SEAN DUFFY BUILT FOR THE RUGGED 7TH DISTRICT

Wisconsin 7th Congressional District Candidate Sean Duffy has a Christmastime YouTube video that he put on his campaign site in 2009 where he and his family are hunting for the perfect Christmas tree and the chainsaw ran out of gas. Sean broke the tree down with his bare hands, an act of bravado that isn't an anomaly for a family lineage extending back to four generations of pioneers and lumberjacks. He may be running for Congress and for the right to walk the polished, pristine halls of Capitol Hill but his roots have been cemented squarely in rural Wisconsin for longer than he's been alive.

Sean's great-grandfather, Hugh, moved to Hayward in 1883 and was a founding settler of the community as well as a lumberjack. His grandfather, Walter Duffy, was Register of Deeds and county judge for Sawyer County, Wisconsin. His father, Tom Sr, is a lawyer in Hayward and his brother, Tom Jr, also opened his own law practice in Hayward and ran for Sawyer County judge last year. And then there's the logrolling angle: While Sean holds 2 speed-climbing titles, his brother Brian holds 5 logrolling titles, and an even younger Duffy niece Taylor is a multi-logboom running champion who won her first championship at the age of 15.

Born on October 3, 1971, to Thomas and Carol Duffy, (WIKIPEDIA) Sean is one of 11 children born and raised in Hayward. He began log rolling at age 5 and speed climbing (which involves sprinting up 60 and 90 foot poles) at age 13. As a teen, he competed in the National Lumberjack Championships and is a three-time world champion in the 90-foot speed climb. He has a marketing degree from St. Mary's University, and a law degree from William Mitchell College of Law. In 1997 during his first year at law school, he was cast for and starred in MTV's Real World Boston. He played a Republican on the show. In 1998, the alumni from previous Real World shows, were cast together in Road Rules: All Stars. On the set, he met his future wife, Rachel, (RACHEL CAMPOS-DUFFY: MOTHER, STAY AT HOME ADVOCATE). They married on April 4, 1999 and the couple now has six kids Evita Pilar, Xavier Jack, Lucia-Belen, John-Paul, Paloma Pilar and MariaVictoria Margarita.

"My kids logroll in the summer," he told the MCLATCHY-TRIBUNE news agency in May of this year. "This is part of my family's tradition. I've traveled all over the country tree climbing and logrolling. You don't get more Wisconsin than me."

Hayward boasts one of the best logrolling training schools in the country and soon as his kids learn to walk, Sean takes them to logrolling school in the summer. They compete in the Youth division of the Lumberjack World Championships each summer. Evita has already placed 3rd in recent competition.

Here's my interview with Sean recently where he told me about his campaign approach and what he planned to do if he were fortunate enough to win the 7th District race and end up in Washington DC.

1. DAVID OBEY GAVE UP HIS BID FOR RE-ELECTION IN APRIL. HOW MUCH OF THIS DO YOU ATTRIBUTE TO PRESSURE FROM YOUR CAMPAIGN?

You know some people have speculated that I had quite a bit to do with Dave leaving. They've said that he would have stayed there but for the fact that he had a serious challenge this year. I don't know what's in Dave's heart, I don't know what the reason is that Dave got out, only he and his family know that so it's pretty tough for me to speculate. I'll leave that to the bloggers and pundits like yourself!

2. HAVING RECENTLY STEPPED DOWN AS ASHLAND DA, CAN YOU TELL ME HOW TOUGH THIS DECISION WAS AND HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO FOCUS MORE ON THE TASK AT HAND?

