Election TN-05: After Action Report

Reviewing the 2006 Kovach for Congress campaign

By Tom Kovach

Warning: I've written some long columns before. This one is really long. But, if one is serious about politics in this country, then this is a must-read. I'm not just saying that because I wrote it. (If you are a "skimmer," then read up through the Endorsements section, and then skip down to the Recommendations sections. Or, if you're a real bottom-line person, skip to the Summary. Once you've read that, you will want to come back and read what you skipped.)

The 2006 elections are over. The balance of power has shifted in the Congress, and in several state legislatures, in favor of the Democratic Party. Spin doctors are giving opinions from all angles; some correct, some misleading. What can be learned from it all?

There is an old saying: "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!" Perhaps it is too early, or the topic too vast, to gain an accurate analysis of the national effect of the recent elections. So, the purpose of this column is simply to report on my own campaign for the US House of Representatives, and to offer some analysis. As this column will show, there were some unique points to this campaign that may offer insights into the direction of the 2008 elections — congressional and presidential. As is my custom, I will follow a military format in presenting this After-Action Report (AAR). To the best of my ability, the report will be written third-person, using the clinically analytical language of such reports.

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Scenario

This is an AAR of the Kovach for Congress campaign, 5th District of Tennessee, in the 2006 election. The 5th District includes Nashville (the state capital) and surrounding areas. Because of the concentrated population of Nashville, there are only three counties within the 5th District: Davidson (Nashville), Wilson (Lebanon), and Cheatham (Ashland City) — shown in descending population order, with the county seat of each. None of the counties is totally within the 5th District. About 95 percent of Davidson is in the district. The western two-thirds of Wilson, and the eastern one-third of Cheatham, are in the district. Overall, the district is approximately 65 percent Democrat, and has been in continuous Democratic Party control since 1875. As a result, the "kingmakers" of the Republican Party believe that the 5th District is "bulletproof." So, they have not offered party support to any candidate in more than a decade. No wealthy, self-financed candidate has run for the seat in approximately 32 years.

Candidate Tom Kovach is the PR coordinator for the Constitution Party of Tennessee (CPOT), and attempted to obtain Constitution Party nominating petitions from the State Division of Elections. That division refused, claiming that the CP is not a valid statewide political party in Tennessee. (However, in the 2004 elections, the CP had a statewide ballot line for the presidential race.) That left the candidate with two incorrect choices: Republican or Independent. Candidate Kovach reasoned that running on the Independent line would invoke the "wacko factor" (some voters believe that anyone running as an Independent must be "wacko," supposedly having been rejected by "both" political parties). The other choice, running for the Republican line, ran the risk of getting into a primary election battle with a well-funded candidate. Candidate Kovach calculated that such a primary battle would involve at least one debate, in which both Republican hopefuls would argue which was the more conservative. Kovach saw that as a winnable option, and chose to seek the Republican Party ballot line.

Therefore, Mr. Kovach became the only candidate in the entire country to be a member of the Constitution Party but run for Congress on the Republican Party line.

Primary Election actions

Candidate Kovach obtained Republican petitions, and got nearly three times the number of signatures required for nomination. Most of those signatures were obtained in a single evening — at a rally against the lax security of our national borders. The rally was held in front of the Nashville office of US Senate majority leader Bill Frist, MD, who is from Nashville. The rally was hosted by Nashville talk-radio giant Phil Valentine. Guest speakers included Chris Simcox, co-founder of the Minutemen. (Due to internal differences, the Minutemen later split into two separate groups: the Minuteman Project [Jim Gilchrist of California], and the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps [Chris Simcox of Arizona].) Mr. Simcox said in his speech that conservatives need to find more good people to run for office, especially in Congress. While Mr. Simcox was speaking, Mr. Kovach notified Mr. Valentine that he had just obtained the nominating petitions that very day (27 Jan 2006), and asked if he could make an announcement. Mr. Valentine handed Mr. Kovach the bullhorn, immediately after Mr. Simcox finished speaking, and Mr. Kovach publicly announced his candidacy for the first time. People lined up to sign the petitions on the hood of a pickup truck. Mr. Kovach actually had to turn away people that were not qualified to sign the petitions.

