IL-14: Catalina Lauf and Her Unapologetic Love for Our Country, Part 2a: Opportunities

Catalina Lauf

Yesterday, Part 1 of Catalina Lauf covered her key strengths of her candidacy to be the Republican nominee in the 14th congressional district.

Currently, if one was to use the National Football League (NFL) as an analogy, the congressional campaigns are in a “preseason” time.

Petitions haven’t even been filed and the primary campaign season won’t begin in earnest until after the first of the year after the Holidays.

So using the context of the preseason, today, we will begin to examine Lauf’s opportunities which her campaign is encouraged to assess and correct and voters are encouraged to hold Lauf’s campaign accountable once the campaign begins in earnest.

As McHenry County Blog observes, there are three significant opportunities which Lauf’s campaign needs to address in order to not only convince Republican primary voters she’s the best candidate to face Lauren Underwood a year from tomorrow, but also to be seen by general election voters as the best candidate if she wins the primary.

The opportunities are:

  • Complete the Message
  • What Evangelical Christians Want to Know
  • Help Voters Overcome Their Fears

Complete the Message

As discussed in Part 1 and in an article published on October 16 that included a video by author and business consultant Simon Sinek, Lauf’s campaign and its early success is attributed to its messaging, and in particular, her “Start with Why”.

Her message is a start, it is also incomplete. Sinek’s outline starts with “why”, it doesn’t end with “why”, and this is where Lauf needs to fill in some blanks about her candidacy.

If the Sinek video was viewed from the October 16 article, this diagram will be familiar:

We already know Lauf’s “Why”: “An unapologetic love for our country”

We’ve seen some of the “How”:

  • “Heartland” video released August 22
  • Between $1 to $1.5 million in earned media through print media, radio and TV across the country
  • Social media engagement
  • Campaign appearances to communicate her “Why” message

Much of the How will be revealed through the course of the campaign between now and March 17, including TV advertising and other videos which likely haven’t been storyboarded yet, let alone filmed.

It’s the “What” where Lauf’s campaign needs to fill, let alone polish. We’ve shared quite a few results previously including fundraising, social media follows and other things.

But one of the Whats that Lauf, and all of the candidates, have been unclear are their positions on the issues. Not only that, but do the candidates have a good grasp on the issues taking place in the Democratic-controlled House and Lauren Underwood’s record?

With the exception of Jerry Evans, Lauf has done more on the issues than the other top tier candidates. McHenry County Blog has been saying for months all the candidates need to get their detailed positions on the issues in front of voters.

And discerning voters want accuracy about the issues and what is going on in Congress, too. Lauf has tried, and as previously written, Lauf needs polish. Here’s an example.

Late Thursday night, Lauf’s campaign released her response to the October 31 impeachment process vote in the House on Instagram.

A higher quality copy of the video was released Friday by midday through her campaign’s Facebook page. Here is the video:

šŸšØSTAND UP FOR PRESIDENT TRUMPšŸšØ The Radical liberals in Washington D.C. are having closed door, secret meetings lead by Shifty Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi to start a baseless impeachment inquiry. Washington needs to get to work for the American People! Join my fight to support President Trump! https://secure.winred.com/catalina-lauf-for-congress-committee/house-dems-impeachment

Posted by Catalina Lauf For Congress on Friday, November 1, 2019

Lauf’s reaction to impeachment and Lauren Underwood’s part speaks for itself.

And she nails it on the party politics.

It’s when she brought up other issues Congress needs to be working is where discernment is needed.

