Some thoughts about the 2010 MN GOP Convention.

Stoked: I made a pretty religious point about not “endorsing” anyone leading up to the convention, and I always will.  Part of it is that I’ve always felt it was the height of misplaced vanity for bloggers to “endorse” anyone – as if our individual votes are a matter of any public importance (I’m speaking only for myself here; all of you who did endorse, or just make your sympathies known, have your reasons, and I’m cool with it).  Even worse, since I do have some following out there, I’d be afraid someone would cast a vote because of something I wrote, rather than forming their own opinion.  I criticize news media for endorsing candidates; why would I be different?

But the members of my House District convention (66B) needed to know who they were sending to Minneapolis – so with them, I was open about supporting Emmer.  I stressed that I wasn’t voting against Seifert – indeed, choosing between Emmer, Seifert, Dave Hann (who dropped out of the race over the winter) and a potential candidacy by Laura Brod was among the toughest political choices I’ve ever made.  Emmer won my vote for two reasons; speaker points (he is, quite simply, the best stump speaker in Minnesota politics today; at the gubernatorial debates, he will mow through whomever the DFL chooses, Kelliher or Dayton or Entenza, like a lawnmower through a cabbage patch) and his ability to show people in the middle why to move right, rather than moving himself to the middle to meet them.

Practically every commentator who’s written on the subject has complimented Seifert on his concession during the third ballot.  It’s hard to describe how important – indeed, stirring – it was.  He took the stage, introduced a motion to unanimously endorse Emmer, got 2,000 “seconds” and an acclamation voice vote that rattled the rafters.  The word “electrifying” is overused, but it fits.  This past weekend is among the very few times I can say the MN GOP feels not just unified, but mostly happy about it, in all my years of following the party.

The activists on the floor nearly shook with their desire to get on to November.  In the three State Conventions I’ve attended now, I’ve never seen the party this fired up.

Emmer Is King Cool:  If there’s a lesson for non-GOPers to learn from the convention, it is to put a lid on “conventional wisdom”.

“The CW” says that Tom Emmer is “angry”.  Not just in the “angry white male” sense, although that’s been slathered about promiscuously by a whole lot of media and “alt” media who have a vested interest in Emmer losing.

But in fact, the campaign showed that Emmer keeps his cool.  He was the target of an awful lot of low blows in the weeks before the convention; not only did he not overreact, he didn’t respond.  He didn’t take the bait.  An “angry” man would have at least gotten off a killer comeback; I’m not especially angry, and I love whacking down hecklers more than most things in life.  Emmer’s good at it.  And yet he kept his silence, his counsel, and his eyes on the prize.  “Never let them see you sweat”, says the famous showbiz bromide and deodorant ad.  “Never let them see you blow your top” is equally vital.  Emmer stayed his course.

Give Me Liberty, Or Give Me Nothing!: The “Ron Paul Crowd” has established itself within the party; it’s not a “Kingmaker” faction, by any means, but the Liberty lobby in the MNGOP can not be ignored.  It’s hard to tell if it’s part of or distinct from the “Tea Party” faction – which was important enough that the party invited Toni Backdahl, the powerhouse who organized the past four Tea Parties in Minnesota, to speak, even though she and the Party emphatically do not endorse parties, much less candidates.

There was a curious diversion on Friday night, though; a group of “Liberty” candidates started bagging on Emmer’s “establishment” status, because Norm Coleman and Vin Weber were supporting him.

And I asked – in person, on the blog and via Twitter – what of Coleman’s “RINO” policies did Emmer adopt just because Coleman – who was an imperfect conservative, but voted correctly enough on the majority of issues – was supporting him?

I mean, we’re talking Tom Emmer, the guy who introduced the “Firearms Freedom Act” in the Legislature – which, title notwithstanding, is a bill to reinforce the Tenth Amendment more than the Second.  The guy who, when asked (in front of a live audience at the Northern Alliance Radio Network at the State Fair) what he believed about Gay Marriage replied “I don’t care” (he personally opposes it, but it’s not the governor’s job to decide) – he’s “anti-liberty?”

Because…Norm Coleman made phone calls for him?

I may be just a dumb unedumacated talk show host with a blog on a tiny station that nobody listens to (no, really – he says so!), but that just doesn’t make any sense.

Higher Callings: Sarah Palin’s endorsement seemed to make a bigger splash among Seifert’s people, and the thin-but-significant film of non-Palin-fans in the house, than among Emmer’s people.  I heard some chatter alluding to the rally that Rep. Bachmann had thrown sixteen days earlier in the same room, which was a huge morale boost for Bachmann’s campaign (not that she needs it; she’s going to crush Tarryl Clark this November).  They decried the obstreporously Christian nature of the rally.

Truth be told, I felt a little bit the same at the time.  The rally opened with a Christian “rap” group whose problem was less that their freshly-scrubbed boy-bandish style promiscuously mixed rap, country, arena rock and N-Sync-style R’nB than that they sang over recorded backing tracks, which is a huge pet peeve of mine.  It led off with an invocation from a very fundie minister that took, let’s just say, a less-than-inclusive tack.  Now, both Palin and Bachmann are fundamentalists; the minister may have reflected them adequately enough.

But there’s a good point there; while I am an unapologetic Christian (a militant Presbyterian), I’m in a city where I’m surrounded by people who should be Republicans; Asians who live and breathe free enterprise; Arab and Farsi businessmen who treasure capitalism and liberty (including my neighbor on the floor in my district); Latino Catholics who are disgusted with the education system and are every bit as socially-conservative as Mac Hammond’s flock, and have a work ethic that’d make an Edina realtor blanche nod with respect.   So should they feel for a moment excluded from the party because they are Buddhists, Taoists, Moslem or even just non-evangelical?

For that matter, do we want to turn gay conservtives away?  Because they’re out there, and their votes, checks and energy count just as much as yours do.

I no more want my candidates to preach to me (outside the context of an individual conversation on the subject) than I want the government to tell me what to believe – even if I am a Christian, and even if most of the people in my party are too.

In Living Colour: Some of my snarky lib pals have asked “what color were the attendees?”

Simple.  There were almost 2,000 Red, White and Blue people there.

But since we’re talking to a liberal audience, who obsess over (and prosper from) race and class divides – there were more non-white delegates than I’ve ever seen. Quite a few Asian delegates, a few Asian/Middle Eastern (including the guy in the seat next to me), and more African-Americans than I’ve ever seen.  Many were younger guys – they looked like college kids or or recent grads.  But there were plenty more – a fiftysomething gentleman in full VFW regalia who clearly wanted to be identified by more than his skin color, and a good contingent of guys who looked…a lot like me.  30-40something family guys with kids.  And I can’t imagine why anyone of any ethnic background with kids in the schools and half a brain would vote DFL – but it’s a matter of empirical record the schools fail black kids the worst.

Pardon an observation – and that’s all it is – but I think Barb Davis-White’s candidacy made it safer for black conservatives to come out, especially in places like North Minneapolis, which are testimonies to the failure of DFL policy.  More than that, I think she made it safe for Afro-Americans in Minneapolis to look past the party divides and take a fresh look at conservatism.

I wonder if the Central Corridor – which will target Asian businesses in Frogtown like a heat-seeking missile targets jet tailpipes – will do the same in Saint Paul?

Nothing To Stand On: One of those black conservatives, Walter Scott Hudson, writes Fightin’ Words, one of the better new blogs I’ve read lately (note to Walter; you should join the Minnesota Organization of Bloggers).  Hudson observed the battle over the platform that I’ve been writing about, the struggle to make it shorter and more accessible.

As I noted on Friday, while the CD3 GOP passed the “Statement of Guiding Principles” that Derek Brigham, John LaPlante, Rick Weibel, Jan Schneider and I wrote a few weeks back – a simple one-page, ten-item list.  It passed CD3, but got held up in the Platform Committee.  It got reintroduced from the floor.

Hudson picks up the story:

Having been adopted at the CD3 convention a few weeks prior, the Republican Guiding Principles and Values Statement came before the state convention on Saturday. There were vigorous arguments against the document which provoked reflection upon the entire platform building process.

One delegate rose to argue, “Principles are like posteriors. Everyone has them. None are good to look at other than your own. And God made it so we can never see ours.” The line got a hearty laugh and some applause from the crowd; but I’m not sure how to derive anything meaningful from it. In point of fact, the principles articulated in the statement are universal to the party membership. Consider points 7-9:

7)  The Pursuit of Happiness is essential to our existence; we support equal opportunities not equal results.

