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Meeting in
Auburn, Washington on April 29, 2006 the King County (Washington State)
GOP Convention adopted its platform and certified Steve Beren as its
candidate for U.S. Congress in the 7th Congressional District
against Democrat Party incumbent Jim McDermott. Beren addressed the
delegates in the morning, and in the afternoon was named on 78 of 81
ballots cast by delegates. Excerpts from the Steve Beren
speech follow:
I’m Steve Beren, and I am running for Congress in the Seventh
Congressional District against Jim McDermott ….
You all know about McDermott. He is one of the
worst members of congress. Ineffective, arrogant, complacent,
unethical, and most of all, a far left extremist. He's also had a
bit of legal trouble lately, and I believe we have a great
opportunity to do things with this campaign that have not been done
for a very long time.
I believe I am the perfect candidate to run against McDermott. In my
youth I was a Vietnam antiwar activist, and I am a former Democrat.
I switched to the Republican Party at age 52, just like Ronald
Reagan.
Our district is now solidly Democratic, but I truly believe that one
day it will be a majority Republican district. But in order for that
to happen, we’ve got to take a lot of current Democrats, and turn
them into former Democrats (like me).
Since 9/11, I have been a speaker and writer, primarily on the issue
of international terrorism. I’ve been on numerous talk shows,
debated the Young Democrats on campus, appeared as a panelist at the
Young Republican National Convention, and was the keynote speaker at
a Lincoln Day fundraiser last year in Oregon.
My concept of this campaign is not to preach to the choir, but to
present Republican values and Republican issues to the entire
electorate. You're the choir. Rather than me preach to you, you and
I need to combine together, and then we need to convince the voters
as a whole.
And there is a dual character to this campaign. It is a local
campaign, but there is also a national aspect to it.
The morning after I announced my campaign, the federal appeals court
ruled that McDermott had violated federal law. Since then I have
been interviewed on talk shows from Georgia to San Antonio to
Portland, and NewsMax magazine has covered my campaign and my
reaction to the court ruling.
Some people say to me: "wow, you're in a tough district - Seattle."
I say, "yeah, but McDermott is in a tough district too - it's called
America!"
McDermott opposes the Patriot Act and opposes the terrorist
wiretapping program. Yet he has no problem with REAL domestic
wiretapping of fellow congressmen. What a hypocrite! Is that the
best the Democrats can offer?
And when Al-Jazeera recently presented its list of top ten antiwar
congressmen, McDermott was on the list.
And when congress passed a resolution opposing aid to Hamas,
McDermott complained on the house floor that this was just
Republican "show-boating" for Israel.
And when congress passed a resolution favoring referral of Iran to
the Security Council, McDermott was one of only four congressmen
voting "no."
And McDermott has said of our troops in Iraq: "as long as our troops
are there they’re going to be a continued irritant." Actually it is
McDermott who is an irritant to the state of Washington. If ever a
congressman should pursue an "exit strategy," it's Jim McDermott.
I ask for your endorsement today. I ask you to give me your support,
your time, and your money. Your support will get me on radio and TV,
and I will represent your ideas, your concerns, your interests, your
dreams ….
I want to be your candidate for congress. I want to help change the
political atmosphere in this corner of the Pacific Northwest.
Seattle needs a debate, and I can be an effective voice in that
debate. Seattle needs a new congressman, and I can be an effective
voice in congress.
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