Mock Election Results

The results from the mock election are as follows:

Barrack Obama: 161
John McCain: 51
Hillary Clinton: 24
Other: 15
Total Votes: 251

The winners we randomly chose to win the prizes were:

1st Prize (180 Lindt Truffles): Rob Rush
2nd Prize (Speaker System): Tara Campbell
3rd Prize (Gas Card): Dan Merrill
4th Prize (CCR T-Shirt): Mike Thulander

We would like to congratulate the winners and thank everyone who participated in the mock election at Champlain College on Thursday March 27th, 2008.

Our New T-Shirts

Front of T-Shirt

Back of T-Shirt

Side Sleeve of T-Shirt

Achieving Energy Efficiency and Affordability

By Governor Jim Douglas

Our state can be the “Silicon Valley” of environmental commerce, benefiting from a steadily increasing demand for fuel efficiency and environmental services, and creating more and better paying jobs. It’s a perfect market for Vermont. We reject the notion that jobs come at the expense of the environment, and that environmental protection must be compromised in order to have economic progress.

Vermont has shown that there is an alternative to the superficial conflict between those who seek economic growth and job creation and those who seek environmental preservation. This third way — the Vermont Way — recognizes that our economy and environment are co-dependent. One cannot thrive without the other.

We need both a growing economy and healthy environment, for example, to retain and recruit the next generation of skilled employees whose work ethics and sharp minds attract companies that expand and innovate. And by making smart, targeted investments in job creation and our natural environment — and by making health care, home ownership and the tax burden more affordable — our families will prosper.

That’s why I was proud to sign into law last week the Energy Efficiency and Affordability Act of 2008, establishing an efficiency program and making other investments in an affordable, sustainable energy future. This legislation encourages economic growth and helps homeowners and businesses save money by reducing fuel consumption.

The new fuel-efficiency program will coordinate expertise, technical assistance, and resources to help Vermonters make their homes and businesses more energy efficient — using both grants and loans to help reduce the initial expense of these improvements — and encourage job creation in the private fuel-efficiency market. Based on the most current research, homes and businesses that take full advantage of the program could see nearly a 3 to 1 return on investment.

The legislation also continues to support the use of renewable energy in Vermont through an increased use of net-metering, changes to farm energy programs and the use of biodiesel in state buildings and vehicle fleet.

It was important to me that these efforts not increase the tax burden. That is why $1.6 million of funding for the program will come from existing revenues. Another $2.4 million in funding will come from Vermont’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI).

This spring, the Department of Public Service will convene a series of workshops to develop a Request for Proposal (RFP) on how to best to create the new fuel-efficiency program. The RFP will be ready this fall, and the program should be operational in 2009.

This legislation is a significant investment in building a stronger, more innovative economy. It’s an important indication that Vermont has become a leader in the rapidly expanding global market for environmental products, services and solutions. And it’s a valuable reminder of what can be accomplished in Montpelier when progress prevails over partisanship.

VOTE in the Mock Election on March 27th in the Atrium!!!

On Thursday, March 27th, the CCR's will be hosting a Mock Election in the atrium from 11:45-2:00 (lunch) and 4:30-7:00 (dinner). Come get FREE POP CORN, Presidential candidate information, and win some COOL PRIZES; all you have to do is VOTE! The Mock Election results will be posted right here on our web site on Friday, March 28th.

Contact us at ChamplainRepublicans@gmail.com for more information.

Hope to see you there!

TOWN MEETING DAY! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!!!!

Don’t forget to VOTE! on Tuesday, March 4^th

This Tuesday is Vermont’s presidential primary day, and it is critical that everyone turn out at the polls to support your candidate of choice. John McCain, Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul are on the ballot for Republicans. The close and fierce battle on the Democrats side between Obama and Clinton will likely bring a large force of Democrat voters out to the polls. Make sure you are there to counter this surge and help our select board, school board, etc candidates and issues down the ticket.

Both parties are looking for a final knock-out blow for primary campaigns. Tuesday may very well be the day that determines who the nominees will be for the general election. Don’t miss out on being a part of this historic event!

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Election Night Event

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Gather with other John McCain supporters at Mulligan's Pub in Barre to watch tomorrow's primary returns! Sen. McCain will plan to call in to thank all his local supporters.

VT McCain Primary Night Victory Party
6:00pm
Mulligan's Irish Pub
9 Maple St.
Barre, Vermont

Reminder

Tomorrow is a big day! It's the Vermont Primary and Town Meeting Day!

Interested in helping out with a campaign? Contact Jeff Bartley at jbartley@vtgop.org

A Must Read Editorial

Below is an editorial published in the Burlington Free Press today. It really hits home on how irresponsible the Democratic Party is acting in the Vermont Legislature.

