Charlie Cook's Survey Key To GOP Precinct Strategy

Minority Leader Boehner Spearheads Direct Mail Campaign

A quick peek at a GOP direct mail piece offers a glimpse of
the conservative party's precinct by precinct strategy to
take back the Congressional majority.

This past Saturday morning, a lifelong supporter of liberal
causes in a blue state on the eastern seaboard found a
fundraising, consciousness raising letter and survey in her
mailbox.

Addressed to her as "Dear Fellow Republican," the letter,
which is franked by Representative John A. Boehner (R-Ohio)
seeks non-deductible contributions for the National
Republican Congressional Committee. It is not paid for by
any candidate, but by the committee itself.

The addressee, who has a Registration Number and a Voting
Precinct Code, has never once voted in a Republican Primary
in her entire adult life. She has always voted Democrat.

Nevertheless, it's an interesting document in this all-out
GOP effort to regain the majority in Congress, especially in
Texas U.S. House District 17, represented by ten-term
veteran Congressman Chet Edwards, a Waco Democrat who serves
a district with a Cook Partisan Voting Index (PVI) rating of
R + 20.

It is a factor the veteran GOP pollster calculates based on
the results of the two latest general Presidential
elections, the number of registered voters from the majority
party and other factors such as primary results.

What's more, it is a very high partisan rating for the GOP
in this 12-county district long represented by a Democrat.

Viewers who watched the ObamaCare televised debate on C-Span
will remember Congressman Boehner as the deeply tanned
Representative who spoke like a Dutch uncle from the well of
the House by demanding on the Speaker call the role
immediately, to suspend the debate, and get on with the
show. He is the House Minority Leader.

His letter carries the same angry tone:

"Of course, to repeal 'ObamaCare' and undo all the other
big-government schemes that Speaker Pelosi has strong-armed
into law, we have to win huge victories at the polls in
November and elect a new House Republican Majority."

He assures recipients of the Precinct Survey that "Your
answers to this...can help us do just that. Your opinions
will inform our 2010 Campaign Battle Plan - a plan that will
focus on 85 Democrat-held seats where we have candidates
running strong campaigns and political experts like Charlie
Cook belive are in-play for November."

Naturally, District 17 is one of those 85 seats.

As Mr. Bill Flores, Republican opponent of Representative
Edwards has announced, he intends to lay out the GOP
strategy at a seminar to be held next Saturday, May 15, at a
community center in Kosse, deep in the heart of District
17's Brazos River Valley blackland territory. A pre-
registered luncheon delegation of about 150 Precinct
Chairmen, County Republican Chairmen, poll watchers and
other volunteers will gather for an afternoon seminar on
just how to get out the vote for a Republican challenger to
the Democratic status quo.

A sampling of the questions on the survey reads like a
Republican litany on tax and spend politics, high taxes and
the dangers of socialized government regulations.

For instance, "Pelosi and Obama are proposing $1.4 TRILLION
in new taxes over the next 10 years as part of their new
federal budget. On top of that, the new Pelosi national
energy tax would add a projected $1,761 to the average
family's utility bill.

"Do you believe voters in H_____town will oppose Nancy
Pelosi if she advances a second massive budget-busting
'stimulus spending bill'?

"Do voters in H______town believe America is on the wrong
track under Pelosi/Obama rule?

"Are you aware that if you take all the debt we've run up
over 200-plus years as an independent nation, beginning with
President George Washington through today, it is President
Obama's plan to double that debt in just five years?

"In general, do you believe that people in your area are
against giving amnesty to illegal aliens?

"Do you believe that Republicans must stand for strong
enforcement of our borders?

"Shoud Republicans uphold worksite arrests and the
deportation of illegal aliens?

"Is it important to oppose liberal judges who legislate from
the bench?

"Do you support our Second Amendment right to keep and bear
arms?

"Do you believe our Republican Party must be united around
conservative, free-market principles in order to stop the
radical left wing Pelosi agenda?

"Do you support our Party's effort to replace Nancy Pelosi
as Speaker of the House?"

In questions aimed at voters who became members of the
National Republican Congressional Committee by donating at
least $35 dollars, the questionnaire asks:

"Which news outlet do you reply on most for information
about the critical issues facing America?

"ABC; CBS; NBC; Fox News Channel; CNN; MSNBC; News/Opinion
Websites; Daily newspaper; Radio; E-Mail; News Opinion
Magazines; Other _________.

"Which of the following news programs or comentary do you
listen to or watch on a regualar basis? (Please check all
that apply)

"Rush Limbaugh; Glenn Beck; Hannity; G. Gordon Liddy; Laura
Ingraham; The O'Reilly Factor; NPR; Neal Boortz; Other

"Generally speaking, how would you describe H_____town
politically, compared to the rest of America?

"More Liberal; As Liberal; Moderate; As Conservative; More
Conservative"

The literature directs those who have an interest and did
not receive a questionnaire that they can take the survey at
www.nrcc.org/2010RPS