Feb 11, 2018 4 min read

Representatives of the Republican Party in the 18th Congressional District met in November to select its candidate for the March 13 special election to replace Congressman Tim Murphy. The conferees were hardly out the door before speculation started regarding what the selection of State Rep. Rick Saccone portends.

A little more than a year ago, 103,000 Washington County voters went to the polls to elect a president. An overwhelming 60 percent of them said that they were concerned about the economy, jobs, energy, immigration, taxes, health care, the first and second amendments to the Constitution, and abortion. That 60 percent voted to send Donald Trump to the White House.

If voters select Saccone in the special election, it will provide President Trump with a vocal and experienced ally – a person who has demonstrated he will not back down on the issues that elected the president and that his constituents still care so deeply about.

What will Saccone face in Washington, D.C., should he go there?

Most obviously, he will find a bitterly divided Congress, one in which the word “bipartisan” is but a quaint artifact of times gone by. The Democrats have no agenda other than to obstruct the president. He needs clear conservative voices of support. He will have one in Saccone.

According to economic indicators, the U.S. economic outlook is very healthy. The gross domestic product (GDP), a measure of the nation’s production output, is growing at a rate of 2 to 3 percent a year, an excellent rate of growth. Despite this past week’s fluctuations, the stock market has been at record levels. Household net worth, stock portfolios and home values have all increased. This increases retirement accounts and college funds, reduces debt and improves overall financial security.

U.S. manufacturing is expected to grow faster than the economy as a whole. It is expected to increase by 2.8 percent in 2018. It will be increasing when President Trump’s job-creation programs take hold.

Oil and gas prices have been low. While some volatility is expected, prices are estimated to average about $54 in 2018. Saccone will also find an excellent employment situation should he get to Washington, with the unemployment rate standing at 4.1 percent, where it has been since October, the lowest rate in 17 years.

Saccone will also find a greatly improved immigration situation, but one still in need of much work. Roughly 1 million immigrants enter this nation every year, although the president has reduced illegal immigration by 66 percent. Our workforce still includes 8 million illegal aliens, accounting for 5 percent of the employed or those looking for work. They are displacing American workers. The president will continue to reduce illegal aliens entering this country and to deport the criminals who are here. He will have an ally in Saccone.

President Trump has appointed one outstanding U.S. Supreme Court justice and a number of excellent federal judges. That is significant because it is likely that several Second Amendment cases may reach the court soon. Saccone is an outstanding advocate of the Second Amendment who has promoted meaningful legislation at the state level and will continue that focus in Washington, D.C.

What shape is our nation in, and how will the selection of Saccone affect Washington County? The nation is in much better shape now than it was during the Obama administration. President Trump is leading the way back from the unsustainable socialist disaster that was being constructed. The unapologetically biased media continues to refuse to report the reality of the progress. They dwell on negativity, fanning the flames of identity and gender politics as well as class warfare. That will be overcome with time.

The choice in the March special election will be stark. Voters will have the opportunity to choose a strong conservative of unimpeachable integrity who espouses and supports the principles and values that are driving the resurgence of the American economy. A man who knows the energy industry, job growth and democracy, the things that Washington County values and has spurred growth in this region. A man with foreign affairs and counterintelligence experience. Or, voters could choose a Democrat who offers no experience and no platform other than a return to the smothering big government, anti-energy regulatory environment that was strangling our economy and shredding our Constitution under Obama.

Growth and democracy versus stagnation and socialism. That will be the clear choice.

Sending Rick Saccone, a good and true conservative, to Washington, D.C., to help the president pursue his pro-America agenda would be nothing but good for Washington County and the United States of America.