Faust4Congress

Thank You for The Opportunity

Without the work that all of you did, we would not have received the results that we did. I do not consider this a defeat. I consider it a VICTORY! We accomplished something we were not supposed to do. Challenge marilyn musgrave. We received over 22% of the VOTE! We accomplished that with minimal funds and voter contact. Imagine what we would have accomplished with $100,000!!

Six months ago I approached an old friend about a screwy idea. Running for Congress. He asked me why I wanted to run. We joked about politicians and how they screw things up, but I got serious and told him, �I want to make America a better place for my kids and do not like the direction our current leaders are heading.� We discussed it some more and I asked him to be my Campaign Manager and Legal Advisor. Thank you Glenn DeAtley for your advice, consul and support. I next approached Dan and Leslie Placke and asked them if they would be willing to manage the financial aspects. Thank you Dan and Leslie for taking the time to understand the rules and regulations of Campaign Finance.

We then set my campaign in motion. After my official announcement, all of you came to my support at different times. Mike Sellito and his group of supporters in New York provided assistance over the internet. They maintained the website and drafted letters to different celebrities trying to raise support for our campaign as well as drafting press releases. In May as we were wrapping up the petition drive, Jared Polis offered his assistance to our campaign. In addition, Professor John Straayer, CSU, asked me to address his political science class. From that presentation, I meet Melissa LeBlanc, who would represent me at the Candidate Forum in Longmont. In June �The Moderate Republican�, Dennis Sanders, joined our campaign. He ran an internet fundraiser that brought more supporters to the campaign. As all of you, I did not have the luxury of being able to quit my job and spend my time campaigning. So we spent our free time trying to spread the word of my campaign. Thank you Brian McNoldy for helping with the parade handouts. Thank you Catherine Greener for providing moral support during the PFLAG candidate forum in Boulder. I know some of you worked 20-hour days and I thank you.

Once we were officially on the Primary Ballot, our hopes of formal recognition and support never materialized. To this day the Republican Party has never formally recognized our campaign. Matt Lubich of The Johnstown Breeze was the first to come forward and announce their support of my campaign. To Matt and The Johnstown Breeze, I thank you. You are the only paper that ran every editorial I wrote and you ran them verbatim. Thank you. In the final days we would also receive the endorsement of the Republicans for Environmental Protection.

I owe my sincere appreciation to every one of you. For you, this would not have been possible. You words of encouragement gave me the strength to continue the struggle. Of all the people I have the greatest appreciation for, it is my family. They tolerated my midnight work to keep the campaign going. They walked the parade routes handling out material when they had other activities they would have preferred to be doing. The sacrifice they made for this campaign can never be measured. To them I offer my sincere Thank You. The following list is of those who either provided donations to my campaign and or time. I apologize if I have missed your name. I think I listed everyone. I can never tell you how grateful I am of the effort all of you made. In late August I will announce my future political endorsements for the November election. I do not intend to quit the fight for National Healthcare, Federal University Program, Equal Rights for ALL People, a Balanced Budget and a reduced deficit.

I thank each and every one of you for your effort, time and support. I feel as if you have become my friends and hopefully one-day I can meet each and every one of you. For those of you who would like to stay in touch, please let me know. Once we bring the website down, I will delete all addresses unless advised otherwise.

Sincerely,

Bob Faust

Supporters

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Lollar CO
Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Faust CO
Rebecca Romanoski CO
Joanne Hyman CO
Michael Roberts CO
Ning Wu TX
William Bollinger MD
Anthony Dorsano MN
Dennis Sanders MN
Michael Agney WA
H. Richter Elser CT
Kelly Cook CO
Joel Citron NY
Pedro Romanach FL
Gale Georgalas NJ
John Straayer CO
John Sater CO
George Fentress CO
Brian McNoldy CO
Dan Placke CO
Leslie Placke CO
Glen DeAtley CO
Melissa LeBlanc CO
Debbie Shable CO
Dwayne Shable CO
Jared Polis CO
Catherine Greener CO
Mike Sellito NY
Robin Beck NY
Calvin Sipes WI
Ben Kidder MA
The Johnstown Breeze
Republicans for Environmental Protection

THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE RUN FOR CONGRESS

Religious Right Agenda

I do not know how many people have seen the following article regarding the Texas GOP 2004 Platform. When I received this information, I found it hard to believe. But after looking at the Texas GOP Website, this is the truth. For those people who do not believe the religious right has alternative motives, think again. Based on this platform, let's take society back about 100 years. Even better, let's start ruling like the Taliban. Or, why not round up everyone who does not live their lives in the manner that the religious right thinks we should and send them to......Anywhere but America? Maybe it is time we all started thinking twice about candidates who profess the support of the religious right? Otherwise, this may become the National Republican Platform in the near future!