I loved my job as Ashland DA. I loved to work representing the citizens of Ashland County. I love putting guys behind bars, the best job I've ever had, but I also think it's important that if you are going to take a step like this and run for Congress you have to be able to look at your life and acknowledge what you can and can't do. I was being a full time father, a full time husband, a full time District Attorney, and a full time candidate and I struggled to do everything well so I decided to give that job up and run full time here and I think it's important that with the problems we face in the country, it's imperative that we have a new direction and this seat is part of this new direction and I wanted to make sure I was giving it my all. So I pondered it for a long time and Rachel and I came to the conclusion that, that was probably the best move. I think to leave the citizens of Ashland County with a District Attorney who is fully engaged, especially as I look at how much it is going to take to win this campaign, is the right way to go, and to recognize that on my part I think is important and that's what it's all about. I'm less concerned about my old job and I am more concerned about the hard-working families here in Wisconsin in the 7th Congressional District and that is why I resigned as the Ashland County DA.



Sean campaigning at the Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin Cranberry festival

3. IN THE EVENT THAT YOU ARE ELECTED TO CONGRESS, WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU'D LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH AS A REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE STATE OF WISCONSIN?

The first thing: Any unspent TARP money and unspent stimulus money should be sent back to pay down the deficit. I think this will send a resounding message to Americans and the rest of the World that the days of American bailouts and stimulus are over.

4. WHAT ISSUES ARE MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU AS A CANDIDATE FOR THE 7TH DISTRICT AND HOW DO YOU PLAN TO TACKLE THOSE ISSUES ONCE YOU ARE ELECTED

The economy and jobs, I think, are the most important. I feel that we have seen government try to borrow and spend our way to prosperity and sustainable job growth and the bottom line is that, that doesn't work and it's never worked. I think that economic growth and sustainable job growth comes from the private sector; people who invest in their vision and it is those folks who create jobs and create wealth, I mean the Bill Gates of the world are the ones who create prosperity and growth and not government spending and I think we need to put a focus back on the true job creators in the private sector, not government. Number 2, we have to start to reduce our debt and balance our budget. We have a 13.3 trillion dollar debt. That breaks down to more than $43,000 dollars for every man, woman, and child in this country and when my little Maria Victoria was born about 5 months ago, she came into the world owing about $43,000 in national debt. This is unacceptable. We are mortgaging our children's future and that is just unacceptable.




Sean hopes to be all smiles on November 3rd!

5. YOU'VE BEEN MARRIED TO RACHEL FOR 11 YEARS NOW. CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT THE ROLE THAT FAITH PLAYS IN YOUR MARRIAGE AND WHAT IT MEANS TO BOTH OF YOU IN YOUR ROLE AS PARENTS?

Rachel and I are both Catholics and it isn't just a commitment between the 2 of us, it is a commitment between us and God and that is, I think, a pretty powerful statement that you make with someone once you include Him in your vows and I think it's important that we raise our children within a sound Faith and that's what we've done in our home. Our kids go to Church every Sunday and they are very well educated in their Faith and I think that plays a huge part of our life and our parenting and I think that plays a huge part in our relationship.

6. RECENTLY RACHEL GAVE BIRTH TO YOUR SIXTH CHILD, MARIA VICTORIA, A PREGNANCY THAT WAS CONSIDERED "HIGH RISK". WHAT CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT YOUR'S AND RACHEL'S RESOLVE TO SEE THIS PREGNANCY THROUGH AND YOUR REASONS BEHIND IT?

Those I like to keep personal. We have had 2 of those pregnancies that were considered high risk and we chose life, you know, regardless of what hand we are dealt or our kids are dealt and so that's our belief and so the belief just isn't in words, the belief is in practice.

HAWAII SPECIAL ELECTION SHOWS THE POWER OF REPUBLICAN WOMEN.

BY SCOTT SCHNEIDER

The Republican Party may have narrowly missed the chance to send shock waves through the nation last week by not being able to take the Murtha open seat in the Pennsylvania race but they have renewed vigor after taking the open seat in the Hawaii on Saturday night and Republican women may have had a huge hand in it. Charles Djou took the formerly Democratic seat with 39.5% of the vote after Colleen Hanabusa and Ed Case split the opposition vote and failed to combine for 60%. The seat, which opened up after Rep. Neil Abercrombie's retirement from congress presented a huge opportunity for Republicans to score a victory in what has been one of the biggest Democratic strongholds in the nation, and squarely in the district where President Obama spent a part of his childhood. And what may have led them over the top didn't necessarily involve the traditional underpinnings of a GOP campaign. The Federation of Republican Women likely played a huge role in helping to put Djou over the top.

