Most know that Knute Buehler is running for Congress in Oregon’s conservative Second Congressional District. Of course the big question is this: on the day he announced his intention to run in that race, why did he suddenly reject liberalism and become pro-Trump and conservative?
Did Buehler have a radical personal enlightenment, or was his moral/political transformation a result of pretentious political expediency? Perhaps the following will shed some light on that question.
Here’s an excerpt from my book, “Making Oregon Great Again: Guide to the Grassroots Revitalization of the Oregon Republican Party (and the Defeat of the Ruling Class*),” published in January 2019, two months after Buehler’s loss in the gubernatorial election:
“Note that the post-election mainstream media collectively believes that Buehler’s failure to secure enough Democrat votes to win the race was due to his stance on abortion. In their eyes, his progressive positioning on the issue was correct (state funding, late-term abortion, etc.), but his pleas for those rights were ‘not believable enough.'”
Interestingly, that argument for his loss in Democrat regions is a distraction and untrue. Here’s why he lost the Democrat vote, and it had nothing to do with abortion or any other specific issue. Democrats had a much bigger problem with Buehler, and it was personal.
“They – like his Republican base – saw him as a chameleon; as duplicitous.
“A Republican in a blue bus.
“And Knute Buehler didn’t just lose. He allowed Brown – one of the least popular sitting governors in the nation – a clear majority win and thus, in her mind, a mandate to continue her Democrat progressive shenanigans. Additionally, Buehler’s inability to turn out Republican voters to drive Republican success down-ballot, resulted in a wholesale, top-to-bottom electoral shellacking: Oregon Democrats gained super-majorities in both chambers of the Legislature, and all conservative ballot measures went down in flames. Local elections didn’t go so well, either.”
-sam Carpenter
*You can download the entire book for free at …www.makeoregongreatagain.com
If it looks like the flu, and if it walks like the flu, and if it quacks like the flu…
It’s the flu.
COVID-19 is not a medical crisis. It’s a political crisis, and in our everyday lives we are experiencing the economic debacle of the century.
Let’s dig in…
The recent COVID-19 antibody sampling shows that a significant segment of our population has already been infected, thus rendering the COVID-19 death rate even less than standard influenza.
For those under 60, the huge majority of those who have been infected (and therefore now have antibodies) don’t know it. They never got sick.
So, why do our ruling class political opponents (including their media* subculture) continue to insist COVID-19 is equivalent to the 14th century Bubonic Plague?
Here’s why:
Political and media talking-heads crave a compelling story. And tragedy – real or contrived – makes for a compelling story
They’ve painted themselves into a corner and can’t admit their error
It might just topple President Trump
They really do want control over you and me, and causing us to panic is a great way to get that control. Never let a crisis go to waste
It makes 99% of our population – you and me – look like sheep, and they are more than happy to become our shepherds
Call me insensitive for saying this, but people die! Good grief! With all due respect to the dead and the dying, how come passing-on suddenly billed as unique and horrifying? Death comes in many forms and for those over 70 who have underlying complications, getting the flu in the wintertime has always been one of many possible last straws.
EVERYTHING is more threatening for the elderly.
Both my parents – who were for decades directly under my personal care – died a few years ago, within six months of each other. I was at their bedsides when they took their last breaths. Both were 94 and had lived full robust lives. And yes, each had numerous physical complications when they finally passed.
The body wears out and it gets weak and so it gets vulnerable. Internal systems fail and that’s how it goes. It’s always how its been.
I’m 70, so I’m qualified to make these points. Someone 40 years of age couldn’t get away with what I’m saying here.
Have you noticed that the “media” stopped giving the COVID average-age-of-death statistic? The last time we heard this number was eight weeks ago. At the time, before the political agenda had been pounced upon by the Left, it was reported that the average age of death from COVID was 80.
