UPDATE 5/12/22 6:43PM CDT:
Amother video from Catalina Lauf, and yes, more sophistry and can be viewed here.
=== END OF UPDATE ===
From Catalina Lauf’s Instagram pages in posts she posted tonight, AFTER the Batavia debate took place:
“Candidates are too afraid to go against the status quo – so instead, a lot of them get sucked into traps like attending forums hosted by far-leftist groups.
“These far-leftist groups control the questions and watch Republicans debate amongst themselves, so it’s not like we’re debating THEM.
“We are debating each other and they sit there and laugh!
“WE are NOT attending because we are not afraid to disrupt the status quo and we’re NOT going to cower to the mob, just like we won’t once we get to Washington.
“The League of Women Voters are anti-American, anti-women, anti-gun/anti-individual liberties and they should be exposed for what they are instead of supported.
“It’s all a convenient lie for them… based on zero principles and this is why the minority communities are voting for Republicans this cycle.“Liberals have sold minorities a lie. You have high crime rates, terrible schools, communities with barely any grocery stores or economic opportunities — all run by liberal ‘leadership.’ This ain’t your grandpa’s Democrat Party”
Catalina Lauf, in two Instagram posts here & here Wednesday evening AFTER the Batavia candidates forum concluded
.
From the desk of John Lopez: Who does Catalina Lauf think she’s kidding!?
The Batavia candidates forum Wednesday night hosted by multiple chapters of the League of Women Voters (LWV) was attended by 2 dozen people including State Central Committeeperson Laura Pollastrini (R, Hampshire) and briefly by longtime Batavia Mayor Jeff Schielke.
The three candidates who attended were:
- Mark Carroll
- Jerry Evans
- Susan Hathaway-Altman
The other three candidates who did not attend, and their reasons are:
- Andrea Heeg, who stated why she did not attend in a campaign Facebook post earlier this week
- Cassandra Tanner Miller, a last minute cancelation based on advise from her doctor
- Catalina Lauf, for after-the-fact reasons stated in her long-winded Instagram posts
After tonight’s forum, I asked the LWV of the progression of events concerning Lauf’s invite, and her decision not to attend:
- Around March 20, Lauf and the other candidates were invited
- LWV learned over a month later Lauf’s plan to miss the forum, but she didn’t state why
- Lauf records videos, and posts her Instagram reasons AFTER-THE-FACT, basically copycatting Andrea Heeg
Lauf still smarts by her being made a fool of on January 30, 2020 in Batavia. She’s never gotten over it, and instead of returning and facing the major embarressment she got two years ago, she comes up with this nonsensical sophistry.
I don’t accept this reason from Lauf.
Catalina Lauf displayed cowardice and that alone should disqualify Lauf from elected public office this year.
Lauf is trying to play voters for fools. We’re not buying it, nor are we buying Lauf’s views she took from Andrea Heeg and tried to make her own after-the-fact tonight.
The 29-year-old Lauf still has a lot of growing up to do and it will be a cold day in hell before she wins election to Congress this year, based solely on her wanton cowardice around her excuse to skip the LWV candidates forum, and continues Lauf’s pattern to not tell the truth.
If Lauf, or any of the 11th District Republican candidates really wanted to make a point with the LWV, all six candidates could/should have worked together and made sure no IL-11 Republican candidate attended tonight.
That would have upset the status quo and none of the candidates to my knowledge tried to organize an LWV boycott.
Commenter “Flair Play” pointed this out in another thread.
Loopy Lopez on his Catalina hatefest again.
A broken record, if you ask me.
But she just cowered to the ‘ Leftist mob’ as she put it.
Not prepared to go up against her Dem opponent, not mature enough for the job!
To clarify, it was Flair Play who suggested all the Republicans should have skipped.
I agree with Flair Play about that, but dissent in part.
Unlike Flair Play, I am not arguing that because not all candidates refused to go that Heeg or Lauf were wrong to not go.
I would view the candidates who did attend the DH or LWV events more like scabs holding back progress for the rest of the group.
As to Lauf’s absence, she probably didn’t attend since last time she went there she made a fool out of herself.
She’s never been a great speaker or knowledgeable, and she didn’t even do that well in the laid back interview on Higher Line.
Also, being a frontrunner and skipping media appearances is one of the oldest political tricks.
That would be my guess although I am not a mind reader.
That being said, regardless of whether she skipped for the right reason, I’m not going to complain about her choosing not to go because she did the right thing (even though I suspect it was for the wrong reason).
Same with skipping the DH interview sessions which I have not watched and don’t intend to.
They’ve lost their credibility by hiring a guy who makes Ed Komenda look like Tucker Carlson, and LWV lost their credibility long ago.
Their Naperville chapter is going to be running a series of meetings about why the electoral college, and maybe even the whole U.S. Senate, ought to be abolished.
Is that a group that Republicans should allow to moderate a forum for their primary election candidates?
So I don’t agree with Casey or commenter Flair Play (who opined something similar to Casey’s comment in another post) about how bad it is that she’s not going.
It’s good that she’s not going and more Republicans should refuse.
These are hostile and alien organizations that shouldn’t be running forums for Republican candidates in the first place, and Republicans ought to cut them off.