The petitions were turned in a month ahead of the deadline. Randy Stamps, political director for the TN Republican Party, fielded a phone call from Mr. Kovach. Mr. Stamps conducted an extensive interview, which lasted over half an hour. He asked about various views, including topics such as: abortion, border security, government spending, taxation, and the role of the Federal government in general. Mr. Stamps stated that he was satisfied that Mr. Kovach's views were, indeed, consistent with the platform of the Republican Party. Notably, at no time did Mr. Stamps ask Mr. Kovach if he was an affiliate of the Republican Party. (In the State of Tennessee, there is no formal party registration. Thus, a person is not technically registered with any party in Tennessee, but may declare their affiliation with a political party.) The closest that Mr. Stamps came to asking about party affiliation was whether Mr. Kovach had ever voted in a Republican primary. (Yes; 2002) Mr. Stamps put Mr. Kovach on hold. A little later, Mr. Stamps declared that he had checked the records, and Mr. Kovach had been confirmed to have voted in a Republican primary. (This caused Mr. Kovach to wonder about the security of votes that were supposedly confidential, but he did not voice that concern.) Mr. Stamps stated that he would recommend to the State GOP Executive Committee that they approve Mr. Kovach's nominating petitions. After the filing deadline, Mr. Stamps called back to say that Mr. Kovach's petitions had, in fact, been approved. Further, no other person had sought the Republican line. Therefore, Mr. Kovach was essentially guaranteed to be on the November ballot for Congress.

During the next several months, up to the primary, several phone conversations took place between Candidate Kovach and Director Stamps. Mr. Stamps made several offers to "try to get you some help from the party," but no such help ever came. No explanation was ever given. Neither before nor after the primary did the Republican Party ever provide even the slightest assistance to the Kovach for Congress campaign. Mr. Kovach was not mentioned in even one e-mail newsletter (the party even featured candidates that were unopposed in the general election, but not Kovach), the GOP did not contribute one penny to the Kovach campaign, the GOP did not run even one non-coordinated ad in favor of Mr. Kovach, and the candidate was not invited to even one Republican event. (That includes the so-called "unity" breakfast hosted by US Senate candidate Bob Corker on the morning after the Republican primary. The breakfast was held at a hotel in Nashville [5th District], but the 5th District candidate was not invited.) Mr. Kovach did appear, however, at three Republican public events.

Despite the snubs from the state Republican Party, the Wilson County Republican Party provided as much help as their limited resources would allow. And, in the primary, Mr. Kovach got over 18,000 votes total. In Wilson County, Mr. Kovach came within 200 votes of Democratic incumbent Jim Cooper, who also faced a primary challenger (Jason Pullias). And, in Cheatham County, Mr. Kovach got more Republican primary votes than any other Republican candidate. (For details, see Kovach beats the big boys.)

Endorsements

Kovach for Congress was formally endorsed by the following groups: 1) Tennesseans for Responsible Immigration Policies, 2) Team America PAC, 3) RealMarriage.org, 4) NoNAIS.org, and 5) Americans for Legal Immigration PAC. Additionally, Kovach was endorsed by the state and national Constitution Party, and by the Blue Collar Republicans (a group dedicated to conservative values, and to escaping the "uppity" image of the Republican Party).

Kovach for Congress also got positive ratings from a dozen other prominent groups, including the National Right to Life PAC and the National Rifle Association. Details of all ratings and endorsements may be viewed on this page.