And there’s no longer any mention of the percentage of COVID deceased who had serious pre-existing medical problems. Back at the beginning of all this, that number was 85%. Yes, ignoring that particular statistic is also politically-driven. (More on pre-existing conditions in a minute.)
It’s really true: in the current flu-season common influenza has killed more Americans than COVID-19, even though the COVID statistics are seriously padded.
Padded? Exactly. The CDC has instructed coroners and medical personnel that if there is even a trace of COVID-19 in the victim – no matter any severe pre-existing conditions such as heart disease, cancer, high-blood pressure, diabetes, pulmonary complications, common influenza – then the death is to be attributed to COVID-19. And the dictate also throws auto accident and drug overdose deaths into the already bloated COVID mortality statistics.
Why? Yes, the hysterics must be propagated for political/semi-political reasons as noted in 1-5 above, but also there’s the standard greed factor: there are mammoth financial benefits for hospitals to nail down a COVID diagnosis for Medicare patients. Compared to standard pneumonia treatment, the hospital receives three to eight times the compensation for a COVID patient: for regular in-house treatment it’s $5,000 for the average influenza patient, while a COVID diagnosis provides $13,000…and rockets up to $39,000 if ventilator treatment is included. (NY governor Cuomo: “We NEED 30,000 more ventilators!”)
In any case, outside of hospital billing protocols, there is a difference between dying from COVID-19 and dying with COVID-19.
What about the medical geniuses who recently discovered that COVID-19 begins to disappear as the heat and humidity of summer approaches? Hardly a revelation, late spring has always been called “the end of the flu season.”
And the alleged high contagiousness of COVID-19? OK, but so what? The standard flu is highly contagious too. Is there anyone above the age of 12 who doesn’t know that?
Precisely how stupid does the far-left think we are?
And the experts keep the fear-ball rolling by reminding us that COVID-19 could very well re-emerge in the Fall. Be afraid! Maybe it will show up again, but I’m guessing not much. Why? Because by October a huge percentage of Americans will have been infected – most without knowing it – and with that infection will have developed immunity. This is exactly what happens with the standard flu. It’s herd-immunity.
Experts always paint a dire picture. If the situation turns out better than they predict (and it almost always will) then those good tidings are due to their advice. Remember the projection that over 2 million Americans were going to die?
So, the deep-state far-Left (socialist political progressives and their lapdog media) endlessly accentuate the somewhat odious name of this particular strain of flu (COVID-19!), all the while insisting it’s NOT a flu. Then they remind us over and over that it emerged from scary-China’s creepy wet markets and/or shadowy bio-labs, and then finally they condescendingly berate anyone who dares disagree with their hand-picked “medical community” spokespeople. And with all that, too many obediently cower in their homes, very occasionally venturing out to prowl around the neighborhood like programmed masked robots. Or maybe a better descriptor is “scared rabbits.”
Never mind that 25 million Americans are out of work and that we are facing the real possibility of a great depression. The experts have spoken.
It’s true. The actual nasty, manipulative, uncaring SOBs of America inhabit the dank crawl-spaces of the far-Left.
But, for their sheer audacity one must give perverse kudos to these “progressive” knuckleheads.
Nice try lefties, but like all your previous efforts to take control of our lives, this duck has quacked.
Oh, and there’s this. How is COVID-19 different from the flu? Children are virtually immune to it. Influenza? It targets children specifically.
Again: the primary big reveal? Statistically-significant antibody sampling demonstrates that way, way more of us have had COVID-19** than was first estimated by scientific “models.” (In some testing, by factors of 50 to 75.) . Thus, the real-life COVID-19 mortality rate is no higher than any number of flu strains we’ve dealt with over the decades.
President Trump? He can’t be blamed for immediately diving in deep to make sure this was not going to be a Black Death-type nightmare. He’s a courageous take-action man whose primary role is to protect us, and he went with the numbers he had at the time. But now we can see him begin to push back one small step at a time, patiently treating his dubious medical leadership with semi-deference in order to avoid stirring up an insider-war. Yes, elections are on the horizon.
