Patterns tend to be emulated. We follow patterns to create clothing.
Prints are used to fabricate buildings. Engineers carefully
construct models for automobiles and skyscrapers. A syllabus is the
pattern of choice for teachers to coordinate the upcoming school year
to ensure all subjects have been probably taught through the year.
Leadership also rides the rails of patterns. The style of leadership
often permeates an organization from the head down like a fabric
throughout its many varied manifests.

 
A growing group of Democrats have stepped forward to voice
frustration with the President’s leadership style specifically in
regards to the Healthcare bill. They cite his aloof and distant
leadership style as major reasons that the healthcare law was so
large, so confusing and so onerous. They complained that the
President was not engaged in the process.  It was completely left to
Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. In the end the Democrats hastily took
the work of five committees and combined them, hence, twenty-seven
hundred pages of mind-boggling confusion. Now these complaints could
be the fruit of political whispers, which herald the demise of the
ObamaCare at the hands of the Supreme Court. With a healthy dose of
buyer’s remorse, these Democrats, such as Barney Frank (one of our
favorites) are probably trying to distance themselves from the
inevitable political fallout from ObamaCare’s implosion.

 
There are consequences to leadership patterns. Barack Obama’s “do
whatever you want but don’t bother me” style has begun to show its
influence throughout the government. The recent revelations of the
GSA have appalled Americans. Misuse of agency credit cards, gift
cards and extravagant trips for meetings has taxpayers fuming. And
no, this was not the Maine Turnpike Authority or the Maine State
Housing, although, there seems to be a pattern with bureaucracy,
doesn’t there?  And the President wants more of this?

 
Bruce Poliquin, the Maine State treasurer, has been tirelessly
exposing this type of corruption here in Maine. Treasurer Poliquin
has decided to run for U.S. Senate. The Maine Conservative Voice
thinks it would be fun to see Mr. Poliquin team up with Rand Paul, Jim
DeMint and other fiscal Conservatives to expose more of this
bureaucratic revelry, which has come at the taxpayer’s expense.
The fabric of the President’s aloof leadership style has begun to
unravel and oh, the tangled web it weaves. We now learn of lurid
rendezvous between Secret Service agents on the President’s detail and
prostitutes in Columbia. Has this ever happened before? Perhaps, but
we’ve never heard about it before. And this is the point. The lax
leadership style of the President has resulted in a decline in
discipline throughout the government. No one fears the reprisal of an
accounting for his or her actions. They get lazy, flippant and
arrogant. They forget that, in time, they will have to answer to their
real boss, the American people, who are not so forgiving and do not
take so lightly the expenditures of their hard-earned tax dollars.
The ship is not so tight these days.

 
True leadership must balance the fine line between micro-management
and engaged disciplined authority. Any leader finds his leadership
vulnerable when he must confront and challenge the strong
personalities within his blanket of authority, but if the fabric of
leadership is strong enough it can withstand the push and pull of
strength within its weave and still maintain its unity and purpose.
Some who purport to be leaders seem uncomfortable with the oversight
of those within their influence. They seem to avoid the strong
personalities and let them behave as they wish with no check of
authority. This seems to be the governing style of this President.
If the President is uncomfortable with executive leadership perhaps he
should find something he is more comfortable with…like community
organizing…perhaps.

When this column goes to press, the Supreme Court will have ended or
be near at end the argument phase of the case concerning the
Constitutionality of ObamaCare, that is, if the Judges even hear it.
There is some question that the Court may delay a hearing on the
matter, as some are arguing that none have been affected by the
mandate yet.  There are many businesses that would beg to differ on
that argument.  Nonetheless, let’s assume that the Supreme Court hears
the arguments.  One of the major arguments that the Obama
administration has put forth is that Mitt Romney did it.  Yes, with a
straight face, the President will again employ the “everybody else but
me” argument before the Supreme Court of the United States.
This President has promised to be a historical President and he has
succeeded in some unique ways.  He and his Party have produced in
George W. Bush the first three-term President in Modern History, by
blaming him for every uncomfortable situation they have faced.  Now
with a re-election campaign on the horizon, the President has decided
to give the credit for the signature policy achievement of his
administration to his most probable campaign opponent, Mitt Romney.
So in essence, Barack Obama is the President who never was.
The assertion by this President that ObamaCare is a mirror image of,
so called, RomneyCare is fundamentally flawed on several fronts.  The
Democrats, in their attempt to hang ObamaCare on Governor Romney, have
failed to acknowledge some key differences that they perhaps would
prefer remain undisclosed.  But this columnist could never let a
sleeping dog lie, could he?
The Massachusetts healthcare plan was debated on the floor of the
State legislature and in the public for many months.  After some time
of debates and compromise between the legislative and executive
branches, the plan, soon dubbed RomneyCare, was passed into law and
signed by then Governor Romney.  ObamaCare, on the other hand, was
crafted behind closed doors and rammed down the throats of Americans
and the Republican Party with little to no debate or public discourse.
The majority of the residents of Massachusetts approved of the state
plan and was in favor of its implementation.  Governor Romney was
giving the people what they wanted.  ObamaCare was incredibly
unpopular from the onset.  The hatred and anger for this law have only
increased as the years have passed.
This shows a fundamental difference between Conservatives and
Liberals.  Conservatives believe that States should have their own
sovereignty and rise and fall on the weight of their own decisions,
but other States should not be bound to the actions of one State.  The
liberal argument of this President is that one State has established a
precedent and the others should be forced to follow suit, like it or
lump it.
Mitt Romney was a Republican Governor with legislature that held a
strong Democrat majority.  Had he vetoed the bill, the opposing Party
would have most likely overridden him.  The Governor tried to
negotiate from a position of strength rather than weakness to craft a
bill that both Parties would accept and the people wanted.  President
Obama and his Democrat majority crafted their own bill in secret and
didn’t give a rat’s hinder-parts what the Republicans or the people
wanted.  So you see, when it comes to motives, there are some stark
differences between the two health plans

