One big sign, three big pigs

I went to the office early today and to my delight, the new sign was being put over the  “Wasinger  for Congress” headquarters in downtown Cottonwood Falls by our earlybird friends and neighbors, Chris and Yvonne Passmore. Our friend Marvin made the sign and it looks terrific if I do say so myself.

After that I spent the morning working on campaign mailings in the office until it was time to pick up the children from camp. Stephen and Sebastian have been volunteering  as assistant counselors all month at the camp and today was their last day.

We picked up our friends at their farm and watched them feed their pigs. Maddalena and Morgan were no where to be seen when we asked who wanted to feed the pigs but out of the van they popped as soon as they saw us all playing in the hay bails!

We then headed to the pool for a refreshing swim… today was a real scorcher!

Stephen the apprentice

The hardwood floors are almost done, thanks to the hard work this week of Stephen and Justin. Justin Combs agreed to teach Stephen how to lay the floor in exchange for an extra hand.  The floor was made out of boards in varying woods and widths so it should look pretty neat when it’s done. Stephen’s favorite tool was the nail gun (well that and blasting Justin’s Dewalt radio.)  He also helped a friend put shingles on their roof last week so if he doesn’t watch out, he just might grow up to be pretty darn handy!

Adam and his brother finished putting in the railing. I think it looks pretty good.

Spending the day in Salina

Last  Friday Rob spent the day in  Salina and had this to say:

Our trip began with a meeting with executives at the Philips lighting company plant off of the highway.  Dan Mendicina, who runs the plant, explained to us how Philips employs over 400 people in the Salina area.  He also gave us a tour of the facilities and explained their vision of what being a “green” company really means.  The Alto II series is setting a pace for others in the industry to follow in terms of lowering the amount of mercury used in the lights. 
 
After our first stop we met with Tim Rodgers and Lt. Col. J.J. Jordan at the Salina Airport Authority.  I  has worked with Tim extensively over the years to help the Salina Airport Authority secure funding for the runway and various other initiatives at the Airport.  Tim and Lt.Col. Jordan talked to us about the work that they are now doing to develop Unmanned Arial Systems (UAS).  They have built a ‘Crisis City’ to test rescue operations using UAS.  Rob, Lt. Col. Jordan, and Tim also had an indepth discussion on FAA regulations.
For lunch,  we stopped at Napoli’s and our Leadership Team member and President of the Salina YMCA, Phil Guries, set up a meeting for us with Tom Mulhern, the Director of the Saline County Commission on Aging.  Over a delicious meal,  we discussed some of the challenges facing senior citizens in Salina.
In the afternoon We stopped by the Wasinger Catholic Center.  The Wasinger Center, which houses Catholic Charities in Salina, partners with many other charitible organizations to provide services to the people of central Kansas.  The women there were happy to see us and we had a brief discussion of some of the issues facing the people that recieve services there. 
Finally in the evening we attended a reception hosted by the Kansas Republican State Committee.  There, we were able to talk with many county chairs and reunite with our friends from the Brownback office.

Washunga days!

Who said rainy parades are no fun?  I thought I knew everything there was to know about parades but today really threw me for a loop. Here is what I learned; 

A. Don’t parade on an empty stomach! We left for the parade around 6:30 in the morning so none of us had eaten. Thankfully my thoughtful husband made a quick run to Apple market and got some much needed donuts and orange juice and a special roast beef sandwich for me. It put us all in a great mood because as much as I hate to admit it, I am  kinda cranky in the morning.(Tip #1 Rob Wasinger)

B. Always pack umbrellas and ponchos on a rainy day when you are going to be riding in the open air for an hour and a half. I will be honest , it did not even occur to me to bring an umbrella but I am sure happy we had them. (tip #2  Bernice Spinden)   

C. Always be alert and calm! The team of horses almost directly behind us spooked and bolted when their shaft broke. They ended up getting wrapped around a sign and injured another rider in the process, just barely missing us.  Thanks to the quick actions  and calm demeanor of our driver, none of us were hurt in the process. (Tip #3 Mike Spinden)

D. Anselm can actually sleep through the whole parade quite nicely in a carseat inside the truck. (Tip #4 Bernice Spinden) 

E. Party poppers and air horns are a really, really fun in parades! (Tip #5 Sebastian and Meghan Wasinger)

Auntie Marilyn and her neighbor Sue joined us for the day as well as our friend, Molly, Jeremy and all the Spindens. Thanks guys!! You made our day! I cannot forget to mention the generosity of our neighbor, Chris Passmore, who carted the wagon  all the way out to Council Grove on the day of his son’s wedding so we could ride in the parade in the first place.

 After the parade, we  all  went to La Hacienda restaurant for a bite to eat before heading back to campaign HQ to celebrate Sebastian’s birthday. He just turned twelve this week. Another babysitter is born.

“It’s my birftday!”

