Billy Long and Hypocrisy, A Marriage Made in Heaven?

The talk within Republican circles, even before Billy Long left for freshman orientation for new Congressmen, is who is going to challenge Long in 2012. There will be challengers despite the commanding vote totals Long received on election night. Remember Long received just over three of every ten voters in the Republican primary, and many true conservatives are already concerned about Long's character issues.

A former Joplin Republican operative says there will be a primary in 2012. He has even mentioned himself as a challenger against Billy Long, and the Erstwhile Conservative labels this possible challenger as someone with the character to voter for, despite not being a Republican. Here's Duane Graham's article:

Joplin Republican Challenges Ozark Billy

November 13, 2010 by Duane Graham

It didn’t take long for the word “hypocrisy” and “Billy Long” to get married.

The right-wing blog, Bungalow Bill’s Conservative Wisdom, has alerted us to the fact that Ozark Billy has begun his 2012 campaign—he’s already started to recruit interns to help with his reelection —despite the fact that Billy said he was “not a career politician” and would be a “citizen legislator.”  

BBCW also made mention of local Joplinite Will Lynch, who worked for 7th District hopeful Jack Goodman during the Republican primary earlier this year :

Will Lynch, a former Republican staffer and Mizzou law student with an Abraham Lincoln beard from Joplin, is calling Congressman-elect Billy Long a hypocrite on Twitter. Lynch claims Long said during one of the major campaign events that politicians are “more worried about getting reelected”than anything else. Lynch has called out for people to find the sound bite.

Lynch himself also tweeted in regards to Long’s reelection efforts, “There’ll be a primary if I have to run myself…”

Full disclosure: I have known Will Lynch for a long time and I like him very much. Very much.  He and I had a long conversation this summer about politics, which, honestly, amounted to me lecturing him about why he shouldn’t be a Republican.  But Will stood his ground and defended his views as much as it is possible for a Republican to defend the indefensible.

And I will say this.  If Will someday decides to get in the race for our 7th District congressional seat, he will be a formidable candidate.  He is a good and decent young man, intelligent and committed to serving the people.  And unlike Ozark Billy, he would not be an embarrassment to our corner of the world.

I just wish to God he were a liberal Democrat.