News Coverage

News media coverage of the campaign was virtually non-existent. The Kovach for Congress campaign put out 18 News Releases during the year, but not one of them was published at the time of its release. Two of the releases were published after the fact, but only after "direct action" by Mr. Kovach and/or his supporters. The first was by the Nashville City Paper. They covered the amicus curiae brief that Mr. Kovach filed against illegal aliens in Federal court. But, they only did so after Mr. Kovach made an unannounced personal visit to the offices of the newspaper, and virtually demanded that they cover the story.

The second such coverage occurred after Mr. Kovach sent out a bulletin to his "Kovach Kommandos" supporters e-mail list. They, in turn, bombarded the offices of the Nashville Tennessean political editor with e-mail. Two days later, the newspaper ran the only pre-election headline with Mr. Kovach's name in it. (And, even then, he had to share the headline with an opponent.) The next Tennessean article of the entire year to mention Mr. Kovach was three weeks later, to announce that their endorsed candidate, Jim Cooper, had beat Mr. Kovach.

Television coverage was also minimal. The first station to give Mr. Kovach any coverage was WZTV Fox-17. They taped a 15-minute interview, which covered a variety of topics. But, they only used about ten seconds of it before the primary. They aired no coverage of Mr. Kovach between the primary and general elections.

One station did attempt a modicum of fairness. All candidates were asked equally, "What should the US do in Iraq?" The 60-second answers to that question were aired by WKRN ABC-2. (Note: At the time of taping, Mr. Kovach had been out of the hospital for only a few days after major surgery. He was in significant pain, and was leaning on a cane that was out of camera view.) The taped answers by the 5th District candidates were not even played all on the same day. But, the one-minute clips were the closest thing that the public got to a debate in this election.

Talk Radio

Especially disappointing to both the candidate and to conservative listeners was the near-total absence of any mention of Tom Kovach by the talk-radio hosts in the Nashville area. Despite the fact that Mr. Kovach had been a frequent and engaging caller to the various programs for more than five years before the general election, all of the big talk-radio shows ignored Kovach for Congress. The only serious talk-radio mention of the Kovach campaign was on the Black-heritage station WVOL (whose antennas are in a low spot, thus their signal is limited), where the Rev. T.J. Graham invited Mr. Kovach to speak at two of his downtown rallies against illegal aliens. (TV coverage of those rallies made no mention of the presence of a Federal candidate speaking about immigration issues. Instead, they gave face time to pro-illegal advocates.)

Most notable are the actions of two talk-radio hosts. Despite having actually handed Mr. Kovach the bullhorn at his January rally, Phil Valentine of WWTN "blockaded" call-ins from Tom Kovach, and never had him on the air as a guest. (Immediately after the election, Mr. Kovach was again allowed to get on the air as a caller. The blockade was intentional, and appeared to be a measure to compel Mr. Kovach to purchase advertising on the station in order to get any coverage on the show.)

