By Mark Wineka
mwineka@salisburypost.com
This past week, Elizabeth Dole called her old Republican colleague U.S. Sen. Richard Burr and learned he would be giving the Lincoln-Reagan Dinner speech Saturday night to Rowan County Republicans.
Dole, who gave the same address to local Republicans last year before her upset U.S. Senate loss in the general election, told Burr to tell everyone in her native Salisbury that she missed them and wished she was still their senator.
Dole has been taking care of her husband, Bob, who “has had some health challenges,” but nothing drastic, Burr said.
“That’s not the bad news I’m going to give you tonight,” Burr warned his audience.
Rather, Burr said the bad news was common sense in Washington was in an all-out battle against the Democratic Party-led belief that government needs to dominate everything.
If left unchecked, the spending, bailouts and recovery packages will create enormous interest payments on debt and sell the future of “our children and grandchildren,” Burr said.
If Republicans don’t soon stand up and turn things around, he added, it may be too late for the real big ideas and the real solutions Republicans can offer.
“This is not a choice, this is an obligation we have,” Burr said.
Burr, who lives in Winston-Salem, will be seeking his second U.S. Senate term in 2010.
During the first congressional break since Jan. 4, he has been making some trips across the state, often speaking at the traditional Lincoln-Reagan dinners.
While President Obama is “truly well-intended,” Burr said, the new chief executive has mistakenly made House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid his legislative arm, “the gift that keeps on giving.”
Pelosi and Reid will keep creating political opportunities Republicans can capitalize on in 2010, Burr predicted. Meanwhile, Republicans don’t need to create a new party or even reshape it, Burr contended, but they must return to the successful things that worked in the past, especially voter registration.
Karl Rove set up the machinery that registered 10.1 million new voters for the 2004 election, and they carried President Bush to his second term, Burr said.
But from 2004-2008, Republicans dropped the ball on voter registration. First, they made the mistake in believing young people don’t vote, Burr said.
Obama communicated to young voters through social networking, and soon those new voters were registering others, playing a large part in carrying him to victory.
Burr said the state GOP already has begun efforts to set up voter registration programs in every county by this spring.
In the days and weeks prior to passage of the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, fearful constituents contacted Burr more than they had on any other piece of pending legislation, including the immigration bill.
The mistake being made is that now government is picking winners and losers, Burr said.
“That’s the marketplace’s job,” he said. The marketplace will purge itself of the companies that are mismanaged, Burr said. If the market were left to decide things, “we will get off much cheaper,” he added.
Republican stimulus proposals, which have called for permanent tax cuts and large tax credits for first-time homebuyers, would let everyone participate, Burr said, arguing that Republicans have to make that case to people in their party, independents and like-minded Democrats.
Everyone knows people who have lost their jobs, are in danger of losing their homes or have a struggling business, Burr said.
“Until government gets out of the way,” he added. “we’re not going to solve much of this.”
The local Republicans named Rowan County Commissioner Carl Ford as Republican of the Year. It was the second time he has won the honor.
The Rowan GOP also honored Tony Yon as the Norene Foster Volunteer of the Year.