A Short Rant About Political Calls

The worst thing about election season is the phone calls that come from parties/organizations and/or candidates that reveal these organizations don't have a clue when it comes to political organizing for getting out the vote (aka GOTV). They seem to think that having a list of phone numbers and volunteers is the answer, much like the morons who paint the roads with yard signs.

If these people had done the tiniest amount of research in order to target their calls, they'd know that I am someone who votes at every opportunity and am someone who is active online (and offline) promoting conservative candidates. My name would be stricken from all but lists involved with reminding me to vote, and once I had indicated I had voted (or my name showed that I had voted this cycle), remove it from their call lists as well.

I am especially looking at the Republican National Committee and NC Victory 2012, who are the most egregious offenders of these shotgun calls that are a total waste of resources.

I'll save my rant about yard signs for another day.

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Santorum: Might As Well Have Obama Over Romney Full Video of San Antonio Speech

The latest brouhaha in this excrutiatingly long and drawn out 2012 Republican Primary (thanks for nothing, RNC dimwits) implies that Rick Santorum would prefer President Obama to President Romney. I think his words have been taken out of context. Mind you, I am saying this as a supporter of Mitt Romney. First, as is my custom, I present the full speech so that you may gain an understanding of the context of how and when the words were said, so that you don't have to rely on soundbites created for political spin and to generate page views by irresponsible journalists and political pundits:

Rick Santorum Addresses The USAA in San Antonio, Texas



Rick Santorum Press Availability 


The full extent of Rick Santorum's remark is as follows:

What I’ve said in this campaign is that if you look at the record on a lot of issues, I’ve taken a consistent approach throughout the course of my career. I believe in these fundamental freedom and the way we solve problems in America. And there are many on the Republican side of aisle who don’t… 

That’s the sort of the approach. That’s the differentiation, if you will, between me going up against Barack Obama, where there really are real contrasts on the issues, as opposed to a lot of these candidates where it’s a race between Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee. That’s not how you win. 

In the last century, there’s one person, one Republican candidate, who defeated a Democratic Incumbent for re-election. One in the last century. And that was Ronald Reagan. Almost every other time we ran a moderate because we had to win. Republicans and Conservatives were so worried about getting control back that we have to win so we have to nominate someone who can appeal to- 

No, you win by giving people a choice. You win by giving the people an opportunity to see a different vision for our country not someone who’s just going to be a little different from the person we have in there. If they’re going to be just a little different, we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk on what may be the Etch-a-sketch candidate of the future.”

Source: USAA Speech in San Antonio, Texas, transcribed from the first video in this blogpost.

He was answering a question during the Q&A Session that followed his speech to the USAA in San Antonio, Texas yesterday. No one at the event seems to have objected to the words in their original context. Someone decided to make a mountain out of a molehill.

For an example of the spin and yellow journalism as "journalists" sought to generate controversy where there is none, check out this article from CBS News:

Presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Thursday said Republicans should give President Barack Obama another term if Santorum isn’t the GOP nominee and for a second day compared rival Mitt Romney to an Etch A Sketch toy.

Santorum reiterated an argument he has made before: The former Massachusetts governor is not conservative enough to offer voters a clear choice in the fall election and that only he can provide that contrast.

“You win by giving people a choice,” Santorum said during a campaign stop in Texas. “You win by giving people the opportunity to see a different vision for our country, not someone who’s just going to be a little different than the person in there.”

Santorum added: “If they’re going to be a little different, we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk of what may be the Etch A Sketch candidate for the future.”

Source: CBS News

I will repeat what I've said in other blogposts, on Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus and in conversations: This tinkering with the Republican Primary schedule so that the nomination process takes longer has done nothing but harm the party, the candidates and the chances that the eventual nominee will win the general election this November.

In a more perfect world, every member of the RNC who voted for this change to the Republican Primary Calendar should be brought up on the stage during the RNC Nominating Convention in Tampa, be tarred, feathered and rode out of the convetion on a rail so that they might be properly humiliated for their role in harming the Republican Party. I've embedded a visual aid below:

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Michael Steele Appearance on Joe Scarborough Show Audio of Rush Limbaugh's Return Added

RNC Chairman Michael Steele was just on the Joe Scarborough Show on WABC-AM in New York City, and this is the audio of his appearance. His book is available at Amazon.

Also, Rush Limbaugh will be on the air for the first time since December 23rd, and you can listen at WABC-AM.