8)  Charity comes best from the heart of individuals and cannot be forced or coerced via taxation and regulation.

9)  The law must be applied to everyone equally; no one is above the law.

Are these really statements of biometric specificity which no two people can share? I think not. I think they are pretty dead on representations of beliefs commonly expressed and acted upon by Republican candidates and public servants.

Many delegates seemed territorially indignant, expressing concern the platform was being usurped, or that something was being taken away from them. One rose to extol the virtues of the specificity in the platform (i.e. aforementioned Eddie Eagle language) as both representative of the grassroots and necessary for holding the party’s elected officials accountable. These concerns seemed plainly unfounded. The document was clearly submitted as new and distinct from the platform. The grassroots, best represented in individual precinct caucuses, have their submitted resolutions thoroughly eviscerated by time the platform draft makes it to the convention floor. Finally, nothing binds any Republican elected official to abide by the party platform. In short, a platform is not legislation.

The process of going through resolutions seems to occupy the time of people who don’t understand the process all that well; the platofrm isn’t, as Hudson notes, legislation; indeed, something as long and occasionally contradictory as the Platform scarcely serves as a guide to the legislators we have.

The statement, however, apparently passed, so that’s all good.

It’s troubling, though, that so many Republicans are so unclear on the idea of what “princples” are.  We had some big laughs at some of the rules debate, when people who clearly had not been to state conventions questioned “roll call voting” that had, in fact, been practiced since the Civil War (at least – I mean, I dunno); it turned out that the BPOU by BPOU roll call vote was the hit of the convention, giving an unprecedented level of transparency to at least the first ballot; each person in each BPOU had a fair idea of who’d voted for whom, and the whole convention could stink-test the results in real-time.

But that’s just education.  It’ll come along.

Bess Folsom, a Campus Republican from Gustavus Adolphus, attended her first MNGOP convention this past weekend.  She wrote as good a report of the climactic moment – Marty Seifert’s dramatic, aggressively-conciliatory concession –  as anyone in  this piece on her experiences at the event:

Two ballots, hundreds of handshakes, multiple cups of coffee, and one epic parade of “Seifert v. Emmer” enthusiasts later the delegation was getting ready to start a third ballot. With Emmer in the lead and the Seifert supporters standing firm, we were all prepared for a long night. Suddenly Marty came running to the stage and energetically grabbed the mic. It was then he announced that he wanted to throw his support behind Tom Emmer to elect Tom as the next governor of Minnesota. The Emmer crowd went crazy and the Seifert supporters looked like they’d seen a ghost.

Marty instructed his supporters to take off their Seifert stickers and slap on some Emmer ones. He was passionate as he urged the delegation to unanimously endorse Tome Emmer. And so it was done.

Tom came bouncing to the stage and embraced Marty. Balloons were falling down as the Emmer clan surrounded the two men, all grinning and happy stage one of the fight was over. It was a quintessential scene of unity. As corny as it sounds, I actually had goosebumps.

I was talking with Michael Brodkorb – deputy party chair and my former co-host on the Northern Alliance – as we were walking to the afterparty .  The final scene was spontaneous, of course – when Marty Seifert’s vote totals dropped rather than rose on the second ballot, he clearly knew that it was time to wrap it up.  He had the option of stalking away petulantly, of course (not that he would have), but he instead chose to make it a dramatic unifying event.

But it almost looked choreographed; it was so perfectly timed.  People were casting their third ballots; many had been glued to their seats since 9AM, and there’d been no lunch break, and suddenly at the crack of 5PM, just in time for the evening news and a well-earned dinner, we had this rousing outburst of class, unity and reconciliation?

Of course, if you’ve seen political parties trying to choerograph anything, you’d know how far-fetched that was.

Anyway, it was a great convention – and, I have to hope, a clear signal to Minnesota, coming after the snarky and indecisive DFL gathering in Duluth…was it really only a week earlier?

It was a great convention.  I’ve been to three State conventions, now, and this was by far the best.  Tony Sutton and Michael Brodkorb and the whole staff should feel proud of their efforts; while there will always be complaints (and I’ll be registering at least one of them), it was a smooth, open and participatory a political convention as I’ve ever seen.

The below is a contestant in the “Write Lori Sturdevant’s Next Column” contest, written by “Dave From Mound”.   Vote above.

Last weekend, the DFL loyalists journeyed to Duluth to make their endorsements for statewide offices, including governor.  They joined together, deliberated, and celebrated.  They made history and exited Duluth unified behind their flag bearer.

On Friday, it was the GOP’s turn in Minneapolis.  Needless to say, their convention had a palpable feel that was not evident at the DFL’s productive and positive environment.  It felt as if the caustic infection that afflicts the body politic in Washington DC has invaded our ‘Minnesota Nice’.

Whether it was the heated speeches by Michele Bachmann, who took as many cheap shots and one-liners at the DFL and President Obama as time permitted, or the anti-government Tea Partier banter heard among the delegates, the atmosphere was less a political convention than a well-dressed and better-organized lynch mob.  Where have the reasoned and balanced Republicans gone, such as Governor Arnie Carlson or Jim Ramstad?

Friday’s events were highlighted by the endorsement of Tom Emmer, the conservative state house representative from Wright County.  In contrast to the DFL’s convention, this day of endorsement battles again revealed deep fissures in the GOP by way of petty partisan attacks made by Emmer and his endorsement rival Marty Seifert.

Even after the bruising endorsement battle ended, the sniping by the delegates and their candidates continued as they exited the convention hall.  Each side remained steadfastly committed to their candidates, leading to significant speculation that Seifert will break his previous pledge not to run in the August primary.

The bitter divisions were best illustrated by the political punches thrown by the Lieutenant Governor candidates.  The first body blows were thrown by Annette Meeks, the running mate for Emmer.  In speaking informally with delegates, Meeks was heard disparaging her counterpart, Rhonda Sivarajah, over revelations of her pass DFL association and not-so-conservative past credentials.  Sivarajah, Seifert’s running mate, countered with Meeks’ association to Newt Gingrich, during the time when his infidelities to his cancer-ridden wife were at their height.

Needless to say, the contrasts between the two conventions were stark.  Last week, a unified and energized group of DFLers left Duluth a cohesive political force, ready to take back the Governor’s mansion after 20 years in the political wilderness.  In witnessing the adjournment of the Republicans, the divisions appear incredibly and permanently deep, too deep for their recovery in time for November’s elections.

The below is a contestant in the “Write Lori Sturdevant’s Next Column” contest, written by “Mr D”.   Vote above.

The Republicans were on a 3-day ideological bender at the Convention Center this weekend, so it was perhaps appropriate that they selected a 2-time DWI offender, Tom Emmer, to carry their unsteady banner against the DFL-endorsed Margaret Anderson Kelliher. In their Tea Party-fueled fervor, it seemed that the GOP lost sight of the optics of nominating a twice-convicted drunk driver in the immediate aftermath of tragedies on Minnesota highways only the week before.

The below is a contestant in the “Write Lori Sturdevant’s Next Column” contest, written by “Ben”.   Vote above.

The Republican Party proved that they have been taken over by the extreme right-wing teabaggers. They had a choice between someone who actually knows about government and wins in a very liberal area and a kook from Delano. Of course they chose the kook from Delano what would you expect. The Lt.Gov candidate is a member of the Met Council who wanted to get rid of the Lt.Governor position so will she resign if somehow the people of Minnesota send this crazy duo to the Governors Mansion? Somehow the DUI’s of Emmer’s past didn’t seem to matter to the delegates of the teabagger convention though, and I am sure MADD will let everyone know just how bad Emmer is. Can you imagine someone having veto power while drunk? We are not the former Soviet Union. What were the delegates drinking? If Siefert had been nominated I would have been able to throw my support behind him if Kelliher didn’t survive the primary. But now this conservative will support whoever is the DFL nominee after the primary. It is time to send the Democrats back to the Governors mansion, because in fairness they deserve a chance.

The below is a contestant in the “Write Lori Sturdevant’s Next Column” contest, written by “JW Of Minnesota”.   Vote above.

On a warm and sunny evening on upscale, progressive Minneapolis, a small handful of right-wing politicos selected their ringleader to succeed Tim P. After hosting the Young Socialists meeting at my ELCA worship center, I decided to hop in the Pruis and swing over to Minneapolis for the Republican convention. What I found was a bunch of grey-suited power-brokers striving to select another grey suit. After several breath-taking rounds of voting, the grey suit driving all the long way from that suburban Delano was selected.