Show some solidarity by setting minimum standards instead of debasing yourselves.
Stop giving into their demands and playing their games.
Quit enabling them.
It is not cowardly to say no.
It is shameful to dance like a trained monkey to entertain people who hate you and probably want you in a gulag.
They’re going for soundbite responses to gotcha questions.
These aren’t neutral actors who are simply pursuing the truth; they have an agenda.
Democrats and the left intuitively understand what the German writer Schmitt was talking about (politics as a distinction between friend and enemy) and would possess enough common sense to not get set up in a situation like this, but for some reason Republicans are really dense about this concept and are self-destructively committed to a liberal idea that “open dialogue” is inherently good.
The first problem with that assumption is that these organizations are not interested in “open dialogue” anyway.
That’s just a cover to hide their motives.
They’re organizations that hate you.
What % of DH staff or LWV members are voting Republican?
The second thing I’d say about that is don’t just think about it as an invitation to answer questions and assume all invitations are created equal and good.
Think about the who, why, where, when, what.
DH and LWV have proven that they are bad actors and should be cut off.
Sorry if this is redundant and long winded but I feel strongly about this.
Manipulators seek validation through getting your attention.
By cutting them off, you take away their power.
My only complaint about this is that if she was going to put out a statement addressing her absence, like Heeg did (very well I might add), she should have published it beforehand to let potential attendees know, but it’s not something I’m going to lose sleep over.
As a minor detail, I don’t buy her line that minorities are going to vote Republican, although perhaps Republicans can make some inroads.
The Biden administration has been an abject failure.
Should the Republicans have worked together to boycott?
That was Flair Play’s suggestion, not mine, but I agree; however, I don’t think Lauf and Heeg were in the wrong by not attending just because Carroll, Evans, and that other candidate don’t have enough common sense to slam the door on DH or LWV.
What that shows is naivety and lack of good political instincts on the part of the candidates who did attend.
Some people are going to be appalled by what I’m saying, but the world is different now.
Republicans need to figure out how the game is played instead of hanging on to outdated conventions like they MUST do an interview or a forum with some group regardless of whether that group hates them.
Democrats censor people all the time.
Why shouldn’t Republicans be more selective about who they take questions from?
The last thing I’ll say here is that I think by John frequently writing so much negative stuff about Lauf he is paradoxically helping her by making people feel sympathetic towards her.
If Carroll puts out a press release, would all of this editorializing accompany it or would John just post the statement?
There wasn’t much of a write-up when Heeg made her statement.
You could just post news about Lauf when she does stuff that needs to be written about and people would draw their own conclusions.
Lauf is plenty good at putting her foot in her mouth on her own.
The barrage of attacks against her are unnecessary, counterproductive if you truly don’t care for her as a candidate.
Saul Alinsky’s 11th rule in “Rules for Radicals” states that “if you push a negative hard and deep enough, it will break through into its counterside.”
This is how ostensibly the most reactionary commenters on this blog, who likely wouldn’t be big fans of Lauf, end up defending her.
It has less to do with them liking Lauf and more to do with not liking to read so many hit pieces aimed at her…
P.S Not surprised about CTM ditching.
She’s been a no-show at a bunch of events.
Financially, she is in a hole.
She should seriously consider dropping out of the race.
I agree with correcting. Lopez has gone way overboard blackguarding Catalina. And for what purpose? What’s Lopez’ ulterior motive(s)?
LoWV is rotten to it’s core.
JPMatthews, I’ve been honest and straight with all from the start about Catalina Lauf, and I can say my sole motive concerning any candidate(s) is the truth.
Nothing ulterior, it’s that simple.
Applying discernment to Lauf will allow voters to make up their own minds and vote accordingly. Between now and June 28, expect much more.
Correcting, I have editorialized Mark Carroll press releases, like pointing out when he won Batavia Township Republicans endorsement, and you pointed out there are only 5 precinct committeepersons, I expanded and showed there are 21 precincts in Batavia Township.
I’ve also editorialized how Carroll must prove he’s viable by raising money (far more than he reported at end of March) and we need to see evidence (mailings, digital ads, TV commercials) he’s getting his message out.
Same with the Lake County Republicans endorsements and applying discernment as we all remember the 2020 endorsements by the executive committee, and NOT the rank-and-file precinct committeepersons.
Like it or not, in spite of Lauf’s constant straying from the truth, she’s still the frontrunner in the IL-11 primary.
Where’s ‘Anonymous Thinker’ with his/her Lawyer advice to Lopez?
Here’s your bloody LWV in action:
BLM Vigil for Action
Concerned citizens convene to stand united for equality and justice for all, particularly our Black community. Vigil sponsors: Fauquier NAACP; LWV-Prince William/Fauquier; VICPP-Piedmont Chapter; AAHA, Fauquier County; Piedmont Race Amity Project; and Coming to the Table-Northern Shenandoah Valley.
Source: https://www.naacpfauquiercounty.org/event-details/blm-vigil-for-action-1
LWV Can go to hell. Heeg and Lauf are right!
Why is Lopez shilling for LWV?
I’m not “shilling” for LWV or anyone else, just continuing the Lord’s work of applying discernment to a woman who wants to serve in the United States Congress.