]]> RELIGIOUS RIGHT'S GRIP ON TEXAS GOP TIGHTENS
AS PARTY CONVENTION PASSES EXTREMIST PLATFORM

Tightening their grip on the Republican Party of Texas, far-right activists
pushed through an extremist party platform at the GOP state convention in
San Antonio this month. Policies proposed by the 2004 state party platform
threaten religious freedom, civil and equal rights, public education and
good government. (Page numbers from the platform are in brackets below.)

Religious Freedom

* "The Republican Party of Texas affirms that the United States of
America is a Christian nation." [8]

* "Our Party pledges to exert its influence to restore the original
intent of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and dispel
the myth of the separation of Church and State." [8]

* The 2004 party platform opposes efforts to restrict display of the
Ten Commandments and other religious symbols in government buildings and
other places maintained by tax dollars. [7]

Civil/Equal Rights

* "The Party supports amendment of the Americans with Disabilities Act
to exclude from its definition those persons with infectious diseases,
substance addiction, learning disabilities, behavior disorders, homosexual
practices and mental stress, thereby reducing abuse of the Act." [14]

* Republicans state that it should be a felony to issue a marriage
license to a same-sex couple "and for any civil official to perform a
marriage ceremony for a same-sex couple." [10]

* Defining marriage as a "God-ordained, legal and moral commitment only
between a natural man and a natural woman," the platform supports a federal
constitutional amendment that bans same-sex marriage and opposes "granting
of benefits to people who represent themselves as domestic partners without
being legally married." [10]

* The platform opposes hate-crime laws (which increase penalties for
crimes that target people based on hatred for their religion, race, sexual
orientation and other characteristics). [8]

* The platform supports "covenant marriage" (which endangers battered
spouses because it would allow couples to divorce only after a waiting
period and counseling, even in cases of domestic abuse) and advocates
rescinding no-fault divorce laws. [10]

* The platform condemns homosexuality, supports criminalizing sexual
relations between consenting adults of the same sex and calls on Congress to
"withhold jurisdiction from the federal courts from cases involving sodomy"
(an implicit criticism of last year's U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that
overturned sodomy laws). [10]

* The platform opposes the adoption of children or foster parenting by
gay men and lesbians. [10]

* The party supports laws that bar Child Protective Services from
removing an abused child from his or her home, even in cases of "immediate
danger to the child's physical health or safety." [13]

* The platform calls for requiring people who report child abuse to
identify themselves and their contact information. [13]

* The state party platform calls for a ban on stem-cell research (which
experts believe holds the promise of cures for a variety of diseases like
Parkinson's and Alzheimer's). [12]

Public Education

* The party calls for schools to emphasize "Judeo-Christian principles"
and for including Bible-based "theories" like "intelligent design" about the
origin of humans in science textbooks (which would, in effect, water down
discussions of evolution). [16, 17]

* Republicans support health education that promotes abstinence from
sex "until heterosexual marriage with an uninfected person" and oppose any
other instruction on methods of preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. [15]