I was woken up with Paddy’s face plastered against mine. ”Guess what Momma? Its my birftday, Momma!  “Great Paddy,  go get some cereal and look at your birthday cake  in the fridge.” I knew the only thing that was going to give me ten more minutes of sleep was the mention of a birthday cake. The suggestion was a  little risky because the chances of a four-year-old NOT rubbing his fingers along the frosting  and destroying the cake were pretty slim, but I was desperate. You see I had been at the store shopping for presents at about eleven o-clock the night before, thanks to Sebastian’s timely reminder.  What was the big “ask” this year for Paddy?  Well , he wanted a  “bow and awwow”, My friend, Luke Koch,  said he knew someone who made real bows and arrows carved out of wood and I thought about it for about 30 seconds and realized that a Nerf one would do just fine. (oh and in case you are wondering the knife he is holding is fake too. And no,  I did not let him cut the cake with it but it wasn’t for lack of effort on his part!)

We spent a lovely day strolling around the folk life festival in Chase County and had a fun party back at campaign HQ with our friends the Spindens.

Q and A with Rob in the Emporia Gazette

Rob went over to the the Emporia Gazette newsroom to do this online Q and A and I thought you all might want to read it.

http://www.emporiagazette.com/news/2009/jun/12/chat_rob_wasinger_aiming_congress/

Rodeo Week 2009

I am not sure what my favorite event was at Rodeo. I really enjoyed the bareback riders and the cow-mugging , especially because one of our friends did the “mugging.”  The funniest event was the “Children’s Round Up,” where all the children are in the ring with four calves, and are supposed to pull a ribbon from their tail.  The calves were so confused as to why this hoard of excited children were chasing them. The kids got a terrific workout  though as the calves went from one end of the arena to the other. Luckily some cowboys got in an gave them a hand. I kind of missed the grand finale with the bull riding (Anselm and I decided to stroll around and check out the souvenir stands) but the children tell me it was incredible and that one brave rider got thrown ten feet in the air by the bull!

Saturday was the rodeo parade and I think you can see from the pictures just how much fun it was. A Big thank you to all those people who helped out including,  our good friend, Chris Passmore, for driving the tractor and hay wagon, our father and son horseback riding team with “Wasinger for Congress” saddle bags and all the friends of the children for handing out literature, not to mention our sweet  friend, Joan,  who ran around taking pictures when she was not helping me with the children.

We ran home just in time to drop off some of the children and take a quick shower and head out to Great Bend.   We took Frankie and Carolina, and topped the day off with an absolutely gorgeous evening at the home of Jim and Dana McVay. The food and company were incredible. Dana is an interior designer and I spent a lot of time admiring all the little details that went into making her house such a lovely Home.  I am always on the prowl for great decorating ideas, and she had them in abundance!

Rob speaks out against the Sotomayor nomination

 Rob had an great  interview on The Ed Morrissey Show yesterday. Please click on the link to hear the interview http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1605782. He also did a guest blog post on Power Line on the topic.

A word from Rob Wasinger

Given this background, we thought that Power Line readers would be interested in Rob’s take on how Republicans should approach the Sotomayor nomination. Thus, we are pleased to publish the following guest post:

Power Line readers have already had a preview of Sonia Sotomayor and know more than a few reasons why she is wrong for the Supreme Court.President Obama must be confident that he has the votes in Congress to get Sotomayor confirmed. If the Democrats didn’t have such a commanding majority in the Senate, it’s hard to imagine that Obama would pick someone who is so brazenly at odds with mainstream legal thought that the Court has yet to affirm her reasoning on any of her decisions that have been appealed.

When the Justices unanimously reject your reasoning, saying that your approach “flies in the face of the statutory language,” after rejecting one of your previous decisions 8-0, you might not have the chops to run with them.

It remains to be seen who among the Democrats has the judgment and courage to stand against a President of their own party and reject his nominee.

It wasn’t so long ago that Republicans in Congress recognized that Harriet Miers was wrong for the Supreme Court, took a stand on principle and forced her withdrawal as his nominee. It wasn’t easy for those who broke from the party line, but in the end they did the right thing.

I would know. I led the fight behind the scenes against her nomination.

Fortunately, in late 2005 there were still enough Republicans who were convinced to put principle first that we could apply the pressure to defeat the nomination.

But elections have consequences, so Democrats have control until 2011 at least. For everyone who believes that judges should interpret laws rather than write them, this is clearly not where we want to be, but until we come back strong in Congress, we have to make the best of it.

The proper response is not to fold on this and go along quietly with the confirmation. If we always acquiesced to what feels inevitable, we wouldn’t have guessed that we could successfully derail one of President Bush’s judicial nominations, and instead get Justice Alito.

It is moments like this that allow us to draw a sharp distinction between our beliefs and those of the Democrats, and show that we were not complicit when our opponents showed a disrespect for the law. Through our actions, we should give courage to any Democrat who is having doubts about signing off on Sotomayor.

If you believe in upholding the Constitution, stand up against an unqualified nominee now just as we did in 2005. The results might surprise you.

I love the smell of lumber…

especially when it means my house is almost done!   As you can see from the pictures, it is not easy for me to pick out paint colors. (Paddy is pointing to the one we choose out of that line-up) After about twelve samples and six trips to the paint store, I decided on some very mellow earthy tones to compliment the natural knotty pine and stone. Usually I make Rob paint the whole room before I decide I don’t like a particular color BUT since he is running a campaign and his time is short, I took pity on him and was more careful this time.

