The Tortise and the Hare

The turtle is an amazing creature. It ambles along at a steady pace….seemingly going nowhere but shuffling towards its goal. The rabbit ricochets all over the place with frenzy and appears quite often to be off the path to victory. Aesop and his fabulous fable about the tortoise and the hare provide the background for today’s column. If you recall the story, the hare dashed ahead of the tortuously slow tortoise. Thinking that he had easily won the race, the hare lay down for a pleasant nap, and the steady tortoise passed the sleeping bunny to win the race. This old and informative fable can be used to illustrate the contest for the Republican presidential nomination.

As the GOP campaign begins to develop, we have had some sputtering starts and withdrawals. In addition, we continue to have speculation around the possible entry of others into the fray. So far various straw polls and preference polling have lent a “flavor of the week’ element as different individuals have managed to capture the fancies of voters in different states. Michele Bachmann stunned the pundits with her victory in Ames, Iowa, and Ron Paul was within breathing distance of her victory. Herman Cain has garnered victories in Denver at the Western Conservative Summit and more recently in Florida. Ron Paul has, in addition to his 2^nd place in Iowa, won the New Orleans republican Leadership Conference straw poll, the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) preference, and the California favorability vote.

The media and Establishment-anointed leaders, Mitt Romney and Rick Perry, have NOT won any of the straw of preference polls although they have been performing rather well in general polling for primaries and the general election. Although the media and their resident pundits enjoy speculating about the horse-race aspects of the contest for the GOP nomination, it seems as of this point in time, some 13 months until the people trudge to the polls, that no one has a clear advantage. The two most likely candidates for the role of the “hare” appear to be Romney and Paul. Dr. Paul has polled consistently well but does not have the support of the moderate or RINO wing of the party. The entrenched self-designated leadership of the Republican Party tends to favor a middle-of-the-road candidate whom they believe would have a greater appeal to a broader segment of the electorate.

Former Governor Romney seems to have collected the support of much of the staid establishment GOP although some are attempting to convince Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey to enter the race despite his repeated refusals to do so. If Christie holds fast and stays out of the race, then it will probably be Romney versus whoever has staying power (i.e. cash). Cain’s dramatic victory in Florida will rocket him to the upper tier of candidates for the present time, but he must use his new-found celebrity status to raise some serious cash to continue the momentum. Dr. Paul is well-funded, and his organization grows stronger every week. In addition, Congressman Paul has an energetic and loyal cadre of young people who can add “feet on the ground” to his media advertising purchases. He will need every dollar and every volunteer to overcome the GOP Establishment opposition. They enjoy the benefits of big government nearly as much as their Democrat counterparts do, and they do not want a Paul candidacy that is pledged to downsizing the federal government.

As the hares hop around the landscape seeking to attract attention and support, the battle for TOP TORTISE is shaping out to be between Romney and Paul with Cain and Perry getting fitted for shells. Perry’s mercurial beginning has faded quickly, but enough anti-Romney people exist to keep his hopes alive. The Perry supporters might be defined as “pragmatic conservatives.” They are people who generally lean conservative but are unwilling to rock the electoral vote by supporting someone whom they believe too extreme or too inexperienced. The Republican movers and shakers seem somewhat schizophrenic as the moderates and token conservative pragmatists seek to boost their preferred candidates. The moderates believe that most Independents prefer milquetoast non-entities, and the conservative pragmatists sense that the conservative base will abandon the party if a sufficiently conservative candidate is not nominated.

Meanwhile, Dr. Paul continues to plug along as Herman Cain catches fire.

http://youtu.be/ERW8z8Y6MHk

Exciting times are ahead, but we must NEVER forget that the goal is to preserve and restore our Republic. A victory for more-of-the-same will be a pyrrhic one. Trust the tortoise, and beware the hare.