"Our women in the ground were very involved in the Djou campaign," National Federation of Republican Women president Sue Lynch told me at the Wisconsin Republican State Convention in Milwaukee on Sunday. "In fact, Mrs Djou (Stacey Kawasaki Djou)is a member of the Federation in Hawaii."

Late last week, Lynch put out a YouTube video calling women to action for both Tim Burns and Charles Djou campaigns.

"If you're willing to help us make calls, send a check, or even be deployed to Pennsylvania to help Tim, that would be great," Sue remarked. "We need to send a message to the Democrats of what's to come in November and with your help we can do that."

It's often said that behind every great man, there is an equally great woman and though the Burn's race in Pennsylvania fell short, the Djou race in Hawaii District 1is a shining example of how much Republican women, both young and old have begun to shape the face of modern-day elections in conservative America. Long gone are the days where man's better half in the GOP were simply relegated to backrooms where they stuffed envelopes, made phone calls, and arranged baked cookies on a silver platter. Today's Republican woman is out front and center, running campaigns, running for campaigns, and facilitating the outcomes of those campaigns. They bring vigor and organization, as well as a protective passion and zeal to their candidates that only comes from the maternal instinct for protection of children, God, and country that naturally runs so strongly in all of them. The results can be seen in the increasing numbers of women who are rising up through the ranks of grassroots leadership, campaign and organizational staffing, county and State committees, as well as those who are actually running for State and National office. As of this election cycle, 112 Republican women are running for congressional office according to the RNC and strong female candidates like Mary Fallin of Oklahoma and Carly Fiorina of California are joining the ranks of Michelle Bachman and Sarah Palin who have already made their mark along with several others as this new kind of strong, conservative feminist woman who working and toiling, taking on the slings and arrows of the pioneer to bring about a new guard outside of the good ol' boy's club.





Carly and Mary, the new faces of GOP women.






Such women, I believe, aren't at all in competition with or opposed to men's leadership roles in the Republican Party but rather compliment and enhance those roles and fortunately they've been able to shed the bonds of yesteryear because as far as I'm concerned they can only be assets to the Party.

"The good news is that we have a Republican woman candidate over there as well," Lynch also informed me. "Her name is Ramsey Wharton running for a congressional seat and so we are going to be watching that one real close and making things happen there as well."

Ramsay Wharton is a former news anchorwoman who is running for the 2nd District seat in Hawaii. Indeed, another strong woman candidate who seems to be heading up a growing list of strong women candidates in the 2010 election cycle on the GOP side. It's a foregone conclusion the NFRW and it's state chapter in Hawaii will be sending all of it's forces this summer and fall to help secure another victory in a deep blue state.

CRs REPRESENT MIDWEST AT CLUB 100 REAGAN RANCH RETREAT

Three Wisconsin CRs represented the college campus conservatives at this year's Young America Foundation Club 100 Reagan Ranch Retreat held near Santa Barbara, CA from Thursday April 29 through Saturday May 1, 2010. Bobby Hamill and Jacob Kampen, of UW-Eau Claire; Charlotte Evans from Marquette University were all participants in the Club 100 event, part of a group 15 of the most active campus conservatives in nation as awarded by the Young America Foundation. http://www.yaf.org/Club100.aspx

"Essentially what it is, it is for those top students in the nation who are active with Young America Foundation throughout the year," Bobby Hamill said of the program. "By hosting different speakers or putting on different events such as 9/11 Never Forget, Freedom Week, No More Che Day, and other events that the Young America Foundation holds. So they have a point system and those students who have 100 points or more get awarded with a trip out to California that Young American Foundation provides for and it has a whole bunch of different events."