**12.28pm**

Here is the first segment of today's Rush Limbaugh Show for your enjoyment:

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The John Batchelor Show for 05-24-2009

Before I relay my weekly promotion for the best six hours in radio, check out Bolden to Enterprise by John Batchelor. The above Friedman video was swiped from the article.

It's Sunday night, and that means it's time for John Batchelor!





Here is his website.

The show starts at 7pm Eastern, and continues for six hours of the best radio you will find anywhere, as only John Batchelor can deliver it with his stable of experts...

And here is where you can listen to the show live online:

New York, WABC-AM 770 7-10PM ET;
Washington DC, WMAL-AM 630 7-9PM ET;
San Francisco, KSFO-AM 560;
Los Angeles,KFI-AM 640;

And here is where you can find the podcasts of the show: the first three hours, and the last three hours.

Schedule for Tonight: (all six hours are on the same link now)

The first two hours are below to whet your appetite:

Memorial Day Special.

705P Eastern Time: Matt Bai, NYT, re the surprising non-story of the gay marriage amendments and law changes in states, re how the young voters poll an indifference to the topic, that is, no opposition.

720P: Amir Efrati, Wall Street Journal,re Madoff Victims Are Investigated

The probe into who knew about Madoff's massive fraud has broadened to include high-profile investors including Jeffry Picower and Stanley Chais, and Carl Shapiro, an old friend of the money manager

735P: Jesse Westbrook, Bloomberg, re U.S. Said to Consider Stripping SEC of Power, Shifting Some Duties to Fed

750P: Stephanie Simon, Wall Street Journal, Using Spidey Sense on the Border A small Homeland Security unit is charged with adding whiz-bang wonder to the drudgery of border patrols and vehicle checkpoints. Texas Mayor Trades Job for Romance Texas mayor J.W. Lown resigned this week, saying he is in love with a Mexican man who doesn't have permission to remain in the U.S.

805P: Ed Hayes, attorney, re In Bronx Bomb Case, Steps and Missteps Alike Caught on Tape In documents, interviews and court hearings, details of a homegrown terror plot and the checkered life stories of the four men charged further emerged.

820P: James R. Hagerty, Wall Street Journal, re 'Terrorizing' Bankers in Foreclosure Fight

835P: Financial Roundtable, Thaddeus McCotter, Member of Congress, Jim McTague, Barron's, David Weidner, Marketwatch.com, re the auto talks, re the report that Chrysler will emerge from bankruptcy and that GM will go into bankruptcy. U.S. to Steer GM Toward Bankruptcy

850P: Continued re GM Reaches Deal in Canada The Canadian Auto Workers said it has reached an agreement with General Motors on cost-cutting measures.

905P: Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, from Jerusalem, re Netanyahu's visit to the White House, re the missile test in Iran, re the POTUS statement of a deadline for Iran diplomacy.

920P: Aaron Klein, author, "The Late Great State of Israel," re the Hamas preparation for an Obama administration outreach.

935P: Jim Leeke, author, Manila and Santiago, re the Spanish American War of 1898 and the rise of Assistant Secretary of the Navy T.R. Roosevelt.

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Republican Party Rebuilding, or Applying Makeup?

I cannot go anywhere in Republican circles without hearing how the party is "rebuilding" and "returning to principles,"  including campaigns that became a parody on that meme, and others that ended up alienating Republicans.

The only changes I see are cosmetic in nature, and the proof in the pudding will be the elections coming up in 2009 and 2010, when county, district and state parties will be tested. The latest test, in NY-20, appears to indicate that the party has room for improvement, and the grass roots campaign has also failed.

Here is a regional example that Republican parties across the nation should not be repeating:

In Buncombe County, a first test will be the City Council elections. I know that these elections are supposed to be "non-partisan", but will conservatives mount a slate of candidates like the progressives have? Will there be a counter to the Moveon candidates? 

A strong Republican party can provide a foundation of training and experience for conservative activists in the precincts inside the city limits of Asheville just as the Democratic party of Buncombe County has in the past. 

I think that it is sad that the City of Asheville is ceded to the Democratic Party. It is wrong for the Republican party to cede areas, as it allows the democratic party to build on it's lead in those areas that will come back to bite Republicans running for offices in larger districts that include those precincts. 

**update 11.26am** Jack Betts has more on the importance of lefty areas in securing wins in the larger scheme of things...like my example of Asheville.

It is my contention that the retreat from the Asheville precincts (and other precincts like them state and nationwide) helped cost Nathan Ramsey his seat on the Buncombe County Commission, and prevented anyone else from joining him on that body. It also allowed Democratic candidates to pick up votes that allowed them cruise to victory in a number of other races. 