A wise man once asked, “Who has despised the day of small beginnings?”  It’s amazing to see how quickly many in the political realm seem to answer in the affirmative to this centuries old question.  Perhaps it’s because so many have gotten their start through government grants or subsidies that the idea of a small beginning is to them irrelevant.  Or maybe some could be so controlled by the impatient, selfish craving for power that the arduous slow rise to influence, and the life-lessons learned thereby, are deemed unfruitful and callously tossed aside for the shortcuts to control, however unseemly they may be.  The end justifies the means and those voices, which are small in their eyes, are ignored for the brash and strident.

But the question to the despised is a simple one.  Will they allow disdain to silence their voice or will they continue to stand with the integrity and strength hardened by adversity?  It was another wise man that issued this charge to a young student thrust into leadership.  “Let no man despise thy youth.”  The lesson for this young man was that, while he could not control the actions of others, he could control his own.  He could let the disdain of others deter him from his goals and capitulate to their opinion or he could stand for what he believed and exercise his responsibilities with excellence in the face of shallow critique.

Now enter The Red County Caucus.  Its title taken from the political nickname of one of the smallest counties in all of New England, a group of residents from this little county in Maine decided to form a caucus that would stand for the precepts of conservatism and common sense.  Piscataquis County received the nickname “The Red County” because it has proven itself to be a bastion of Republican and Conservative strength.  Despite its small size, Piscataquis surprised the political world when it stood alone as the only County in all of New England to vote against Barack Obama, marring a complete sweep of New England by Democrats.  George Soros and his ilk then targeted the little County. They set up headquarters in the County seat hoping to break the strength of Piscataquis.

Representative and former Senate minority leader Paul Davis responded by forming The Red County Caucus.  He joined forces with now retired Senator Doug Smith and Representative Pete Johnson of Greenville along with conservative columnist Andy Torbett.  Their first political statement was to endorse then candidate Paul LePage, which was instrumental in his election as Governor and helped to provide the Republicans their first majority in forty years.  Now the Presidential primary is upon us.

The Red County Caucus has watched the primary with great interest and, after much discussion, has decided to endorse Governor Mitt Romney for President.  While there are others in this primary that tout their conservative credentials, a close examination of their voting record shows a concerning vacillation from those principles at times during their public service and in certain votes.  Perhaps there are valid reasons for this that can be debated, but Governor Romney has shown a steady growth and movement toward conservatism throughout his various tenures of leadership, both private and public.  There is enough evidence of this to convince these four Conservative leaders of Piscataquis County that he will defend the beliefs and tenets that we hold crucial to a great Society; a small, fiscally conservative government and a strong, vibrant, traditional American family.

The Red County Caucus calls upon their fellow Conservatives across the Nation to join them in supporting Mitt Romney for the nomination.  The Red County Caucus would also like to take this time to express its disappointment with those in the media and so many political pundits who have tried to draw a caricature of social conservatives so blinded by our several beliefs that we could forgo the future security of this Great Nation for a political statement.  On the contrary, we, The Red County Caucus, stand secure in our belief that all freedom loving Americans, Moderates, Conservatives, Independents and Tea Party Patriots alike, will stand together united in a common goal to defend the United States from four more years of President Barack Obama.

PRESS RELEASE
The Red County Caucus

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Andy Torbett (Chairman)    CONTACT #: (207) 564-9071
DATE: March 15, 2012

Red County Caucus Supports Romney

The Red County Caucus, a group of Conservative Republicans from
Piscataquis County, takes its name from the fact that it has been the
only County in New England to support all Republican candidates in
recent elections. Of particular note was the fact that it was the only
New England County to support McCain/Palin in 2008, helping set the
stage for a 2010 Republican resurgence in Maine.  Today the Red County
Caucus announced it was supporting Mitt Romney for President of the
United States.

In making the endorsement, the RCC stated its view that Romney has
allayed most concerns in re-asserting his conservative credentials and
proving that he has the ability to attract all segments of the
Republican Party.  “Of paramount concern,” it said in making the
endorsement, “is that we have a strong and principled conservative
leader who has the ability to attract a large cross-section of the
electorate including Conservatives, Moderates, Tea Party Patriots, and
Independents who are deeply concerned about the direction of the Obama
Administration’s policies.  In our considered opinion, Mitt Romney is
clearly the best candidate and has the very best chance of defeating
the most disastrous president in our Nation’s history.”

We urge our fellow citizens across this State and Nation to join us
supporting Mitt Romney for President and ignite a new era of freedom
and prosperity.