Comment:  cearlwriting@hotmail.com

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Many Thanks

It’s time for this curmudgeon to get maudlin and weepy. The past year has been so event-filled and my life has been so blessed, that I thought this is the perfect time for me to slobber my thanks to all who’ve helped me along the way. Please understand that it is impossible for me to thank everyone who has supported me in any way during the course of my life. Some people were helpful when I was unaware of their efforts, and others have been there each and every day for years. So by necessity, this will be a rather generic, broad based expression of my gratitude.


First, thank you to my parents, Betty and Ervin Earl, who invited a little stranger, suffering from whooping cough, into their lives more than 6 decades ago. Thanks, too, to my siblings, Karen and David and their spouses, Dave and Deb. All my nieces, nephew, grand nephews and nieces.

Highest praise and greatest thanks to Pat, my bride of 41 years, and to her family…my collection of in-laws and outlaws. Kelly and P.J. have ALWAYS been supportive of Dad and his passions, and now Kevin and Heather are learning to tolerate them, too. Shaun, Erin and Sully are my motivators, and pretty cool young people as well.

I would like to thank Doctors Brunner, Conlan, Huntington and Puhl for patching me together for the long and exhausting campaign. Also, kudos to the LPO for its support, to the party leaders particularly Kevin Knedler, and to all the candidates who shared lit drops, fair booths, parade floats and speaking engagements. Thank you, too, to the Liberty groups, Patriot organizations, Tea Party affiliates, 912er’s, We By For’s and others who asked us to address them. Finally, to all the civic organizations who invited us to participate during their candidates’ nights….thank you.

To our many friends, both long-time and newly found, thank you for believing in me, for your tireless efforts and most of all, for your encouragement. To our Facebook friends and Littlestuff-minoosha readers, thanks for sharing laughs, rants and events with us. And most of all, thank you’s to the 178,000 plus people who were not afraid to “split” the vote…who believed in the principle of liberty, smaller government and less government intrusion.

Thank you to my Lord for giving me an appreciation of freedom that can only come from an awareness that I am and have been forgiven, that I live under grace and am a child of God.

Comment:  earl4sos@gmail.com

A Short Glance Back

Hey, it's over. I'm snorkeling now as I swim under the weight of the GOP tsunami. Also, in addition to catching up with the errands at home, I'm trying to analylize the previous year--it's successes and failures, and I'm preparing a game plan for the next two years. In other words...no rest for the old guy.

Candidly, I expected to lose, but Holy Insignificance, Batman, less than 5 per cent? Is it my hair, my breath, my message, or my perceived Constitutional radicalism? It was probably my anonimity. Although I was the Libertarian candidate for Ohio's Secretary of State, I was merely another nameless face, faceless name in the grand scope of Ohio's power politics. I spoke with thousands of people, but it required hundreds of thousands to penetrate the "membrane of silence." It was vital that I speak directly with many thousands to escape the "also running" pigeonhole constructed by many of the mass media.

To lay the blame for my anemic totals at the clay feet of the mass media is not productive and not accurate. There were two glaring errors in my campaign for which I, alone, am responsible. The first was my failure to engage a campaign manager who would be responsible for organizing and deploying our volunteers. We made an early attempt to do so, but when that situation did not work out, I continued to forge on without taking the time to fill the gap. That weakness was deadly because our ground game was haphazard at best and nonexistent generally.

The second major chink in my candidacy's armour was my reluctance to solicit funds. A couple of my supporters offered to have fundraisers for me, and I waited for them to go forward rather than doing the planning and scheduling myself. As a result, when we got to the final days, we had insufficient financing for mass media purchases. I'm not certain if its pride or stupidity that drives my unwillingness to plead, cajole....and beg for bucks.

While there are numerous other contributing factors for my tiny total of votes, I believe those two are the most obvious. Let me be clear. I have no regrets. Sharing the message of Liberty and Constitutional government is a mission that I have and will embrace. If I had worked smarter, then the cause could have been advanced somewhat farther.