69 county listening tour completed!

On Friday, Augustine (8yrs old) was the lucky child who got to tour with dad. They visited  Osborne, Russell, Wakeeney, and finished the day off in Hays at the  lovely home of Ron & Elaine Adams. Rob said he might take a couple of days off to paint the house before he starts his second tour of the district.

Sneak peak at the next post: What do the words  ”Tangier island” and  “Hazel woods” have in common? I ‘ll give you a hint. They both come in gallon size cans and  look fabulous in an eggshell finish! Stay Tuned for more house remodeling developments in the next few days!

Please read the great press release about the 69 county tour below.

Wasinger Completes 69-County Tour of ‘Big First’
First candidate to visit every county in district, generates enthusiastic grassroots response
COTTONWOOD FALLS — Rob Wasinger, Republican candidate for Congress in the 1st District of Kansas, today announced he completed a 69-county tour of the ‘Big First.’ Wasinger is the first candidate to have visited every county in the district for this election cycle. 
 
“I traveled from Elkhart to Marysville, Bird City to Madison with a message of prosperity for rural Kansas. Despite these difficult times, I was touched by the hardworking spirit and optimism of Kansans I met with on the tour. It was an honor to listen to and address the concerns of citizens across the Big First, and this is only the beginning. I look forward to continuing my discussion with citizens across the ‘Big First’ on how we can rebuild our economy to make sure we hand over a prosperous future to our children and grandchildren here in Kansas.”
 
Wasinger’s tour lasted four months. Wasinger’s wife, Meghan, blogged various stops on the tour and posted pictures.

“As the first candidate to visit all 69 counties, Rob has shown that he is the candidate committed to listening to concerns of the people here in the ‘Big First,’ not the interests of consultants and lobbyists in Washington,” said Bill Halvorsen, co-chair of the Kansans for Wasinger Leadership Team. “Rob has shown that his campaign is focused on critical issues affecting the every day lives of Kansans, with an emphasis on economic growth while ensuring our way of life. We can count on Rob to represent our interests and values well in Congress.”

Added Dick Friedman, co-chair of the Kansans for Wasinger Leadership Team: “No candidate has worked harder to go out and meet the voters of the ‘Big First’ than Rob, as demonstrated by his 69-county tour. Rob understands that in order to properly serve, he must know the citizens he seeks to represent. By listening to community leaders across the 1st district, Rob understands the concerns and values of western Kansans and will take them to Congress, where he will make us proud.”
Wasinger is a native of Hays and has served Kansas as a former staffer to then-State Senate Majority Leader Jerry Moran, Governor Bill Graves, and most recently as chief-of-staff to U.S. Senator Sam Brownback. Wasinger has been endorsed by former Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson.

What they’re saying about Wasinger’s 69-County Tour:

“I was proud to be able to introduce our next Congressman, Rob Wasinger, at our Rotary Club meeting here in Ulysses. It means a lot that Rob took the time to listen to the concerns of our community leaders, and we look forward to working with Rob in the future.”
-Lynda Fort, Executive Director of the Kansas Bed and Breakfast Association (KBBA), Ulysses
“My husband Mac and I were happy to host Rob in our community of Sublette.  We need a leader in Washington who will fight for western Kansas, cares about what we care about, and believes what we believe. After hosting Rob, Mac and I are confident that Rob is that leader, and we look forward to doing whatever we can to help his campaign.”
-Kit Griffin, Teacher at Sublette High School, Sublette
“My husband Joe and I were proud to give Rob a tour of our ranch and discuss with him about the future of our district. Rob understands that less regulation is the key to economic prosperity for ranchers like us. When elected, we feel confident Rob will never forget his Kansas roots and will do everything he can to loosen Washington’s grip on agriculture.”
-Barb Downey, Owner of the Downey Ranch, Wabaunsee County
“The Annual Chamber Spring Fling was a perfect event for Rob and his family to visit and learn about Abilene. Rob’s campaign table, staffed by his lovely wife Meg and their nine children, was quite an attraction. Rob and his family certainly left a favorable impression at the Spring Fling and those that I’ve talked to agree that Rob would represent us well in Congress.”
-Lynn Peterson, Former Mayor, Abilene
“I can’t express how pleased we were to host Rob at our monthly meeting of the Northwest Kansas Energy Collaborative. I was impressed by Rob’s understanding of complex issues that are vital to the future economic growth of Northwest Kansas. Rob has the right ideas and experience to grow our economy to ensure our children can get jobs here at home. I wholeheartedly support Rob in his bid for Congress.”
-Dan Hartman, NW Kansas Regional Energy Collaborative Facilitator, Oakley
“Hutchinson is a big community, but those who came to Rob’s meet and greet went away feeling the personal touch of the Wasinger family.  Rob is deeply connected with the values and concerns of Kansans.  As our next Congressman from the Big First, Rob will represent our local interests with intelligent, thoughtful, and practical solutions to the everyday problems we face here in Hutchinson and throughout western Kansas.”
-Richard Chambers, Senior VP Central Bank, Hutchinson