by | Feb 24, 2013
Late last week we brought you a message from Polk County Chair candidate Will Rogers. Today we bring you a word from the other candidate in the race, Dave Edwards. One of these two men will be declared leader of the Polk County GOP Tuesday evening.
Last year Mr. Edwards ran for the Iowa Senate in District 16 and, though he lost, showed a great deal of courage in running in the first place. The voter registration numbers for this district on the day of the vote were: D-16,353; R-7,591; NP-10,410…enough said.  Though running against tremendous odds, Edwards put in a lot of work and was unafraid to talk about the non-PC issues negatively impacting his district. If he should prevail Tuesday he will have a first-hand perspective on just how steep a climb some of the districts in the county have become.
Though there is a great deal of contrast between these two candidates both in style and background, I am convinced that either will bring a unique set of helpful traits to the Party.
Below is the full transcript of Mr. Edwards’ letter to The Conservative Reader: Iowa.
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To begin with, I want to thank the readers of your publication for their support of my Senate campaign in last year’s election. We were blessed with a fantastic outpouring of volunteers – from parades, to envelope stuffing, to door knocking. It was a lot of hard work, but a very rewarding experience. Volunteers like you are what it is going to take to reclaim our state and our country and we need to get fired up now to win that battle and help the Republican Party to grow and be the messenger for prosperity and freedom that our nation so sorely needs right now.
I am running for Polk County Republican Party Chairman because I want to stand beside you in that fight to beat back the liberals here in our county.
I have served my community in various ways over the years. In the past, I’ve served as a member of Des Moines’ Housing Appeals Board as well as several years as a board member for the Valley High Manor Neighborhood Association. Currently, I am a proud member of the Carlisle VFW Post 2099, and serve in the Color Guard there, helping to provide flag and rifle ceremony presence at funerals for those who have served in the military. I have put in many hours as a softball coach for various teams for my seven children for the last twenty years. Also, my wife of 27 years, Teressa, and I, host a weekly family Bible fellowship which is held in our home.
Last March, I threw my hat into the ring as a Republican candidate for Iowa Senate District 16, running against a 16-year Democratic incumbent. As a candidate for the Iowa Senate, I walked hundreds of miles and spent countless hours talking to voters in my district. I met a tremendous number of Republicans and Independents who agreed with us in principle, but did not feel actively engaged with our efforts.
I believe that there is an opportunity right now to bring these voters into the Polk County Republican Party by having leadership in the party that they can relate to and showing them the tremendous success we can have as a party by promoting our principles of limited government and personal responsibility.
I envision a Polk County Republican Party that takes the next step here to grow and strengthen itself even more. With Iowa’s first in the nation status, I believe eyes across the country are directed at this state. I believe that with the right chairman and the right direction, Polk County can be seen as an example not just in Iowa, but across the country. We are well poised to bring Polk County to a higher level with the right leadership and vision. I have some specific goals for fundraising and voter contact/registration that I would like to achieve as Chairman, but I believe the most important part of my job will be to energize our base and build grassroots enthusiasm and activism to lead to a Republican victory in 2014 and beyond.
I am running for chairman of the Polk County Republican Party because right now this party is at a crossroads. Right now, there is a very real disconnect among the leadership and the members of the Republican Party in Polk County. This disconnect is pretty obvious from the Central Committee meetings, on down to the lack of voter enthusiasm I saw while on the campaign trail.
This county needs a leader that can work with everyone in the party. I believe I am that leader. I believe my experience on the campaign trail is proof of my commitment to the Republican party and of my strong work ethic. My campaign generated excitement across a broad spectrum of voters. I believe that was because I was a candidate people could relate to. I mentioned earlier all of those unengaged Republican voters that I met while on the campaign trail. I believe this is a prime time to draw those voters into active involvement in the party by giving them party leadership they can trust and relate to. I believe that my experience gives me tremendous knowledge about energizing grassroots activists and continuing to keep enthusiasm there.
In the end, all of our efforts will be measured out on election day. Having run my own campaign I know first-hand what local candidates need in order to be successful. And the bottom line comes down to grass-roots organizing. Personal contact during a campaign is the single most effective method of turning out voters. We need to re-vamp our efforts at organizing our House Districts down to the precinct levels. We need to continually refresh and update data and volunteers so that candidates have an instant and built-in network to hit the campaign trail running. And we need to host training to enable volunteers and candidates to maximize their efforts.