She brought up the following, and will identify where she was inaccurate:

  • “USMCA” — The replacement for NAFTA and Lauf’s call out is accurate
  • “NDAA” — National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020
    • The House passed NDAA through H.R. 2500 on July 17
    • The Senate passed NDAA through S. 1790 around the same time
    • A House / Senate Conference Committee is working to resolve differences
    • Lauren Underwood is a member of the House conferees for Homeland Security
    • Senate took procedural votes in late September
    • Since October recess ended October 16, status unknown in past 3 weeks
  • “A Budget Coming Up Here” — the Fiscal Year 2020 Budget
    • Speaker Pelosi and Trump Administration reach budget deal for FY2020 and FY2021 in late July
    • The House, with Underwood’s vote, passed all of its budget appropriations bills by July 17, with H.R. 2500 being the last one
    • The Bipartisan Budget Act, H.R. 3877
      • Passed the House on July 25
      • Passed the Senate on August 1
      • Signed into Law on August 2
    • While the Bipartisan Budget Act is law, the appropriations bills that fund the government are in the Republican-controlled Senate with the exception of NDAA which is in House-Senate Conference Committee
    • H.R. 4378 Continuing Resolution passed both House & Senate and signed into law before end of September to prevent government shutdown
  • “Drug Pricing”

Now one doesn’t expect someone to go into minutiae on issues like the list highlighted above in a 1 minute video. That said, saying the House Democrats aren’t getting things done is not accurate, when there is progress being made on NDAA, the budget and other issues.

It’s “what” the House Democrats are getting done, in addition to the impeachment, is where Lauf can and should polish her complete message and include how to reverse their “what” with ones of her own grounded from her core “why” message.

Let’s look at an example. In addition to impeachment, here are some of the other partisan legislation the House Democrats have passed this year:

Bill #DescriptionGOP Support
H.R. 1The For the People Act0
H.R. 1500Consumers First Act0
H.R. 1815SEC Disclosure Effectiveness Testing Act0
H.R. 4617Stopping Harmful Interference in Elections for a Lasting Democracy (SHIELD) Act0
H.R. 2203Homeland Security Improvement Act0
H.R. 1644Save the Internet Act1
H.R. 2722Securing America’s Federal Election Act1
H.R. 3239Responding to the Humanitarian Situation at the Border1
H.R. 1423FAIR (Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal) Act2
H.R. 3525U.S. Border Patrol Medical Screening Standards Act2
H.R. 3624Outsourcing Accountability Act2
H.R. 1112Enhanced Background Checks Act3
H.R. 582Raise the Wage Act3
H.R. 9Climate Action Now act3
H.R. 1146Blocking Drilling in Coastal Communities and ANWR4
H.R. 823Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy Act5
H.R. 987Protecting Access to Affordable Health Care, Lowering Rx Drug Prices5
H.R. 6American Dream and Promise Act7
H.R. 7Paycheck Fairness Act7
H.R. 5Equality Act8
H.R. 8Bipartisan Background Checks Act8

.

But looking at that list of bills the Democrats have passed with little to no Republican support, would a valid “what” message Lauf might use to complement her “why” message be:

“I have an unapologetic love for our country and that includes we work together cooperatively to solve the challenges facing our nation.

“Lauren Underwood votes with Speaker Nancy Pelosi while representing us in Congress

“The House Democrats, led by Pelosi have passed multiple pieces of legislation with little and in some cases no Republican support.

“And Underwood calls that ‘bipartisan’.

“Democratic socialists like AOC don’t believe in cooperation. They believe bipartisan incrementalism is weak and believe in socialism and government control.

“A ‘my way or the highway’ approach.

“That’s not what our country is about.

“It’s time to bring the love of our country to Washington and work together to solve problems including taxes and spending, healthcare, immigration and everything else.

“Here’s what I’ll do….”

.

We’re confident her campaign will polish its complete message, remove any inaccuracies and offer her candidacy as a product that resonates with most voters who also share the value of the unapologetic love for our country.

And in case you missed it, this early September interview between Lauren Underwood and the Daily Herald editorial board should show not only the blatant party politics, but the lie, Underwood tells about what is going in in Washington.

Particularly when it comes to “majority of support”.

While listening, when you get to the 1:15 mark, she is going to rattle off legislation the House has passed and says they “…obviously have a majority of support…”

The Paris Climate reference is H.R. 9, the universal background checks are H.R. 8 and H.R. 1112, and those 3 bills are on the list above.

The truth, they are the result of “party politics”.

The only “majority of support” that legislation has is Democrat.

For Lauf and all candidates, be honest when discussing issues, and do not become another Underwood.

