Where it went wrong.
First sorry for the delay in getting this out. Sadly, life got in the way of blogging.....darned responsibilities....
In my previous post, I outlined why I am a Republican. However, one can certainly say that the Republican Party (both nationally and in Minnesota) seem to have strayed from those basic core priniples.
During the 2006 election, I volunteered to work on a campaign. One of the things that I did was to set up phone banks and door knocking campaigns. All I had to do was contact people (on a list that was given to my by the state party) who had worked phone banks and door knocking campaigns before and ask them when they could help. The vast majority of those that I contacted said "I love X but I can not in good conscience work for a party that has abandoned it's principles." WOW what an eye opener! Since I knew a few of these people from activites other than politics so I asked what specifically had upset them. In no particular order they said:
1) Spending like Democrats (given that our governor proposed spending a $2+b surplus you can't argue with that)
2) Failure to secure the border
3) Encouraging government growth (Medicare part D, No Child Left Behind...need I go on?)
4) Lack of a message (no we don't consider "you don't want the Democrats to be in charge do you?" to be a "message"!)
5) Drilling in ANWR and the high cost of gasoline.
6) Undercutting the President on judges and the war (HELLO SENATOR COLEMAN?????)
7) There is much much more but you get the idea.....
Now I live in a strongly Republican county, but it was not that long ago that we were represented by Democrats (David Minge) in the US House and the State House (Becky Otto for one and I can not remember the others for the life of me)! When I talked to my friends and neighbors and people at the soccer fields and school events all said the same thing "There is no difference between the two parties anymore." and to a great extent these people were right. If you looked at the actions of the people at the top of the ticket (President, Governor and Senator) there was little distinguishable difference. That perception hurt a lot of good people further down on the ticket.
Then in March, the BPOU (Basic Political Operating Unit - the grassroots level) convention and people who had long served on the BPOU committee walked away - saying that the party no longer "represented" their beliefs.
This is the crossroads that Minnesota GOP is facing! What the party does in the next 45 days will determine to long term fate of the Minnesota Republican Party. It could either move forward and retake the House and maybe even the Senate or it will whither away into obscurity. What is the answer? Based on my discussions with the activists that stepped away and the average "Joe and Jane" voter, there are a few things that can save the party.
And that is the topic of the next post.....
In my previous post, I outlined why I am a Republican. However, one can certainly say that the Republican Party (both nationally and in Minnesota) seem to have strayed from those basic core priniples.
During the 2006 election, I volunteered to work on a campaign. One of the things that I did was to set up phone banks and door knocking campaigns. All I had to do was contact people (on a list that was given to my by the state party) who had worked phone banks and door knocking campaigns before and ask them when they could help. The vast majority of those that I contacted said "I love X but I can not in good conscience work for a party that has abandoned it's principles." WOW what an eye opener! Since I knew a few of these people from activites other than politics so I asked what specifically had upset them. In no particular order they said:
1) Spending like Democrats (given that our governor proposed spending a $2+b surplus you can't argue with that)
2) Failure to secure the border
3) Encouraging government growth (Medicare part D, No Child Left Behind...need I go on?)
4) Lack of a message (no we don't consider "you don't want the Democrats to be in charge do you?" to be a "message"!)
5) Drilling in ANWR and the high cost of gasoline.
6) Undercutting the President on judges and the war (HELLO SENATOR COLEMAN?????)
7) There is much much more but you get the idea.....
Now I live in a strongly Republican county, but it was not that long ago that we were represented by Democrats (David Minge) in the US House and the State House (Becky Otto for one and I can not remember the others for the life of me)! When I talked to my friends and neighbors and people at the soccer fields and school events all said the same thing "There is no difference between the two parties anymore." and to a great extent these people were right. If you looked at the actions of the people at the top of the ticket (President, Governor and Senator) there was little distinguishable difference. That perception hurt a lot of good people further down on the ticket.
Then in March, the BPOU (Basic Political Operating Unit - the grassroots level) convention and people who had long served on the BPOU committee walked away - saying that the party no longer "represented" their beliefs.
This is the crossroads that Minnesota GOP is facing! What the party does in the next 45 days will determine to long term fate of the Minnesota Republican Party. It could either move forward and retake the House and maybe even the Senate or it will whither away into obscurity. What is the answer? Based on my discussions with the activists that stepped away and the average "Joe and Jane" voter, there are a few things that can save the party.
And that is the topic of the next post.....
Labels: MNGOP, Republicans
posted by The Lady Logician at
6:49 PM
1 Comments:
Where it went wrong?
I don't get these conservatives. I see it happening, but I don't understand why. If a BPOU has 10 moderates and 8 conservatives, I can understand that the conservatives are overwhelmed with their inability to take charge of direction of the BPOU.
However, as challenging as it may be having to try to work on a direction with people who don't agree with you 100% politically, walking away doesn't make the situation better. If 4 of the conservatives decide not to participate in the process anymore, that makes the remaining BPOU more moderate.
If conservatives are happy with a Liberal party and a Moderate party in Minnesota, then fine, walk away. As the party becomes more moderate, moderates in the DFL will feel comfortable coming over until political balance is acheived again.
Why do conservatives think that if they abandon the party it will make the party better?
For the conservatives that try to push the moderates out of the party to get a majority, at least that has some logical rationalization to getting a majority.
The correct answer in my opinion though would be for the 8 conservatives to each get another like-minded conservative involved. Grow the party. Even if half the conservatives in my example brought someone in, that would change the party. But when half the conservatives leave, now each conservative left needs to find 3 more conservatives to join the BPOU to make a difference. Now it's overwhelming and that's the position conservatives seem to find themselves in today.
It's so easy to blame moderates, or a chair, or Senator Coleman, or even President Bush for the fact that the MN GOP isn't as conservative as one might hope it should be. But the real problem is simple. The lack of conservative change in the Party is that conservatives, as you mentioned are walking away. They have created the problem that they are complaining of.
The more they walk away, the harder it is and longer it takes to come back and have a conservative party in MN in the future.
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Unknown, at 4:24 PM
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