He’ll mount a fine Minnesota challenge to the recently selected DFL’er Kelliher. Strong on Minnesota dairy farm values, with the right touch of Minneapolis progressive thinking, Kelliher will put up a super-duper fight.

Calling on an old friend from my reporting days, I spoke with the well-known conservative Arne Carlson. He tells me “Lori, the Republicans keep moving so far to the right, Genghis Khan would blush.” We wholeheartedly agreed the problem grey suit faces is not in his well-spoken, experienced DFL adversity, but with his predecessor. Following Tim Pawlenty won’t be easy. It’s tough, given the millions poor and children who have been forced to live on the street due to Pawlenty only growing the state government in single digits.

A reputation like that needs a strong-willed woman and community organizer from Minneapolis to move across the lovely Mississippi to make the Governor’s mansion a home.

The below is a contestant in the “Write Lori Sturdevant’s Next Column” contest, written by “Bubbasan”.   Vote above.

It was a dark and stormy night in Minneapolis when the Republicans gathered, the city anti-tobacco ordinance thwarting their dark dreams of selecting a grey suit in a smoke filled room. Out of the pall of American flags, anti-choice rhetoric, dangerous concealed firearms, and rejection of the common good came a man who will carry the GOP banner, Mr. XXX XXXXXXX.

The grey suited candidate wasted no time in slandering colorful Margaret Anderson Kelliher, the DFL nominee, for her stands supporting women’s rights, the responsibility of the prosperous to pay for the common good, and protection of public safety by restricting dangerous weapons in the hands of those not qualified to use them. It was a performance worthy of his convictions for drunken driving and his treatment of his GOP opponent, Mr. XXXXXXXXX.

The below is a contestant in the “Write Lori Sturdevant’s Next Column” contest, written by “Speed  Gibson”.   Vote above.

Style, not substance, perceived to be the key to victory.By MOSTLI IRRELEVANT, special to Speed Gibson

Last update: May 1, 2010 – 4:37 PM

MINNEAPOLIS – While the DFL quickly closed ranks behind Margaret Anderson Kelliher last week as their endorsed candidate for Governor, many in the GOP left the Minneapolis Convention Center clearly unhappy – with the choice, the process, or both.

Kelliher led from the first ballot, but Silas Marner had to come from behind to edge Uriah Heep, finally prevailing on the seventh ballot. It was difficult for the delegates to separate these two ultra-conservatives, the difference according to many delegates being electability.

“We have to assume that Kelliher will survive the primary, maybe convincingly so with Gaertner dropping out,” said one delegate. “The DFL isn’t going to hop off her love train to embrace a couple of retreads like Dayton or Entenza. I worked hard for Uriah, but we’re going to need some charisma of our own to beat her.”

Many of the remaining Heep supporters saw it differently. “Once [Mariner] got a small lead, the party leadership pushed hard, really hard, just to get a decision,” said a disillusioned floor walker. “We in the grass roots came here to pick the best candidate.”

It was a tough choice. They’re both likable, veteran legislators and they’re both committed to deep spending cuts to close the state budget gap. Both are firmly against tax increases. But how do you put a human face on the dramatically reduced state services that requires? That was the ultimate question, and enough delegates eventually found their answer in the more personable Silas Marner.

Uriah Heep actually has been in the legislature 6 years longer than Kelliher, chairing the Finance Committee until the DFL took control in 2007. Since then he has been the ranking member on Ways and Means, and Minority Whip the past two years. As such, he matches up well against Kelliher’s own impressive record and qualifications.

But enough Republicans were willing to trade some of that for the affable personality and tireless energy of Silas Mariner. A longtime Redwood Falls business owner, he came out of nowhere to win a 2003 special election to replace Senator Teresa Defarge when she took a job transfer out of state. And he’s been impressing people at the Capitol ever since. Barring a major upset in the DFL primary, he’ll need all of that to overcome Kelliher’s wide respect and support, which by the way includes a number of Republican women. The prospect of the first woman Governor in Minnesota history is not lost on them either, especially those with school age children.

For it’s one thing to sharpen pencils and affix green eye shades when tackling the state’s short and long term financial shortfalls. It’s quite another to face young parents and explain why their schools will have to cut back even further. Health care, the other big cost driver, will affect almost everyone, and the word will go forth: you’re on your own. Even the gifted orator that is Silas Mariner is already behind in trying to explain how there is a pot of gold at the end of his rainbow of across the board cuts.

Still, Mariner likes his chances in what will undeniably be a good year for Republicans, certainly at the Federal level. But by that reasoning, Mike Hatch running in a strong Democratic year would be Governor today. We therefore look forward to a spirited, creative campaign as Silas Mariner seeks to extend the GOP’s unbroken 24 year reign in St. Paul against the historic candidacy of Margaret Anderson Kelliher.

The below is a contestant in the “Write Lori Sturdevant’s Next Column” contest, written by “Golfdoc50”.   Vote above.

Bob Dylan famously wrote “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” If the Bard of Hibbing and 4th Street had been in the gallery at the Minneapolis Convention Center he might have noticed which direction the tea leaves were blowing when Tom Emmer tried to generate enough wind shear to dispel the anxieties about his checkered personal history. Perhaps those with short memories won’t shudder at the similarities between Emmer and Jesse Ventura, but citizens concerned about the continuation of basic government services in the next biennium will surely sit up and take notice.
The gray suited Republicans and their ladies in fur probably didn’t notice the tattered looking homeless hugging the curbs of downtown as they pulled up in their limos in front of the Convention Center, but the contrast between the smug and the unlucky was never more obvious.
How do you choose between a country club attending suburban elitist and neo-populist from the outer exurban ring? Closing your eyes to the plight of those clinging to the safety net that is the only thing between them and sleeping on street grates or under bridges every night.
As I was pulling my weekly one hour shift ladling soup at a homeless shelter, one of the regulars there, a toothless schizophrenic veteran tugged at my sleeve and gave me one of those looks. The kind that all great journalists expect to see when they feel the weight of the world compress their ASICS jogging shoes. Illuminating the self absorbed snotty Republican world view isn’t pretty, but somebody has to do it!

The below is a contestant in the “Write Lori Sturdevant’s Next Column” contest, written by “Jed Berg”.   Vote above.

I walked out of the Minneapolis Convention Center late on a rainy Friday night, after nearly 2,000 mostly white, mostly doughy, mostly men spent [FILL IN TOTAL TIME] hours debating between two mostly identical, but yet distinctively extreme, white men, Marty Seifert and Tom Emmer.  It took [FILL IN TOTAL BALLOTS] to endorse [FILL IN WINNER], making [FILL IN WINNER] the most extreme person ever to run for governor.

I walked out under a sky that scowled at us like the ghost of Elmer Anderson, wondering what had happened to a party that had once worked with the DFL to bring Minnesotans the services they expected?  The party that had walked side by side with the DFL to ensure that everyone paid their fair share?

The clouds threatened to rain – or was it the ghosts of the great Republicans past crying, wondering what had gone so wrong with their state?

But I took courage in the eyes of the protesters gathered across the street from the Convention Center – and was reminded of the spirit I’d felt only a week earlier in Duluth, as the sun shone brightly on the DFL as they endorsed a woman – a brilliant, respectful, genial woman! – to lead the DFL, and Minnesota, in the spirit of those great leaders of the past.

And I smiled,  And so, I think, did the sky itself.

Or was it the ghost of Elmer Anderson?  I’ll let you know what he tells me.

4:58 – Seifert announced his retirement.  I say he runs for CD7 if Byberg doesn’t win.  I think it’s a swell idea.

4:55 – I was back on the floor casting my ballot when Seifert conceded.  Incredible class act.

Emmer is on stage now – it took me that long to get back to the press pit.

He’s speaking now. Great acceptance.

Only real question – how many “angry white male” references will the press and leftyblogs snif about?

4:40 – Results in:

• One “No Endorsement”
• Three Undecided
• 22 Blank
• Seifert – 876 (43.8%)
• Emmer – 1118 (56%)

Needs 1199 to endorse.  Seating for third ballot.  Back in a flash.

4:33 – Second ballot results coming out – after Carol Molnau!

4:21 – Still waiting.  Whip count says Emmer up 2-3 votes in CD4.  We’ll see.

3:35 – Change in the report d/t computation error:  Emmer 52.6, Seifert 42.5 is the new official count.

Next ballot now.  Heading to the floor.

