburn’s recommendations that would benefit every US taxpayer.

Rep. Connie Mack IV named Sen. Rand Paul whose FOCUS Act would repeal burdensome, ambiguous regulations in the Lacey Act. Mack is married to California Rep. Mary Bono Mack, widow of Sonny Bono.

Col. Mike McCalister (Ret.) named conservative stalwart Sen. Jim DeMint as his favorite. DeMint is that rare leader who actually sticks to principles, a characteristic the retired US Army officer pointed out.

One topic the Republican women brought up was Agenda 21, a critical matter completely ignored in every presidential debate despite the fact that when fully implemented, the regulations will impact every single person in the world. Former Speaker of the US House Newt Gingrich brought Agenda 21 into the public eye during a presidential debate.

Agenda 21 cedes a large amount of US sovereignty to the UN. The report is self-described as a benchmark in the study of economic globalization and global governance.

One of many special guests  at the conference, including the senatorial event, was Republican National Committee co-chair Sharon Day.

Florida Federation of Republican Women president Cindy Graves fired up activists over the need to put a Republican in the Senate seat. Graves said, “We are invigorated and motivated to fight hard to defeat Senator Nelson.” She also stated that while the straw poll indicated the feelings of the GOP women leadership, the results do not constitute an endorsement.

While I was in Tallahassee, I had the opportunity to talk to many of the women at the conference. I also very much enjoyed getting to meet Day (we aren’t related, by the way).

The women of FFRW are remarkably informed about politics and they are a force to be reckoned with. The GOP should thank the nearest lucky star for having so many women dedicated to advancing sound fiscal policy and accountability in Washington where both are in short supply these days.

I read more than a dozen news accounts about the event. The best writeup is at Sunshine State News where editor Kevin Derby gives a more detailed account of the senatorial event than most.

I’ll have more thoughts on the conference and some photos posted once I complete my column for Examiner.

(Posted by Kay B. Day/Feb. 21, 2012)