It is said that a house divided will not stand. I am asking for a chance to pull the people of this party together and make the Polk County Republican Party better than it has ever been. With your support, I look forward to advancing our conservative principles here in Polk County, and helping turn Iowa back to a red state once again. Please make sure you are there for this important vote on Tuesday, February 26, 7:00pm at the Holiday Inn, Mercy Campus at 1050 – 6th Avenue in Des Moines.
by | Feb 22, 2013
Four days from now the Polk County Central Committee will gather to elect a successor to Kevin McLaughlin and Dave Funk. While several people expressed possible interest in running for Chair, it is my understanding that the only two people openly vying for the post at this point are Will Rogers and Dave Edwards.
For the politically active in Polk County who don’t yet know Mr. Rogers and his background, below is a the full transcript of a message he sent The Conservative Reader: Iowa regarding his candidacy. It is followed by the personal section of his bio. The list of candidates and campaigns he has worked on or led over the last few decades is extensive to say the least, and there is no doubt he has the background to attack the challenge of winning elections.  Among the notable names of Polk County Republican political veterans who are officially endorsing Mr. Rogers are Brad Zaun, John Bloom, Greg Ganske, E.J Giovannetti, and Darrell Kearney.
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Dear Conservative Reader,
I appreciate the opportunity to share with your readers why I am running for the chairmanship of the Polk County Republican Party and what I hope to accomplish once I am elected.
While there are many important objectives that we need to accomplish as a political organization, I believe the two essential missions of the county party should be helping elect republicans to office and advancing the county party platform. And I am running for county party chairman because I believe that now, more than ever, that our party must win and get our county, state, and country moving in the right direction.
I personally know thousands of Republicans in Polk County and around the state of Iowa, but I realize there are likely to be thousands of your readers that don’t know much about me and the level of activism that I have had. So before I go any further, I would like to share some background on how I have been involved as a Republican.
Over the past twenty years I have worked and volunteered for several Republican candidates and elected officials. In 2003, I served as Executive Director of the Polk County Republicans and served as the co-chairman of the Polk County Republican Party from 2008 through 2010. I have been committed to helping elect Republicans from the presidency to city hall. But that is just the highlights of my resume. It still doesn’t tell you who I am.
Who I am is a republican activist that believes in God, country, freedom, and conservative principles. Who I am is someone that believes you must relentlessly pursue perfection, knowing very well that you will never achieve it. But by relentlessly pursuing perfection, we will fall short and achieve greatness.
Who I am is someone that believes our country has been the greatest source of social and economic freedom in the world and that it is our duty to ensure it continues to be that way for future generations. And if I am elected chair, my first priority will be to unite the Republican Party by working on our shared beliefs, instead of squabbling over our differences.
As chairman, I will focus on building a strong grassroots organization committed to the core principals of the Republican Party and dedicated to achieving victory. Combined with the solid financial resources, and both traditional and modern communications tools, we can help deliver majorities in the Unites States and Iowa Senates and help re-elect our incumbent Republicans.
I need your support for the chairman’s election taking place on Tuesday, February 26, at 7:00 p.m. at the Downtown Holiday Inn. But I am also going to need your support after the chairman’s election. I am going to need your help in making a difference by door knocking on your street, making phone calls, lit dropping, putting up yard signs, and by make a financial commitment to the county party.
And on Tuesday, November 4th, of 2014, after all the phone calls have been made, after all the doors have been knocked, after all the absentee ballots have been counted, a solemn voice will come on the television and say that “Iowa has elected a Republican U.S. Senator.â€Â And while your neighbor is home asleep in bed, you will be downtown at a victory party that no one will ever forget.
Thank you for your past and continued support of the Polk County Republicans and I look forward to working with you over the next two years as your chairman.
God Bless, Will Rogers
Will Rogers can be reached by call 515-669-1648 or by email at:Â [email protected]
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Will Rogers Bio
I was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa. After graduating high school, I served in the U.S. Army as an M-1 Tank Crewman and served in combat operations as a part of Desert Shield-Desert Storm. After my enlistment, I returned to Des Moines to pursue an education at Drake University where I majored in Political Science and Rhetoric.
While at Drake University, I worked as field staff for Dr. Greg Ganske’s campaign for Congress in 1994. After the election I returned to finish my degree at Drake. After operating a small business for five years, I returned to politics to assist Congressman Greg Ganske’s campaign for Senate in 2002.