On the Road

Here’s Willie:


 www.youtube.com/? watch v=1TD_pSeNelU

So, that’s my life for the coming nine and one-half months. Last night was the second notable appearance of the campaign as I traveled to Sidney, Ohio in Shelby County to meet with the Sidney Shelby County Liberty Group. Approximately 75 people were on hand to hear a representative from the county Democratic Party, the county GOP and moi’. We were each given fifteen minutes to address the audience, and then the microphones were available for questions and answers. It was a great give-and-take opportunity with some really wonderful, nice people. If I could spend the remaining time in this campaign in similar venues, with equally gracious hosts, and surrounded by concerned, curious citizens like those at the Dorothy Love facility, then whatever the outcome of the election, I will have considered my campaign successful. Obviously, I want to win. One does not commit a year of one’s life and significant personal resources to merely “show up.” Still, the message is paramount. Too many professional politicians dilute the message and make the elections about them. The message echoes the principles: smaller Constitutionally-based government, lower taxes as a result of smaller government, and more personal freedom for every individual.

It’s rather easy to become distracted from the primary during the course of a campaign. As one travels to various communities throughout the state, one discovers that each of them has burning local issues that have captured the attention of the locals. Some seek affirmation of their point of view when the statewide candidate comes calling, thus diverting the discussion from the candidate’s message to one involving local disputes. As a responsible candidate who seeks to be of service to constituents or potential constituents, one is sorely tempted to offer an opinion. Bad idea. The source may be biased or misinformed, and certainly the candidate will lack the requisite knowledge for making an informed judgment. As a candidate, I must constantly, consistently and covertly remind myself to stay on message. The principles of Constitutional government, lower taxes and more personal freedom trump chicken farm zoning, school board shenanigans, and County Commissioner malfeasance. They are important critical issues for those who must face them, but I must stay focused on the big picture. If I, and those who believe as I do, fail, then those other local problems will not matter. Big Brother will make those decisions for them…for us.

Comments or email:  cnpearl@woh.rr.com

Digging In

Except for a short time on Monday, I’ve either been waiting for the snow and wind to stop or outside digging a path through the huge drifts that have settled here on the “Luckey Pearl.” One drift was more than six feet high, and naturally, was directly in the driveway area that had to be cleared. Too many landscape features, fences and buildings have created a trapping point for the blowing snow. The pastures are mostly clear, but in the driveway and parking pad sectors…well, woe is me. As of now, 11:15AM on Thursday, I do have a track that goes from the garage to the street (about 200 yards), but I am somewhat hesitant to challenge it with the AWD Ridgeline or the 2WD Silverado. My 40 HP John Deere has done very well except for the hydraulic lines bursting on Sunday. I emerged from the shower of fluid looking like one of those guys you see when an oil well gushes to life. In my nostrils, on my tongue, in my eyes, all over my aging body and “chore” clothes, the stuff was everywhere. It took 40 minutes to get my glasses cleaned well enough for me to see. Fortunately Andy from Wood County Implement plowed through the drifts on Tuesday and restored the 2040 and the loader to full function mode. Sometimes you get the bear. Sometimes the bear gets you. The really great news is that in a month this snow will probably be gone, and we’ll be complaining about the rain and the mud. Ain’t it great.


It’s time to begin thinking about planting. With the statewide campaign for Secretary of State on my plate, I am trying to decide how large (if any) garden to plant. I have purchased some heritage seeds for quality and replenishment purposes, and don’t want to waste them or cause extra work for Pat if I spend a lot of time on the road. So, I’ll decide by the end of the month whether or not to fire up the growing lights to start the seeds. My dilemma is this: start seeds for safe food and risk losing garden because of neglect…or don’t start seeds, get blown out of statewide race, loss election and famish. ShaZaaam! Because at times I have exhibited flashes of managerial and political brilliance, I have arrived at a feasible solution. No starter, no planting and no garden. As I travel the great state of Ohio while embedded in my normal state of confusion, I shall avail myself of the wondrous bounty of delectable goodies that are present in every little corner of Ohio. I shall travel like a pauper, but eat like a king. Bring it on, Buckeye residents. My palate, taste buds and I are running and munching for Secretary of State. Hide the harvest! Bury the bounty! Here I come.

Comment or email:  cnpearl@woh.rr.com