Our President is an amazing human being and leader. Thank God for Donald Trump.
-sam
* The term “media” is without question, a pejorative. No longer are these people about news reporting. They are now plainly exposed as part of the ruling class Democrat progressive far-left. These people don’t like you and me, and their condescension is palpable.
** I (Sam) had all the symptoms of COVID-19 including difficulty breathing, from February 10th through about the 24th. I was horribly sick. And Diana showed the same signs of it in the third week of February, although her symptoms were mild: two days of not feeling so well.
This photo is from the 2018 gubernatorial campaign, a stop at Sunriver for the Cattlemen’s mid-year meeting. That’s Cliff at the lectern. (I’m at the table, on the right.) Please join Diana and me in supporting Cliff!
We’ve spent months investigating: talking to candidates, endlessly going back-and-forth with voters, conducting a scientific poll, and finally making our endorsement decision, just yesterday, based on “what matters most.”
And what matters most? Keeping CD2 Republican in November. The added bonus would be a Pro-Trump, pro-life congressman who truly reflects our values.
Jimmy Crumpacker’s “outsider” baggage would be hotly exploited by Democrats in the general election campaign. Could he possibly win in November? Not likely as his opponent would eviscerate him simply for not having lived in the district.
Knute Buehler has a history of far-left positioning despite his duplicitous pretense of becoming conservative just three months ago. Could he win the general election? Questionable. Much of the base will “stay home” because of his history of visceral anti-Trump and pro-choice stances. Go here for the overview. It’s a detailed post I put up two weeks ago, and the points I made still stand.
Cliff Bentz? He’s an experienced legislator who played a key role in the heroic Oregon Senate walkouts. A down-home conservative with 12 years of Salem House and Senate legislative experience, he has deep knowledge of CD2 culture and affairs. He’s “one of us.” I’m a CEO and CD2 resident, so I really like this: he’s had thirty years of private business experience, in eastern Oregon. He’s an attorney too, and as our Congressman that would be a very, very good thing. His positions are great and his ability is proven. In the November general election, with proper campaigning of course, he should easily win the seat against the Democrat nominee. He should land nearly 100% of the Republican vote (and CD2 has 11% more Republicans than Democrats).
Jason Atkinson has little chance in the primary. He’s too far behind in the polling.
As of last Tuesday, here’s the overall poll numbers and our thumbnail analysis:
Buehler and Crumpacker are at 23% each. Bentz at 16%. Atkinson 6%. See attached poll
Buehler and Crumpacker – each underestimating and dismissing Cliff – are making the tactical error of only campaigning against each other. Buehler is hyper-aggressive and prepared, and is going to win this particular internecine war against Crumpacker. (Cliff: are you ready for Buehler’s impending ruthless attacks? They ARE coming….)
Crumpacker’s former supporters will scatter, mostly to a split between Bentz and Atkinson. (Why the split? Because Bentz and Atkinson have the same relatively low name recognition in the District: less than 50%).
As things stand now, would Bentz pick up enough ex-Crumpacker votes AND undecided votes to pass Buehler and Crumpacker? Maybe. (Note that over 30% of voters in CD2 are undecided. That’s a lot.)
To win decisively, here’s what Cliff Bentz should do right now: assertively expose the significant weaknesses of Knute Buehler and Jimmy Crumpacker who are both incredibly vulnerable, each for entirely different reasons. (And note that over 50% of CD2 voters are not even aware of Buehler’s and Crumpacker’s massive negatives.) If Cliff personally exposes the glaring weaknesses of Buehler and Crumpacker, he would open himself up as THE logical alternative and, per our additional (and unpublished) polling, would win in a landslide.
So, we at MOGA2020 enthusiastically support Cliff Bentz! He’s the Republican who can win the general election. And yes, he’s certainly the best man for Congress. But of course he must first win the primary election. (You will receive your mail-in ballot at the very end of this month. Deadline for voting is May 19th.)