I would like to see the Republican party take the offensive in gaining new voters in these areas instead of just talking about it. 

As of March 28, 2009, here are the voter registration numbers for North Carolina:

DEM 2,789,062

GOP 1,946,322

LIB         4,682

UNA 1,363,048

TOT 6,103,116

And here are some current figures of voter registration for the western part of North Carolina by county:

. District Democratic Republican Libertarian Unaffiliated Total . Buncombe 76440 47852 161 46763 171216 . Cherokee 7271 8423 14 4559 20267 . Clay 2839 3349 5 2166 8359 . Graham 2527 2835 3 1166 6531 . Haywood 20400 11857 23 8929 41209 . Henderson 19103 31530 51 23502 74186 . Jackson 12076 7092 13 7304 26485 . Macon 8834 10201 9 6231 25725 . Madison 8005 4699 13 3800 16517 . McDowell 10904 9634 10 6556 27104 . Rutherford 18822 14146 14 8905 41887 . Swain 4341 2402 5 2405 9153 . Transylvania 7994 8478 10 6454 22937 . Yancey 6546 5320 5 2537 14408

I will try to provide periodic updates to these figures, and engage local party leaders on their efforts to increase these figures, and give them opportunities to share their philosophy on increasing the number of registered Republicans.

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GOP Tech Summit

This post is sticky, and will remain on top until 7pm tonight. Scroll down for more recent posts.

The RNC is on a high-tech listening tour of sorts.

Only, you have to come to them to be heard. And for 5 minutes only. 

The event will be live-streamed on Ustream, and on hundreds of blogs and social networks. 

I'll be carrying it as well, only not here. In the spirit of embracing the social network, it will be on Conservative Thunder in the Harnessing Social Networks Group. Chat will be available on the Ustream player, and on the local network.

When the event is over, I will remove the player, and hope that the organizers are wise enough to record it for later playback...but don't hold your breath.

Here is a clip of the event now that it is over...
Streaming Video by Ustream.TV

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RNC Chairman Steele Weekly Address Feb 7, 2009

RNC Chairman Michael Steele Delivers Weekly Republican Address.

Transcript:

This is Michael Steele, Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Democrats have controlled both branches of government for less than a month. And you have to wonder if all that power has gone to their heads.

For the last two weeks, theyve been trying to force a massive spending bill through Congress under the guise of economic relief.

All of us Republicans and Democrats agree the government must act to kick-start the American economy. American families are doing their best to balance their own budgets and pay their mortgages.

The fastest way to help those families is by letting them keep more of the money they earn. Individual empowerment: thats how you stimulate the economy.

But the Democrats have a different philosophy. Instead of leaving money in the family checkbook, they want to send it to Washington, run it through a slow and inefficient government, and hope that does some good.

When families keep the money, they spend it, save it, or invest it. And the private sector economy benefits when families and businesses buy consumer goods or invest it for the future. But when Washington spends the money, some of it may flow into the economy, but all too often, much gets wasted.

Democrats in Congress want a one-trillion dollar spending bill. Youve heard about the pork-barrel programs they want to fund 45 million dollars for ATV trails and removal of fish passage barriers is one that caught my eye. Exactly what is a fish passage barrier and why does it cost 45 million dollars to stimulate the economy with it?

Thats why Republicans in the House voted against uncontrolled spending. This is not a bragging point, but rather a statement that at least Republicans would stand with the American taxpayer.

But voting no is not enough and Republicans have offered innovative ideas to help struggling families and small businesses. Weve offered plans to spark job creation and investment through lower taxes, to stop the taxation of unemployment benefits, and to help Americans keep their jobs and their homes.

The comprehensive Republican plan would lower taxes for all working American families. If youre married, the first 16,750 dollars you make this year will be taxed at ten percent. Why dont we cut that rate in half to give instant buying power to every working American family?

Good ideas lots of them all left out of this plan by the Democrats in Congress.

Republicans stand ready to work with reasonable Democrats to do what is right for America.

But it will take more than bipartisan words from the President. It will require fair-minded action from Democrats in Congress.

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Michael Steele Acceptance Speech

I am filling in for Thunder Pig this weekend as he takes the weekend off.

I am a member of his social network Conservative Thunder. 

The election of Michael Steele as the new party chairman bodes well for the future of our party.

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Michael Steele Selected RNC Chairman!!!

According to my twitterfeeds...Michael Steele has been selected the new Chairman of the RNC after six rounds of voting. 

