What happened to Renee Ellmers?

     Renee Ellmers was a TEA party darling, well used to be. In improbable fashion, she beat longtime incumbent Bob Etheridge. That was no small feat. She did not have that much help, if any, from mainstream republican sources. She was not funded heavily from the House Republican Electoral Apparatus. She owed most, if not all, of her success to the TEA party. In other words, it was not the machine or the system who got her elected, it was you. You, the ordinary voter who works hard, pays taxes, and pays even more taxes, were responsible for her great electoral victory. She owed nothing to the GOP machine or even the Speaker of the House John Boehner. She was a nurse from Dunn, who  could go to Washington and fight for her district.
     Then her district was redrawn and the second district became a GOP stronghold. Now Renee Ellmers could not only fight as a true conservative, but she was in a safe seat. The honeymoon was bliss, well at least until she took the oath of office. Ever since then we have seen the true side to Renee Ellmers. The woman who belittles the TEA party behind closed doors and even to their face. The representative who has become a loyal soldier, some would say sycophant, of Speaker Boehner and the establishment. The same establishment who detests us country conservatives. To them we are bumpkins. We carry guns, we love God, and we are fiercely conservative. These voters, you and me,  are an impediment to the moderate agenda. We are a necessary evil to the established ruling class of Washington  DC. Sadly, many of us feel that Renee Ellmers has become part of this ruling class. That she has become what she worked so hard to defeat. She has become an entrenched incumbent. A representative more concerned with appearing at Speaker Boehner's press conferences than fighting for us. She has become the republican version of Bob Etheridge. A disconnected rep who feels entitled to praise and reelection, and who detests differing opinions and conservative thought. Remember that video of Bob Etheridge grabbing a young man by the scruff of the neck ,and bellowing, "Who are you!"? Take a look at the links and see if they are not somewhat similar.
     There is several instances of rudeness and argumentative behavior that has been caught on camera. Listed below is several videos from the Randolph County TEA party that chronicles an angry exchange between the members of the TEA group and the congresswoman. These are links straight from youtube. If you click on them and they do not work, just copy the url into your web browser and take a look.

http://youtu.be/lkX3Rkj7e-8

http://youtu.be/uuZP763AiKs

http://youtu.be/N9xDyylKGHc

http://youtu.be/7c9YdQvvBQw


     This exchange highlights a pattern of rude behavior. She has clashed with the more conservative voters of her district. There is never a candidate or elected official who will vote right all the time. Someone is going to be upset either way. What we as conservatives and voters expect is a reasonable, polite dialogue and a respectful disagreement. What these videos show is a clear intolerance for differing views. It also shows a downright rudeness.
     Then there is this video/audio of a radio exchange with conservative radio host Laura Ingraham.

http://youtu.be/tUwVAimKnIM

     This exchange, calling conservatives "small minded" and "ignorant" shows two things. First she is willing to repeat the liberal, moderate lines coming from the inside the beltway crowd. It also shows that when pressed she will resort to name calling and the rudeness that we have seen previously.
     On a personal note, my father wrote Renee Ellmer's a letter. Eight months later and he has yet to hear any response. Not even an impersonal form letter. I tweeted this at Renee Ellmers on Twitter and I received a direct message from her twitter handle. It reads as the following:
   
 "Please call my office at 1-877-645-8764 w/ your father's name & contact info so we can get in touch with him. -Thank you, Ellmers Staff."

     I appreciate her staff's attempts to save face. Even if it is 8 months after the fact. Notice that there was not even an apology or lame excuse. There is a application that you can download called Countable. It is an app for Android or iphone. I encourage you to download this app by the way. It is an app that allows you to track legislation by your representatives and allows you to vote on it. The app sends an e-mail after you vote and tells your rep your view and that you will be tracking how they vote. It is worth noting that the only member of the delegation that I have heard back from is outgoing Senator Kay Hagan. Senator Burr and Congresswoman Ellmers don't even generate canned responses or acknowledge these notices. It shows apathy and poor constituent service.

     Renee Ellmers, I'm sure, is a nice person. She has a family. She has emotions and feelings like we all do. She can have bad days. It just seems that she has a lot of bad days when it comes to the conservatives of the 2nd District. Maybe she can right the ship and kiss and make up. If not, you never know, she may see a repeat of what she did to Bob Etheridge.