The stakes in this election couldn't be higher.  Republican President George W. Bush has taken us into a catastrophic war of occupation in Iraq and a failing effort in Afghanistan.  We have now the first American President in history who has effectively lost two wars simultaneously.  Bush has transformed the Republican party into something which is no longer "conservative" in any traditional sense.  The party now, with its arrogance, extremism and corruption, has become a political aberration, somewhere between a gang and a cult, full of corporate criminals, religious extremists preaching their apocalyptic hatreds and a plague of loony neocon ideologues who are utterly divorced from reality.  It is the neocons who have been the prime movers behind the hoaxing of the American people.  Lies took us into Iraq.  More and more US military recognize Bush’s decision to go to Iraq as the worst strategic disaster in American history.  Bush’s “stay the course” is a road to hell, conceived in lies and paved with bad intentions.  Any effort, born in such a manner, cannot end well.  This is a Republican catastrophe and was totally unnecessary. 

I ask Republicans: where is the Republican tradition of prudence, reserve and basic competence we saw in Eisenhower, Goldwater and Reagan?  These characteristics are nowhere present in the Bush administration.  The Republican party of today is "Republican" in name only.  I am, in many critical respects and in the traditional sense of the word, far more "conservative" than they are.  I am fiscally conservative and I believe in good government programs like Social Security, Medicare and education for all.  I believe that government should actually do something for its citizens.

Bush has taken the largest surplus in history, and created the largest deficits and debt in the history of the world.  And on every front: health, jobs, education, he has created a mess.  He is completely incompetent by every measure?  For qualification, he substitutes cronyism.  For genuine need, he substitutes corporate greed.  Instead of providing service, government contractors plunder the treasury.  Instead of providing good jobs for Americans, he sends them abroad and gives corporations tax breaks for doing so.  This is no way to run a government.  Bush is acting like a drunk driver at the helm of the ship of state, and is running it into the ground.  We need to intervene.  We need to act now.  All of us, Democrat and Republican. 

My opponent, sitting Congressman Ken Calvert has been his rubber stamp, saying yes to everything that his Republican commanders mandate.  Being a rubber stamp wasn't enough for Ken.  Our Representative has distinguished himself in a string of questionable activities for which he has been named as the #6th most corrupt politician in the US Congress, according to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

We can make the 44th a great place to live, with a robust economy, improved transportation, better schools and a place of real opportunity.  We will not achieve this, however, by continuing the course we are presently on.  If ever there was a time for change, it is now.

We need to stop the mad parade of ideology and greed over reason and principle.  If you oppose what George W. Bush has done and continues to do, there is only one legitimate choice for a candidate in the 44th district -- a candidate who pledges to restore balance and reason to the United States Congress.  I am a long-time college administrator, with an unblemished record of public service and experience.  I would be honored to represent you in the federal legislature.

I see this election as a call to American citizenship, for democracy, for our country, at a truly historic time.  We have now arrived at a fork in the road of history between a tragic decline of our stature and greatness as a nation and the clear potential for a great American renewal.  Because of my deep love and concern for my country, I have run for office.  Now comes your part.  You must engage in the process of our democracy.  You must vote.  It’s really up to you.  If not you, who?  If not now, when?

In the culminating moments of this campaign effort, I humbly ask for your vote and pledge to you my sincere service. 

With thanks, humility, respect and love for America, its traditions and its future promise,

Louis Vandenberg
Candidate for United States Congress
44th Congressional District