Editorial: Move Past Old Battles on School Funding
Click Here for the source

Here we go again. The Legislature is again tinkering with the way we pay for public schools, this time seeking to overturn a plan passed last session even before people have had a chance to try it out.

This constant fiddling with the funding mechanism is a distraction from the real issue of figuring out what kind of education we want our public schools to provide for our children, and how much of it we can afford.

That's the question voters will be dealing with at town meetings around the state as many communities cast ballots on school budgets.

The provision before the House is what's known as the "think twice" plan, under which school budgets are split in two if the increase tops the rate of inflation plus one percentage point. This gives people a chance to vote separately on a "basic budget" and on the additional spending increase.

Think twice was the result of a last-minute compromise at the close of the last legislative session, a way to include a "cost containment" provision in the education funding bill insisted on by Gov. Jim Douglas.

This was a flawed concept from a start, based on the assumption that voters fail to grasp the significance of school budget increases they were approving. Splitting the budget in two also can give the wrong impression that the proposed spending above the cap is somehow optional or less a part of the overall needs of a school district.

The attempt to repeal the think-twice provision is unlikely to get far with the Senate unenthusiastic about reconsidering the plan. Yet, to attempt to go back on the agreement with the Douglas administration by repealing the plan cast doubt on the sincerity of legislative negotiators who worked out the deal, and the lawmakers who approved it. That is a formula guaranteed to sour talks between legislators and the administration next time a controversial issue comes up.

Most of all, another debate over the think-twice plan is one more distraction. Vermonters are ill-served when legislators insist on re-fighting past battles. When it comes to paying for education, lawmakers need to keep their focus on the difficult task of helping to create the public school system we need at a cost we can afford.

UPDATE

Champlain College might be on vacation - but the Champlain College Republicans are still in action.

1) The Shirts Are In! And they look great!
2) We'll be setting up a booth in coordination with Nancy Cathcart on Monday with information on your favorite Republican Presidential Candidates.
3) Champlain College Republicans have been helping out Paul Decelles and Karen Paul with their City Council races in Burlington.
4) We're gearing up for next weeks Town Meeting Day and Presidential Primary!

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Be sure to tune in later this week to see how you can get involved!

An Refreshing Op-Ed

Below is an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal today. Enjoy! It's a great read.

Press Corps Quagmire

By WILLIAM MCGURN
February 19, 2008; Page A19

When a man hangs up his byline to write for a president, he gets more than a new job. He gets to see how the press and pundit corps look from the other side of the notepad.

And over three years in the West Wing, you see a few things. You see who's a straight shooter, and who's full of snark. You see who's smart, and whose outrageous behavior would have made its way to Drudge had it involved White House staffers instead of White House correspondents. Most of all, you see how conventional wisdom can keep otherwise talented reporters and commentators on the same stale storyline long after the facts on the ground have changed.

Let me put this in context with three contentious issues -- one economic, one cultural, and one on foreign policy. In each case, President Bush took a clear stand. In each case, he was accused of stupidity or stubbornness and sometimes both. In each case, the facts on the ground increasingly bear the president out, sometimes dramatically. Yet the beat goes on -- with no sense of the great irony that it may be our writers and pundits who are stubbornly clinging to old assumptions.

Start with taxes. In the first three years of his administration, the president signed into law a series of tax cuts. They helped families by lowering rates, doubling the child credit, and reducing the marriage penalty. They helped small businesses, by increasing the incentives for investment and lowering the rate at which most small businesses pay taxes. And they put the death tax on the road to extinction.

Critics attacked on all fronts. The tax cuts were unfair because they only helped the rich. They would blow out the deficit, and do nothing for the economy. And when the economy began to improve, the focus shifted to a "jobless recovery."

We now know that "jobless recovery" in fact produced the longest period of consecutive job growth in our history. We now know that the tax cuts that were supposed to blow a hole in the federal budget deficit actually contributed to economic growth that has in turn yielded record tax revenues. As for unfairness, we also know that if the Democrats have their way and allow the Bush tax cuts to expire, a family of four with $60,000 in earnings in 2007 would see their taxes go up by about $1,800. So who's being stubborn?

Or take stem cells. Shortly after taking office, the president had to make a tough decision about federal funding for embryonic stem cell research that holds out hope for life-saving treatments. The problem was that getting the stem cells requires destroying embryos. In July 2001, Mr. Bush announced a reasonable compromise. The solution was that the federal government would support embryonic stem cell research, but would not support the creation of life just to destroy it.