The Real Candidate

Four months ago, I decided to run for Congress because I believed, and still do, Healthcare in America stands on the brink of becoming a castrophe. I still believe Healthcare is the number 1 issue facing society today. Before I announced my decision to run for Congress I was told by members of the local Republican Party not to run. Washington D.C. and the power brokers in D.C wanted Marilyn (nice to know the people no longer have the right to choose their elected representative). Any other Republican Candidate who ran against her would not be acknowledged and no support would be offered. At the same time, Marilyn Musgrave began to push her Federal Marriage Amendment. This is an agenda she will push until she achieves HER goal. Since she served in the Colorado Legislature, she has enacted legislation against the gay community. Discrimination of the gay community is her goal. So I stood up to her FMA. I announced I opposed her FMA because I viewed it as discrimination, which it is. If anything, we needed to amend the Constitution to PROTECT the rights of ALL people. Expecting the Gay Community to support a candidate who opposed an individual who has made it her goal to discriminate against them, I am rather surprised by the reaction I have received. Individually, I have received support from gays but to think gay organizations support my cause, is wrong. My campaign wonders why the Log Cabin Republicans do not support my campaign? My campaign wonders why the HRC does not support my cause? My campaign wonders why other gay organizations do not support my campaign? Then I think back to the advice I received. Marilyn IS THE CANDIDATE! Since she is viewed as being unbeatable, the winner of the republican primary WILL win the November election, no one dares oppose her. It took the democratic party three months (late May) to convince their candidate to run against her. So I come to the same conclusion military commanders do. You fight the battles you can win. Since all these gay organizations do not believe Marilyn can be defeated, they will take the fight elsewhere. They will not support, financially or through endorsements, my campaign. I believe people have to stand up for what they believe in. THE REAL CANDIDATE is an individual who is fighting for the people and not special interest. THE REAL CANDIDATE is an individual who is fighting for the people and not their personnel/moral values. THE REAL CANDIDATE does not quit because they are the underdog, instead, they have to continue the fight because they are the last line of defense. This fight has just begun, and I ask you, which side of the line are you on? Do you believe Marilyn is unbeatable and are willing to seek shelter elsewhere or are you willing to support THE REAL CANDIDATE! If you support THE REAL CANDIDATE, then help me convince the gay organizations in Colorado to spread the world to ALL unaffiliated and moderate republican voters to VOTE Bob Faust for Congress August 10th. Otherwise, come November 3rd and you will have TWO more years of Musgrave discrimination.

First Endorsement

The Johnstown Breeze has endorsed my Candidacy for Congress. You can read the article in this weeks Breeze at www.JohnstownBreeze.com. Look for the article titled "Richard Nixon must be spinning like a reel-to-reel tape".

"Is the Republican Party salvageable, or has it completely surrendered to extremism?�

I was asked to write a piece on the republican party and surrendering to extremism. This is my take on the republican party and has surrendering to extremism.
The Republican Party is salvageable. However, for this to occur, the individual citizen who makes up the Republican Party will have to force the change. The �common� citizen will have to take an active role in the party. By participating in the caucus system or actively running for office, the �common� citizen can bring the party back to the moderate position. The problem is participation.
The caucus process is controlled by the extremism position. Primarily due to the lack of involvement by the citizens. The extreme position has an issue they want to force and are willing to work the caucus process to achieve their goal. The common citizen does not have issues they are extremely committed too and therefore do not find the caucus process important or requiring of their involvement.
Running for office is the first place the common citizen starts to get involved with the party. Again, the problem is involvement. Until a citizen is willing to take a stand, the candidate choice will be controlled by the extremism.
How do I see the common citizen bringing the Republican Party back to the moderate position and away from the extreme position? Through the vote. We moderate republicans have to vote for candidates who reflect our viewpoints, regardless of their party affiliation. Until we start electing officials who represent our viewpoint the extremism will control the party. We can no longer vote just republican. We have to vote in the primary election. We cannot wait until the general election. If we wait until the general election, the extremism candidate will control the ballot.

4th of July

The 4th of July is when I think of the freedom that most Americans never cherish. The freedom we take so lightly. I think of The Declaration of Independence and the phrase, "....that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Right, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.....". I think of how our forefathers came to this country to escape religious persecution. Then, I look at what is currently occurring in society today. We have elected representatives who think their religious beliefs are the beliefs that ALL society should live by. I think they forget that religion is good for society, but it should not dictate the laws of the land. By creating laws based on religious teachings we instill discrimination. We need to ensure our laws are written so that ALL Americans can experience THEIR pursuit of happiness. As you enjoy your 4th of July, think about the rights of others and remember, their happiness is just as precious to them as your is to you. So lets respect the rights of others and enjoy life to its fullest. I wish everyone a joyous 4th of July and hope all of our soldiers serving in harm's way a safe trip home. Especially my Nephew, serving with the US Marines in Iraq.
SIncerely,
Bob Faust

New to the Blog World

Thanks to Dennis at The Moderate Republican, I have found a new method to communicate with everyone. My name is Bob Faust and I am running for Congress from the State of Colorado against Marilyn Musgrave in the August Republican Primary. This is an introduction blog and I will release future blogs defining my primary platform of Equal Rights for All people, National Healthcare, Fiscal Responsibility and a National University Program. I look forward to your comments regarding the topics and ideas.
Sincerely,
Bob Faust
Candidate, 4th Congressional District