It seems to me that the real crisis in the Prince William area is immigration, not abortion and 2nd amendment issues. Why does anyone care if a candidate for sherif is pro-life or pro-choice? How does the sherif’s office concern itself with gun issues as a political issue?

Lets focus on the problems rather than the abstractions.

I have a theory, those people who hate conservatives, hate the dream/vision of conservatives and all that entails, when they feel confronted or challenged on facts and such, chose to respond with attacks, assumptions, slams, slurs, inuendo, etc. I wonder if that explains Pundit’s choice of sytle (and his political bent)? And this kind of person is the face of the incumbent’s support base? Sheesh!

What appears to be a call for Democrats to vote in this Republican Primary is — if correct — IMHO, COMPLETELY OVER THE TOP!

I have never denied that the current Sheriff’s greatest (and pehaps only) demonstration of success is how he has improved the department. Again, I state for the record, he has! But — and that is a very big BUT — Republicans coming into office who inherit a ‘mess’ created by a previous D office holder often have nowhere to go but up. Sadly, when things are really bad, darn near anything is an improvement.

Fotis has a better history as law enforcement officer than does his opponent: he was the most decorated officer in his Department’s history, he survived a point blank shoot out with a would-be cop killer. Fotis has more and better academic background. And, Fotis has a longer/better conservative political action record. For those who want more data I invite you to www.fotisforsheriff.com

This election is a Republican Primary, Pundit says, “The choice is clear whether you’re republican or not.” I can not help but wonder if that statement is inteded to create support in the Republican Primary by folks other than Republicans (i.e. Democrats). Pundits please clarify. Are you saying your guy is the better candidate for non-R’s or that non-R’s should vote for him in the Primary?

in Spain, they dont know you either! Your just silly and i am a republican.

All due respect but your post has nothing to do with the theme of this thread… and if you are going to make the claim that Hill has done a “terrific” job please tell us how exactly. Please answer the questions posed about shouldn’t he have done more to advance conservative/republican ideas, values, policies and/or candidates. Don’t republican voters have a right to expect something more from their elected representative who seeks their primary vote than the claim that “He did (a little bit) better than a bad Democrat!”

The race that is before us is the one for the Republican Primary for Sheriff and it will be here in a few short weeks.

You, Greg and others may wish that individual candiates were running for other offices, but THEY ARE NOT.

Your WISHES WILL NOT CHANGE THE REALITY that the electon is almost here and that precious little of substance is being covered in the print media. Not surprisingly, some candidates are resorting to letters to the editor, but the reality is the only place where any ‘deep’ discussion of ideas/candidates is on forums such as the one here, graciously provided us by Greg L.

So, there WILL BE an election, the voters WILL CHOOSE between three candidate and the truth/background of these candidates will most likely only be revealed in these kind of forums (assuming that we can keep the debate on the up and up, fact/idea based, out of the gutter and relevant).

James J. Fotis for Sheriff is the most conservative candidate - if the voters don’t want to elect the more conservative candidate then they won’t; I suspect that most Republicans voting in the primary will want to vote for the candidate who has a clearly better/longer/more visible conservative pedigree… for short I call that a voter who chooses to ‘trade-up’.

The voters will likely not hear that message in the ‘main stream media.’ They probably won’t even hear that message in letters to the editor, effective though they may be. The truth is that for right now at least, the place where conservatives can get the most ‘truth’ is from places just like this. I don’t think any candidate can be slighted for resorting to letters to the editor. The bad part is that even with letters to the editor, combined with the non-reporting that is not happening, will leave voters with very little information…. thank heavens that there is the web to fill the void!

On a personal note, while I appreciate your comparing James J. Fotis for Sheriff to John Wayne I must point out that I am a die-hard Duke fan and not even I would dane to compare a ‘mere mortal’ to my hero, The Duke!

He has not actively supported any PW Republicans in the past that I am aware of, where as the Sherriff has been active in many campaigns including the re-election of Marty, Corey, Wally and Maureen. He also has been very active in his support for Jackson Miller.

What they did not explain in the letters to the editor is why their candidate was running. I can’t speak to why the one challenger is running. I believe that Hill ran for the office initially one-term ago because he was approached by “R” leadership and they asked (is begged too strong a word) him to run against an incumbent ‘D’ Sheriff who by all accounts was doing a terrible job with the office on many fronts. Hill — with little republican party or conservative background — chose to throw his hat in the ring, and let the party/local political process run his election effort.