For more than six years, the critics have reacted by suggesting America was regressing into a new Dark Ages. "An act of self-serving political Houdinism" said one columnist. A later editorial after a presidential veto ran under the headline "The President's Stem Cell Theology." The science reporter for ABC News put it this way: "We talk to a lot of scientists who believe nothing will change until the next inauguration in 2009."

Well, we didn't have to wait until 2009 for something to change. Last November, scientists discovered a way to reprogram adult skin cells to act like embryonic stem cells. In other words, we now have the potential to cultivate adult cells with the same pluripotent qualities that make embryonic cells so valuable -- and without having to destroy human life. That sure sounds like a welcome development. So let me ask: How many stories or editorials have you read giving the president his due?

Finally there is Iraq. By the end of 2006, sectarian violence was tearing Iraq apart, the terrorists were getting away with spectacular acts of murder, and our strategy plainly was not working. For a man said to resist unpleasant truths, the president acted boldly. He replaced his defense secretary, replaced his commanders on the ground, and completely overhauled his strategy. Granted, it would have been better had it come earlier. But it was a tough thing to do, he did it -- and he did it knowing full well that the critics would jump all over him.

The president announced the surge in a nationally televised address in January 2007. A conservative columnist accused the president of offering nothing but "salesmanship and spin." A cable TV host went on a rant declaring "the plan fails militarily, the plan fails symbolically, the plan fails politically." Columnists and commentators either hedged their bets or predicted disaster ahead, with allusions to Vietnam sprinkled in for good measure.

Yet the surge went ahead. In Anbar Province, Marines were sent in to take advantage of a popular Sunni revolt against al Qaeda -- and by April the capital city of Ramadi was being taken back from the terrorists. By September, U.S. and Iraqi forces were clearing out Baquba, a one-time al Qaeda town in Diyala Province. And though Gen. David Petraeus says that the gains can still be reversed, sectarian killings are down, civilian deaths are down, and the people of Baghdad are getting a taste of normal life. Surely the president deserves a little credit here.

Of course, if you are one of those experts who reassured us that a "well managed defeat" in Iraq was the way for America to go, you don't like hearing the president use plain words like "win" and "victory." Then again, you're not the audience George W. Bush worries about. During one of my first meetings in the Oval Office, the president told me and my fellow speechwriters that we must always be mindful of how his words would sound to the enemy -- and how they would sound to the young Marine risking his life against that enemy in some dusty town in Afghanistan or Iraq.

President Bush hasn't always been right. But he's been right on the things that matter most, and he's been willing to take the heat. I, for one, admire him for it.

***

Mr. McGurn, an executive at News Corporation, served as chief speechwriter for President Bush from January 2005 until February 2008.

URL for this article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120338469685475857.html

John McCain is coming to Vermont!

Republican Presidential hopeful John McCain will be visiting and holding a rally:

THIS THURSDAY, February 14th
11:00AM
Burlington International Airport
Atlantic Aviation
1130 Airport Drive
South Burlington, VT

VERY IMPORTANT!

Because Vermonter's have insisted on electing Democrats that are way out of touch to the needs of Vermonters; we're springing to action to warn you!

The Vermont Democrats have sponsored a bill that taxes the consumer 17 cents PER PLASTIC BAG when making a purchase. We're with you, we know it's tough and very expensive to be a college student these days. So please, for your sake... ask for a paper bag, and absolutely under no circumstances ask for a double-bag!

Here's the excerpt from the Vermont Republican Party's weekly e-mail.

On, Thursday, January 31st House Republicans made another attempt to adjourn the legislature one month early, saving $1 million. This money would be used to help low income Vermonters with their heating bills this winter. An amendment, offered by Rep. Patti Komline that would have accomplished this, was voted down largely on party lines. Every Democrat and Progressive voted against it. They need that extra month to do important things…

…Like tax your grocery bags and sandwich wrappers.

Yes, this past week saw the introduction of H.743, A Tax on Plastic Bags. This bill reads in part:

There shall be paid by the purchaser or recipient a tax of $0.17 on each plastic bag purchased or received in a retail transaction in this state or purchased or received for use in this state…. "Plastic bag" in this section shall mean a bag or wrapping provided by a wholesale or retail seller… (For details, CLICK HERE)

As the bill is written, this would mean that a Vermonter purchasing a box of two hundred fifty Ziploc sandwich bags would pay $42.50 in additional taxes on the purchase (plus 17 cents more if he or she "would like a bag for that").

No doubt this is not what the writers of the bill intended. But they never intend for the painful and expensive UNintended consequences of their foolish attempts to govern every single aspect of our lives.

So, are we ready to send them home early yet?

No wonder college students are fleeing the state. Gotta love the ideas that these Democrats come up with!