3:00 – First ballot results are final:  53-43 Emmer. Herwig, Haas and Davis are off the ballot (none got more than percent, by my count).    Emmer is currently 126 votes shy of the endorsement.  Fifteen minutes til the next ballot.  Bill Haas is coming back to the stage.

Haas has, as I (verbally) predicted, tossed his votes to Seifert.  All 26 of them.

Now Leslie Davis – with six votes – is on stage.  “Rivvizend stakely cash more excusiwavbay.  Yatukka wiveabengay, extortinga file cuz he cknows I’m here”.  No endorsement.

Herwig up next:  Throws his votes, also, to Seifert.  36 of them.

2:56 – Reading results.  Seifert just topped 40% as we plod thorugh the Eighth district – so we’ll definitely have a second ballot.

2:47 – They’re still reading results.  We’ve been through CDs 1,2,4,5 and 6; Emmer is up by a bit, but the 7 and 8 should  both be strong for Seifer.

2:29 – I just got back off the floor, after the usual irritating rules squabbles.  They’re reporting votes a BPOU at a time.

SITD SCOOP

Scoop here:  CD4 hasn’t reported yet, but Emmer took the 4th by 89 to 60 out of 152 allowed ballots.  That’s a better ratio than he had at the CD4 convention.

1:27 – I’m told Davis said if he’s not endorsed, we face “unparalleled misery”.  Let’s just say he’s not got the crowd wrapped around his finger.

1:17 – I’m sorry – it’s actually Leslie Davis.

1:16 – Michael Savage is onstage now.  He’s not close enough to the mike.  First Ringer; “someone didn’t take their non-drowsy pill”.  Hard to hear him.

:14 – Bill C, out on the floor, says it looks like Emmer 3:2.  Chad the Elder says he figured 60-40.  Mark Buesgens says three ballots – but then that’s his job as a campaign leader.

1:10 – Leo Pusatieri tweets “Larry Haas makes Phil Herwig look absolutely dynamic”.  Sad to say, it’s true.

12;56 – Haas on stage now.  Alone.  No organization.  Halting speech.  Gotta be tough to follow Emmer and Seifert’s shows…

Chad the Elder wonders “what makes someone carry on a campaign like this?  No chance, no support…is it ego?  Or what?”  I note that Haas has an actual track record of implementing conservative principles in government.  First Ringer – “He’s the credible fringe candidate”.

12:55 – Larry Colson says the Emmer floor demonstration says crowd feels like 55-45 Emmer.  Floor demo passion looked way in Emmer’s favor.

12:52 – Emmer floor demonstration carrying on.  I’m gonna say it looks like Tom has a slight edge.

12:50 – Emmer shoots fireworks as he leaves stage.  Good thing they didn’t play “Once Bitten Twice Shy”.

12:49 – “Say yes to lower taxes, to leave more money in the pockets of people who earn it!”

12:45 – Shouting out to Annette Meeks – “She literally wrote the book on conservative government”.

12:44 – Emmer talking now.  Kevin Ecker thinks crowd looks 55-45 Emmer.  We’ll know soon enough.

12:32:  Seifert left stage with his mass of supporters.  Emmer video running now.  Or is it Leslie Davis? No, it’s Emmer.  Trying to count the duelling crowds is difficult.

Emmer hitting on the family thing – seven kids.

Hitting on principles.

First Ringer has joined me on bloggers row.  “Vote for Emmer or the kids get it”.

Video ends with tagline – “now’s the time to be done with politicians as usual.

Brian Sullivan on stage to give the nomination.

12:15 – Browser crashes hard jus tin time for Phil Krinkie to introuce Marty Seifert.  Marty on stage now.  His organizaiton is showing, for better (boots on floor) and worse (all those frankly dumb hit pieces).   He’s hittting his rural roots hard.  Not sure if that’s a big winning tack in a year with statewide issues uniting us all.  We shall see.

12:05 -And still talking.

11:55 – Snuck away to a standup with Michele Bachmann.  She is studiously avoiding endorsing anyone.

11:45 – Phil Herwig is talking.

11:44 – Rumor has it that someone “really big” is going to introduce Emmer.  Rumor is passing around that there’ a “higher degree of security” than for, say, a congressperson.  There’s talk of Palin, but nothing is confirmed.  Pure rumor mill.

11:34 – Kolls – “Anyone ready to endorse a governor?”  Huge round of applause. Hopes up…

…but all we get is a credentials report.  Still – almost time to head back to the floor to vote.

11:05 – Governor Pawlenty is on stage now.  “Fortunate Son” is the song.  I’m waiting for some leftyblogger to mewl about the “irony” of it, understanding neither the term nor the song…

He opens by thanking the First Lady.  Drew a huge round of applause.

“Ironic that we’re meeting here just a few weeks after “tax day” – or as Democrats call it, “Christmas”.  Hammering on Dems’ spending mania.   “Bailouts – 700 billion.  Increase in deficit – 2 trillion.  Republicans elected in November – priceless”.

Notes that he’s the only governor in the US to sign concealed carry…twice.  “More people have been killed by the Hiawatha Light Rail line than concealed carry!”

Good speech to a friendly crowd; his last as governor, as he noted.

10:48 – Chip Cravaack – endorsed candidate in CD8 – talks.  He’s a former Navy helo pilot.  Dan Severson is a former F18 pilot.  Funny how the Dems have shut up about how important it was that Republicans serve in the military than in 2008, when Steve Sarvi and Ashwin Madia’s service was a dispositive sign of incontestible virtue.

10:35 – I’m back in the Press Pit.  I plan on dividing my time pretty widely about the place today; I’ll be doing some media, blogging, and occasionally sprinting back to 66B to vote – whenever we get around to it.

I had the pleasure of meeting Rep. Mark Buesgens in the walkway between the Party platform and the Press Pit.  Had a great chat with him; he’s an occasional SITD reader (thanks, Mark!), and he notes that bloggers play a vital role; “peole have been getting dumbed down for too long; blogs make people think!”.  I’m flattered.

…in time to seem Michele Bachmann go to the podium as “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” played on the PA.

She has the crowd, naturally, wrapped around her finger.

I’m in the Press Pit again, although I expect to be commuting over to 66B to vote not a few times today.  Craig Westover, Brad Carlson, Kevin Ecker, Luke Hellier and occasionally Derek Brigham are here.  I’m told Lassie is out on the floor, along with King Banaian, Chad the Elder and Matt Abe among others are out on the floor.  I know quite a few people are tweeting if they’re not blogging.

Liveblogging to ensue shortly.

So who will the media be calling a “far right extremist” at the end of the day?

I’m going to be heading back in to the convention in a bit here, after some family business.

Which I say by way of noting that I’m waay too tired to actually post anything this morning so far.

11:55 – I voted.  And now I have to head home.  Back tomorrow!

11:21 – First ballot in for Auditor.

• Conlon (who dropped out during his speech) – 5
• Wiita – 327
• Gilbert – 548
• Anderson – 860

1078 are required to get the endorsement.  Rumor has it that Wiita is a friend of Gilbert’s.  You do the math.  This could be a long night.

11:08 – We’re informed the Auditor results are coming.  Soon.  Still debating picayune resolutions – the bane of these proceedings.  “a resolution in favor of a constitutional form of money”.  That’s what we’re talking about.

10:59 – Waiting on the auditor vote to come in.  And waiting.  They’re debating resolutions right now.

10:30 – Finally back.  I appeared with Marty Owings on KFAI.  Then I had to dash back to my district to vote for State Auditor.  We’re waiting for the results…and there’s Kohls with the gavel.

9:21 – Pat is on now.  I’ve been called to do a standup with KFAI.  Switch to Eckernet for updates for the next few minutes.

9:16 – We’ll start the speeches for Auditor now.  Watching the Anderson video now.

8:57 – Motion on the floor to unanimously endorse Chris Barden.  He’ll make a great replacement for Lori Swanson.

8:54 – The convention has unanimously endorsed Severson to run for Secretary of State.

8:49 – Sorry – I’ve been talking with Tim Burke.  Dan Severson is on stage.  I believe he’s running unopposed for Secretary of State.  Huge crowd of red-clad sign waving supporters onstage.

8:12 – Lee Byberg on the stage.  Endorsed candidate for CD7 – Collin Peterson’s district.  He’s got a thick Norwegian accent; I did not know this.  Him, I gotta book on the show.

“This is the American dream!  Have you ever heard of the German dream?  The French dream?  even the Norwegian dream?  Let me tell you, they  have those dreams.  They’re in America!”

