Down To The Wire

While I don’t know whether Thomas Massie or Ed Gallrein will win the Republican primary in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, I do know that whoever wins that race will be going to the House of Representatives. This is a deep red district, and no Democrat has a chance here. The winner of the Republican primary is the de facto winner of the Congressional race.

I also know that the official endorsement of deltabravocharlie.com is going to the challenger, Ed Gallrein. While I generally prefer to choose a candidate based on the strengths of their positive attributes compared to their opposition, I will confess that isn’t really the case this time. This time around, I am choosing Gallrein not so much for who he is rather than who he is not…and he is not Thomas Massie.

I had hoped to be able to speak to Gallrein, but got no response to my interview request. While this might be seen as a bad sign, it is certainly no worse than the treatment I’ve gotten from Thomas Massie’s office in the past. At any rate, I have to judge Gallrein the same as everyone else…based on his campaign media and other public commentary. These portray Gallrein as a Trump-endorsed conservative who will support the President’s agenda. As a Trump voter, this is really all I’m looking for…and exactly what Thomas Massie is not.

And that’s the thing: Massie has simply not lived up to his own rhetoric. Over his nearly 14 years in Congress, he has not sponsored a single piece of significant legislation which has been signed into law. In fact, the only bill he has co-sponsored which succeeded was the recent Epstein files release bill which he co-sponsored with Democrat Ro Khanna…and I don’t actually count that as significant because it still hasn’t achieved the stated goal of justice for Epstein’s victims.

So even when I have agreed with Massie’s stated goals, the reality is that he has accomplished nothing close to what he claims he wants. In fact, he has actually hindered progress in many areas I consider important…namely, the 2nd Amendment (He helped torpedo national concealed carry reciprocity in 2017). Although his reliable “no” vote was helpful in putting the brakes on some anti-gun moves during Obama’s second term, he has not helped advance gun freedom when the opportunity presented itself under GOP majorities. On top of that, his continued refusal to support legislation important to President Trump…and by extension, the popular and electoral majorities which elected him…has rendered him useless at best. He is a wasted seat in Congress, at a time when we cannot afford any wasted seats.

So Thomas Massie hasn’t really represented me for some time, and I’m ready to give someone else a chance. As far as predictions go, I don’t really have a good feel for who is going to take the race. I can tell you that here in Massie’s district, the “Cult of Massie” is large and impervious to the fact that he is a failure. But I’m seeing signs that Ed Gallrein has a real chance; he is certainly the strongest challenge Massie has faced since he went to Washington. I suspect the race is truly neck-and-neck, but come May 19th, I’m putting my chips on Gallrein.