Tomorrow, Part 2b will continue Lauf’s opportunities.

Link:


Comments

IL-14: Catalina Lauf and Her Unapologetic Love for Our Country, Part 2a: Opportunities — 26 Comments

  1. Evangelical christians should get out of politics and go back to what they are good at, abusing young boys and wearing tight underwear.

    Jesus talk has no place in politics, nor anyplace other than the dark recesses of perverse minds like Lopez.

    And Catalina Fluff should get a resume.

  2. Any run of the mill idiot can step on a rake, but Heinrich is that special kind of idiot that steps on the same rake over and over again.

  3. Heinrich should be banned from this blog.

    For Halloween he doesn’t need a mask or costume.

    I like Lauf.

    But why is she called a Latina when her father was a German national.

    Yes, I know her mother is a Guatemalan of full Spanish blood, but casting her as a chicana is something of a stretch.

    I’m getting really sick of ‘identity’ candidates and their tragic corruption of the American political process.

  4. Deputy Doom, casting her as a candidate is something of a stretch.

    Good to see you support the first amendment, you know, the one before the second amendment.

  5. Heinrich do you support the LGBTQ agenda for personal reasons, or because just because it wrecks society?

  6. Something is seriously wrong with our dear Underwood.

    And I donā€™t mean her fashion or hairstyle sense.

  7. Catalina, apparently you have no choice other than identifying yourself as “German” to calm down a few republikkklans who feel uneasy with the term “Latina” while despising identity politics. In this sunshine blog the entertainment never ends…Stay tuned…tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, meeeeeeoooooooowwwwwwwwwwww…

  8. After long and serious consideration between head-to-head rivals Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Catalina Lauf (according to my sunshine blog’s parallel universe reporting), I am finally starting to decide on who I am supporting in 2020. Hint: she lives in the Bronx…tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, meeeeeeoooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwww…

  9. Angel, I always knew you were “out there” and your comment of 10:21 proves it.

    You, and your friends from Indivisible, think you live in NY-14 congressional district, not IL-14!

    That’s why when IL-14 is flipped a year from today, you are going to be at a loss, when the evidence has been building up around you for a long time, but you kept thinking you were living in the Bronx.

    Just remember, a year from today.

  10. A commenter is upset about Christians and politics. Actually not a problem to mix the two. No less than the messiah, “The one we’ve been waiting for”, Barack Hussein Obama, on many occasions proclaimed he was a Christian and thanked God. He did it. Therefore, its ok. The current high leader of the Democrat Party, Nancy Pelosi, invoked God and recently said that God blessed America with the public service of Elijah Cummings at his funeral.

    Christianity played a very large role in shaping Western Civilization since the early centuries after the death of Christ.

  11. Lauren Underwood looks like a drag queen in that makeup.

    Lauren Underwood, should have some decency and at least make an appropriate presentation of herself before doing a public interview.

  12. Ignore Angel, in the not too distant past he raved about how Carlos Acosta is a great man.

  13. Flat out racists somehow always find a problem with African Americans; the way they walk, the way they dress, the way they speak, their academic background, their professional experience, how they wave their hands, their make up, blah, blah, blah, blah, blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh…Stay tuned,,,tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, meeeeeeoooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwww…

  14. Thanks for this wonderful reminder to my sunshine compassionate conservative republikkklan friends: in 366 days our six-times-bankrupt, sexual-assaulter-in-chief will be kicked out from the White House by a historic majority of votes. As reference, just take a look at the 2018 Midterm elections results and how Democratic candidates for Congress obtained a combined majority of nearly 10 million votes over republikkklan candidates. Obviously, this is a fact that sunshine commenters will refuse to even acknowledge. Stay tuned…tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, meeeeeeoooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwww…

  15. “Angel, I always knew you were ā€œout thereā€ and your comment of 10:21 proves it. You, and your friends from Indivisible, think you live in NY-14 congressional district, not IL-14”! You gotta love republikkklan projection; obsessed on how Catalina Lauf represents a formidable counterpart to our extraordinary Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wile calling me out about the Bronx…Aren’t this sunshine blog and its intern journalist wannabe entertaining? We are still waiting for the entertaining explanation on how expanding Medicare is an abomination. We know these republikkklans too well. Stay tuned…366 days…tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, meeeeeeeeoooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwww…

  16. Angel said “We are still waiting for the entertaining explanation on how expanding Medicare is an abomination.”

    That’s easy, we cannot afford it.