“We are born American; it’s time to recommitt ourselves to the American spirit – to be come twice as committed to the American dream!  This is my story!  Our goal is not just to beat Colin Peterson – but to win the next generation!”

Byberg is tearing it up; Norwegians and “inspirational speaking” aren’t necessarily synonymous, but he’s got the mojo.  Saying all the right things to whip up the crowd.  After that rules debate, it’s nice to have the crowd whipped up.

8:06 – “Here’s a Constitution; it’s what I expect you to hold me and all of Congress to!  And once we do that, we will get the budget under control!”

8:04 – Jeff Johnson introduces Teresa Collette, St. Thomas law professor, endorsed to take on the “somewhat less brilliant” Betty McCollum.

7:59 – Pat Anderson is a row ahead, talking with (I think ) Bill Salisbury.  I’m going to try to scrag an interview with her.

7:55 -By the way – yeah, it’s white in here.  Just like a good chunk of Minnesota.  But I’m seeing all kinds of people here; black, Asian, Latino – my Senate District has an Iranian.  Or, as we refer to everyone, “Americans”.  Just so we’re clear on that.

7:54 – More rules debates.  Chatted with Charlie Shaw, my old pal from St. Paul Legal Ledger and Politics in Minnesota.  Looking like  a fun night in the press pit!

7:46 – “This is bulls**t”, says a leader from SD54.  “They’re letting everyone talk about…roll calls?”  They’ve spent a good 20 minutes debating the idea of the roll call…”

7:38 – I’ve just figured out why more people don’t get involved in politics; Rules Committee debate.

7:35 – Mark Drake from the MNGOP tells us that the nominating committee has placed Emmer, Seifert, Haas, Herwig and Davis in nomination.  Bob Carney apparently didn’t meet the threshold of signatures to make the cut.  I had no idea he was trying.  And I am astounded that Davis made it…

7:25 – I’m sitting with Kevin Ecker from Eckernet.  Michael Brodkorb is giving the Rules Committee report.

Kevin and I are looking at the huge lime-green Phil Herwig banner above the arena, and thinking he might have chosen a better motto; “Change We Can Believe In“.  Thinking this may not be Phil’s year.

7:20 – I’m actually a delegate in 66B this year – but I’ll be spending as much in the evening in the press pit as I can.  There’s elbow room, and easy access to the bathroom.  Hopefully nobody squawks; given that the only seat left was about 20 easts in from the aisle and people are jammed together pretty tightly.

Is the GOP a “big tent?”  Or is it a “pup tent?”

The real answer is below.

But for the biennial pundit palaver on the subject, who better to ask than Doug Grow, who spent decades carrying water for the DFL at the Strib before decamping to the MinnPost?

“The idea of a big tent means different things to different people,” Sutton told MinnPost. “I believe we are a big tent, filled with right-of-center folks. We have social conservatives, fiscal conservatives, people who believe in a strong national defense. There’s a business wing, and we have those people who have a libertarian/populist streak. … But the unifier is the economy. People are anxious about the economy, about their jobs. That makes people more conservative. Business. Jobs. That’s our brand.”

Sutton, as should be expected, gets it right; the GOP should be open to everyone who believes in small government, prosperity for the individual, security and family.

And who better to ask about our tent size than someone who got kicked out of it for supporting bigger government and higher taxes?

But former Rep. Neil Peterson, who was drummed out of his party and office by conservative forces in Bloomington after joining five other House Republicans in overriding Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s veto of a gasoline tax, has a different view. He says the delegates gathering for this convention are not even close to the party regulars who supported him.

“When I was in office, we still had a fairly big tent in my district,” Peterson said. “But those people [the party activists] have all been replaced by much more conservative people. The party has moved from being a big tent to a pup tent.”

And Grow, like much of the Twin Cities media, audibly pines for the days when the GOP was basically nothing more than the DFL with better suits – a half-hearted speed bump to complete DFL domination.

The real answer is “the tent is as big as it needs to be; all who support prosperity, limited government, security and the family are welcome.”

It’s really pretty simple.  If you’re not a reporter with decades of experience covering Minnesota politics, anyway.

There are two types of people in the world; the kind that relentlessly sort people into neat taxonomies, and those who don’t.

Likewise, pundits (amateur and pro) fall into two camps; the ones that focus on the jerseys running around on the field, and the ones that look up in the stands to see what the crowd is doing.

Dave Mindeman at MnpACT looks at Tom Emmer’s choice of Annette Meeks as running mate and counts jerseys.

Well, first of all it tells us a little about what DOESN’T concern Mr. Emmer.

1) No help for geographic balance. Meeks is not a legislator. She does not have any natural constituency. She provides no special geographic advantage.

File this under “counting the jerseys on the field”. 

Which isn’t to say that there’s not some value in the conventional wisdom that tickets in Minnesota need to balance the Metro and outstate. 

But there are two flaws to the conventional wisdom:

1. For purposes of getting votes from people who will actually vote Republican – party sympathizers and anyone who can be convinced to be a sympathizer before November – Emmer is balanced, in and of himself.  He’s from the third-ring suburbs, which to0 the conventional wisdom are neither here nor there, but to conservative thought are pretty much the state’s center of gravity.   And, perhaps more importantly…
2. …while regional provincialism is usually very important in Minnesota campaigning, Emmer is banking, for this election, on there being a bigger dynamic at work; revulsion with excessive spending and ruinous taxation.  It’s not a real long shot.

Mindeman continues (and I”ll add emphasis):

2) No offset for ideologic balance. Meeks is a consummate party insider. She will have little name recognition outside of the political junkie subset. And she specializes in conservative public policy. Emmer seems to be telling us that Minnesota wants a right of center governing policy. Independents and Democrats don’t matter.

Again with the jersey-counting.  Look up in the stands.

Conventional wisdom among the jersey counters is that to attract someone who doesn’t agree with you right out of the gate, you need to give them something – a running mate, in this case – who does, as a sort of shiny object to distract them.   In other words, the conventional wisdom is that the GOP needs to “move to the center” to attract voters.

Emmer is taking a different tack; he’s going to spend the next six months giving voters in the “middle” a reason to move “right”.  Except it’s not a matter of left and right; it’s a matter of irresponsible versus prudent; sanity versus madness.  The future of this state and its prosperity is not  a partisan issue!

And Democrats and Independents “matter” not as passive populations to be appeased with potemkin place-holders, but in the way that actually complements their intelligence and dignity as humans; as people to be convinced.

And while it’s arguably risky, Emmer’s got two things going for him:

1. People across the board are very open to the message of fiscal prudence.  Even Democrats are getting scared of Obama’s, and Kelliher’s, lust for taxing and spending.
2. Tom Emmer does a great job of presenting his case to the unconvinced.  I’ve heard him on, of all things, Marty Owings’ “Radio Free Nation”, a left-leaning internet talk show, absolutely kill at explaining why fiscal conservatism works to a hostile but polite audience.   (And while I”ve never heard Marty Seifert face that kind of crowd, I’m told he excels as well).

Convincing the middle to move “right” is what put Ronald Reagan in office.  Emmer, being the single strongest stump speaker in Minnesota politics today, is easily equipped to do the same.

Secondly, the Meeks choice tells us some things that do matter to Emmer…..

1) Special Interests have a say.

Ah.  But those stalwart independents Kelliher, Dayton and Entenza will show us the way on that count, right?

Some of the speculation centered around an early preference for Linda Runbeck, but MCCL intervened….

MCCL staffers did express concern to Emmer’s people about Runbeck, said executive director Scott Fischbach. In 1994, Runbeck was among several Republican lawmakers who changed their votes and tabled legislation that would have required women to wait 24 hours before having an abortion.

Obviously, Emmer fears pressure from MCCL.

Well, the MCCL is certainly a powerful group.  But there are a few other points against the “speculated” (by whom?  when?  in what context?  Mindeman apparently doesn’t feel that’s important enough to tell us) rumored Runbeck candidacy is that she’s been out of public life for a long time, and her last appearance was a tough loss to Betty McCollum. 

That just might have played a role.

He talks the talk about standing up to lobbyists, yet walks the line for the first interest group that weighs in on his first decision making process. How strong are those individual principles?

For my part, I’ll await word the MCCL was “the first” group, or that Mindeman’s unsourced quote had anything to do with the decision.

But I won’t hold my breath.  While Emmer is pro-life, he’s no puppet of the single-issue social conservatives.  One of my most memorable interviews in the history of the NARN was at the State Fair last summer.  Ed and I were talking with Emmer.  Someone in the audience asked him what he thought about gay marriage.