Organized primarily by Young America's Foundation Vice President Patrick Coyle, the first event of the three days was an overnight stay at the cabins in the El Capitan Canyon, where the gathering enjoyed a barbecue and were later joined by Southern California talk radio host Mark Larson. Ann McElhinney, writer and producer of the anti-Global Warming film Not Evil Just Wrong, spoke as well and then joined the group around a campfire.



Bobby and Karl








"One of the best things, obviously, was getting to hear from Karl Rove," Bobby Hamill said of his experience. "He had a phenomenal talk about his book (Courage and Consequence) which was interesting but everything he spoke about was great. He spoke a lot about his time serving with President Bush and working with him in the Oval Office, especially his experience of 9/11, what he remembers from that was pretty powerful, all of the stories that he had regarding that date, that was pretty neat. It was a great chance to spend all of this time with other College students and other University Students from around the country who share the same passion for politics as you do."

Rove joined the students for a private reception on Friday afternoon on the roof of the Reagan Ranch Center in downtown Santa Barbara where he personally signed copies of Courage and Consequence. He then was the keynote speaker at a luncheon downstairs where he regaled the audience with his 9/11 accounts.

"The biggest thing that I actually would say is that the world of political activism is a small one," Charlotte Evans recalled about her important experiences at the retreat. The new chair of the Wisconsin CRs found herself in familiar company, despite the small number of activists who were awarded a trip to the event. "I ran into people whom I knew before, my roommate who I actually met last year at the Young America Foundation convention in Washington DC and that was kind of funny and everyone I met had already met someone else that I kind of knew. And it was really neat to be in the same environment that Ronald Reagan was in and how he was grounded and not only how he had the conservative values but also the traditional conservative lifestyle as well. You don't need to be a rich politician, you can be a real person, and you can be genuine person, you can be successful in politics, and you can be the best President we ever had."



Charlotte and Karl







After horseback riding at the Circle B Ranch, Reagan-style, indeed the culminating event of the weekend was a tour of the Reagan Ranch. High up in the mountains, Rancho del Cielo— meaning "Ranch in the Sky" is 688 acres of rolling, tree-covered hills that served for 25 years as a home and then as a retreat for Ronald Reagan during his presidency. Ana Lightle, tour guide, took the young activists through the ranch home, talked about his persona, his presidency, and how it helped him to become such a great leader.

"It is just really cool to talk to other campus activists," Charlotte recalled. "To see what other ideas they have and find out what was successful for them and figure out how we can implement that on our campus and learn from their mistakes and things that worked for them and things that weren't successful and things that got them in trouble and how we can build off of that so that Wisconsin doesn't have similar problems. I am just grateful that I got to go. I would actually consider almost everybody to be middle class there but they were differing degrees of middle class I suppose. There were people there who were in fancy dresses and had their hair all nice and I was there in my 'plaids'. Being able to ride horses on the mountains and being able see Reagan Ranch from their was cool too."

2010 AWARD WINNERS FOR THE CLUB 100 REAGAN RANCH RETREAT SPONSORED BY THE YOUNG AMERICAN FOUNDATION.

•Travis Korson – George Washington University
•Danny Laub – St. Louis University
•Mick Paskiewicz – DePaul University
•Ryan McNicholas – University of California - Santa Barbara
•Charlotte Evans – Marquette University
•Chris Garcia – Pepperdine University
•Katie Poedtke – Fordham University
•Lauren Scirocco – Ramapo College
•John Masko – Wheeler School
•Kiana Dunn – San Pasqual High School
•Scott McAfee – Emory University
•Stephen Barkley – UNC-Greensboro
•Bobby Hamill – University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire
•Michael Boglovits – UNC-Greensboro
•Jacob Kampen – University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire
•Matt Capristo – University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee
•John Eick – UNC-Chapel Hill
•Blayne Bennett – Arizona State University
•Janie Abel – Canisius College
•Joe Naron – George Washington University