In 2003, I was named the first full-time Executive Director for the Polk County Republican Party and was instrumental in rebuilding the county party after the failed elections of 2002. In 2004, I served as Campaign Manager for Congressman Tom Latham’s re-election.
From October of ’05 through May ’07, I worked for the Iowa Soybean Association as a Producer Services Coordinator and was instrumental in promoting Iowa’s renewable fuels industry.
I currently serve as the Director of Government Affairs for the Iowa-Nebraska Equipment Dealers Association and work closely with several members of the United States Senate and House of Representatives, and state/local government officials.
For over 20 years, I have worked for and volunteered with several local, state, and national political campaigns including:
George W. Bush for President              Kim Schmett for U.S. House of Representatives
Newt Gingrich for President                 Dave Vaudt for State Auditor
Phil Gramm for President                      Bill Northey for Secretary of Agriculture
Steve Forbes for President                      Brad Zaun for Iowa Senate
Mitt Romney for President                     Pat Ward for Iowa Senate
Charles Grassley for U.S. Senate           Charles Schneider for Iowa Senate
Greg Ganske for U.S. Senate                  Dan Kennedy for Iowa House
Deb Fischer for U.S. Senate                    Kim Pearson for Iowa House
Greg Ganske for U.S. House                    Darlene Blake for Iowa House
Tom Latham for U.S. House                    Nick Van Patten for Iowa House
Steve King for U.S. House                         E.J. Giovannetti for Polk County Supervisor
Brad Zaun for U.S. House                          Halley Griess for Des Moines City Council
In addition, I served as the Co-Chair of the Polk County Republican Party from 2008 to 2010.
I have been married to Hannah (Holl) Rogers of Minden, Nebraska since 1998 and we have one daughter, Ariella, who was born in September 2009.
by | Feb 13, 2013
Everyone knows 2012 was a tough year for Republicans both nationwide and in Iowa. After a few months absorbing the disappointment, the only productive thing to do is regroup and begin making the necessary changes to ensure that 2014 does not find us ceding more ground to Liberalism.
In terms of Polk County politics the few bright spots were Tom Latham’s defeat of Leonard Boswell and Rep. Chris Hagenow holding on to a razor close victory over Susan Judkins. Unfortunately the list of negatives was much longer. At the top of this list was losing a strong Republican House District in Urbandale (HD 40), but the bad news didn’t stop there. In spite of having an unusually strong set of candidates well matched to their districts, none of them were able to beat the registration disadvantages and hence no upsets were pulled off. This is particularly disappointing because it’s going to be tough finding better Republicans willing to run in Polk County than Dave Edwards, Patti Branco, Vicki Stogdill, Dan Charleston, etc.
The Chair and Co-Chair election coming up February 26th is a great opportunity to get some new eyes and fresh strategies involved in our shared goal of electing strong Conservatives into office. I have no personal qualms with Kevin McLaughlin or Dave Funk, but, having been present at multiple Central Committee meetings last year, it’s clear that what the situation devolved into was unacceptable—and frankly embarrassing. I think both men put in a good deal of effort, had some positive impacts, and I sincerely thank both for their service to the Republican Party.
Moving Forward
In terms of the new leadership, I am whole-heartedly endorsing Chad Brown for Co-Chair. The primary reason for this is that his large volume of campaign experience is equaled by the enthusiasm and energy he brings to our cause. The challenges facing Republicans in this neck of the woods is well known and, in my view, this mixture of operational know-how and dedication is what is required to beat the odds and deliver results.
Among the many inter-party clashes we have had in Iowa is the belief by some that the mechanics of elections are somehow not paramount. This could not be further from the truth. The focused and meticulous work of bringing voters philosophically to our side and then to the voting booth is what the Party apparatus exists for. Chad both knows this and is willing to put in the work to make it happen.
While the integrity of going about things the right way matters even in a vacuum—our political beliefs do not. To make a difference these principals must be put into action, and doing so requires elections to be won. I have great faith that Chad Brown will be an asset to achieving this goal, and will operate with great character in doing so.
Below is Mr. Brown’s general outline for strengthening the Republican Party in Polk County.
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The Victory Plan: Call To Action
Goals and First Steps
Our Purpose: Elect More Republicans and support the Party Platform!!!