Morning host Kevin Miller (who, about the time of the Republican primary, replaced long-time WWTN morning host Steve Gill) at first allowed Mr. Kovach to call into his program. Then, suddenly, he began to treat Mr. Kovach in a rude and shameful manner on the air. This included frequently interrupting the candidate, changing the subject frequently, and even playing the song "Yakety Sax" at a loud volume while Mr. Kovach was trying to answer Miller's questions. (Notably, Miller touts himself as a "former Army Reserve journalist," but has also admitted on-air that his military service "just didn't work out" after only a short time.) It appeared to Mr. Kovach that the sudden change was a crude attempt to "shakedown" the campaign for advertising dollars. Mr. Kovach went to station management to complain. The regional manager for Cumulus Radio told Mr. Kovach face-to-face that he would see that Mr. Kovach was given a guest interview on the Kevin Miller show. That same week, Mr. Miller made that same offer on-air. But, there was no follow-up from Mr. Miller to schedule such an interview. So, after about a week, Mr. Kovach called the program again. On that occasion, Mr. Miller began shouting and interrupting Mr. Kovach. The candidate, in turn, said, "Oh, I see. You do serious interviews with other candidates, but not with me. Why?" Mr. Miller responded by playing Yakety Sax again, and by saying, "Because you call in as a caller." (That conversation came only moments after Mr. Miller had fielded call-ins from both Bob Corker and Harold Ford, Jr., the two main candidates for the US Senate from Tennessee. Mr. Miller never did explain the difference between their call-ins and Mr. Kovach's call-ins. The only difference that Mr. Kovach could perceive is that Corker and Ford both had big-money advertising campaigns that included plenty of ads on WWTN.) Mr. Kovach — a former member of the National Association of Radio Talk Show Hosts himself — hung up on a talk-radio host for the first time in his life. (Tom Kovach started calling talk-radio shows at the age of six, and is known nationally as "the most loyal listener" of the G. Gordon Liddy syndicated talk-radio program. His signature call-ins start with "gung-ho greetings." Mr. Kovach wrote the theme song "The Ballad of the Liddy Brigade". Mr. Liddy took frequent call-ins from Mr. Kovach, discussed his campaign, and had him on as a guest on Candidate Day just before the election.) Mr. Miller also complained, on-air, that he had been bombarded with e-mails from the Kovach Kommandos, whom he referred to as "Tom-a-Maniacs" in an insulting tone of voice. He also called Mr. Kovach a "bully," with absolutely no provocation. [NOTE: It is never too late for concerned citizens to send a letter to WWTN, demanding that your complaint be kept in their FCC complaint file, or to call the program director. His name is John Mountz, and his phone number is (615) 321-1067.]

General Election results

Tom Kovach got 49,036 votes in the general election. That was approximately 28 percent of the vote. It was also the highest total vote count in the country for any affiliate of the Constitution Party. The second-highest was Ed Noonan, who got 48,672 in a race for governor of California. (In that state, the CP affiliate is called the American Independent Party. Several states have laws against using the word "Constitution" in the names of their political parties.)

Analysis

Only a small handful of people (less than ten) contributed money to the Kovach for Congress campaign. Total contributions came to $1,005. The candidate spent approximately another $1,800 of his own money, stretched out over ten months. Thus, the campaign never reached the $5,000 threshold that triggers FEC report filing requirements. The biggest expenses were the printing of campaign materials, the development of a Web site, and the purchase of a new multi-function printer. To keep costs down, the campaign developed an innovative way for supporters to print their own campaign materials; but, few actually did so. Among the fundraising projects, Tom Kovach published his first book, Slingshot, and hosted his unique Politics on Horseback.

The national average cost-per-vote in a congressional campaign exceeds three dollars. But, the Kovach for Congress campaign produced a cost-per-vote average of slightly more than half a penny. Thus, any serious student of politics can see that the Kovach message was actually quite successful, despite the loss of the election. And, were it not for the active "media blockade" detailed above, the average cost-per-vote would have been even less, and the vote total likely much higher. The campaign estimates that if it had raised even ten thousand dollars (which would've then attracted a certain amount of PAC money), the results would've been dramatically different. (NOTE: the Kovach for Congress campaign still has some outstanding expenses. And, of course, it isn't too early to prepare for the next election. Those wanting to contribute to Kovach for Congress may do so from this Web page.)

It appears that the news media, in all its forms, has created a self-fulfilling prediction about the costs of political campaigns. Despite railing against those costs in editorials (which usually support Socialist "public campaign financing," or restrictive "campaign finance reform" that blocks citizen-activists), the news media are the primary creators of those costs. This is analogous to an "environmentally friendly" newspaper ranting against a new recycling program, because participation in the program would highlight to the public the fact that a large portion of the waste stream is actually newsprint. There is no way for the government to properly regulate "fairness" in the political advertising or news coverage processes. Thus, the individual citizen must take it upon himself to do the research necessary to make an informed voting decision. Candidates that have Web sites do both themselves and the public a service toward that goal. Unfortunately, many party "strategists" advocate putting minimal information on a Web site, to avoid any "controversial" topics. In contrast, the Kovach for Congress site provided extensive detail on nearly every imaginable election topic. Web sites like that of Kovach for Congress must become the new norm, or the voting process will become little more than a game of "pin the tail on the donkey."

