When you do your investment portfolio, you don’t put all your money in one pot. I think that’s what the black community needs to start doing. We have to invest all across the political spectrum.
March 15, 2011 - Rep. Allen West (FL) in an interview with Roland Martin
Once again, Representative Allen West brings his calm, logical demeanor to a conversation that includes issues other politicians won’t touch…Like reaching out - in a real, not-for-polling-purposes sense - to communities and demographics that are often dismissed as a “lost cause” for the GOP and conservatives.
Keep it up, Mr. West…
*See the entire 9 minute interview at The Right Scoop
- tdc
governor palin: drop and give me 20! and don’t go crying to obamacare…
Governor Palin has been busy!
This afternoon, she launched - yes, launched - her latest rhetorical dissection of all that is wrong with Obamacare and the “yay-hoos” who foisted it on us. The entire post is worthy of lamination, but below is a choice section tdc found particularly spectacular.
In her discussion of the multi-trillion dollar costs of Obamacare, Governor Sarah Palin writes:
This is probably what President Obama was referring to when he admitted recently that he had known all along that “at the margins” his proposals were going to drive up costs. Give us a break! Only in this administration would they refer to a $3 trillion spending increase as “marginal.” Next time he comes to us with another one of his harebrained proposals for a budget-busting federal power grab, let’s make sure we remember the president’s admission that he was lying all along when he told us his health care plan was going to cut costs. He is increasing costs. He admits it now. Period.
Higher costs and worse care – is it any wonder why people are overwhelmingly in favor of repealing and replacing Obamacare? Politicians who have vacillated on this issue need to be fired. Candidates who don’t support “repeal and replace” don’t deserve your support. No amount of money spent on Washington’s “government-wide apolitical public information campaign” (otherwise known as “propaganda”) will convince Americans that this awful legislation is anything other than a debt-driven big government train wreck. We need to repeal and replace it, and that can only happen if we elect a new Congress that will make scrapping Obamacare one of its top priorities. We can replace it with pro-private sector, patient-oriented reform that the GOP has proposed.
Once again, Governor Palin lays out a concise, informative, hard-hitting argument for fighting back against unfunded government mandates and arrogant politicians.
In March of this year, Governor Palin set her sights on gaining twenty key seats in congress. Now, a few short weeks before the election, she and her team have taken their effort to the next step with a new website, Take Back the 20.
From a design perspective (of course, we have to go there…) the site is nicely done. One page, clearly-organized, informative, and makes an immediate call to action - the Palin team has done their due diligence. Now, though, it’s time for us to do our due diligence.
Visit Take Back the 20. See which candidates you can help - with time or resources - then step up and do so. The race for 2012 starts now. Whether the GOP nominee is Sarah Palin or someone else, November 2010 will decide the extent of the mess he or she has to clean up.
To carry the metaphor a bit too far: grab your broom and help sweep some tired ol’ legislators out of office and into the dustbin of politics-as-usual.
- tdc
women and politics: how the rest will be won
This weekend, the RNC (Republican National Committee) hosted an all-day summit called Women Winning the West*, organized to bring together in one location, the most active and engaged GOP women from the western states.
The day’s agenda included a morning of presentations from national political players, discussing their respective areas of expertise, followed by smaller workshops addressing the important skills GOP activists and candidates need to be effective. It’s not often that one attends a full-day conference in which every presentation manages to be both engaging and informative, offering the perfect balance of both to the audience. The RNC summit, however, was exactly that.
The information provided was invaluable, and the summit was, by most accounts, a resounding success! Not only did participants gain an understanding of the status of the GOP as we move into the 2010 election cycle, but the presenters communicated the importance of women’s voices, skills, and knowledge to our country’s political discourse.
As the saying goes, “all politics are local.” Thus, the resounding message of this weekend’s summit was to reinforce the important role that each of us can play in our local communities and, by extension, our nation - provided we are only willing to step up to the challenge.
Below are a few highlights from Women Winning the West:
Linda DiVall - President & CEO, American Viewpoint
- GOP must repair its public image as old, rich, and out of touch
- For Republicans, tone and demeanor are key to effectively communicating with independent and unaffiliated voters
- Women make approximately 85% of the purchasing decisions in the U.S.
