A soundbite is a quote, usually from a politician, that encapsulates said politician's central point and lasts no more than 7 seconds.  Since most politicians have cultivated the art of using the maximum number of words to convey the minimum amount of information, the punditocracy, media and "chattering classes" do us ordinary voters a sizeable favor by condensing down long-winded circumlocutions into these short and simple phrases.   Where we have problems is when we assume that this simplification is being done objectively, or when it is simply not possible to reduce a complex issue to such a simple statement.  To draw an analogy, a soundbite is like a cowbell's clang-- a very good and simple thing if you are looking for your cow in the deep weeds, but a noisy and annoying distraction otherwise.         

Do you remember how we were told what doofuses we were because John Kerry's issue positions were more "nuanced" than us poor rubes could grasp?  I have always thought it was because he not only did not speak in soundbites, but that nothing of what he said actually HAD a central point that could be extracted. The problem is different today. Our left-leaning major media and our conservative alternative media seem to have teamed up to do this sound-biting in such a way that not only is the nuance being lost, but we're sometimes getting an impression entirely at odds with what the candidate may be trying to say. Especially if you are a Republican, never trust your political enemies to tell the public what you really mean.

The case in point is Newt Gingrich. He is a prime example of a politician that says lots and lots of things, differing from most others only in that there are lots and lots of ideas behind much of it.  So when I hear an otherwise-solid conservative blogger opine that "Newt is not a conservative" I think that I and the conservative cause are being done a disservice, because it cannot possibly be true. If, however, one hears only of some small quote or action from Mr. Gingrich's lengthy public record and assumes it represents the total of his thinking on the matter, you can easily draw the wrong conclusion, which is what Newt's political enemies no doubt intend. I would like to believe that Republican voters are smarter than Democrats and capable of sorting through at least a little bit of the nuance, thus realizing that these tiny excerpts are NOT proper abstracts of Newt's detailed positions.  For that, we are going to need to listen for more nuance and less cowbell.

CD3 Republicans at a full Committee meeting Monday night voted to write a check to the Republican Party Minnesota for $3,000 as a show of confidence in the newly elected leadership. This followed the announcement from SD33 chairs Patti Meier and Norma Friedrichs that the BPOU had written a check of $3,300 to RPM. SD33 is a very ambitious fundraising district in the prosperous Republican area around Lake Minnetonka.

The thinking behind the vote was not that these 2 donations would make a substantial dent in the large RPM debt, but that it would be a sign that BPOUs, CDs, and grassroots activists are looking forward to November election wins, and a willingness to help rebuild the party. This hopefully will also be a sign to other individuals, districts and big money donors to chip in. There is a powerful conservative spirit in the activists to grow rather than continue grousing about the past.

We're just lucky we don't live in CD8.

 

Please check out this short video - we have raised far too many people with literally, no class. This soldier, who has given up two years of his life to pay homage to those who have died for our freedoms, spares no words; 

 

 

No Laughing at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

 

The Sentry opened up a very direct instruction to a group of people laughing at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Not a peep was heard afterwards.

Notice how he went about it...he stepped off the black mat, made his comments, proceeded to the end of the mat without getting back on until he reaches the end...then step onto the black mat again, begins his 21 steps again....

 

 

It's reported at the StarTribune that Governor Mark Dayton may be close to announcing his preference for a new Vikings stadium:

With Gov. Mark Dayton perhaps ready to comment on where he wants the new stadium built, legislators have scheduled a six-hour meeting late Wednesday to try to resolve the stadium issue. “Maybe longer,” than six hours, joked Sen. Julie Rosen, R-Fairmont, the lead Senate stadium legislation author.

“I’m not sure a final decision will be made [Wednesday], but we are definitely going to make progress,” she added. The long-debated project still lacks a site and a public funding proposal, but supporters are pushing to have a plan in place for the Legislature, which convenes Jan. 24.

Reader and friend Todd McIntyre sent me his Vikings stadium proposal:

There is endless discussion and rhetoric about how to fund a new Minnesota Vikings stadium.  It’s evident that only a few desire to use public funds for another professional stadium.  Weeks ago, I contacted my State Senator Ann Rest (DFL) and my State Representative Sandra Peterson (DFL) to learn of their position and neither support a taxpayer funded Vikings stadium.

