Quote of the night--
"John Ashcroft makes Eric Holder look like a Mall Cop!"~~Chris StigallChris Stigall hosted his 8th and last Lincoln Days for the year, in his own county, Clay County.
It was another great night, thanks in large part to the Central Committee's chairman, Ben Wierzbicki.
The night opened up with awards given to two of the most deserving legislators, not only in Clay County, but in all of Missouri.
Rep. Doug Ervin has term limited out and
Rep. Tim Flook is not seeking re-election.
Rep. Jerry Nolte presented the award to Rep. Tim Flook and
Rep. Bob Nance presented the award to Rep. Doug Ervin.
Chris Stigall then did two short interviews with former ambassadors. The first was
Ambassador to Afghanistan Tom Schweich. Schweich talked about one of his areas of expertise, Afghanistan. He did a great job and he is now running for
Missouri State Auditor.
The second was Ambassador to Luxembourg
Ann Wagner, who also used to be the Chair of the Missouri Republican Party for six years, from 1999 until 2005, and Co-chair of the Republican National Committee for four years.
After her interview with Chris, she gave some remarks of her own. She told a compelling story of an incident that happened in Luxembourg, reminding us of why we don't want America to go the way of Europe. She then announced that she was now the chair of
Roy Blunt's campaign for Kit Bond's senate seat. She talked about how crucial the elections are going to be in November. A loose paraphrase of my favorite line of hers is when she said, if you don't have skin in the game, you lose your passion. She was reminding us to get out there and get some skin in the game and have passion for the principles that we believe in.
Rep. Roy Blunt himself was up next. He talked about the
article in the KC Star from last Thursday. It talked about early polls showing that Blunt already has an 8 point lead over Robin Carnahan. What was Carnahan's reason for this? She said that the public isn't engaged in the race yet. Meanwhile, Carnahan's campaign has spent $2 million trying to demonize Blunt over being against the Cap and Trade bill. How much more will they have to spend before people will be engaged ;-)?
Blunt's conclusion was, "I think freedom is going to win, and I need you to help me." Again, I was impressed with Blunt personally as I was the last time I met him. He went out of his way to talk to everyone in the room and shake their hand and really talk to them.
Finally, the main speaker,
John Ashcroft got up to speak. I am such a huge fan of Ashcroft, for so many reasons. This is the second time I've heard him speak, and he was even better this time than the last.
He thanked us for being there because of how important it is for good people to be involved in politics. He talked about
American Exceptionalism and how freedom is the special catalyst. He said that America must continue to distinguish itself and not be europeanized. The United States of America and American Exceptionalism is worth defending. He hoped we didn't take the blessings of our country for granted and that we would participate and work hard to make sure our principles are kept.
He made so many great points, I was wanting to cheer and stand every other sentence. He had so much passion for what he was saying. My favorite part was when he talked about how foolish it was to "reach across the aisle". He talked about how anytime he tried to do that, he got bit. It was nice to hear someone tell it like it really is with out being concerned about political correctness.
The night ended with several more awards. Shawna Searcy received the Clay County Woman of the Year and Jeff Roe got the Clay County Man of the Year award. They were both surprised, but not as shocked as Ben Wierzbicki was when Jeff Roe presented him with the Man of the Decade award.
Previously:2009 Clay County Republican Lincoln Days!2008 Clay County Republican Lincoln Days! 2007 Clay County Republican Lincoln Days!