- Female candidates are perceived as having a connection to female voters, and understanding those voters’ daily lives
Gentry Collins - RNC Political Director
- Performance of federal government impacts how voters vote in state elections - even when the state is perceived to be on the right track
- Voters who have a strong opinion about president’s performance are much more likely to turn out to vote
- When political parties cannot defend their record or policies, campaigns turn negative and and personal. Stay tuned for 2010 and 2012.
Representative Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) - website
- Republican women have a voice in congress and are stepping up to lead - but more voices are needed
- Across the country, there are inspiring, qualified candidates who are coming forward to make a difference at every level of government. Support these candidates!
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) - website
- Quite simply, the more women who participate in our nation’s political discourse, the louder and more influential their voices will be
- The bottom won’t drop out of the United States if healthcare reform is not passed this year. It will drop out if we pass the wrong thing.
- “For the Rights of All” is a documentary illustrating what one determined woman was able to accomplish in bringing civil rights to the state of Alaska. Women can continue to make important strides.
Dana Perino - Fmr. WH Press Secy. (President G.W. Bush) - Twitter
- Freedom of the press is essential to our political discourse - we must protect it
- When dealing with media, be: Composed + Smart + Prepared. Always be the most prepared person in the room
- Watch and emulate those who deal well with media. They project warmth, authority, and engagement
- Women should be mindful to speak with confidence, authority, and a strong voice
- Always respond to erroneous stories and misinformation. If nothing else, it will prove you know more than they do.
- Read and watch both liberal- and conservative-leaning media. Not only will you be more informed about the views of the ‘other side’, you might gain valuable insight that could lead to better solutions.
Check out the RNC Women website for additional summit dates in Hawaii and Ohio. And support female candidates (or become one) in your local and state races.
- tdc
*The Women Winning the West summit was hosted by RNC Chairman, Michael Steele, and Co-Chairman, Jan Larimer on Saturday, November 14, 2009.
The Game-Changer-in-Chief
Last night, Governor Palin issued a “call-to-listen” on her ever-influential Facebook page. The statement reads, in part:
Mark my words - tomorrow is the game changer! Tune in to hear common sense solutions that bury the false accusations that conscientious members of Congress have no solutions to meet America’s health care challenges.
After the this note made the initial social media rounds, there was speculation as to what motivated the governor to issue her statement at this time and for this purpose - to listen to a Saturday morning GOP address (CORRECTED: video here).
Some presumed that she was making a deliberate move to show her support for the Republican party and to dampen speculation that she would seek to lead a third-party movement. Others wondered if she was vulnerably opening herself up to be linked to not-so-popular congressional leadership, and a legislative position she did not craft.
Both of these hypotheses are plausible. But, my take on this brief statement?
First, I am all but certain that Governor Palin was aware of exactly what was going to be said in this morning’s address by Representative Boehner. After what she experienced in the Fall of ‘08, I think it’s safe to say she’s had a lifetime’s worth of being blind-sided.
Secondly, I would not be surprised if congressional leadership reached out to her and requested the use of her considerable soapbox - which brings me to the crux of my real theory.
The GOP leadership in Washington has been saying for months that they have been shut out of the debate on healthcare reform. Indeed, the “debate” was more of a monologue crafted by the Democrats and alternately performed by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. The Republicans were like mimes stuck in an imaginary box (CSPAN?) they couldn’t escape.
Enter Governor Palin, stage right.
She’s outside of the D.C. box and she has the eyes and ears of a good portion of the nation at her beck and call. For a beleaguered group of representatives who have been trying to garner attention to the hard work they have been doing these last few months, Governor Palin’s Facebook page may have seemed like the only way they could be heard by more than the few political-diehards who actually know how to find a video on CSPAN.org.
Further, I think this is right in line with the way Governor Palin operates. She’s all about communicating directly with The People, and the Republicans in Congress have been unable to do that on a large-scale these last 10 months.
I think both they, and she, recognized that Governor Palin’s Notes page might just be their last, best attempt to speak up - and stand up - for themselves and for us before the curtain falls on this healthcare bill.
- tdc