Will you join us in helping Cliff Bentz become the next Second Congressional District congressman?
We can prevent chameleon Knute Buehler from becoming the Republican nominee in Oregon’s Second Congressional District Race. But we can only accomplish this with the hard-and-cold realization that we Republican conservative CD2 voters, as individuals, don’t necessarily have the luxury of voting for our own personal-pick conservative candidate. We must instead, focus our votes on the single most conservative candidate who can win. (And of course some of us have, intuitively and logically, already selected that particular candidate.)
NOT voting for faux-conservative Buehler is not enough to save the district.
If we get caught up in the standard he-said/she-said quibbling about the various conservative candidates – note there are ten total in this race – we’ll forget about the outcast “moderate” Knute Buehler… standing there inwardly smiling, waiting patiently for us to split our huge CD2 conservative voter block into fragments. If we bicker amongst ourselves we’ll hand him the nomination on a silver platter as he wins the nomination with less than half the total vote.
With a little help from his friends, it happened for Buehler in the 2018 gubernatorial primary race. Now, he’s counting on it happening again here in this 2020 congressional primary race.
It’s Knute Buehler’s “split-the-conservative-vote, Part Deux.”
Who, you ask, is the “preferred” conservative candidate? We’re not sure yet. We’ll have a recommendation for you after we’ve carefully unraveled some behind-the-scenes intrigue, and after we get our scientific poll results* back. We should have a recommended candidate by April 22nd, one week before ballots are sent out.
Here’s a key to keeping CD2 Republican: our organization, MOGA2020, has over 26,000 online subscribers within CD2, and with our endorsement and ensuing publicity, we can significantly contribute to securing this truly conservative nominee. If you join us, it’s my bet that together we can channel an additional 10,000 to 15,000 votes to the endorsed candidate. That would be plenty….
Greg Walden won the 2018 CD2 primary race with only 71,500 votes total.
Whomever earns our endorsement, we hope you’ll join us.
And you ask, if we have a truly conservative, qualified candidate, would he (all ten are males) defeat the Democrat in November? Yes. No brainer. We’re talking about the Second Congressional District here, with Republicans out-numbering Democrats by 11%.
Yet if Knute Buehler becomes the nominee he will easily be defeated in the general election, delivering our district to his Democrat opponent…on a silver platter. That will sew things up for the Oregon progressive ruling class, making all five congressional districts in Oregon, Democrat. (I’ll tell you below why Buehler would be bludgeoned in the general election).
In any election – no matter the political party affiliation – half of voters are not paying attention. Distracted and with short attention spans, this huge voting block goes with name-recognition and real-time mass-media. In our CD2 Republican primary race, these “low-information” Republican voters are Buehler’s constituency! With this segment he’ll have plenty-enough votes to win the contest if the other half of us, you and me – the serious, I’m-paying-attention conservative vote – is divided.
THIS is Knute Buehler’s twisted pathway to the nomination!
So, this time around, let’s learn from the past and forego our candidate-of-choice and settle for the best of the three competitive conservative candidates.
Who are they, based on media-attention and campaign contributions? Jason Atkinson (Medford), Cliff Bentz (Ontario), and Jimmy Crumpacker (Bend).
And yes, there are seven other conservative candidates, but it’s our guess they will add up to less than 5% of the total Republican primary vote. Nevertheless, that 5% represents a fourth segmentation of the conservative base…
Before I explain further, here’s a nutshell analysis of Knute Buehler’s past positioning.
Three months ago Buehler rechristened himself a classic conservative. This is in glaring contrast to his 2018 gubernatorial campaign when he identified as a “new kind of Republican.” He was “a new kind” alright: big-government, pro-gay marriage, “common-sense” Second Amendment, and a proponent of leftist climate-change legislation.
