Sunday, I went to my first meeting since becoming a precinct leader last Tuesday at the Colorado caucuses. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I feel like a learned a lot, mostly about what to be prepared for for next time. I thought I’d share some thoughts for those who have never been involved in the Republican party machine before, like me.

This was a division meeting, so it involved 8 precincts with 2 leaders each.

Some things that happened:

1.  No one explained to me what this meeting was about, what we were planning on doing at it, or how often this division meets. I was only given the date and time and location.

2.  After getting things started with the pledge and such, our state representative spoke for the “establishment” candidates. A few of the candidates for county positions were there and spoke for themselves. The other candidates were left out. No one spoke for them, no one was asked if they would like to speak for them. By the time I realized this, the time to act had past. Next time, if I have a candidate like Ken Buck that I would like to support, I will come early, see if there is someone to speak for them, and if not, I will do it. BUT, I would have had to ASK. And I would have had to be prepared to speak.

3.  We get ready to elect people to the state assembly and no one has bothered to mention where it is, when it is, how long it lasts, and what the delegates will actually be doing, etc. I had to ask about EVERYTHING.

4.  Nine people were nominated to be state delegates and we were then instructed to pick five to actually go. After about 20 seconds of people feverishly writing down names, I asked how we were supposed to select between people when I didn’t know any of them, and didn’t know which candidates they were intending to support. The leader looked a little embarrassed and then instructed each person to speak for themselves about why they thought they should go to the state assembly. BUT, I had to ASK.

5.  When I did ask, not a single person said that they were supporting anyone but the establishment candidates, so I felt like I didn’t really have much of a choice between the delegates. This, even though another candidate (Ken Buck) received 50% of the vote in our precinct caucus the previous Tuesday. If I had known this, I would have nominated myself as a delegate. (Of course at this point it was too late as the nominations had been closed.) Instead I supported the few people who said they were still open to hearing more about the candidates.

6.  After selecting the delegates, we selected the alternates. Knowing a little bit more at this point, I immediately nominated myself. No one ask me to tell about myself or who I wanted to support. We just voted.

7.  After this the meeting was over, no one told me when or how I would receive more information on the county or state assemblies. I know they have my personal information, but so far I have no information about the county convention that is in two weeks, besides the date.

Extra thoughts:

1.  This meeting lasted 2 hours, for what could easily have been done in one if it was more organized.Many of the couples there sounded like they just wanted to go to the assembly for a weekend getaway.

2.  There was NO discussion of the candidates, their records, history, or anything else among the precinct leaders.

3.  Most of the people there were over 65 years old. It’s not that I don’t appreciate that they have been doing this for a long time and are committed to the party, but if we don’t get some younger people involved too, we are going to be in trouble in a few years.

4.  Most of the people there were very nice, but seemed happy to vote for whoever they were told to vote for.

5.  There is such a lack of organization and information that I am ASTOUNDED by it.

I’m so glad I became a precinct leader, a county delegate, and a state alternate. I feel like I am learning from each of these experiences how to be involved and prepared for the next time. I wish I didn’t feel like I had to beg for every crumb of information. But, now that I know more, I will be recruiting others for next time.

AND…a big THANK YOU to ColdWarrior for getting me started on this journey. I plan to be around for a long time.

I’ve been thinking about the upcoming McCain-Obama debates. Even though we still have a little ways to go, I keep wondering to myself which way the media will try to spin this.

In a normal election, I would think that we would see the media trying to lower the bar for Obama because of his lack of experience in this area, but they are in a tight spot. They have lifted Obama up as a oratory genius to such an extent that they will have a hard time backing down from that now. In addition, any comments about lack of experience in any realm will come back to haunt them as people begin to see the lack of experience in all realms.

John McCain, on the other hand should be able to lower the bar a little by having surrogates talk about Obama’s oratory skill in such a way that people may not be prepared for John McCain’s firm grasp of the issues, and ability to talk about them in the debate. His surrogates will also hopefully be able to bring up Obama’s skills in such a way that he sounds exactly like the empty suit full of flowery phrases that he really is.

So, which way will the media and the Obama camp jump? And, can they create a narrative that will work for those who don’t follow politics as much as we do?

Last night while listening to ABC News radio they had on the biographer of Sarah Palin, Kaylene Johnson. At the end of the interview, she commented that the Sarah Palin that you see in public is the same Sarah Palin that you see in private, and that she’s a real woman with a real family. The commentator, after finishing his interview with Johnson, then proceeded to declare that Sarah Palin’s family was fair game because “they” are using her family to promote her. I was so incensed. First off, I don’t believe that Kaylene Johnson is any official surrogate of the McCain/Palin ticket. (If I’m wrong, don’t shoot me.) Second, a simple comment about her having a real family seems very little to pull from to come to the conclusion that her family is fair game for the media.

Sarah Palin has introduced her family in introducing herself to the public. That is not unusual for a politician who is not well known. But, I have never heard her or the McCain/Palin team suggested that her family her qualification for the position of Vice President.

Read More →

Last night while listening to ABC News radio they had on the biographer of Sarah Palin, Kaylene Johnson. At the end of the interview, she commented that the Sarah Palin that you see in public is the same Sarah Palin that you see in private, and that she’s a real woman with a real family. The commentator, after finishing his interview with Johnson, then proceeded to declare that Sarah Palin’s family was fair game because “they” are using her family to promote her. I was so incensed. First off, I don’t believe that Kaylene Johnson is any official surrogate of the McCain/Palin ticket. (If I’m wrong, don’t shoot me.) Second, a simple comment about her having a real family seems very little to pull from to get to the conclusion that her family is fair game for the media.

Sarah Palin has introduced her family in introducting herself to the public. That is not unusual for a politician who is not well known. But, I have never heard her or the McCain/Palin team suggested that her family is her qualification for the position of Vice President.

Read More →