Now it is four years later and what is supposed to be a Republican Sheriff has turned out to be either not-very conservative (reluctant to be involved or help lead conservative battles/ideas) and/or actually opposed to Republicans/mainstream conservative values. (Yes, he has done a better job than the ‘D’ who held office before - but I would submit simply doing a little better job than a bad Democrat is NOT a ringing endorsement and certainly is NOT sufficient reason to decide against ‘trading-up’ to a better candidate first chance Republican voters get!)

James J. Fotis for Sheriff is a different story. His family is not writing letters to the editor. He is a professional, highly decorated (much more so than the other two candidates) former police officer. He didn’t sit on his fanny/behind a desk — he even survived a point blank shoot out with a would be cop killer.

Fotis is a patriot (volunteered to serve his nation in a time of war) and when he retired from his job as a police officer he dedicated his life to conservative politics in the realm of law and order issues / the law enforcement community. For fifteen years he has been a conservative leader of the highest order.

When James J. Fotis saw firsthand what the current Sheriff was not getting done, when he saw how there appeared to be no common effort to improve local conservative politics nor make the Office of Sheriff more responsive to those who vote; he decided to do what he could to make it better: He believed (and I agree) that he could do a much better job for the Voters in Prince William County and he threw his hat in the ring.

You won’t see all this in a letter to the editor in your local paper.

Ultimately every person who plans on voting in this primary will have to decide do they want to elect the more conservative — and very well qualified — James J. Fotis or will they chose to vote for a candidate who is less well qualified and will take the department in a different direction. If the voters in the Republican Primary DO NOT WANT A STRONG, PROVEN CONSERVATIVE LEADER than I expect they will vote for one of the other candidates. The local media will not be telling this story — not even in the letters to the editor!

I start and end my day as a conservative. If those who plan on voting are not conservative/don’t support conservatives than the less conservative candidate may well win!

But, since the public won’t hear about who is the more conservative candidate in the newspapers we need to be sure to get the truth out in forums such as Greg’s here.

If you need proof just look at his work and spending habits.

Do you have to comment on a subject that you are ignorant of. Making the comment you have made just showcases your ignorance’s even more.

[Ed note: comment edited]

Henry - James J. Fotis is a professsional law man with vast experience and a great conservative pedigree…. he’ll do a first rate job. I think it is fair to say he is not looking for a twig on which to park.

I suspect we will soon be seeing IP’s letters too - whom ever he is. All that said, I thought the last LTE was cute - the girls love their daddy. Momma probably encouraged them, but I believe they wrote it. I stiil see nothing about qualification or the issues in this one either. He used to post here too, but I see he is invisable in most media.

IP, I think JY is going to try to keep you honest here. You talk in circles, use fallacy at every turn, and still ignore the fact your man is very new to this county. Being Sheriff is a job, not just some political twig to perch some bureaucratic butt on. It should be handled by a professional lawman, knowledgable of the jurisdiction he serves, and concerned with how the jurisdiction is managened.

My profound apologies for any misrepresentation that occurred. For the record, tis I that is pointing out that the observation/policy criticism of Hill not being much of a Conservative/Republican before he volunteered to run against the former “D” Sheriff is very similar to what I believe this record in office has also so completely demonstrated: That by his actions you can not clearly demonstrate much of any ‘conservative/republican’ pedigree/history, etc for Hill.

I would ask what conservative issues is Hill on the ‘Right’ side of:

Judges, Death Penalty, supporting conservative/Republican candidates, truth in sentencing, Guns, abolishing parole/probation, Abortion, Victims’ Rights, Civil Rights, supporting law enforcement from liberal’s attacks, etc., etc.,

From what I have seen Hill is/has been — AT BEST — silent and at worst on the WRONG SIDE! James J. Fotis for Sheriff is on the RIGHT side of the issues!

And, with all due respect, the issue of his CURRENT support for the candidate running against the Republican Party candidate for Clerk of the Court can’t just be ‘excused away.’

The candidate’s own website has been modified since she went active against the Republican candidate… when I went there Hill was all over that website… pretty as you please (posing with his badge of office by the way) he is smiling and supporting the opponent to the R candidate. So while you may point out a minor technical point, the overall criticism still stands.

Let me ask all the Hill supporters: Why was there no equivalent photo of Hill supporting Allen when he lost by a narrow margin in PW Co. to the Democrat???? Where has Hill been year in and year…before he first ran for office or in the four years since he was elected?

So I want a Hill supporter to explain why the candidate who is so weak on conservative issues/background should win in a primary against a proven, long time, strong Conservative such as James J. Fotis….. I don’t think there is a credible argument why the Conservative/Republicans who plan to vote in the Primary should not send a message that they want the MORE CONSERVATIVE CANDIDATE TO BE THIER SHERIFF….. can anyone point out a compelling opposite rationale?