Guest post: Progressivism - The Mentality of "More"

Here is a guest column submitted by my friend Jeff Semon, who ran for Congress last year in Massachusetts' Fifth District. Jeff is the Director of Communications for the Massachusetts Federation of Young Republicans, and you can follow him on Twitter at @JeffSemonMA.

Uncle Ruslan's American Dream

A friend sent me a Washington Post op-ed by Asra Nomani regarding "Uncle Ruslan," that I highly recommend you read. Seriously, just go read the whole thing and then come back here.

Ruslan Tsarni, as you probably know, is the uncle of the Boston marathon bombers (and no, I'm not saying "alleged bombers." Dzhokhar can sue me. Bring it.) and I was struck by the huge difference between his attitude about America and the views that his nephews apparently held. 

"Uncle Ruslan's" heartfelt press conference last week captured America's attention, partly because of the sharp contrast between the brutality of the bombings and Tsarni's humble attitude and unequivocal condemnation of his nephews' actions:

...And it's only Wednesday

These past few days have been pretty rough.

"Patriots’ Day is a day for Boston."

I only lived in Massachusetts for less than a year and experienced Patriot's Day 2012 as an outsider and a newcomer, having moved up there less than a month before. As a native Floridian, I was mainly glad to see the weather getting warmer and thinking the parties and festivities were fun, but not really getting it. I mean, I hadn't even been to Fenway at that point (later remedied), which I'm pretty sure is a mandatory requirement before making any comments about Boston culture.

Anyway, someone emailed this blog post to me, written by a Boston resident I've never met, but who sums up perfectly how all my Massachusetts friends describe Patriot's Day. It's definitely worth reading in its entirety, but I'll share a few excerpts here:

Quit being Eeyores. If there's hope in MA, there's hope everywhere.

Since last November's losses at the ballot box, it's become somewhat of a contest on the right to see who can issue the most depressing predictions about the death of the Republican party. Changing demographics! The messaging is awful! Our technology is outdated! 

Everybody panic! DOOM! DOOOOOOOOOM!!!

It's frustrating to watch. People who I know are positive in most other areas of their lives, become so negative when talking about the state of conservatism that they make Eeyore look like an optimist.  

Well, here's a little glimmer of hope: Republicans are finding ways to win in Massachusetts.

Sean Bielat not running for MA Senate, launching PAC & supporting conservative candidates instead

Sean Bielat announced this afternoon that he had decided not to enter the race for the special election for the Massachusetts Senate.

Sean is continuing his work with OneClickPolitics.com, as well as "[l]aunching a Political Action Committee (PAC) focused on vetting and supporting New England candidates who can do the most to revitalize the GOP and begin to give voters real choices at the polls."

He had formed an exploratory committee but ultimately decided that this year's election was "simply not the right time for our family:"

New Americans for Prosperity Congressional Scorecard released today

Just got an email from Americans for Prosperity announcing that they have launched their own Congressional scorecard, to evaluate "how focused your legislators are on promoting economic freedom."

If he's a Republican, then I'm the Queen of England

Spotted by David Guenthner on CNBC this morning:

What Sean Bielat is Doing [UPDATED]

The exciting roller coaster of Massachusetts politics continues...

Ever since Scott Brown shocked the heck out of everyone by declining to run for this year's special election for the Massachusetts Senate race to fill John Kerry's seat (despite all indications that he was in a strong position for that race), there has been a lot of speculation about who would run for the seat, and whether any of the Republicans had a chance.

Today, my phone and email blew up with reporters wanting to know if Sean Bielat, for whose Congressional campaign for MA-4 I had worked on last year, was indeed running for the seat.

A number of media outlets reported today that Sean is running; however, that is not quite accurate.

