Padraic and Dad had a yummy lunch at La Hacienda restaurant and a quick visit to the chamber of commerce in Council Grove before heading to the Downey Ranch in Wabaunsee County. Paddy got a chance to try some cowboying, tire-swing style!
Please check out the two new tabs on the blog. We added a section about the family, including a slideshow and a link to the 69 county tour map. We also have a cool new “widget” that lets you follow Rob’s twitter as well as links you to my favorite pictures on Flikr. We have more fun features to come so keep checking back!
We went to church early and headed out to Abilene for the Annual “Spring Fling.” Rob’s friend and member of the campaign steering committee, Lynn Peterson (former mayor of Abilene and current city commisioner, ) took Rob around and introduced him to everybody. My older children walked around handing out information about their dad while I strolled around the various tables. A lady from the county showed me some pictures of the newly renovated Abilene municipal swimming pool, complete with slide and high diving board and a newly expanded shaded concession area. I also talked at length with the executive director of The Great Plains Theatre about their upcoming shows. They are doing a lot of comedies this year and I know we all could use a good laugh. I then introduced myself to a nice lady from the Abilene historical society and she gave me five free tickets to use at the 1901 Parker Carousel next time we return! I hope we can come back soon because the Flour Power Family Fun Fest on May 29 and 30 really sounds terrific! If you plan on coming, I can recommend a great place to stay called The Abilene bed and breakfast. I can tell you that I know the food is incredible because I purchased some yummy sweets from her fabulous baker, Shelly! We all worked up a big appetite by the end of the day. Auntie marylyn wanted to take us to the famous Brookville Hotel that she remembers going to when she was young but it was closed so we ate a nice supper at Pizza hut instead.
Rob and I have been taking the children to contra dances here in Cottonwood Falls about once a month. “Contra-dance” refers to a style of folk dances in which couples dance in two lines facing each other. It was a dance that was popular before square dancing (think early 19th century.) It moves fast so you really have to pay attention to the caller. A caller is someone who tells you when to get ready for the next step. If you don’t know what a “doe si doe” or a “lady’s chain” is, you’ll figure it out pretty quick. They are held every third Saturday by the Chase County Contra Dance Society. Anyway in going to those, we found out about the Annual victorian ball in Cottonwood Falls , where everyone gets all gussied up in their favorite period costume and dances the night away!
Although the ball features other dances like the waltz, square dances, Virginia reel and (Carolina’s favorite),the paddy-cake polka, it is similar in format to the contra dances. One of my neighbors (the stunning lady in green skirt standing with her sweet daughter in the blue dress) generously outfitted our whole family for the dance in clothing she has either made or collected over the years. It was so much fun. I told them that we could pretend we were the Ingalls family from Little House on the Prairie and Carolina responded that I looked more like Mrs. Olsen than Caroline Ingalls. Now that I look at the pictures, I think she is right!
One of the ways we spend special time with the children is by going on what we call “dates.” Most of the time I take the boys and Rob takes the girls. (If I take the girls out or he takes the boys out, we call it “errands.” Get it?) Daddy took Francesca to the newspaper for an interview and to our surprise, they took her picture with Rob and put it on the front page of the Emporia Gazette! She was very excited to see herself the next day at the supermarket and we are hoping that Rob has set the “dating” bar high enough to block out any future competitors (wink, wink!) I am told she also managed to get a rice crispy treat out of the deal! Here is the article.
Rob got in about eight last night from his campaign stops. He brought me back some honey toasted peanuts from a store in Pratt. He loves to bring me back presents when he travels and this one was especially appreciated. I am not a huge nut fan but these are incredible. They are peanuts covered in honey, butter, sugar and salt and then toasted to a crisp. I was hooked and I ate about half the jar while we chatted about our day. They are made right here in Kansas so I plan to stock up for movie nights!
Below are some pictures from Rob’s recent travels. For more information on these and other stops, please visit his 69 county tour map.
Rob had an article in the Washington Examiner yesterday that I thought you all would enjoy.
Reagan was right, conservatives win with addition, not subtractionBy Rob Wasinger, OpEd Contributor
- | 4/17/09 5:28 AMWhen discussing a possible Republican revival, most conservative commentators let their ideological bias obscure the obvious. They miss the forest for the trees.