Field School

Have you ever been interested in working on a campaign? Well here's your shot! Coming up, the Champlain College Republicans will host a Field School for Vermont College Republican members. Alden Guptill and Jeffrey Bartley of the Vermont Republican Party will be teaching attendees the basics in grassroot organization development, voter id, Get Out the Vote, and volunteer recruitment.

When: February 16, 2008
Where: Champlain College, Ireland 217
RSVP: E-mail Jeffrey Bartley at Jbartley@vtgop.org

See you then!

Beavers meet the gridiron

Big screen projector.... X-Box 360... Free Food... What more could you ask for?!

The Champlain College Republicans is pleased to announce that it will be hosting the first annual

Champlain College Madden Football Tournament

Think you got what it takes? Kick-off is at 10am on Saturday, February 9. Stadium is set at SLC-309.

You can sign up by e-mail the Champlain College Republicans at ChamplainRepublicans@gmail.com or join the event on Facebook called "Madden 2008 Tournament." All faculty, staff and students are welcome to play.

HOO RAA! See ya there!

Thompson drops out of GOP presidential race

NAPLES, Fla. - Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson quit the Republican presidential race on Tuesday, after a string of poor finishes in early primary and caucus states.

"I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort," Thompson said. "Jeri and I will always be grateful for the encouragement and friendship of so many wonderful people."

Thompson's fate was sealed last Saturday in the South Carolina primary, when he finished third in a state that he had said he needed to win.

More: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22786860/

Montpelier Democrats just don't get it...

Once again, Montpelier Democrats have shown that they have a severe lack of understanding of fiscal responsibility. Check out this op-ed written by Jack McMullen published in the Burlington Free Press this week:

VPIRG has become a special-interest advocate

The U. S. Supreme Court says elimination of "corruption or the appearance of corruption" is the only legitimate reason for a state to abridge the First Amendment rights of its citizens through campaign finance legislation. Using this standard, the court struck down in June 2006 a 1997 law promoted by the Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG).

In 2007, VPIRG was back with another campaign finance bill -- different but with comparably strict contribution limits.The Legislature, controlled by Democrats, passed the new law despite expert testimony from the ACLU and the attorney who won the last round of lawsuits that the new bill was likely unconstitutional as well. As the voice of common sense, and probably saving Vermont taxpayers from having to foot the bill for another multimillion-dollar Supreme Court battle, Gov. Douglas vetoed VPIRG's campaign finance law.

Now, VPIRG and its Democratic allies are back again. Why is VPIRG so determined to try to pass a campaign finance law of the type just declared unconstitutional? And why is the Democratic Party so willing to go along with what is an obviously bad bill that unnecessarily puts Vermont taxpayers in legal jeopardy?

Time was when public interest research groups like VPIRG really did serve the public interest. We have such groups to thank for much safer cars, much cleaner air and water, and the ability to know what's in the food we buy.

But in recent years VPIRG has been, in reality, little more than a lobbying enterprise for special interests which, in large measure, fund it -- primarily corporate wind power and alternative energy interests. Ironically, these are heavily taxpayer-subsidized corporate projects of the type public interest groups used to advocate against.

In this role, VPIRG appears to have the Democratic Party firmly under its thumb. It comes, then, as no surprise that that party's agenda is tightly linked, not to the most pressing concerns of the people of Vermont, but to the personal agendas of VPIRG's board of directors.

For instance, David Bittersdorf and Mathew Rubin, two men with active wind power enterprises in Vermont , are trustees of VPIRG, as is Dave Rapaport, who worked for five years for Mathew Rubin's East Mountain Wind Tower Co. Trustee Leigh Seddon founded Solar Works Inc., a renewable-energy design and contracting firm. VPIRG's five registered lobbyists work the state Legislature tirelessly for more taxpayer funding for renewable energy. VPIRG also spends a lot of time demonizing major competitors of its supporters -- lobbying to close Vermont Yankee, a carbon-neutral power source, and to classify Hydro-Quebec as a nonrenewable energy source.

This brings us back to the campaign finance bill. The chief reason for this bill appears to be to handicap in future elections the political opponents of the policy agenda of VPIRG. VPIRG's activities, many of them indirectly in support of candidates of the Democratic Party, would be immune from the campaign contribution and spending limits the new law would impose on political parties and others active in directly backing candidates. VPIRG can raise as much money as it likes from its allies and doesn't even have to disclose who they are on required annual reports. Nor does it need to let voters know how it is being used.