My plans for world domination are proceeding nicely

Forgive me this little bit of bragging, but I can't help but think this is pretty cool:

SocialSphere | The #MAPoli Top 25 of 2012

New poll shows Scott Brown in "strong position" for special election

New reasons to smile

Boston's NPR radio station, WBUR, conducted a poll earlier this week that shows Scott Brown is in a "strong position" to rejoin his colleagues in the Senate, assuming John Kerry is appointed to be Secretary of State, triggering a special election.

The poll was conducted with 500 registered voters on Monday and Tuesday, and Brown's favorables are very high, even though it is less than two months after he lost a brutal campaign battle against Elizabeth Warren. 

Another shameless power grab coming from MA Dems?

It's been an interesting time for me in Massachusetts this year, seeing the differences (the many, many, many differences) between that state and Florida. 

Both states have a legislature dominated by one party, but with wide variation in how much autonomous power the controlling party really has. When the Republicans who control the Florida House and Senate push their luck too far, the Florida press corps howl in protest and voters in even heavily-Republican districts tend to reject anything really outlandish (case in point: the failure of many of the constitutional amendments, which originated in the Legislature, on the ballot this year).

In contrast, in Massachusetts, when the Democrats try something nutty, it's met with shrugs  and mostly ignored as simply business as usual. At best, media outlets like the Boston Herald may cover a story here and there, but it rarely seems to slow down the Democrats' appetite for abusing government power.

For Massachusetts voters, Red Sox fans, and anyone in a blue state

In all the election coverage I've read in the past month or so, one of the posts that stuck out as making a particularly good argument was written by Cat del Valle Castellanos at CNN.

In the post, Castellanos responds to a recent CNN piece about undecided young female voters, and says that she had made a choice, and that she was voting for Mitt Romney.

Rejecting any suggestion that she was merely adopting the politics of her Republican strategist father, Castellanos goes on to articulate several well-reasoned arguments for her support for Romney, including this passage:

This ad may ruffle some feathers...

...especially up here in Massachusetts.

Click below to see why...

Actual Women Who Actually Worked With Romney Think He's Awesome

Hat tip: @evanmc_s

The Left's attempts to keep their ridiculous "War on Women" afloat continue...

The latest example is the hyperventilating over Romney's comments at the debate last night that when he was elected Governor of Massachusetts, he had "binders full" of women's resumes to help him build his administration.

No, Romney doesn't actually want to trap women in binders. Idiots.

Now, if my future President would like to put a copy of my resume in a binder to review for potential employment, that would be just fine with me.

Latest Sean Bielat ad: "Joe Kennedy: A Legacy He Didn't Build"

The latest web ad for Sean Bielat's campaign for Massachusetts' Fourth Congressional District, "Joe Kennedy: A Legacy He Didn't Build," launches today, and you can view it below:

ICYMI: Sean Bielat's Remarks on Benghazi

Sean Bielat, candidate for Massachusetts' Fourth Congressional District, wrote an post earlier this week for RedState regarding his thoughts on the situation in Libya. If you missed it, it's worth a read:

Brutal new Scott Brown ad asks whose side Elizabeth Warren is really on [VIDEO]

Whoa. Scott Brown's campaign has come out with a new web ad that just eviscerates Elizabeth Warren's claims of fighting for the little guy. The ad focuses on Warren's legal representation of LTV Steel in a bankruptcy case in which coal workers lost their pensions and benefits, and some of the most damning clips are those that feature Warren herself:

Rep. William Keating (D-MA) compares America to dirty laundry

So much for American exceptionalism. Democrat Congressman William Keating, who's running for reelection in Massachusetts' Ninth District against Republican challenger Chris Sheldon, made some curious comments in a recent interview with the Patriot Ledger:

Oooh, Tierney's attack ad has scary words! And Sarah Palin!

Congressman John Tierney (D, MA-6) is in the reelection fight of his life, partly because his Republican challenger, state senator Richard Tisei, enjoys decent approval ratings and name recognition from his decades-long political career, and partly because people in his family keep ending up in jail.