Where's "Our" Message?

Found this on the website of Minnesota 2020, the website of Matt Entenza's new think tank.

It's pop quiz time, folks. Question #1: what's the progressive message? Question #2: what's the conservative message? Question #3: Was question 1 or 2 easier to answer?Unfortunately, the answer to question 3 is question 2. Everyone knows the conservative message: no taxes, no gay marriage, no immigration, and no abortions. The conservative message isn’t the problem.

Well now obviously author John Van Hecke either has not been paying attention to the Republicans campaigning for President or he doesn't care that he is flat out mis-representing the Conservative position. So of course, I feel the need to debunk just a few of these misconceptions.

Let's start with the first misconception...that we are against all taxes! We are not against taxes, we are against the the idea of punishing people for hard work and success by taking away half (or more) of their hard earned income. We are against the taking money from group A and giving it to group B. We are all for paying for the things that government SHOULD be spending money on....things like roads and bridges and national defense. We are all for paying money to cities to plow roads and provide police and fire departments. We are even perfectly fine with paying money to the state to provide a "safety net" for those times when people are "in need". What we are against is taking money from someone who works 50-60 hours a day and giving it to someone who is able to work but refuses to do so. We are against taking money from a single mom with two kids in daycare and giving it to a mom who stays home but expects the government to feed and clothe and house her kids!

The second misrepresentation is that gay marriage is an issue this year. Not one of the candidates running - not even Baptist preacher Mike Huckabee is campaigning on this. They are campaigning on national security and economic policy and yes even the Iraq War. Not one word on gay marriage.

The 3rd misrepresentation is that conservatives are "against immigration". We are not against immigration. We are all for immigration....LEGAL IMMIGRATION where the immigrant files the appropriate paperwork to get the right student or work visa. We are for the fair treatment of those who play by the rules and we don't want to see the cheaters rewarded for cheating the system.

The final misrepresentation is that we are campaigning on abortion. Now I watched every single minute of the last two debates and the only time Roe v. Wade was brought up the candidate who was asked the question rightly responded that it is settled law and until that changes there is not much he can do about it. Now it is true that conservatives are working to change that law, but it is because we want to make sure that the most innocent among us - the unborn children - have the same rights to LIFE, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that the rest of us enjoy. Again - it is only fair....

Now if Minnesota 2020 wants to run a campaign against conservatives that is based on issues that we are not campaigning on, that is their choice. However, they should be aware that we will vigorously continue to push the real issues that we are campaigning on...tax equity, national and economic security and true equal rights for all.

Well, Well, Well...

Things certainly were not slow last week when I was out of town! Between the Bhutto assisination (more on that later) and ALL of the news out of Iowa it is hard to know where to start. I guess this is as good a place as any...

If the daily Rasmussen Presidential preference poll is any indication, the bloom is indeed off of the Huckabee rose. In the last 5 days before the Iowa caucuses, Huckabee has gone from 20% and the lead in Iowa to 16% and a tie for second (with Mitt Romney). In first place (surprisingly) is Senator John McCain with 17% and followed by Rudy Giuliani (15%) and Fred Thompson (12%). Thompson's numbers have remained pretty static since this time last month while the others have been riding a roller coaster worthy of any amusement park. This tells me that the voters that are not pre-committed to any candidate are still looking for a candidate to represent them. This could bode well for Thompson.

While Rasmussen still shows a huge lead from Senator Clinton on the Democrats side, the Real Clear Politics poll averages show a much closer race - a slim 2% lead over Obama and Edwards. The RCP averages also show a different race on the Republican side with Romney leading by a slim .4 percent over Huckabee and McCain and Thompson slugging it out for third place.

What do I take from all of this.....first and foremost is to take the polling data with a very large grain of salt! As I have long said, polling data can and is manipulated on a daily basis. Wait to see what the voting says! Second is that the 2008 race to nomination is getting more and more interesting every day and THAT is going to get more people involved in the process and that is a very good thing indeed.

Inevitable?

It's been a long time since I have featured a "Logical Lady" of the media. Today we have Salena Zito, writing about a process that people who do not live in a "caucus state" understand. It seems that at least one Presidential candidate is trying to figure it out!

How do you stop the Bush-Clinton, Bush-Clinton inevitability?
Well, if you're Barack Obama, you continue to begin each speech in Iowa with the phrase, “If you haven’t signed up for our campaign, please do so now.”

Iowa remains political rocket fuel. It has the power to change the "inevitability"
that Hillary Clinton will be the next president. But first you have to win the
Hawkeye State. To win Iowa means understanding it. Many Americans likely don't understand the caucus process. And considering that only 124,000 of the state's nearly 2 million registered voters showed up to caucus in 2004, most Iowans don’t either.

Minnesota is a caucus state. Because I didn't grow up here, I think I have a little more of an appreciation of the process where the natives take it for granted. For those of you who don't know what the process is...

Caucusing is a very public and time-consuming process. Voters don't walk into a
private booth and pull a lever or touch a screen. Instead, they gather at meeting places and begin a night of horse trading. Voters begin by standing with the “preference group” representing the candidate they support. But before any
tallying begins, there could be some bartering among preference groups in an
attempt to persuade defections.
Finally, the tally: A candidate must hit a 15 percent threshold in each caucus group to be considered viable. If your first choice is not viable, then either you go for your second pick or walk around and shop among whatever viable candidates are left standing -- all under the watchful eye of friends and neighbors.

The key to the caucus process (if you are a candidate) is to get your people there! If you are running for an office that gets an endorsement, caucus night is where it begins. Delegates for the BPOU convention are picked on caucus night and the only way to go to the conventions up the line (Congressional District, State and National) are chosen at that lower level. You can go to state convention as a "first timer" (as I did). It's that simple! Senator Obama has learned this simple fact!

How does Obama entice his young demographic? By holding caucus “boot camps” --
mock caucuses to introduce them to the experience and make them comfortable with it. Obama's organization also is training precinct captains who can recruit
voters from other preference groups while holding the Obama preference group
intact.

Caucus night, in Minnesota, is February 5. If you are concerned about the direction of the Republican Party in Minnesota or if you just want to have a say in who Minnesota prefers for President then you need to set aside a few hours that night to go to your precinct Caucuses. The Minnesota GOP website will have a list of caucus locations at their precinct finder. Or keep your eye on your local newspaper. Caucus locations will be publicized in your local paper. Either way, set your VCR or Tivo to record your programs and get to caucuses. You will not regret it....and if you live in the Savage Lands, you just might see me there!

Hit Pieces

Every day my inbox is innundated (as I am sure most of yours are as well) with articles taking one candidate or another to task for their stands on issues. More often than not, these articles are hit pieces...articles that specifically take a proceedural vote or a comment made, out of context in order to make the candidate in question look weak on a key issue.

Writing the "hit piece" does not take a brillaint mind or an eloquent style. It just takes the abilty to cull a few articles for the random comment and "wham" you have a hit piece.

The sad thing is, it is not just the print media that is engaging in this tactic. It is driven by the "consultancy" class...the Dick Morris' and George Stephanopolis' of the country. You see it every day in the missives that come out of the campaigns and the inside the beltway pundits.

It would be nice if the candidates would work harder at building themselves up, rather than tearing their opponents down. It would be nice, but I doubt it will happen anytime soon. And that is a shame, because the candidate that does do that will probably get a lot of support that he/she would not have otherwise gotten.