Political parties exist to advance core principles and elect individuals who hold these principles into office. We are not designed to be a social club. If we fail to elect more Republicans, we fail in our purpose. In the past, we have lost far too many campaigns that we should have won. Going into the 2014 cycle, I’ve discussed with numerous Central Committee members that we have identified five goals.
1. Polk County Courthouse: When I began to volunteer in the 1990’s, we only had one Republican Supervisor in Polk County. We picked up a second supervisor in 2002. Now, we have a real opportunity to pick up a third Republican supervisor and take the majority. If we can achieve this goal, Republicans will gain the Courthouse in Polk County for the first time since the 1940’s!
2. House District 40: We must work to win back this traditionally Republican State House seat in Urbandale. We can retake this seat.
3. House District 30: This is the second suburban State House seat we lost in Polk County. Due to the growth in the suburbs to the east of Des Moines and the trending conservative numbers of this district, we should be very competitive in this race.
4. Help Protect Rep. Chris Hagenow’s seat: Rep. Hagenow won his House race by 23 votes. We will work very hard to retain this seat as the Democrats will attempt to challenge Rep. Hagenow in 2014.
5. Do our part in Polk County to get out the vote to ensure victory for our Congressional and statewide candidates: We lost Polk County badly in 2012. We need to significantly reduce the Democrats’ voting edge.
Our mission is clear, and we need leadership to clearly state this mission. I say – let’s get to work!!!
Run the Polk County Republican Party of Iowa like a Campaign!
More than anything else, we need more Republican activism. Our candidates come to Central Committee meetings for two reasons: They attend to receive financial and volunteer support. Our candidates and their families put a lot of effort and sacrifices into their campaigns. They run to advance the principles we espouse. When we sign up volunteers at events, we must follow up by activating these volunteers and getting these volunteers to the State House and State Senate candidates who need support. This should be obvious, but according to the Representatives and candidates I’ve spoken with, it rarely happens. We must do a better job of organizing our volunteers to help our candidates. We must also do a better job of funding our candidates to push them over the top and elect more Republicans.
Our Central Committee meetings should be utilized to help members organize their precincts for our candidates. The urgency to do this is even more needed immediately following redistricting. At least once in the upcoming cycle, Central Committee members should huddle with their respective candidates during a Central Committee meeting. I have had candidates tell me their time was far better spent door knocking than attending Central Committee meetings. We must become a more effective body. Our candidates and members give money and time to this organization. I propose we do not waste our candidates’ and members’ money or time. Our members and candidates should meet as a group to network and form an action plan for victory. I propose we develop our volunteer pool so we can make coordinated efforts in State House and State Senate races where we are needed to push a candidate over the top.
Integrity: Serving the Best Interests of the Polk County Republican Party of Iowa
Building the Polk County Republican Party’s reputation will have enormous value with voters, donors, and the community we serve. Building a strong reputation will increase our ability to recruit excellent candidates, grow strong relationships with communities and organizations within our county, and will make us more effective in growing our base of volunteers, donors and voters.
We expect the Chair, Co-Chair, Executive Committee and our candidates to adhere to the highest standards of ethics, integrity, and conduct with each other, the Polk County Central Committee, vendors, and the community we serve and to comply with all applicable laws in regards to conduct as a political entity. As leaders of the Polk County Republican Party, we have a special responsibility to follow the highest standards in all aspects of our lives because our everyday actions influence what people think about our Party. That’s called our brand. Others call this our reputation. A reputation or brand is earned over years of consistently focusing on what is best for our members and the community and following high standards of conduct. I believe good people gravitate to an organization that values ethics. We should act in a manner that will serve the best interests of the Polk County Republican Party. Honesty and trustworthiness and avoiding conflicts of interest and/or the appearance of conflicts of interest must be a priority.
Teamwork
We need to include members as much as possible and actively display a spirit of inclusion and ensure they don’t feel like we are wasting their time. If we can actively show them that their efforts make a difference as part of our team, they will be more likely to remain active. We had a lot of enthusiasm during and immediately following the Caucuses. This enthusiasm evaporated. After attending the Polk County Republican Convention in Ankeny and the Central Committee meetings immediately following the caucuses, some activists I’ve spoken to were turned off and quickly turned away. Central Committee attendance declined following these events. I do not accept the notion that attendance drops following such events. Attendance following the Caucuses should not have to drop. It is clear that we must learn to work as a team.