Yet, Governor Mark Dayton (DFL) is adamant about making this development happen and is willing to use $600 Million of taxpayer money in the process.  So, I have created a fair funding plan that finds common ground among all of the stakeholders.

Since Governor Dayton seems to be the only person willing to fund the Vikings stadium, then the People of Minnesota believe that Governor Dayton should personally fund this stadium himself.  Governor Dayton doesn’t live in the 1% world; he lives in the .01% world!  He is one of the wealthiest individuals in the State of Minnesota.  His family has made millions from people procuring merchandise from his stores, and from the sale of his stores to Macy’s and other investors.

In fact, Governor Dayton not only has enough wealth to develop the Vikings stadium, he can reimburse Hennepin County for its development of Target Field.  The stadium should even be called the “Dayton’s Legacy Field” to honor the man so determined to make this venue happen.

Governor Dayton, the People of Minnesota are grateful for your generosity.  Thanks for stepping up to the plate and serving in this capacity!

Todd J. McIntyre, Plymouth, MN

I love it! And we could borrow Mitch Berg's title, "The Dayton Dustbowl" for a local event, too.

I thought we had all promised ourselves that we were not going to let the media pick our candidates for us this time around?  No way.  We've got all of this new media, and we've had all of these debates and we are all better informed than ever before. And yet here we are, barely past the New Hampshire primaries, and Mitt Romney is already the "inevitable" nominee.  Of the 1144 delegates needed for a first-ballot victory at the National Convention, 12 have already been selected and Mitt Romney has exactly 7 of them.  An overwhelming lead.

Face it, the major media have control of the narrative of this election, and right now their message is "Quick! Quick!  You have to choose NOW!!" Using words like "momentum," which would seem to be pretty meaningless in this context, they are nonetheless stampeding us towards a candidate that most of us think that the media think would be easiest for Obama to defeat. I swear that, of all the Charlie Browns in the world, we conservatives are the Charlie Browniest because we fall for that major media Lucy-with-the-football trick every time. They seem to attack all of our candidates but one, and claim he is our favorite (everybody knows it). They will bring out poll after poll to prove it and, rather than making up our own minds we seem to accept that conventional wisdom, paying no attention to who it is telling it to us.  Once their chosen nominee is in place, they will turn on him like a pack of hounds, yanking the football away.  When will we ever learn?

Thank you Heritage Foundation for a nice dose of reality in the face of revisionist Hollywood history.  The Real Legacy of Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s Iron Lady.

Like President Ronald Reagan, her political soulmate, Margaret Thatcher came to power at a desperate time in her country's history, when real leadership and bold ideas were most needed. And by applying conservative principles to the challenges she faced, she was able to achieve real and lasting success. Then, as today, she faced an extraordinary set of challenges and a chorus of voices saying her country's best days were behind it. Thatcher's successes are a comforting reminder of the power of a bold, conservative vision at work.

Mitt Romney can't win.  Oh, I don't mean that he didn't win the Iowa caucuses, though it is quite possible he didn't, and it is quite likely that he will win the New Hampshire primary today.  He could win a lot of the primaries and perhaps even the nomination because he is "Mr. Good Enough," as Ed Morrissey says, to a lot of Republicans.  His principal charm in all of these races, however, is his supposed ability to defeat Barack Obama in the general election, and Mitt Romney cannot win the general election against Obama.

It has been pretty obvious for some time that the Obama campaign and the big-megaphone media WANT Mr. Romney to be the nominee and are prepared best to run against him.  All they have to do is to say "Wall Street Republican" and liberals and Democrats will run screaming to the polls.  They will spend the early part of the campaign relentlessly pounding Romney's "flip-flops" on every conceivable issue, and conservatives and Republicans will stay home in droves, just as they did for McCain, and we know how well that turned out.  Mr. McCain's recent endorsement of Mr. Romney seems almost prophetic in that regard.  Finally, the Obama campaign, once Romney's nomination is secure, will trumpet the fact that all of Romney's flip-flops have been in the WRONG direction and he is now just one more EEEEE-vil conservative, thus driving away the independent voters.  The only way Romney can draw any votes at all, under all that media onslaught, is to promise to govern as the moderate (relatively) that most of us suspect he really is, and I do not think that is what we need right now.  A radical Leftist got us into this mess and it is going to take a sweet-sounding but radical Rightist (conservative) to get us out of it.