The campaign finance bill in question was sponsored by Democratic state Sen. Ed Flanagan, who is also a member VPIRG's board of directors. In addition, Scudder Parker, who ran for governor as a Democrat last time around and has served as the Democratic Party chairman, is now a hired lobbyist for VPIRG. Senate leader Peter Shumlin has been referred to only half-jokingly as the senator from VPIRG. And the current Democratic chairman, Ian Carleton , has also worked with VPIRG. If the Legislature is looking for corruption or the appearance of corruption to fix, it should start by looking at VPIRG and its relationship to the Vermont Democratic Party.

Jack McMullen, a strategy consultant to Fortune 500 and technology-oriented companies, lives in Burlington. He was the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2004.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Since kindergarten, we all have had the opportunity to spend time learning about a few of the many great achievements that Martin Luther King was able to accomplish. We feel, the best way to honor him would be to post a copy of his famous "I have a dream" speech - and allow you to reflect upon the great strives we've made as a culture, and members to one of the greatest countries and societies to ever exists - the United States of America.

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I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only". We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

The Vermont College Republicans and Champlain College Republicans would like to send our thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of Representative Cola Hudson.

Representative Hudson died unexpectedly this afternoon; presumably of heart complications. He was the longest serving member of the Vermont State House of Representatives (elected in 1973), a very well respected friend of the Republican Party, and a dedicated Vermonter. He was 81.

NEVADA CAUCUS RESULTS

1. Mitt Romney 51%
2. Ron Paul 14%
3. John McCain 13%

4. Mike Huckabee 8%
5. Fred Thompson 8%
6. Rudy Guiliani 4%
7. Duncan Hunter 2%

POLL RESULTS

The results are in from our poll - voters had the option of selecting up to three issues that were important to them.

What issues are most important to you?

War on Terrorism - 29%
Illegal Immigration - 29%
Runaway Deficit - 52%
Civil Liberties - 17%
National Security - 47%
Culture and Values - 11%
Other - 35%

Michigan Primary Results

The results are in! Check them out!

1. Mitt Romney

2. John McCain

3. Mike Huckabee

4. Ron Paul

5. Rudy Giuliani

6. Fred Thompson

7. Duncan Hunter

Also be sure to check out the Exit Poll Data, which compares survey results of the voters to which candidates they voted for. Some of it is incredibly surprising, if not ironic!

So what's going on this week?

The t-shirts are on order! Anyone interested in a Champlain College Republican t-shirt can e-mail us with your shirt size, and we'll send you an address in which you can send a fifteen dollar donation to our club! NEAT!

The shirt has our logo on the back, and comes in the colors white, white and white.

Don't forget about the Champlain Current meeting today! It's at 3:30pm in MIC-309 (Big round room on the top floor).

The Michigan Primary is tomorrow. Be sure to check back here for more information on the results, etc.

Ok cool. HAPPY MONDAY!

The Finally Tally - and where we go next!

It really wasn't much of a surprise for anyone, but John McCain dominated the Republican New Hampshire Primary. Congratulations to Jim Barnett, former Vermont Republican Party Chairman.

The Final Results
John McCain 37%
Mitt Romney 32%
Mike Huckabee 11%
Rudy Giuliani 9%
Ron Paul 8%
Fred Thompson 1%

For the D's; things didn't go as smoothly as many had thought for Barack Obama - in fact (he he) - he didn't even win!

The Final Results
Hillary Clinton 39%
Barack Obama 36%
John Edwards 17%
Bill Richardson 5%
Dennis Kucinich 1%

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We'd like to point out a mistake on our part; we forgot to congratulate Mitt Romney in winning the Wyoming Primary on Saturday. So CONGRATS!

***

Next stop is Michigan on Jan. 15th. After pundits and polls failed miserably to accurately predict the D's Primary in the Granite State; it's safe to say it's anyone's game.

McCain wins New Hampshire

As many pundits across America predicted; John McCain has won the New Hampshire primary.

With 11% of the precints reporting; McCain holds a 9% lead over former Mass. Mitt Romney.

Sorry Aaron, but it's not looking good for you man - Ron Paul...

More information later.

Also: If you're looking for a fun blog to read - check out Monday Morning Clacker's blog by Clicking Here

Ron Paul

It's pretty safe to say that Ron Paul has had a unique campaign style...

Professor Craig Pepin of Champlain College sent a You Tube link a member this afternoon; and we felt that we had to share it with you.

Ron Paul, and some of his supporters decided to do a march on "The World of Warcraft" computer game. Yes, a march on a video game. Check it out for yourselves.

Do you think this march will actually transpire into votes?

REMINDER!

The Champlan College Republicans are having their first meeting of the Spring 2008 semester. It's going to be a little later than normal but we will be meeting at 8:30pm in SLC-309.

The game plan is to figure out the agenda for the rest of the year, order t-shirts, and wait for the results of the ever important New Hampshire Primary.