Since 2016 he has been viscerally anti-Trump…and in his 2018 gubernatorial campaign, he almost gleefully middle-fingered the Oregon Republican Party Platform.
Three months prior to the 2018 gubernatorial general election, he proposed spending $50 million in tax-dollars on the “homeless,” when simply enforcing the law would of course solve the problem. And no small thing for CD2 voters, he was adamantly pro-choice…until just three months ago.
It goes on.
(I will digress for a moment because we at MOGA2020 are perplexed: as of this posting, just two-weeks prior to ballots being mailed, NONE of the three viable conservative candidates noted above have even mentioned Buehler’s elephant-in-the-living-room hypocrisy! This is discouraging. Buehler’s past political history is the silver bullet necessary to defeat him. So, what’s up guys? Are you part of the Buehler scheme or are you not paying attention…or, WHAT?)
In any case, Buehler’s personal reinvention as a conservative has been a jaw-dropping mix of audacity and arrogance. Diana and I continue to roll our eyes and shake our heads.
If Buehler wins the Republican nomination next month, why will he will lose the general election on November 3rd? Three reasons:
First, it’s his history. He won the Republican nomination for Secretary of State in 2012, and lost in the general election. Then he won the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 2018 and lost that general election race, too. (Oddly enough, his opponent in both races was Kate Brown)
Second, more importantly, it’s about character. He’s a mercenary feather in the wind. Buehler’s sudden stone-cold flip-flop from a Republican progressive (if there is such a thing) to a full-on Republican conservative – last January – has not been overlooked by the 50% of Oregon conservatives who pay attention to politics. This November, virtually all Republicans in CD2 will vote for Donald Trump, but many do not trust the duplicitous Buehler and won’t vote at all in the congressional contest.
Third, most importantly, it’s the issues. In 2018, his sheer exhilaration in being pro-choice and anti-Trump will never be disremembered by this one-half of our Republican base that has been watching state politics closely. Regarding the Life issue, here’s a direct quote from his 2018 gubernatorial campaign: “As Governor, regardless of what happens at the federal level, I will ensure Oregon remains a pro-choice state.” And about being a never-Trumper, for the last four years – up until three months ago, in January – Knute Buehler has said so many hateful things about Donald Trump that it’s hard to know where to begin.
In 2017 Buehler called for a special counsel to investigate President Trump.** And in 2018 he angrily declared that President Trump should withdraw his Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination, claiming Kavanaugh was not ethically fit to be a Supreme Court justice. (Kavanaugh was ultimately confirmed after the Democrat Left’s unsubstantiated claims, designed to destroy Kavanaugh personally, were utterly debunked.)
All of this has infuriated a huge block conservative Republicans: the ones who have been paying attention. So, in November’s general election if Buehler is the Republican nominee, a huge chunk of the CD2 Republican base will not vote for the man, and he will lose to the Democrat.
He could never win the congressional general election with part of the Republican base. He would need all of it…and that would never happen.
So, it’s a simple thing: if Knute Buehler becomes the nominee on May 19th, say goodbye to CD2. but if we select a truly conservative nominee, we’ll keep the District Republican.
-Sam Carpenter
*This will be an unbiased scientific poll conducted between April 16th and 20th. Using the latest available voter database, it will sample 500 CD2 likely Republican voters. And it won’t be a robocall poll. It will be conducted by live polsters thus providing super-accurate results. (With a robocall poll, sometimes it’s not clear that the pollster has reached the intended voter). Expected error rate? Less than 4.4%. Data will be carefully sampled per geography, party, and population density. Publication of the results, if we chose to publish them, will include complete data metrics. We’ve engaged a highly regarded, impartial Northwest pollster, Triton Polling and Research, Inc. (Note: Diana and I had intended to personally pay for this poll simply because we’ve never before asked for contributions to MOGA2020. But, we’ve had people ask to participate and if you want to be part of this venture, please contact me at samc@makeoregongreatagain.com. So far we’ve received two $500 contributions, and one for $250. )
** From a Triton scientific poll we commissioned in late 2017:
Who REALLY is running this country? Is it “expert” Ruler-of-the-Universe Dr. Anthony Fauci who has been SO wrong about everything over the last 8 weeks? Or is it you, President Trump who has been so correct about everything for the last 4 years?