Notice that I did not say that in a fair and sensible world Mr. Romney wouldn't make a good President; I merely say that the outrageous bias of the mainstream media makes the presidential campaign anything BUT a fair and sensible world.  There is, however, one Republican candidate who has not only challenged the media frequently during the campaign but rather quietly laid out a plan to beat them at their own game, and that is Newt Gingrich.  There is no way a Republican candidate, even a wealthy one like Mitt Romney, can compete dollar-for-dollar against the billion-dollar Obama campaign AND the major media.  Mr. Gingrich recently outlined a strategy, however, to use "free media" to full advantage.  I paraphrase: "I will challenge Barack Obama to a series of seven or more three-hour Lincoln-Douglas-style debates on national television.  He can even use a Teleprompter if he wants.  If he refuses, as I suspect he will, I will follow him around the country and match him speech-for-speech, and simply correct all of his misstatements."  We've already seen this tactic work.  Obama gives a speech one day and the media slavishly cover it.  The next day Newt Gingrich says something outrageous, simply by disagreeing with the President, and the media cover that, splashing their outrage over the front pages.  The third day Mr. Gingrich is hounded by the media to retract his outrageous remarks, but he repeats the comment and explains, in simple terms that the average voter can understand, why what he said was exactly correct, and the media publish that as well, believing it even more outrageous.  Most likely, at some point, Mr. Obama will become frustrated by the constant criticism and "lose his cool" in full view of everybody, and his cruise to defeat will be launched.  It is not a scenario without risks to the Republic, and it is possible that the current squatter in the Oval Office could make any Republican seem preferable, even Mitt Romney, but it would be nice to have the clear choice of somebody with a bold, clear plan to fix the country AND who could win.

Is there another union takeover of a private enterprise in the works? Via Big Government, Education Action Group (EAG) reports:

Charter schools are popping up all across the nation, with 41 states offering families access to the alternative public schools.

Because the large majority of charter schools are not unionized, they can focus solely on serving students instead of pacifying the financial demands of school employee unions.

The unions know they cannot stop the spread of charter schools, so they have decided to take them over.

Late last year, the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers decided to authorize its own charter schools. An email written by MFT President Lynn Nordgren and posted on Eduwonk.com explains the union’s decision.

“ … [C]harter schools are not going away despite 20 years of protesting,” Nordgren writes. “Because of this, it is time to figure out how to… stop the de-professionalization of teaching, the bleeding out of our unions and the miseducation of too many students… It is time to ‘get in the game’ and make it ours.”

Read the whole post at Big Government.

Below is a copy of my endorsement letter for Todd McIntyre, sent today to State Central delegates and alternates. In full disclosure, I signed on early with Todd to support his campaign after he called me to announce he was running:

As a current MNGOP State Central delegate who doesn’t run with the big dogs, I usually only hear from people calling on behalf of a candidate for my support. On December 14, I received a call directly from newcomer Chair candidate Todd McIntyre. To date, he is the only candidate to call me.
 
When Tony Sutton resigned, a few candidates stepped forward to run: Todd McIntyre was the first. Brandon Sawalich and Mike Osskopp received praise and early support from many. Others were considering (including Joe Repya). When these candidates dropped from the race, Todd was the only one still running.
 
As I wrote before at True North, I admire anyone willing to run toward a burning building to restore and rebuild. It’s going to take someone with solid organizational and fundraising skills, and a positive person who relishes challenges with a strong plan in place. That put Todd McIntyre in my column — and in full disclosure, I joined his campaign team on December 17.
 
Todd and I met in 2008 when he became a campaign manager for a State House candidate in my neighboring district — very late in the game. He recruited and organized volunteers, did opposition research, and helped breathe life back into a campaign dealing with an exodus of leadership.  Vote results were 41.20% in a bad year for GOP candidates.
 