E-mail us at ChamplainRepublicans@gmail.com for more information! Remeber, all students, faculty and staff are welcome!

Presidential Endorsement

At a press conference today in New Hampshire, Governor Jim Douglas officially endorsed Presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain.

In a prepared speech for the press conference, Governor Douglas said "John McCain is a principled leader whose character, judgment and experience make him best prepared to lead the nation on Day One... John McCain is a reformer who is willing to stand up for taxpayers and against special interests."

Other news from Vermont, former Vermont Republican Party Chairman Jim Barnett is on the front lines across the border in the Granite State. He is John McCains New Hampshire Campaign Manager.

UPDATE: Iowa Caucus

This will be the final post of the night. And thank you for sticking around with us. It's be real.

With 85% of precincts reporting:

Huckabee 34%
Romney 25%
Thompson 13%
McCain 13%

With 97% of precincts reporting:

Obama 38%
Edwards 30%
Clinton 29%
Richardson 2%
(Chris Dodd has officially dropped out of the race)

Anaylsis tomorrow night.

UPDATE: The Iowa Caucus

The D's are still duking it out.

And it's clear that the Democraticly controlled Congress, one that has a lower approval rating then the often bashed President Bush have no idea where to take their ailing party. What direction do they want to go in?

We'll we say "Take Your Time!"

with 73% of precincts reporting

Obama 35%
Edwards 31%
Clinton 31%
Richardson 2%

9:28pm: Foxnews calls the Iowa Caucus in favor of Barack Obama
9:29pm: CNN calls the Iowa Caucus for Barack Obama

UPDATE: The Iowa Caucus

Who is Mike Huckabee?

Well here's a bit of his synophsis from Foxnews:

Mike Huckabee is a former two-term governor of Arkansas. He has served as chairman of the National Governors' Association and the Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission. Before entering politics, Huckabee was the president of a local television station and a pastor for 12 years. He was the youngest president ever of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. He has also writer five books, including "Quit Digging Your Grave With a Knife and Fork" about his battle with weight and how he managed to lose 105 pounds through diet and exercise.

ISSUES

Abortion:
Huckabee supports a constitutional amendment to protect life from the time of conception. He praised the Supreme Court ruling upholding a ban on partial birth abortion. Huckabee explains that as governor, he banned partial birth abortions, required parental notification, required that a woman give informed consent before having an abortion, required that a woman be told her baby will experience pain and be given the option of anesthesia for the baby, allowed a woman to drop off newborns at a hospital, and made it a crime for an unborn child to be injured or murdered during an attack on his mother. The governor also opposes embryonic stem cell funding, saying it amounts to creating a life only then to take it away.

Energy/Environment:
Huckabee wants to conserve and use alternative energy like nuclear, wind, solar, hydrogen, clean coal, bio-diesel, and biomass. He plans to set aside a federal research and development budget that will be matched by the private sector to research alternative fuels. He compares the U.S. dependence on foreign oil to writing "a check to Usama bin Laden." He says energy independence will make the U.S. safer. He supports offshore drilling and oil exploration in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Huckabee opposed the Kyoto treaty.

Immigration:
Huckabee favors allowing illegal immigrants to apply for legal status by registering with authorities, paying a fine, getting guest worker permits, learning to speak English, and paying taxes. Such applicants for legal status must not be allowed to jump ahead of legal applicants. Huckabee says earned legalization is not an amnesty, but that rounding up and deporting 12 million illegal immigrants isn't going to happen. He also says federal immigration laws are antiquated and cumbersome. He wants to secure and police the border and supports erecting an electric or physical barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border. However, Huckabee does not want to militarize a peaceful border. He says immigrants coming to the U.S. should be required to prove who they are and that they don't have a criminal background or a communicable disease.

Iraq:
Huckabee supported Bush's troop surge in Iraq. He has left open the possibility of a further increase, should U.S. military commanders make such a request. He believes that going into Iraq with too few troops was a mistake, and opposes Democratic efforts to set a deadline for withdrawal. Huckabee says the U.S. must finish the job now or go back and do it all over again someday. He proposes a Middle East summit so that Iraq's neighbors become militarily and financially committed to stabilizing their neighborhood.

Taxes:
Huckabee says he will promote pro-growth tax policies, perhaps even the idea of true fair tax. He supported the Bush tax cuts and would make them permanent. Huckabee would also reduce the tax burden of those with the lowest incomes. He regrets that Republicans have all too often perceived as favoring the wealthy with their tax policies. He signed a no-new taxes pledge in March of 2007.

