Forfeit

The other day, Pat Shortridge at TvM wrote one of the most insightful pieces I’ve ever seen on what ails the Minnesota GOP:

The Right side of the spectrum still doesn’t get it when it comes to the importance of local elections.  Our side gets all hepped up about the White House or a huge Senate race, over which we as citizens have relatively little control.  But when it comes to the areas where we can have the most impact – electing mayors, city councils, school boards, etc, – we are just giving it away to the other side, barely even in the game, with a very few notable exceptions.

I’ve kvetched about this for years; in my own district, the Fourth CD, the GOP barely shows up.  But for the odd Tom Conlon (the only Republican on the St. Paul School Board) or Bill Poulos or Georgia Dietz (who got elected to executive positions on the Highland Community Council), the Fourth CD is a wasteland for Republicans – even though the city and the first-ring burbs are clogged with people who should, by all rights, be amenable to conservatism; black parents disgusted by the collapsing educational system; Asians who embody free enterprise and  love of this country (how many of them or their forefathers crossed rivers under fire and oceans on rickety boats to get here?); Hispanics whose votes the Dems court, but whose industry and vibrant Catholicism the party piddles on; working people who are seeing their taxes rise and rise, for no rational return.

So why do Republicans not get that “government begins at home?” and that “politics is local?”

Because the enemy sure gets it:

Education Minnesota and its allies clearly understand what’s at stake.  Beyond the policy issues of any given election, they are accomplishing two critical things: (1) control over virtually all of the official information that gets disseminated and that the public relies on for its thinking about education issues, and (2) they are creating and constantly replenishing a political farm team.  Think about how many DFL candidates for the legislature in recent years have been involved in education policy making, either as school board members, teachers, activists, etc.

Shortridge nails the solution:

If the center-right is going to regain any standing, it must re-engage at the local level.  It’s all well and good for folks to engage in levy debates, but man, a whole lot goes on beyond that.  Our side – I include myself foremost in this – must start attending meetings, serving on committees, recruiting candidates, and running for office in our own backyards.  In scanning the election results, far too many races were uncontested or the opposition was token at best. 

The “warm body on the ballot” syndrome that especially besets the GOP in the Fourth and Fifth CDs – where a token GOP candidate will try to spare the party the embarassment of an open slot – is itself a symptom of the problem; endorsing names to run for the Legislature (to say nothing of Congress) that have no political history with voters of any party much less the non-political is a waste of time and effort at the very least – and at worst a Potemkin approach to politics; “See?  We have a party here!  Honest!”

The mere act of meeting every two years and endorsing a slate of candidates to stage hopeless, pro forma runs for office doesn’t make a party, much less a movement. 

Getting people – good, first-princples-based Republican people – involved at the grassiest of Minnesota Politics’ grass roots is where change really begins; where the GOP will start to actually contest control of the cities without which this state will never be in real contest.

Which means Republicans have to start running for those grassiest-roots offices; in Saint Paul, that means the Neighborhood Coalitions that control so much of the “on the street” effect of municipal government.  The GOP insurrection in Highland Park showed what can happen; Dietz and Poulos got Republicans to turn out, which in turn got a right-leaning council empaneled, which in turn uncovered epic rot at the district, a traditional DFL sinecure in “non-partisan” clothes.

More – much more – on this in coming weeks.

7 thoughts on “Forfeit

  1. Have to agree with you on this post.

    I have always been surprised that the GOP seems to sit out the City Council races – excluding perennial candidate Warren Anderson. While they may not be able to win those races, they may be able to frame discussions or highlight issues in ways that could affect those outcomes even if GOPers aren’t seated at the Council’s table. And there must be some wards where a more centrist GOPer would have a legitimate shot at winning.

  2. And there must be some wards where a more centrist GOPer would have a legitimate shot at winning

    Or – I hasten to add – a Brett Schundler type could shock the world.

  3. yeah I called the state GOP to find out who was on the ballet in my area since i hadn’t received any mailings or seen any lawn signs – they seemed surprised at the request and after a few minutes said they didn’t think anyone was running for the Mayor, city council or school board openings but they couldn’t say for sure.

    They absolutely gave up in my district and didn’t seem concerned about it. Nothings going to change until the party people at the state level change/are replaced.

  4. One problem is that public employees unions get their people on the council and school boards, then vote in a way not in the best interest of the overall community. How is Duluth going to pay off that incredibly huge unfunded pension liability?

  5. Yeah, the Republicans went all out for Bush in 2000 and 2004 (and Kennedy). Easy to say this in hindsight, but look where it got them? I have to check, but I think enough Republicans are in the state legislature in Wisconsin to partially reign in the very liberal Govn’r Doyle (a Madison Democrat).

  6. It seems like such a bad decision by the GOP stay out of those races. From my perspective, it seems like local politics has the most noticeable effect on the day to day lives of the population, thus a greater “impact” than national policies.

    My brain no work no good at the end of the day – but i hope that first part made sense…just can’t seem to find the right words.

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