Fund Raising for Candidates
The Polk County Republican Party has done an exceptional job in raising record funds. At no time in our past have the Polk County Republicans earned so much. We need to continue to build on the trust of our donors. We can build upon our fund raising successes through ensuring very good stewardship of our financial resources. For example, we need to ensure that we use these resources wisely to elect Republicans. More donors will come to us as they gain our trust. Simultaneously, we will elect more Republicans which will also cause our organization to grow in numbers and influence, and donors will continue to trust our leadership as they see us spending every penny with diligence and responsibility.
Public Visibility
It is essential that we increase our visibility. I propose we rebuild an Editorial Team to our Executive Committee. We used to have this committee over a decade ago. We have writers amongst our organization, and this Committee will not cost a dime. The Internet also provides us new opportunities to spread our message.
We need to take every effort to engage the Democrats, aggressively and articulately. We cannot be defensive and reactionary, but we need to take the fight to the Democrats by publicly engaging in the debate over local and state issues. We need to identify issues facing this year’s legislature and start advocating for their position on a precinct specific basis. This increases our visibility and makes us a good partner with our legislative delegation and other conservative organizations.
Party Growth
We need more Republicans. We need to have a Republican presence at every local public function where such booths are permitted so long as the cost is not prohibitive. We could have Republicans signing up supporters outside large city festivals and events. The Democrats have staffers with clipboards to sign up supporters outside the main gates of many festivals. This is another free method to reach new supporters that we need to explore. Most important, we need to follow up with the new supporters we sign up. This is where we activate new activists. We have a large and untapped resource in our community – the many people who can become enthused about the Republican Party. We need to get involved with every group that represents voters. We also need close interaction with Republicans at all of the local colleges. None of us will be here forever, and I’m a believer that we must train our replacements.
New Committee Functions and Transparency
I believe in the grassroots. Effective communication and ground-up organization are important. We need to redefine the tasks of our existing committees and establish a list of objectives and goals for each committee to accomplish. I believe we need to establish some new standing committees and ask for your help with these committees. Further, we can network with our neighboring counties.
We also need to re-structure our Inclusion Committee on building teamwork between all Republicans… to ensure all Republicans feel included in The Big Tent that great presidents such as Ronald Reagan always espoused.
Social Activities
Politics, like every other activity that requires volunteer effort, has to be fun. We should plan different activities with different purposes. Some such activities should be family targeted and family priced and some should be fun for adults. We need to get together for fun as well as business. Good fellowship is a great device for inclusion.
Churches understand this principle. They have expensive retreats for active members, and then they have the ice cream socials and sporting events and other inexpensive, inclusion activities to get visitors through the door. It is time to increase our numbers.
Activities can often be geared for both business and social interaction. The 2016 – Obama’s America event on August 30 included a social at Champps for candidates and activists to network, and then the movie included the political message. Also, our event created buzz for more to see the movie. Further, a movie is inclusive to all ages including the younger voters that we will need. This was Darrell Kearney’s original idea, and I organized it with the above purposes in mind. Then, Ryan Keller and April Linder increased its importance by getting the director to call the Central Committee! We did see new people who haven’t attended other functions. Why not get to work at increasing our inclusionary efforts?
I propose that we take action on a few critical needs in the next month of our organization. The following is a list of what I propose we do in the next month.
A. Start a Solid and Objective Post-Mortem to learn from mistakes made in the 2012 Election so return stronger for the Midterm Elections.
“Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.†– Santayana –
I propose we form a Committee to analyze what went wrong in our 2012 election. We lost too many races that should have been won. Objective analysis may prevent us from making some of the same mistakes. The purpose of this Committee will not be to point fingers but to identify points where the Republican Party came up short so we don’t let it happen in future elections. Our campaign strategy for the 2012 election must be examined to evaluate what did work and what failed. Some of our losses were completely unnecessary and avoidable.
B. Organize a Volunteer Pool. We will organize a list of names and days/hours when volunteers can staff our office to work on data entry and organization. In getting to know so many of you, I have learned there is a large volunteer base out there. We need to call this volunteer base to action to organize beginning as soon as possible. By splitting up our needs among a large base of volunteers, we don’t have to ask any one person to spend more than a few hours a week to these efforts, and we will still advance in our goals. Further, we will follow up with the volunteers who sign up to volunteer. This is obvious and should be done. We need to follow up. We must utilize our volunteers to elect Republicans.
C. Coordinate with Republicans. With new leadership at the Polk County level, we can put old feelings of resentment behind us and build a new relationship and get past any hard feelings that resulted last year.