Economy:
Huckabee supports tax rebates and curbing federal spending, to include adopting the line-item veto. He is also in favor the FairTax and the elimination of the IRS, which he says will increase both the likelihood that American companies will invest domestically and that foreign companies will invest in America.

Homeland Security:
Huckabee plans to remove FEMA from the Department of Homeland Security and give the organization cabinet status, so that the FEMA director will report directly to the president. He plans to streamline the Department of Homeland Security, to make it more efficient and effective. He wants to increase chemical plan and port security standards at the federal level, but give states the right to make and enforce stricter-than-federal port standards.

Education:
Huckabee favors strong support of arts and music education as a part of normal, traditional curriculum, saying that these aspects of education contribute to a future generation of creative workers, enabling America to compete more rigorously in a global economy. He supports home schooling, charter schools, and school choice programs. Huckabee wants to curb federal intervention in state school programs; with regard to NCLB (No Child Left Behind), allowing states to develop their own benchmarks for measuring success.

Health Care:
Huckabee wants to completely overhaul the health care system, but opposes universal federal healthcare. He wants to adopt policies that encourage innovation in the private sector to bring down costs and subsequently improve free market access to healthcare. He wants to decrease medical liability, make health insurance deductible for individuals, and make health insurance more easily portable from job to job.

UPDATE: The Iowa Caucus

With now both CNN and Foxnews calling a Iowa Caucus victory for Mike Huckabee: we must now say "Who is Mike Huckabee?"

We'll get to that soon: But for the D's

With 39% reporting

Obama 33%
Clinton 32%
Edwards 32%
Richardson 2%

It's fun watching the D's spare it out in a far more complicated form of Caucus.

UPDATE: The Iowa Caucus

Foxnews is calling an Iowa Caucus victory for Mike Huckabee. 15% of precincts are reporting.

CNN has yet to call.

More to follow.

**

The D's are sorting it all out.

UPDATE

New Numbers source Foxnews

D's (21% of precincts reporting)

Obama 32%
Clinton 32%
Edwards 33$
Richardson 2%

Republicans - we save the best for last
(15% of precincts reporting)

Huckabee 36%
Romney 23%
Thompson 14%
McCain 12%


No sign of Ron Paul - sorry Aaron.

Votes are in:

2% Precincts reporting - source Foxnews

REPUBLICANS
Huckabee 33%
Romney 24%
Thompson 18%
McCain 12%

12% of Precincts reporting - source Foxnews

DEMOCRATS
Edwards 34%
Clinton 32%
Obama 30%
Richardson 2%

UPDATE: The Iowa Caucus

Here's what we got so far for early Entrance Polls- these will change!!

As of 8:30pm for the D's:

Obama 31%
Clinton 27%
Edwards 21%

Still waiting for Republican Entrance Polls

**

Correction: Obama at 34%

UPDATE: The Iowa Caucus

Doors are closed and the voting has started!

And no one put it better than Aaron Laroche, Chairman of the Vermont College Republicans:

"Let the Mortal Kombat.. errrr, Iowa Caucus begin!"

UPDATE: The Iowa Caucus

Many evangelic groups are reporting higher than expected turnout to the caucus. Huckabee's campaign manager is claiming a "bigger then 5 point victory" for the Arkansas Governor. Two more hours, and we will know.

Voting starts in 5 minutes. Are you at the edge of your seat? We certainly are!!

***

Ron Paul supporters are all over the state. What does that mean? Is there a "Ron Paul Affect?"

***

Obama's camp is claiming turnout is 25% higher than it was in 2004. What does that mean for the D's?

UPDATE: The Iowa Caucus has begun!

The doors are closed. You're locked out if you haven't made made it through the doors yet.

The 2008 Iowa Caucus has begun.

Early predictions have a dead heat battle brewing between Romney and Huckabee. But phone calls no longer matter. Door to door knocking driving turnout to the Caucus has ended (I bet a few frozen souls are thankful for that; it's 20 degrees out in parts of Iowa), it's game time.

And as it should be; it's up to the voters to decided.

Next post: early entrance polls....

UPDATE: The Iowa Caucus

15 Minutes until the Iowa Caucus officially begins.

Foxnews analysists are split on who they think will pull in the win; but few are ignoring McCain who has the opportunity to come in a strong third and could affectively propel him to a NH victory.

And for Aaron - a few people claim that there might be a stronger than expected Ron Paul showing; though not enough to put him past John McCain.

One thing is for certain, people seem to have forgotten about Rudy...

Two Hours Away

The Iowa Caucus, the first real contest in the 2008 Presidential Campaign, kicks off in two hours. Be sure to check back here often tonight, and we'll keep you updated on all the news from Iowa.

Polls show a dead heat between Huckabee and Romney. But anything can happen.

Stay tuned!

