Craig Williams for US Senate, WA State Candidate Review

On Saturday evening I attended a community grassroots event held by Craig Williams, an unknown name in Washington Politics but a great candidate nonetheless. Craig Williams has entered the race for US Senate from Washington State, in an attempt to unseat the two decade senator Patty "Mom in Tennis shoes" Murray, who will be running for her fourth term as US Senator.

I first learned of Williams when a blog reader informed me of the event and extended the invitation. Being the grassroots magnet that I am, I could not turn down the opportunity to meet the candidate on a personal level and grill him with some tough questions which have become the battle cry of my personal and political philosophy.

In the room that night were a handful of concerned citizens, ages ranging from 60+ and retired to 18-ish and in Junior College. There was, however, a concern held common by all in attendance - Liberty. The common theme of personal freedoms, state's rights, freedom from govt. health care, and economic liberties was a perfect tone set for Williams' "campaign plan" presentation. It seemed that most in the room were college educated, many of whom were current or retired military, intellects all... and Mr. Williams' presentation nailed his target audience - intelligent liberty minded grassroots activists aimed at unseating a big government liberal incumbent and replacing her with a liberty minded conservative.

He addressed his main focus point of the campaign, and backed it up with numbers. As 80% of the US public are naming the economy as their number one area of concern, Williams plans to run a campaign as a fiscal conservative.

Though I am concerned about the state of the economy, my first concern is that it is the style of politician and unregulated federal government that has caused such an economic collapse in the free market, not the free market failing of its own accord. As such, it was my intent to determine if Mr. Williams was a "more of the same" candidate, or if his understanding of liberty and the role of the federal government was one that would work to right the listing ship.

Mr Williams mentioned "nation" and the "federal government" in a manner that led me to question his understanding of the role of the federal government, and to fire a shot across his bow for effect regarding state's rights... which I had forewarned him of during our round-Robin introduction.

My first question roughly stated the lack of the "union of states" since the civil war, and a cause for concern as a national reach for power in the 20th century, and questioned what he saw his role as US Senator would be in correcting the perception of people vs. the government. He called on a religious text - the religious text of the United States - the gospel that is the US Constitution. He said that it is a wonder that the very same people who are hired to uphold the constitution are so quick to wipe their rears with it.

I followed on with a question regarding the federal deficit and federal budgets. We jointly acknowledged that Federal budgets on the order of 3 to 4 Trillion were a clear indicator of excessive government. I politely interrupted with a pointed question: "What is an appropriate budget number for the United State's Federal Government?" He mentioned 2 Trillion, and my response was "you think 2 Trillion is an appropriate amount to spend?" His response was interesting, in that he said that he sees his best course of action being to work within the bounds of the current system in an attempt to reduce excess first, namely targeting the "sacred cows". I am sure that his reluctance to declare massive faults and radical recalibration of the monetary system was to avoid being labelled as a "radical right-wing nut" by the socialist financial gluttons... and I don't bemoan him for this, rather I appreciate it. His general tone regarding the matter indicated a firm understanding of the points I was making, and his body language as well as careful responses hinted that he would be more inclined to shake things up once he takes office.

I pushed the envelope to truly vet this candidate. I wanted to ask some tough questions as this guy is asking for my vote. No more will I give my vote away so easily or freely.

With a cordial handshake, a smile, and a "no hard feelings" about the intensity of my interrogation, I felt like Craig Williams is a candidate that generally shares my view of liberty, state's rights, and the role of the government. He has laid out a great campaign plan and has a tough road ahead. There are currently 6 individuals filed to run as Republicans against Patty Murray in Washington State. With the new primary system in Washington state, Patty Murray will not need to run a primary campaign, leaving a dogfight on the Republican side of the ballot. As I have said a number of times, 2010 is going to be used as the sounding board for Republicans in how we want to redefine and reshape the conservative movement using a major political party. Who we pick in 2010 is vastly important considering what we have been fighting for since November 2008.

With this in mind I am willing to say that Craig Williams is a great candidate for Senate, and will do well as an RNC outsider. With the RNC showing little interest in this race due to an embedded incumbent, Williams has some political freedom to take the fight to Murray and earn recognition of the RNC and GOP Senatorial Committee - unlike the anointed Jane Norton in CO. I strongly recommend contacting Craig Williams' campaign: "If you have further questions or would like to host a meeting or social yourself, please contact my campaign manager Karen Osborne at
Campaign@VoteWilliams2010.com or 360.907.2593"

If there are other candidates that you would like me to review, please do not hesitate to contact me! I will ask the tough questions and ensure that we drive home the message of Liberty!