I have also contacted leaders in other counties in our district and state to try and find areas in which we can learn from each other and share our resources. I have worked with the Dallas County Republicans during the Adel Green Corn Days and with their parades in Adel and Waukee, and their leadership is ready, willing and able to work with us. I have spoken with the Story County Chairman in Ames and discussed his approach with the inclusion of college students.
Long-term Goals
Every change we are making in the short-term is intended to push us closer to achieving long-term goals. We need to build upon our foundations of what we are doing correctly and to fix what we are not doing and build upon our areas that are weak. In the long-term, I would like to see the following accomplished:
A. We grow our political operation. We need to have enough volunteer activity to keep at least one or two volunteers busy on a full-time basis, every day. This can be stuffing envelopes, data entry, telephone calls, etc. Having a full time volunteer organization will be great. It will take a lot of pressure off our full-time staff so that our full-time staff can focus on what we envision. They’re extremely valuable to us as a resource. Also, we need accountability for Central Committee members who do not attend meetings and do not participate in the organization of our county.
B. We integrate our Republican Central Committee base with our local Candidates. Our party is a political party, not a social club. To be successful in reaching our goals, we need to help our candidates. We can increase the number of Republicans elected in our county if we aggressively target State House and State Senate seats as well as County wide positions and Supervisor positions. If all of our members only volunteered 30 minutes twice per month, we would be able to door knock the entire county. Twice.
C. We continue to aggressively target new and non-traditional constituencies. There is a way to do this without sacrificing our principles and values. We should continue to reach out to non-traditional constituencies, but we should not waste resources on left-wing propaganda publications. We need not pander but should embrace prosperity and our values and include all in the spirit of inclusion to all people.
With improved organization, we can build the Republican Party in this county! Let’s get to work to make this a reality!
by | Dec 17, 2012
It’s been a brutal stretch for Republicans since November 6th and I hate to pile on, but one issue facing the Iowa Legislature this session reflects what a perilous situation we could be in as a political party. That issue is automated traffic enforcement—which, at least so far, applies to only red light and speed cameras.
In spite of the disaster that was the 2012 election here in Iowa, perhaps the most depressing and telling sign of how far we have to go is that a clear majority of Legislators, and apparently Iowans, are not yet willing to say definitively that automated traffic enforcement is unacceptable. By default then we are saying we do not object to having cameras take pictures and videos of us in order to deliver substantial fines to our mailbox some 10 days later.
What I have heard from most legislators on this lately is that they believe from talking to their constituents this is close to a 50-50 issue. I don’t know if that’s accurate or not, but if it is then a majority of Conservatives and Libertarians are going to be in for an even worse ride than we previously thought.
I know there are several smart and well-reasoned Republicans making arguments for these cameras who see nothing wrong with them. I have to believe that a majority of these folks haven’t had the pleasure of receiving a $110.00 ticket in the mail from a non-memorable “infraction†that took place a week and a half before. And that these same people haven’t gone to the website link listed on the ticket to have the spooky experience of watching a video of them driving on a public road days before—yes this is how it works.
All the arguments against the cameras are well documented—no right to face your accuser, you may not have been driving, you could get numerous tickets before being aware you got any, questionable impacts on safety, the fact it is yet another increased revenue stream for government, etc.—but the biggest one to me is the overarching issue of what tactics we allow law enforcement and government to deploy against us. As we know too well, once we allow government to record us autonomously and levy fines against us for traffic violations, it is unlikely to stop there.
To all the proponents on this issue on both sides of the isle I ask the following—would you support having speedometers tied to computers in your vehicles which would use GPS coordinates to determine the speed limit and then issue you a ticket sent to your e-mail each time you went 8-10 mph over said limit? The analogy isn’t perfect…but it’s pretty close. Hard to imagine anyone saying yes—let alone a majority.
The Politics
The politics are interesting here too. In short, the Republican voting coalition needs, to a large degree, to include Libertarians or else they will win nothing moving forward. No matter how fiscally conservative they are, be assured that if the Republican Party here in Iowa and nationally will not stand up against video surveillance and mail delivered fines then Libertarians will never vote republican in a large majority. In fact, you would be hard-pressed to think of an issue that could more quickly lead to a third party—and hence the death of the Republican Party. Frankly, the truth is I wouldn’t blame them. If, as the party of small government and freedom, we won’t even stand up on this blatant of a “Big Brother†issue, then the jig is up.