    Even your Lauren Underwood and Sean Casten are against Medicare-for-All that you Bernie Sanders supporters favor.

    Look at how bananas all of the Democratic presidential candidates, including Sanders, have gone with Elizabeth Warren’s funding plans.

    Which number was it, $28 TRILLION?

    Or $52 TRILLION?

  17. “Even your Lauren Underwood and Sean Casten are against Medicare-for-All that you Bernie Sanders supporters favor”. The true colors of this journalist wannabe flourish. What happened? Wasn’t Honorable Congresswoman and accomplished nurse Lauren Underwood such a dangerous liberal according to that ridiculous regression analysis published in this sunshine blog? Again, as expected, the same lame and irresponsible “we cannot afford it” talking point to oppose the much needed expansion of Medicare in our country. We can easily afford it. Even the Mercatus Center (a right wing organization) study concluded the expansion of Medicare will save an estimated $3 trillion over 10 years. But we know these republikkklans too well. They will laser focus on cost but will ignore the savings to gaslight and confuse Americans. What we can’t afford is to lose more than 30,000 Americans every year because they can’t afford to see a doctor when they need to, while insurance companies pocket an estimated $70 billion denying health care to their insured. What we can’t afford is having more than half a million Americans going bankrupt every year because of medical bills. What we can’t afford is not being able to negotiate prescription drug prices. What these right wing fanatics will never acknowledge is that the expansion of Medicare will bring complete coverage, the elimination of premiums, co-payments, deductibles and all associated private taxes, signifying savings for the overwhelming majority of Americans. When it comes to the military, right wingers excuse every tax hike in the world with the talking point “freedom is not free” but at the time of taking care of our own, we just can’t afford it. We know these republikkklans too well. Keep entertaining us though…Stay tuned…tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock meeeeeeoooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwww…

  18. Cherokee Liz Warren is a fraud selling snake oil “Medicare for All” which would severely damage this Nation’s economy if somehow she:

    1. Somehow miraculously wins the Democrat primaries
    2. Somehow miraculously wins the election in Nov 2020
    3. Somehow convinces the Congress to vote for her hairbrained idea.

    In addition, she has been dishonest for many years faking a non-existent Native American heritage to advance her careers.

    Only fools will vote for this person.

  19. What country in their right mind would ever take Pocohontas seriously ? I mean come on I can see Putin now walking all over her 1/100000000000000000000000000000000 % heritage… who would believe the liar ! you know what they say if your a liar your also a Cheat and she has been proved on both accounts.

    I can see ol fat baby over their in Korea asking her over to smoke a peace pipe… ha! NOT!

    A.L. have you ever heard the phrase “if it walks like a duck” “It Must Be a Duck” ? has nothing to do with RACE, unless YOU are the racist.. God help this country !

  20. Who better than my Political Science and Sociology professor to forecast primary and general election results? Medicare for All, the only solution to fix the dysfunctional anti-health care system we have in the United States. Stay tuned…365 days away…tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock…

  21. May God bless Honorable Congresswoman and accomplished nurse Lauren Underwood. See? I am also a man of God…tic, tock, tic, tock, tic, tock, meeeeeeoooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwww…

  22. I will disagree with this because there is nothing essentially false in saying Underwood and the Dems aren’t doing anything because, as you stated, the only things they can pass are Partisan Garbage Bills that will get killed in the Senate, That is not doing anything of merit.

    This is agenda driven garbage that does nothing for IL14, and to focus on it, other than to say it is garbage when going head to head with Underwood if she wins the primary, could actually hurt her Campaign.

    I will say the GOP do the same thing in the House on their Censure of Adam Schiff/Ilhan Omar, knowing it would fail in a Dem House.

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