To breathe life back to the MNGOP, solving the debt crisis is a top priority. Todd was the first to send out a detailed debt elimination plan to delegates and alternates. His ideas are outside of the box and achievable. His CCIM certification, creation of Great Prairie Foods and fundraising skills with Great Prairie Sports shows solid business acumen.
 
As a grassroots supporter, he first contacted delegates and alternates outside of the Twin Cities metro area. Todd has called every one — that is, everyone who had a good number on the state party database (another item on his fix-it list).  He’s been to over 80% of counties in Minnesota producing business relationships — and promises to visit 100% to strengthen the party statewide as Chair.
 
Todd is a unifier in the best of ways. He supports fixing conflict of interest with party leadership and the party platform. Todd will partner with members in all party committees — not just those in select groups.  He also supports consolidating the behemoth party platform to a document that is clearly understood and marketable.
 
Delegates like me may be receiving letters, e-mails, or supporter calls from other candidates listing big-name endorsements. I noticed that few are State Central delegates. This is how the campaign game is usually played to win an election. But delegates need to remember that the Chair’s main job is to run an organization, not a campaign, nor to support their preferred 2012 presidential candidate.
 
December 31 is a great opportunity to give the party a makeover with a Chair that offers new, bold ideas. Todd McIntyre is my choice.
 
Nancy LaRoche
Delegate, SD45, CD5
Contributor to True North and Freedom Dogs blogs

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Follow and find out more about Todd McIntyre on Facebook and Twitter. Todd has another meet & greet Wed. 12/28 in Golden Valley at Perkins (394 & Louisiana) from 7-9, and will be at the MNGOP State Chair Candidate Forum in West St. Paul Thursday night.

This morning Terry McCall launched his campaign website and wrote me this letter in reponse to the post/rant I wrote on December 6th following the Sutton resignation announcement. After the intro letter He replies to the statements I made in my original post.

Hello Derek,

Today, I am announcing that I will be seeking the Chair Role.  Currently I am serving as the CD2 Chairman, and have been active in the party at all levels for 20 years.  In the past I have served on the CD3 Executive Committee and was Finance Chair.  I've even been a campaign manager, ran for a House seat in 2004, been a State Central Delegate for many years, and was an Alternate at the 2008 Nat'l Convention.  I've been active on many campaigns including Norm Coleman's and more recently on Tom Emmer's.

My wife, Nancy, and I have been married for 43 years.  We've raised 4 children and have 9 grandchildren.  In the past I was active in coaching hockey, football, and baseball.  I've served on a number of boards and am a past President of our parish council (Large suburban parish).  We both serve on the board of Pregnancy Choice Life Care center in Apple Valley.  We are a self-funded organization and part of Total Life Care Centers.  We will continue to do anything we can to save the life of an unborn child.

For the past 7 years I've owned my own financial firm trading stock, options, and ETFs for my own accounts since retiring from 3M Health Care.  I spent 30 years there in roles of increasing responsibility mainly in Marketing, Sales, and in team leadership.  It is amazing how my experience in politics has helped me in my business profession in working with others, and how my 3M experience translates very well in managing volunteers and teams of people in how to better Market and Sell our candidates and ideas to the general public at large in order to win elections.

Derek, your questions are excellent, and I enjoyed the way you asked them.  Below are my responses.  I would appreciate it if you could help get the word out about my candidacy, by posting this on your blog, and hopefully other sites as well.

—Relates VERY WELL with the grassroots without alienating the establishment. Working the other way around has been the norm since I have been involved, but this will no longer work— honestly it never did. The numbers are with the grassroots, the leader should reflect this.

I am a grassroots guy.  I have never been in the 'establishment' as you call it, but I have always been able to relate to leaders, because of my experience at 3M, which included managing the relationship between 3M and some of our largest global customers.  This meant dealing with people from the corner office down to the end users of our products.  At one point my territory covered all of North America, I've been to all but 5 states and most of the Canadian Provinces.  The same skill sets used in my corporate career transfer to the Republican Party very easily, whether it's interacting with a person like  Brad Rixmann or with a BPOU chairman that needs help making an event a success.  It's about mutual respect and basic people skills.  Having done nearly every grassroots job within the Republican Party over the past 20 years, helps me to understand what the grassroots struggles with and what we can do to help them be more effective.