“I don’t care”. 

It is, realistically, not an issue the Governor of Minnesota will ever deal with; it’s of no import.   But wouldn’t a puppet of the socialcons, speaking to the Patriot audience (the very embodiment of the conservative base) have toed the line?

Take Mindeman’s claim with a big block of salt.

2) Feels the Need for Stronger Public Policy Credentials. Emmer seems to be responding here to some criticism of his depth of knowledge in public policy.

Meeks likely will help blunt criticism that Emmer has weak knowledge of public policy and the issues facing the state.

His answer to that criticism is to embrace an academic. Meeks has no actual legislative credentials. She fosters and works inside think tanks. She is a member of the Met Council, but Emmer has openly talked about abolishing that entity. And Meeks herself, has published a paper which made the case for abolishing the office of Lt. Governor.

Right.  She’s no toady.  She’s got a mind of her own (unlike, for example, the DFL’s nominee).

Articulating public policy is far different from implementing it. Meeks can explain the logic of what she thinks should be done, but to put it into practice with real people and real budgets, well, that is quite a different story.

True.

If only there were someone on the ticket with years of experience in the Legislature. 

Emmer has indirectly told us a lot about his decision making process by this first real personnell decision. If Emmer wins the endorsement, and it seems likely at this point, then he will have locked the party into a conservative right ideology. Making a broader, more centrist case to the general public will be difficult.

Which may be a gamble.

And then again, this year, with the Tea Party at his back and the DFL noodling around with four more months of deciding between Same Old and Same Old, it might not be.

And it would seem that Emmer would be comfortable with that. The Emmer/Meeks ticket seems to be designed for another 45 to 47% maximum electoral vote strategy. With Tom Horner as the likely IP candidate, that isn’t going to work.

Only if everything breaks down by conventional wisdom – by counting jerseys.  Which is Mindeman’s game, and that’s just fine.  But…

Emmer has kept himself within the GOP/Tea Party bubble. He doesn’t look like a candidate who will reach out and broaden his base of support. He believes his current base is enough.

…the idea, this year, is to bring that huge, discontented middle over to the good guys.

It was a gamble 30 years ago when Ronald Reagan did exactly the same thing.

Is the time right?

Whether Emmer or Seifert wins the nomination, I’m pretty happy with the prospects.

I’ll be live-blogging the State GOP Convention this weekend – provided, of course, that the wifi situation pans out at the Convention Center.

My current plan is to attend, and live-blog, the State Auditor endorsement on Thursday, as well as the race for the Governor nod on Friday.  I may also pop in to some of the other stops at the party. 

This won’t be my first state convention, per se; I did manage to attend an afternoon session at the ’04 convention; the NARN broadcast, of course, from the ’06 event.  We won’t be broadcasting this year, unfortunately – but that means I actually get to pay attention to what’s going on on the floor. 

So it’ll be great!

Stay tuned!

Tom Emmer has picked Annette Meeks as his running mate:

Meeks is a member of the Metropolitan Council — a public body Emmer has singled out for criticism in the past. She founded and heads the Freedom Foundation of Minnesota, a, non-profit organization that “develops and actively advocates the principles of individual freedom, personal responsibility, economic freedom, and limited government.”

She volunteered to help promote the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul and was deputy chief of staff for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Meeks was a key part of Newt Gingrich’s staff in 1994.  She’s got more experience at changing and improving government in her fingernails than the entire DFL ticket all rolled together.

Meeks is a spectacular choice.  And I don’t just say that because she’s an admitted reader of this blog.

Congrats, Annette!  See you at the convention!

The Republican Party stands on the brink of an epic comeback.  Dropping to near-third-party status in 2006 and 2008 in Washington and in state houses around the country, things looked very, very bleak for the GOP.

But the Obama administration’s overreach, and the Democrat-dominated Congress’ ham-fisted pettifoggery in enabling the overreach, and the spontaneous uprising of millions of people, including many “swing” independents with a bad case of political “coyote uglies” for the Democrats, are what’s causing the Dems’ problem.  The National GOP is not.

Now, a lot of people – including, until the last year or so, me – misunderstand what the national Party is supposed to be for.  It is in charge of fund-raising, logistics, and support for national GOP candideates.  It is not the ideological clearinghouse for the GOP as a whole; that’s the candidates’ job. 

So as messed-up as the National GOP seems to be, what with staffers going to lesbian strip joints and Michael Steele showing his malaprop collection (granted, with the connivance of a media that likes its’ black people to be quiet and stay on Democratic political plantation), that’s not the problem.  Or at least not much of it.

The Democrats are bleeding right now because the American people want something other than an eternity of debt and a future of servitude to the government.

And except for some uppity conservatives – Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Jim DeMint, Tom Coburn and a small legion of others – the party’s response seems to be “we’ll get to fixing things when we get around to it”. 

Look, I get it; politics is about compromise, and right now the GOP, being a superminority party in Congress, is having to fight like hell to even get bad compromises.  That’s life, when you lose elections.

But when it comes to life after January, 2011?  Now is not the time to compromise.  Now is the time for a bold, strong, clear vision that shows all those disaffected, disgusted people who are dumping the Administration and rejecting Pelosi and Reid that there is an alternative, not just ofay, incrementalist reaction.  

More importantly, the party needs to not merely atone for its role in getting us here – the corruption and democrat-style spending from 2000-2008 that helped put the Dems in office in the first place; it needs to reverse that course in a way that nobody can mistake.

The National GOP and all of its candidates need a message that says “we are for stoppping the growth, rolling back the regulation, reinstating economic liberty, cutting taxes, re-limiting government, and undoing the damage of the past ten years”. 

I’m getting that from Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann and Paul Ryan.  We get it from Chris Christie.  When we need it, Tim Pawlenty shows it. 

We need a party of Chris Cristies, Paul Ryans and Sarah Palins; we need to show the American people that we are on a mission.

And for the most part, we are not.

There are millions of voters waiting to be convinced.  I ran into hundreds of them at the Tea Party last week; they want to be convinced.

So convince them.

State Rep. Randy Demmer won the 1st District endorsement on Saturday, beating out Alan Quist and two more conservative candidates.

Demmer, a four-term state representative and business owner from Hayfield, a town southwest of Rochester, vowed to paint Walz as too liberal for his southern Minnesota district.

“We know Tim Walz is working with Nancy Pelosi,” Demmer said. “He’s right there doing everything she beckons him to do.”

For all his talk in 2006 of being independent and representing his district – which ranges from rock-ribbed conservative farmers, doctors and businesspeople in the south and the Rochester area to mewling liberals in and around Mankato – Walz has been nothing but a lapdog for Nancy Pelosi (although rumors that he actually ran and fetched a stick thrown by Madame Speaker are apparently false).

Demmer beat back a challenge from longtime conservative activist Allen Quist and two other contenders, who couched their bids in even more heated rhetoric.

…

Demmer, 53, took eight ballots over about five hours at the convention held at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

And that’s a good sign; while I prefer the more conservative candidates in general, Demmer is no Arne Carlson; his Taxpayers League rating is 64, which could be better, but it beats Walz sitting down.  And while abortion is not my litmus test issue, it does my heart proud to see that NARAL has give him a long string of zeros.  Put it this way – if he wins, it’ll be like Gil Gutknecht never left.  Perfect is the enemy of plenty good enough.

Downside?  Walz is sitting on $600,000; Demmer has about $10K in the bank.  He’s got a lot of ground to make up; even with a conservative tailwind, it’s going to be a busy year.

Any of my readers in the First – please sound off!

Last week, we discussed what to do about the Minnesota GOP Platform.

It wasn’t just idle talk.  Last weekend at the 3rd CD GOP convention, Derek “Chief” Brigham of Freedom Dogs and True North brought the draft result of the work of a small group of us who wanted to see the platform change to a vote:

Rick Weible who is a Co-Chair at CD3 and I were talking at the SD45 convention and I learned that he also wanted to see this happen, and that the idea was popular with others in leadership. I told him I knew a few guys that would be good to bring in to help draft this thing and so it began. Mitch Berg (CD4), John LaPlante (CD2), Jan Schneider (CD3), Rick and I started a drafting a file that after many, many revisions eventually became the document you see below. Today at the CD3 convention, it passed by a nearly unanimous vote (I only heard one nay from the floor).

