Posted by
Lady Logician on Saturday, June 28, 2008 6:58:28 PM
As I sit here amid boxes and on a very short deadline, I thought I would sit down and give a few parting words of advice to the MNGOP Party leadership. This not only includes the Chairman and the Executive Committee, but also the State Central Committee.
Remember who your base is! You have a grass roots base that would love to work for you, if you would quit shutting us out in favor of your friends in DC. Listen to us. We know what our friends and neighbors WHO VOTE are thinking. We know what issues are plaguing them the most.....and it ain't gay marriage, Iraq or abortion! To borrow from former President Clinton....IT'S THE ECONOMY STUPID! Listen to your base, your grass roots and show that you appreciate the knowledge and hard work that we bring to the table. We are not the enemy....you can not do it all. At some point, you must take the advise of those of us in the trenches. Don't shut the grass roots out for too long - or they may never come back!
The fact of the matter is your friends in DC has no clue what is on the minds of the average voter in Minnesota. They don't know what issues are most important to the voters....you remember them don't you? They are the folks that you (and your candidates) are supposed to be courting in order WIN ELECTIONS. I use the term "courting" deliberately. You are supposed to be winning these people over - not scaring them into voting for you. We all know that Al Franken is a cad with a hair trigger temper. This is not news......tell us why we should vote for your guys (and gals) what makes them deserving of my precious vote. Your DC friends can't vote for you...Minnesota residents can. However we need to know why you deserve to be sent to DC - not why the other guy is a royal schmuck!
Listen to the voters. As I said, kitchen table conversation today does not revolve around gay marriage, abortion and Iraq. Today's kitchen table conversations are about why the idiots in DC don't allow us to drill for domestic oil when the price of gas is so high, the high cost of feeding the family and the fear of losing their homes because they can't afford to keep up with payments because of the high price of food and fuel! Throw away your silly surveys that ask if people are pro-life or pro-choice. IT IS NOT IMPORTANT TO VOTERS AT THIS TIME! Get out off the 1990's and into today! Take two seconds to ask the voters "what is important to you and what would be your ideal fix?" Our principles resonate with voters if you give it a chance. GIVE IT A CHANCE!
The Republican Party is not the about of "God, guns and gays". We are about solutions. Solutions that provide the most freedoms to the most people. Freedom to succeed and the freedom to fail! When you put it to the voters in that way - you will find out that you have more supporters in this purple blue state than you thought. It resonated in 2000 and 2004 - it will resonate again as long as you remember one simple lesson. Listen to the grass roots. They are your most valuable asset and right now they want nothing to do with you because you have nothing to do with them.