Lessons Learned

1. Don't trust the news media to actually report the political news — any of it, much less all of it.
   
   
2. Don't trust the Republican leadership! (That would be the party that claims that John "campaign finance repression" McCain, and George W. "no more borders" Bush are conservatives!) At some point, the rank-and-file conservative members of the Republican Party must figure out that their leadership is only using them, and has no intention of actually supporting conservative values without compromise.
   
   
3. Don't wait until officially becoming a candidate to start campaigning.
   
   
4. Don't assume that people will give money because they agree with you.
   
   
5. You'll get all the news coverage you can buy. (Corker and Ford were on the TV news almost hourly, seemingly just to "blow their nose." Gubernatorial candidate Jim Bryson was on the news a lot ... until he ran low on money, and then he virtually disappeared. Coincidence?)
   
   

Recommendations

1. True conservatives should "divorce" the Republican Party immediately. The actions of the Republican leadership, especially at the national level, during the recent election should prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that the GOP has made a conscious decision to go in a direction that is quite different from that of the people that put them into power. To explain this, I have begun to use the "wife beater" analogy.
   
   The Republican Party is like a wife beater. They beat up the true conservatives in the off years by supporting ridiculous "Democrat-Lite" proposals. Examples include allowing the FDA to approve the RU-486 abortion pill, refusing to require President Bush to obey the Constitution by getting a formal declaration of war before invading other countries ("enforcing UN sanctions" is not the same thing), ignoring the security of our national borders, refusing to truly overhaul the Tax Code while in power in both houses of Congress, etc., etc. Then, when the true conservatives complain about these problems, the Republican Party "promises" to get better. And, when an election year comes along, the GOP pulls out hot-button issues such as homosexual "marriage," and says, "Vote Republican, or the country will go to hell in a handbasket." And, the conservative base falls for it. Like the battered wife, conservatives think that they must be loyal to "my party, right or wrong" — despite the fact that the GOP obviously isn't loyal to conservatives anymore. Conservatives, especially of the Christian variety, like the battered wife, want to stick around and keep trying to "fix" the Republican Party. They refuse to seek a divorce unless there is a "scriptural" reason. (i.e.: "adultery"; collaborating with liberals.)
   
   The problem is, there have been repeated "scriptural" grounds for conservatives to divorce the Republican Party. A few previous examples were noted above. Right now, the Republican occupant of the White House is in the process of selling out the security and sovereignty of this nation via the so-called "Security and Prosperity Partnership" (SPP). The SPP is a trans-national power grab! If it goes through (and, it's almost complete), then America as we know it (and as the Founders intended it) will literally cease to exist. That is not an example of some "mid-life affair" with the Democrats. It's more like a weekly orgy with a gang of outlaw-bikers. If that isn't grounds for an immediate divorce, then conservative Christians need to find a new label.
   
   
2. Americans should get accustomed to multi-party politics. Despite the repeated bleating of the "mainstream" news media, there never was a two-party political system in this country. Early in our history, in addition to the Whigs and the Tories, there were the Know-Nothings and the Anti-Masons. Thomas Jefferson founded what some of that day might have called a "moderate" party called the Democratic Republicans. (Yes, you read correctly.) Right now in our country, there are over 200 political parties, which is down from about 400 when I first researched this topic in 1998. At the national level, there are eight political parties that are recognized by the Federal Election Commission as nationwide parties. The third-largest of those is the Constitution Party — thus, the true third party. Americans need to stop thinking only in terms of "A or B." Just imagine if today's news media had covered World War Two! (Opinion poll: Should the president create more jobs, or send your son to a malaria-infested jungle?)
   