Some say the party must jettison the social conservative agenda, which appeals only to an aging, shrinking demographic, and recast itself as a modern, big-tent party united only by its opposition to the socialization of the economy and the explosive growth of government.
The opposing view insists that after neglecting the GOP base of values voters for too long, the party need only follow through on its election year rhetoric by actually making family-values issues a priority once in power.
Both seem to have forgotten about one of Ronald Reagan’s central insights: a winning Republican coalition must include both economic and social conservatives. Neither agenda can be successfully pursued without the other; they fit hand in glove.
But we must recast the argument in support of this coalition so that it resonates with voters’ concerns today.
For example, there is a groundswell of alarm at the rapid growth of government in the wake of the financial crisis. Republicans must articulate that government grows when families and communities fail. The breakdown of these mediating institutions is at the root of many of our social problems—including crime, illegitimacy, poverty, and low academic achievement—all of which increase the demand for government to step into the breach to address them.
Policies designed to strengthen families and communities should be the basis of a new pragmatic consensus that reaches across party lines. “Family values” were once exclusively associated with the “religious right”; now a Democrat president speaks with authority to the black community about commitment to family.
But we must go beyond rhetoric and put our money where our mouth is. We can start by reducing the tax burden on families, who are so deeply invested in America’s economic growth.
Republican fortunes will revive to the extent that we remember that a family values agenda and a pro-growth agenda for limiting the growth of government are not opposed. In fact, they have always formed the basis of our winning coalition.
Rob Wasinger is a Republican congressional candidate in the First District of Kansas.
Rob visited Norton, Quinter, Oberlin, Hoxie, Oakley, Larned, Great Bend, Stafford, Medicine Lodge, and Ellsworth all in just the last week, thanks to the generous invitations and introductions from folks all around the first district. He is happy to sit down with folks and listen to the issues that they care most about. One of the biggest concerns people are having all over the district is the state of the economy and the size of the ever growing and increasingly intrusive federal government, and for good reason. People can’t understand why their taxes are being used to pay somebody else’s mortgage. Small towns are in turmoil trying to decide which teachers to let go of due to budget cuts. Banks and local businesses are spending too much money trying to comply with federal rules and regulations. A Rancher in Great Bend said it best when he said “We don’t want anything from the government but to be left alone.” Here are some snapshots from the stops this week. For more information on these stops, please visit his 69 county tour map.
I picked up the children from school and headed to Emporia for one of the tax day tea parties that have been organizing all over the country. The place was packed and everybody was out with their signs. The lady next to me even took off work early to come. The speakers were passionate and compelling. I don’t know how many people were there but judging from the literature my kids handed out, it had to be close to 100. I left there about 4:30 to pick up my oldest from track practice and stopped by Sonic for eight cherry limeades (my favorite beverage) for my thirsty political activist children!
Rob had this to say about the day,
Wasinger Applauds Tea Parties Across Kansas
Says taxation and spending in Washington are out of control
COTTONWOOD FALLS — Rob Wasinger, candidate for Congress in the 1st Congressional District of Kansas, today applauded the planned Tea Parties across Kansas.
“I applaud the efforts of my fellow Kansans in taking to the streets in protest of out-of-control spending and taxation in Washington,” said Wasinger. “The tea parties show that Kansans have had enough of watching Washington spend away our children’s future, and demand real change consisting of lower taxes and reductions in federal spending.”
Wasinger is a native of Hays and has served Kansas as a former staffer to then-State Senate Majority Leader Jerry Moran and most recently as chief-of-staff to U.S. Senator Sam Brownback. Wasinger has been endorsed by former Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson.
I just wanted to let you know that a great article came out today about the race in the Ellsworth County Independent Reporter . Rob has been busy meeting with people all week and talking to them about his campaign to bring prosperity to rural Kansas. Please continue sending me emails at megwasinger@robwasinger.com if you have an event in your town that you would like our family to attend or would like to host a little “meet and greet” with Rob. We really need your help and are relying on you to help make this campaign a success! For more details on yesterday’s stops, please visit the 69 county tour map.
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