It’s very similar to the one I posted here last week:

Proposal from Third Congressional District Republicans of Minnesota

Guiding Principles and Values

Individuals, businesses and the country succeed and prosper when government stays out of the way of those who lead the way with integrity, responsibility, charity, hard work, humility, courage, gratitude and hope.

Government has a role in our society – but that role is carefully enumerated in the United States Constitution. The Republican Party of Minnesota believes that a good government does not eclipse roles that are best carried out by individuals, families, houses of faith, charitable organizations or businesses.

1) America is a great nation; we are the “Shining City,” an exemplar of virtues for all other nations and their people. The greatness of the American nation, the virtues of its people, and the success of the American experiment are a beacon of hope for the entire world.

2) Liberty is essential for our society to advance and prosper. The freedom to explore advances in culture, business, faith, science and government improves all of our lives; on the other hand, excessive government regulation and control hinders that development. The ability and freedom to disagree with each other and our government must also be protected; any hindrances to the free market of ideas will sap the ability of America to advance and to better herself.

3) We believe in the ability of the individual, by themselves or through families, businesses, groups and non-profit organizations, rather than the government to solve the problems of today and lead us into the future.

4) Faith is where we derive our moral compass and come to understand the eternal rules of order and rights which God himself has ordained. We believe each person needs to be free in order to explore his/her Faith.

5) Human Life is sacred; it must be protected at all stages.

6) The Family is among our society’s most important institutions. Government must not be allowed to infringe on the sanctity of the family.

7) The Pursuit of Happiness is essential to our existence; we support equal opportunities not equal results.

8 ) Charity comes best from the heart of individuals and cannot be forced or coerced via taxation and regulation.

9) The law must be applied to everyone equally; no one is above the law.

10) Law abiding citizens must be trusted to defend their life, family and property.

Drafted and submitted April 2010, by Rick Weible (CD3), Derek Brigham (CD3), Mitch Berg (CD4), John LaPlante (CD2), Jan Schneider (CD3)

So what’s the fuss about?  Mostly, it’s about giving the people of the party a succinct, clear statement of principles and values.

That’s good in itself, especially should the state party go through some sort of resolutions fight at the state convention and the platform ends up as even more of a beast. Don’t tell me it’s not possible.

As anyone that’s ever been to a MNGOP convention at any level knows, it’s the resolutions fights that drag on and on, as activists – who may or may not be especially experienced at how conventions, parties and platforms work, debate the finer points of resolutions whose sole intent…

…is to go into an already-overlong platform, to make it over-longer.

Now let’s consider a possible future for this document. CD3’s resolutions committee, can now take a vote tested and nearly unanimously approved document to the state resolution meeting to present it as a state party document to consider. They may make changes, or it may get totally shot down by the other CDs, or it may just make it through to the floor of the state convention for a vote as an approved party document.

I hope it comes to State.  It’d be a good statement to the delegates and the voters.  The GOP’s biggest problem in the past four years, besides dynasty fatigue, was the perception that they’d become a big part of the problem.

As the party goes through the ordeal of cleaning up its act, what could be better than cleaning up its defnining statement?

I’m out at Jimmy’s Convention Center in Vadnais Heights at the 4th CD Republican endorsing convention.

I’m kinda impressed that I found Vadnais Heights.  So the morning’s off to a good start.

Well, it was; Bev Aplikowski tells us that we have a long list of speakers.   That’s just fantastic.  I have to duck out of here at 11:45 to go do the show.

8:47 – Phil Herwig is kicking things off.  Phil Herwig is the gubernatorial candidate that makes Tom Emmer go “Yow – he’s far-right”.  Wondering if Leslie Davis is planning on showing up…

9:09 – Credentials report.  Speaking of credentials, I managed to check the MN Criminal History database, per Phil Herwig’s request.  No records for Emmer or Seifert.  What was he talking about?

Herwig’s big “bombshell” – “go on your computer and google your candidates and see that I haven’t knocked over a 7/11”.  Is he saying something we don’t know about Tom Emmer and Marty Seifert that Google (at a quick glance) doesn’t seem to know about?  (Funny – there are three of us in the 66B row of seats madly googling away trying to figure out what the flaming hootie-hoo

8:51 – Bill Haas is next.  He’s a former legislator from Bemidji.  Super-likeable guy, great business chops.  May get to the first ballot…

8:54 – Randy Gilbert, State Auditor candidate, up next.  I’ve interviewed him on the air.  He’s a sharp guy; I think that if Pat Anderson weren’t in the race, he’d have a great shot.  But I’m also thinking Pat is a 900 pound gorilla, figuratively speaking…

Is that Teh Andee Appelkowskie I see?   Why yes, it is!

Straight up 9 – Jeff Wiita, another Auditor candidate.  He makes a bit of hay with the fact that he’s a CPA.  His speech shows it; he talks like an accountant.  That’s not a bad thing, but it’s very much in contrast with Gilbert and Anderson.  On the other hand, he brought his daughter, who has the cutest delivery you’ve ever seen.

9:04 – And Pat Anderson rounds out the group.  She’s got the room pretty well organized, I think.  Good speech; I’ve heard it before, of course, but it’s a good one.

Talking with my BPOU chair Tom Lageson.  It’s the first time either of us can remember having all our primary delegates show up for a CD convention; we have all seven, plus probalby eight alternates.

9:12 – Marty Seifert and his wife are onstage now.  He’s hitting the right notes; “I’m the chief zookeeper; I’m looking for elephants, not RINOs”.    “We need to stop the influx of thousands and thousands of people who come here to take advantage of the welfare system”.    Bangs hard on the Minnesota Federation of Teachers, calling for spending cuts, shouts out for the military, and their defense of liberty.  “The second line of defense is you in this room”.  The small-l libertarian message is alive and well; the moderate Republican seems to be dead.   Good friggin’ riddance.

9:18 – Tammy Pust, candidate for Ramco Attorney, is asking to speak.  It’s a “non-partisan” race, but he’s believed to be a DFLer.    There’s about five minutes of speakers (myself included) on both sides of allowing her to speak.  She eventually won a vote to allow her a couple of minutes.  She notes that she’s the only DFL RCA candidate who’s not running for the DFL endorsement.  She’s speaking now; she’s stating a decent nonpartisan case, more or less; she notes that on the Roseville City Council, she was one of two that didnt’ vote for a tax increase.  I’ll give her points for cojones, walking into the lion’s den when it’s in high conservative dudgeon.

9:30 – David Schultz, another Ramco Attorney candidate addresses us.  Notes he’s a “very politically moderate Democrat”.   Notes he’s never run for office, and that Ramco Attorney isn’t a stepping stone for him.  Notes that he’s never been a party activist, and he hasn’t a chance of getting the DFL endorsement – but is asking for votes in primary and general anyway; notes he has “real legal experience”.

Some of the delegates are audibly upset we’re allowing non-GOPers to address the convention; they make a good point.  It’s an endorsing convention, not a campaign stop.   I hope CD4 revisits this at some point.

9:36 – Greg Wuersel, judge candidate, is on now.  He’s been out front on the issue of political judicial endorsements.  He’s a very entertaining speaker, with some great points about reforming the judiciary.  He’s speaking against the proposed amendment to bar endorsements; “tell them not just no, but hell no!”  Drew quite a round of applause.

9:41 – Tom Conlon, former St. Paul School Board member, now running for State Auditor again . Another great candidate; for many years he was the only elected Republican in the city of Saint Paul.    Really sharp guy, and he’s got great experience at winning quixotic quests; he’s running down his bona fides as a small-government warrior; the guy earned his stripes on the SPPS board.  In a race without Pat Anderson, he’d be a very strong candidate.  The GOP needs him to be in the game, somehow, somewhere.  Notes that Rebecca Otto, the DFL incumbent, is basically a wind-up chattering toy for the DFL; not a bad line to take in this room.  Also true.

9:46 – Bob Carvey – a “moderate progressive Republican” – addresses the group.  He’s running for governor.  Looks like a quaker minister.  I’m going to get some coffee.   So, it seems, is everyone else.  He’s bagging on unallotment.  Let’s just say this room won’t be carrying him to the governor’s mansion on their shoulders.  Says he’ll be running in the primary against whomever gets nominated.  His big platform item – bicycle skyways.   I repeat; enclosed, elevated bicycle (and Segway) skyways.

Oy.

9:52 – Tom Emmer is on stage now.  Seats are full again.  “It’s a good sign that Democrats are coming to GOP conventions to ask for votes!”  That draws a nice round of applause.  Introduces wife Jackie, “my best friend in this world”.  In two weeks, notes, we will be endorsing a candidate; notes we must all get behind that endorsee.  Huge round of applause.  Notes our party must be about perception of integrity.  Standing O.