The reason why the Libertarian coalition is so crucial is perhaps even more interesting. First and foremost you have the stubborn friction between the traditional voting blocs Republicans rely on to win elections and the current electorate. The largest single coalition in the Party is the religious-wing (in a society that is, for whatever reasons, growing more liberal on social issues), and the fastest growing new members of the electorate by a landslide are Hispanic voters (which we consistently lose by 30+ points). This is of course added to the fact that Republicans routinely lose the women vote by close to double digits (and they have voted in a greater number than men in every Presidential election since the 1980’s).
In pointing these things out I am in no way saying that these differences and pitfalls can’t be mitigated by the Republican Party, and am certainly not taking a position here on which coalitions should or shouldn’t prevail. The point I make is that because of these problematic dynamics for the Republican Party—a clear majority of the pragmatic Libertarian vote is absolutely essential going forward. In terms of the “going forwardâ€, Libertarians are by and large younger Americans that will be voting for generations (a segment of the youth vote Republicans could actually win), as well as the fact that Libertarian leanings, by nature, will grow larger the larger our government itself grows.
Tying It All Together
To be clear, this is not to say that Republicans would ever run on legalized prostitution or drugs, but it is to say that not standing up against something as symbolic of government overreach as traffic cameras would be a major mistake.
Both politically and on principle, fighting hard for a bill next session in the Iowa Legislature banning all automated traffic enforcement is a no-brainer. Not doing so would be abandoning the mantra of our Party—which is to stand for more freedom, less government intrusion, and less confiscatory power from the political class.
If as a Party we either fail to lead this charge in the first place, or do so and find a majority of Iowans don’t agree with us, there will be ramifications in future elections. As dim as the landscape looks now for Republicans it’s hard to imagine how much uglier it could get…but I know it would be much worse than $110 ticket in your mailbox.
by | Nov 27, 2012
((This is second installment of a 2 part piece, to start with Part 1 click here))Â
In the end, where we failed was to reach what is popularly called the Low Information Voter. These are voters who for whatever reason get very little to no political information, and what they do get is confined to a very narrow set of media vehicles. By targeting local news and other prime listening/watching avenues, the Democrats were successful in reaching those voters, supplemented by their usual other logistical operations of doorknocking, calling, and absentees.
We did quite a bit better this time on the logistical side with doorknocking, calling, signs, and candidate events. The Victory centers, though not perfect, were an improvement on the past. I believe we can build on that by better coordination with the county central committees and their individual headquarters operations. I believe this will be possible primarily by getting as early of a start as possible in the 2014 election cycle, and begin coordinating our logistical effort, as well as raising the necessary funds within the same timeline to support those efforts.
A big area that helped us was absentees. Republicans have greatly improved on their game from even ten years ago, when Democrats would be the vast majority of absentee votes. Though they are still ahead, Republicans largely narrowed that lead in 2012. We can build on that success in 2014 to get even more marginal GOP voters to cast a ballot in our GOTV operations.
One factor that hurt us in a big way was that the top ticket in Mitt Romney had short to no coattails. Though it didn’t seem to effect incumbents much, any challenger or newcomer in an open seat, from a preliminary analysis of the numbers, was drug down as voters seemed to vote the downticket to the supervisor level in line with their vote in the presidential. This will not be an issue so much in the mid-terms, at least for the state races, particularly if Governor Branstad would run again.
We also had a difficult time competing with money. We always have structural problems in this area due to the usual suspects of Democrat contributing groups, especially the unions, but part of this was from to the unpopularity in the leadership change of the Republican Party of Iowa. They simply were not in the game, leaving the heavy lifting to be done by the PACs and the Legislative Majority funds as well as the local entities and the campaigns themselves. It is necessary I believe that we have all entities engaging in 2014, and make whatever changes necessary at the leadership level to ensure that we have all the assets we can have helping us to win the mid-terms. I believe better targeting will also use our funds in most efficient and effective way possible.
The best advice I can give to Iowa GOP activists wanting to gain more congressional seats, as well as winning a majority in the state senate, is to not dwell to long on our failures or disillusion ourselves with doom and gloom. Rather, properly analyze what went both right and wrong in 2012 and build on that, then go right back at them for 2014, and most importantly begin as soon as possible. We are not by any means out of the picture, and I believe control of both the legislature and governor is well within our grasp.
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