Right now, isn’t America any dictator’s promised land (think of the leaders of Iran, China, and Venezuela)? Without having to use tanks and guns, convince everyone that it’s wise not congregate in public. Get citizens to “follow-the-rules,” to be silently compliant, and to pressure their neighbors to be that way too. Never mind the Bill of Rights. (Hey! this is an emergency!) Yes, America, we’ve indeed convinced ourselves that being under house arrest is a smart thing to do.
Is this not a Grand Slam for Democrat Progressives? Big government dictates, political correctness, virtue signaling, social shaming, putting-conservatives-in-their-place, and yes, absolute control of the part of the population that sees things differently (and heck, everyone else too). The scary part of this? We quietly complied. The progressive test is completed and the question is answered: social lockdowns work in America. For whatever reason the progressive Left can dream up, stay-tuned for the next lockdown.
Why can’t WE decide to stay home? Why can’t WE decide whether or not to let our kids go to school? Why are pot shops and liquor stores open and yet on Easter Sunday we can only celebrate our faith in the church parking lot?
Anyway, why can’t WE decide if we want to congregate or not? If Fauci-enthusiasts want to isolate themselves, they should do that, but don’t tell Diana and me to stay home. We’ll decide for ourselves.
Where are the antibody tests? Is it possible MOST Americans have already developed immunity? In early February, I (Sam) was sick with what we surely thought was the flu. Went to the doctor, took the swab test…and it was NOT the flu. And get this: I had been having a bit of trouble breathing at night, and a dry cough. Doctor sent me home and I recovered nicely right after. A few weeks ago, Diana was feeling low for a couple of days with the same symptoms, but with 10% of the severity. We’re both convinced we’ve already had COVID-19 and that we won’t get it again. Our bet is that a HUGE swath of our population has already had it no matter whether they know it or not, and so they have developed immunity. Are the progressive elitists who are holding back the antibody tests doing it to protect their new-found power, to cover for the unnecessary social-distancing lockdown, and/or to not look stupid?
Immunity ID cards? What is this, Nazi Germany? Don’t ever talk about that idea again.
WHO exactly is dying? When COVID-19 first started getting newsworthy, we were given the average age of death as part of the statistics (it was 80 as I recall), AND we were given the percentage of deceased patients who already had other serious physical maladies (most did). For weeks now, we’ve not heard those statistics? Why is that?
Do you elites think you can continue to talk to us like we’re children? Do you think we’re permanently corralled; that we’re going to continue to “follow the rules?” Do you not see that we’ve now had enough of this ? Not four to eight weeks from now. NOW!
And do you Dr. Andrew Fauci-worshiping elites not see that in shutting down the economy, you are destroying our country? Of course you do. And most of us know you simply don’t care. It’s about power with you people. It’s always been about power.
To President Trump: We love you man, but it’s NOW time to take back control. We understand you have to be careful with this; to give the extra benefit-of-the-doubt to “the smart people,” but now you’ve done that sufficiently and if this goes too much further, you’ll have begun to abdicate power. It’s not like you to do that. We’re with you 110% unless you further fold to these Ruling Class elites. We know you’re physically and mentally worn out but NOW it’s time to bristle; to make these people sit down in the corner and to put yourself – and us, your constituents – back in charge. We ask you to begin this process NOW, before it’s too late. We want to get on with our lives…You’re a good man, President Trump. Do what you have to do. We’ve got your back, major-league.
We’ve spent months investigating: talking to candidates, endlessly going back-and-forth with voters, conducting a scientific poll, and finally making our endorsement decision, just yesterday, based on “what matters most.”