   
3. Conservatives should join the Constitution Party. Misguided conservative voters decided to "spank" the Republican Party in the recent election by voting for Democrats. Wow. That's like punishing the chef by eating poison. The chef will still be there tomorrow, and no one can blame his food for your death. And, when one considers that the Communist Party urged their members to vote for Democrats, something should tell you that the "same old thing" (Republican Party) just isn't working any more.
   
   Instead, those voters (who only think of politics in "A or B" terms) should have looked for "Option C": the Constitution Party. If you don't want to take the time to read the party's platform, then just read a few columns by some of its outspoken members.
   
   Some conservatives have joined the Libertarian Party, only to discover that they favor open borders. Some have joined the Reform Party, thinking that it is bigger (and thus more capable of victory, which is not necessarily correct). Voters are stunned to learn that the Constitution Party has several times more members than the Reform Party. But, the Reform Party has all that big advertising money from its wealthy founder, Ross Perot. That is why many people think that it's bigger. Just remember: the Constitution Party is the party that the liberal media doesn't want you to know about. Their treatment of the Kovach for Congress campaign is ample proof of that.
   
   
4. Military veterans need to organize as a political force. There are some issues that go far beyond mere partisan politics. Although the MSM tries to portray border security as a partisan issue (Republicans for; Democrats against), the facts are much different. The main fact is that border security is a survival issue, not a political issue. No border equals no country. Only one of the national parties is advocating 100% security of our national borders: the Constitution Party. And, to help veterans become a viable force, the CP has recently organized the National Veterans Coalition. You will be reading much more about the NVC in the near future.
   
   It is not an exaggeration to say that the survival and well-being of our country rests upon the decisions that we make now. To get an idea of just how close America really is to a national implosion, compare today's conditions with those of the novel "The First Team", which was written in 1971 by John Ball. The National Veterans Coalition is poised to become the real-life First Team — which first tried to prevent national disaster, then rose to take action against it. Instead of appeasing the Soviet Union, our real-life President George W. Bush is trying to appease the globalists (of which he is apparently one) by selling out our national borders. We cannot stand idly by and let that happen. The NVC needs people that understand the creed "this far, and no farther"; military veterans have lived that creed. It is important that concerned military members, veterans, and their families join the National Veterans Coalition now.
   
   
5. Now is the time to start preparing for the 2008 elections, especially the presidential election. In the 2004 election, the MSM was forced (by the poll results) to include a line for the Constitution Party in its election coverage charts. Knowing how much the MSM tries to ignore conservative achievements, that fact is all the more significant. Because the CP is growing in visibility, and because it is the only national party to advocate 100% secure borders, it is possible that a prominent national figure (hypothetical example: Congressman Tom Tancredo) could cross over from the Republican Party to the Constitution Party for the specific purpose of running for president on the CP line. If that happens, such a prominent figure could pull large numbers of Republican members into the Constitution Party. The CP should stand ready to provide a vice-presidential running mate that can compliment such a candidate.
   
   

Summary

True conservatives (those that believe in an "original intent" interpretation of the Constitution, its subordinate laws, and our American traditions) have been abandoned by the Republican Party. The "mainstream" news media has gone beyond skewing the news, and outright suppresses news that is crucial for an informed electorate. There is not now, nor has there ever been, only a "two-party system" in American government. (That is another myth of the Left-tilting news media, like the "separation of church and state" or "government should provide for its citizens.") The Constitution Party has proven itself capable of taking on the Big Two parties, and is ready to grow and become an even larger political force. American's must become informed on their own, and not be duped by "engineered" news stories or phony political advertising. Our country's military veterans are a potential source of political power, but need to be organized. The CP's new National Veterans Coalition is poised to take the initiative toward that goal. It is not too early to prepare for the 2008 elections, especially the presidential election. The CP will likely field a viable candidate for president.

© Tom Kovach