In case you do not know who he is, or what he believes...here is a video of him speaking at the Civitas Leadership Conference in 2007:

I was hoping that it would be either him or Ken Blackwell, and anybody except Mike Duncan or Katon Dawson...either of whom would have been disastrous for our party.

From Wikipedia about the RNC race...

As is typical for national US political parties after losing an election, many senior Republicans promised big changes at the RNC after losing control of the White House in 2008. Former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele described the party as having lost its sense of purpose while announcing his candidacy to succeed Duncan. "I think I may have some keys to open the door, some juice to turn on the lights," he said.^[1]

Besides Michael Steele, who coined the mantra "Drill baby drill" at the 2008 Republican National Convention, Michigan State Republican Party Chairman Saul Anuzis, former Ohio secretary of state and member of the Republican Platform Committee Ken Blackwell, former Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Chip Saltsman, during whose tenure Al Gore lost his home state in the 2000 election,^[2] GOP Chairman of South Carolina Katon Dawson,and incumbent Mike Duncan are all seeking the position of National Republican Party Chair.^[3] Saltsman's candidacy was marked by controversy when he distributed, as a Christmas gift, a CD that included the song Barack the Magic Negro, a parody of Puff the Magic Dragon.^[4]

Other Republicans said the RNC will focus its efforts on congressional and gubernatorial elections in the coming years rather than worrying about the next presidential election. "When I was chairman of the Republican National Committee the last time we lost the White House in 1992 we focused exclusively on 1993 and 1994. And at the end of that time, we had both houses of Congress with Republican majorities, and we’d gone from 17 Republican governors to 31. So anyone talking about 2012 today doesn’t have their eye on the ball. What we ought to worry about is rebuilding our party over the next year and particularly in 2010,” ex-RNC chair and Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour said at the November 2008 Republican Governors conference.^[5]

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Anonymous Attack On RNC Chair Candidate Uses Fake Newspaper Cover

“RNC Chooses Whites Only Chairman,” the headline blares.

The subheds: “White House Rejoices With GOP Selection.”

And: “GOP Leaders and Independent Voters Upset.”

The “front page” does specify that it’s a “parody.” The idea, obviously, is to hit Dawson by pointing out that electing someone who was a member of a whites only club as the new public face of the GOP won’t exactly help the party counter charges that it’s become a southern regional party that’s been hijacked by intolerants.

Source: The Plumline

I certainly hope that RNC members aren't behind this attack on Dawson. I suspect that it is more likely a Democratic PsyOps campaign to sow chaos and dissention among RNC members and to make the GOP look bad.

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Watch RNC Debate LIVE at 1pm Eastern Time

Watch the RNC Chairman debate live here starting at 1pm Eastern Time.

THE DEBATE IS OVER. I WILL HAVE THE AUDIO AVAILABLE SHORTLY. 2.33pm

2.37pm Ha! That was quick. Here is the audio:



The candidates are:




Saul Anuzis
Ken Blackwell
Katon Dawson
Mike Duncan
Chip Saltsman
MIchael Steele

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Ada Fisher Joins Lefties, RINOs in a Racially Motivated Attack on RNC Chair Candidate

This is so sad:

Earlier this month, Fisher announced her support for South Carolina chairman Katon Dawson in his bid for the head of the national party, despite a controversy over his membership in a country club that doesn't admit blacks.

Now she has criticized another candidate for the top post, Chip Saltsman, for distributing a CD as a Christmas gift that included a song by Rush Limbaugh called "Barack the Magic Negro."

"Racist actions and deeds have no place in the party," she wrote in an open letter to Saltsman. "The lack of sensitivity in understanding the historical election we just had and the challenges this nation faces as we must bind our wounds as well as bring our people together requires that we set aside our biases and search out those constitutional principles inherent in our nation's foundings and our parties operation which must undergrid us as we move forward."

Source: Under The Dome

Related: Ada Fisher Website

I think that Dr. Fisher has revealed far more about her limited worldview than she thought she was exposing. 

Perhaps she does not realize that the whole "Barack the Magic Negro" got it's start in a LA Times piece by a radical lefty. Then, Paul Shanklin did a parody song about it, and Rush Limbaugh has used it ever since. 

Here is the parody song if you haven't heard it:

I think that Dr. Ada Fisher should not drink the racist PC Kool Aid and think a little for her self instead of going around calling people racist in a knee-jerk reaction. Shame on her for joining the lefty attack on Chip Saltsman!!!

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