9:57 – Andy Cilek of MN Voters Alliance gives update on Voter ID.   Tom Emmer still working the room – it’ll take him half an hour to get out of the place.

10:02 – Twila Brase from the Citizens Council on Healthcare speaking for the petition on infant DNA privacy.

10:06 – Bev Aplikowski notes that her novena got answered – her call for CD4 candidates was answered with seven candidates to run against Betty “Rubble” McCollum.  Field is down to probably three right now, and we’ll be deciding the endorsement today – but it’s a huge change in the Fourth.

10:12 – credentials report; it looks like almost all the primary delegates have shown up.  This is kinda big news, actually.

10:14 – Janet Beihoffer is looking for election judges.

10:20 – Dan Severson, SecState candidate, former Navy fighter pilot, and sitting House Minority Whip, is on now.   “If you don’t think SecState is important, i gotta name for you; Al Franken.  We elected a comedian; the joke is on MN!  MN didn’t elect Al Franken; Mark Ritchie did”.    Aggressive.  Good play in this room.   He presents a searing indictment of Mark Ritchie’s regime at  State.  He will be supporting voter ID.  Look for scabrous claims of “racisim” from the DFL long before any issues raised.

10:26 – Chair moves to push the gubernatorial straw poll up ahead of the Constitution Committee report.  Resounding approval.

10:29 – Michael Brodkorb, deputy chair, addresses the convention.   Notes that on May 1, all GOP candidates will leave unity breakfast as friends, all on same team.  This is a huge thing.

10:40 – My computer just in time for Leslie Davis’ speech.  I’m not kidding.

11:00 – We’ve spent the last 22 hours discussing some arcane point of CD4 central committee procedure as part of the Constitution Committee report.

11:04 – I’m told it’s only been 22 minutes.

11:09 – Finally calling the question for the Constitution Committee.  Maybe.  It was a report that was supposed to take three minutes.  Blah.

11;20 – Straw poll happening now.  Informal verbal poll of my tiny district (66B) – Emmer 5, Seifert 2.    Waiting for lunch.   I guess I’m not gonna get to vote for CD4 Rep endorsement.  Bummer.

11:28 – Tony Sutton, State GOP Chair, is onstage now.  “All districts are winnable…but it’s going to take work.  Can’t just watch Fox News and listen to Rush”.

11:35 – I had to take off to do the show.  Hopefully I’ll have results to pass along…

One of the most useless exercises at any business is the process of “writing a mission statement”.  If you have a business that has a chance at success, the mission is pretty self-evident.  “The Mission of Muffy and Ian’s Kites ‘n Koffee is to provide better coffee and kite supplies to the consumers of West Buyaloopup, Oregon”.   

Most management know better than to ask me for a mission statement anymore – because for the past fifteen years, I’ve told ’em all the same thing; there’ve been two mission statements in all of history that serve as templates for all others:  Baron Manfred Von Richthofen (“My mission is to patrol my sector and shoot down anything I see.  All else is bullsh*t”) and Conan the Barbarian (“The greatest joy mission is to drive my enemies before me and hear the lamentation of his women”).

The simple fact is, for most businesses the mission is bone simple, to the point of self-explanatory.  It’s true for most entities, whether people (“My mission is to be the best person, father and citizen I can be”), families (“The mission of the Berg family to make sure Bun and Zam grow up to be good people and citizens”), blogs (“the mission of Shot In The Dark is to drive liberals before it and hear the lamentation of whatever liberals’ distaff community is determined to be; all else is bullsh*t”), organizations (“The mission of the Minnesota Organization of Bloggers is to provide a social outlet for bloggers and blog readers”), or whatever.

With political parties, it’s just as simple; the mission of a political party is to embody the principles that reflect their members’ vision of what government is supposed to be.    All the thousands and millions of ’em.

The Minnesota DFL platform actually does a fine job of conveying that vision.  It states a long list of principles – most of them launching from the notion of “society” doing something, or government fully-funding this or that.  The DFL platform presents a grandiloquently statist vision – a high-level “to-do” list for big government – in elegantly-crafted wrapping paper.

The Minnesota GOP platform [danger – PDF file], on the other hand, is a dog’s breakfast of talking points.   It’s circulated in tabloid form at precinct caucuses; I’ve seen people try to make heads or tails of it, watched their eyes glaze over, and put it down, eyes rolling.   The document is literally written by committee – not just any committee, but one of the biggest committees in all of Minnesota.  At every year’s precinct caucuses, thousands of resolutions get forwarded for consideration to BPOU, Congressional District and finally State scrutiny; few actually get into the platform…

…but “few” of thousands still makes for a huge platform.  There are nine sections to the platform, each with 15-20 planks.  It comes to nearly 20 pages.

And it includes an amazing assortment of things – from lofty ideals (“…policies that reflect that every innocent human being, born and unborn, has an inalienable right to life from conception to natural death”) to practical principles (“Improving the quality of education by maximizing parental choice through expanded support for charter schools, school choice programs, parental rights to home school their children and more competitive and accountable public school systems”) to bald-faced sops to special interests (“Making the Eddie Eagle Gun Safety Program available annually in every Minnesota
elementary and middle school “) to low-level exercises in social micromanagement (“…pornographyblocking software should be installed on all computers having internet access in publicly financed institutions “) to things that principled conservatives should find abhorrent, if they thought about it (” The Minnesota legislature should pass legislation increasing the legal age for gambling in Minnesota to 21 years of age”) to stuff that just doesn’t make sense (“Opposing efforts to put all land and water under the control of the federal government” – I don’t think even Obama has suggested trying this yet). 

It’s time to put the platform on a diet – and make it focus on the things that a political party should focus on; the principles that should guide the party’s members, and especially the party’s candidates and elected officials.

A small group of conservative GOP activists – who shall remain nameless for the moment – have written a rough draft of a statement of princples; they intend, at some point or another, to introduce it as at least the beginnings of a discussion to replace the current War And Peace-sized platform with something a bit more accessible and to-the-point.

Here it is:

Individuals, businesses and the country succeed and prosper when government stays out of the way of the people – those who act on their own initiative, and who lead the way with integrity, responsibility, charity, hard work, humility, courage, gratitude and hope. 

Goverment has a role in our society – but that role is carefully enumerated in the United States Constitution.  The Republican Party of Minnesota believes that a good government does not eclipse roles that are best carried out by families, houses of faith, charitable organizations or businesses.

We, the members, candidates and elected officials of the Republican Party of Minnesota, support the following principles:

1) America is a great nation; we have been a “Shining City”, an exemplar of virtues for all other nations and their people.  The greatness of the American nation, the virtues of its people, and the success of the American experiment are a beacon of hope for the whole world.

2) Liberty is essential for our society to advance and prosper.  The freedom to explore advances in culture, business, faith, science, and government politics improves all of our lives; on the other hand, excessive government regulation and control hinder that development. The ability and freedom to disagree with each other and our government must also be
protected; any hindrance to the free market of ideas will sap the ability of America to advance and to better herself.

3) We have more hope and trust in the individual than the government to solve society’s problems, and to lead us into the future.  We value and protect the freedoms and the rights of the individual in preference to those of government.

4) Faith is where we derive our moral compass and come to understand the eternal rules of order and rights in which our creator has ordained. We believe each person needs to be free in order to explore their faith.

5) Life is sacred; it must be protected and defended from government control.

6) The Family is among our society’s most important institutions.  Government must not be allowed to infringe on the sanctity of the family.

7) The Pursuit of Happiness is essential to our existence, we support equal opportunities,  not equal results.

8 ) Charity comes best from the heart of individuals, and cannot be forced or coerced via taxation and regulation.

9) All citizens are equal before the law.

10) The law abiding citizen must be trusted to defend their life, family and property.

These are the principles we, the people of this nation and the members of this party, believe lead to a just society, a secure nation, and a better future for our children.

The committee struck out someone’s suggestion for a final line; “…, and to hear the lamentation of their women, and all else is bullsh*t”, but otherwise I like it.

Comments?  Feedback?  Leave a note in the comment section (and be advised that while all commentary is welcome, this is MN GOP business, and thus limited to the grownups; criticism is fine, but addlepated anti-Republican buncombe will be mutilated for the sole amusement of the blog owner.  While my comment section is generally the most open forum anywhere in the American media, this thread will be controlled.  Deal with it).

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