A Message from the Vermont Republican Party

A Resolution for 2008: Save the Geese!

"If one possesses geese that lay golden eggs, its best to develop a taste for eggs and not for goose meat." These were the wise words of panelist Christopher Ellis at the Vermont Tiger symposium, Entrepreneurs or Entitlements. "Unfortunately," he went on, "Vermont has a habit of fattening up its geese to a certain point and then slaughtering them."

Ellis, of course, was warning us that if we allow our government’s appetite for tax dollars to consistently kill off, chase away, or dry up those individuals and businesses, large and small, who pay our bills, we will end up with nothing. We will have neither goose, nor eggs. If this happens, our ability to maintain Vermont as the unique, safe and secure place we know and love will become an impossible and unsustainable proposition.

We are rapidly approaching that point. As Democrat Senate leader Peter Shumlin forcefully pointed out at the beginning of the last legislative session, "there is no more tax capacity left in Vermont. There is no more money in the bank." (Rutland Herald, 2/1/07). "It's just not there," he said. "We are tapped out." (Brattleboro Reformer, 2/20/07). Over the summer, Democrat Chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Susan Bartlett observed, "Then, poof! The revenue just stopped." (Burlington Free Press, 7/13/07).

The revenue didn’t really stop. It’s just that Vermont – the state already with the highest per-capita demand for tax dollars in the country – is spending money faster than its citizens can earn it. Montpelier is eating more eggs than we can produce and the frightening part here is that Shumlin, Bartlett, Speaker Symington and the dominant political culture in Vermont have lost control of the situation. With these folks in charge, we are all potential goose meat.

Citizens in Essex Junction just learned this the hard way. Their local golden goose, IBM, frustrated by Vermont’s increasingly high-tax, over-regulated economic environment, decided several years ago to stop investing in its Essex plant and, instead, sent billions of dollars to Fishkill, New York. As a result, IBM’s property value in Essex dropped 30 percent, and when the town reassessed this year, average taxpayers in Essex Junction found themselves staring down the barrel of a 34 percent property tax increase, amounting to about $1,000 for an average home valued at $266,000. After all, the government didn’t curtail its appetite for money by 30 percent. The big goose was gone, and the little geese had to be slaughtered to pick up IBM’s tab.

Obviously, demanding that ordinary middle class taxpayers shoulder the financial burdens formerly paid by the IBMs, Omyas, MetroGroups, Dirigo Papers, Capital City Presses, etc, is not a direction Vermont can continue in for very long. It is both undesirable and unsustainable.

Yet, as more productive individuals and businesses migrate away or become extinct in the face of the Montpelier meat cleavers, Vermont will be forced to rely increasingly on a shrinking group taxpayers to pay all of our state’s bills. The more this becomes the case, the more we risk losing our current education system (the third most expensive in the nation), our health care safety net (supporting one in four Vermonters), our ability to support the government and non-profit jobs (nearly 4 out of every 10 jobs in Vermont according to Ellis) that are either directly or indirectly funded by tax revenues. We won’t be able to afford the kind of environmental policies we need to remain a global leader on the issue, or to protect our precious environment here at home. Nobody wants this.

To hold on to the security we deserve in our homes, our jobs, and our communities, Vermont’s number one legislative priority in 2008 must be to regain control and to save our economic environment.

Montpelier must lead an economic environmental movement equal to and in partnership with Vermont’s natural environmental movement. First and foremost, we need to Save the Geese.

To preserve sustainable economic security, it means our legislators must give singular focus to policies that will reduce Vermont’s overall tax burden, control the real cost of health care, and make our regulatory process -- though still tough -- transparent, predictable, and swift. We need to provide a professional work force with affordable housing, affordable property tax bills, and long term career prospects. We need to cultivate, nurture and grow a tax base big enough and sustainable enough to afford the other programs that make Vermont the place we love.

But, just as a commitment to sustaining our natural environment required a political/cultural change, so too will a commitment to sustain Vermont’s economic environment. Montpelier can no longer continue to consume our state’s fiscal resources like an SUV burning fossil fuels. We can no longer afford a political culture that sees the solution to every problem as another tax increase rather than a commitment to economic conservation.

There are many positive reasons to live and work in Vermont today. It is the best place in the world. But, to keep it this way will require work. Work that satisfies the soul, yes, but also work that pays the bills. Please, let’s Save the Geese.

And to those in Iowa - battling it out for supporters; here's a quick laugh for you from "The West Wing."

Iowa Caucus

The Iowa Caucus is tomorrow night, and boy it shall be a showdown!

Who's going to win it for the Republicans? For the Democrats? It's really all up in the air.

Check here for results tomorrow!