I first became interested in precinct delegates during the run-up to the 2008 elections. Shortly after that election, I could only find one PD workshop and that was on the other side of Lansing. The event was run by Marlene Chockley a retired vice chair of the State Party. She felt a need to get the whole idea of Precinct Delegates going again and she put together a great power point presentation and coupled with her knowledge from previous elections, she was infectious. I got excited about the idea.



I came back enthused and brimming with ideas for my County party.

There wasn’t much interest and I blamed the Party. In hind sight it was more my fault. As with other things, for an idea to become reality a lot of work (one on one work) is involved. One of my favorite quotes comes from a book titled “The Effective Executive” by Peter F. Drucker, which I heard Newt Gingrich highly recommend in one of his speeches. The following quote sums up the differences between talking and doing; or perhaps the symbiotic nature of the two.

“Unless a decision has “degenerated into work” it is not a decision; it is at best a good intention” Peter F Drucker, “The Effective Executive” pp114 Harper Collins paper back edition, 2006.

I am nothing if I am not stubborn. I get an idea and will keep plugging away at it like a dog does an old bone. That is what I did with the Precinct Delegate thing. My advice to anyone else with a “great” idea who wants a group to get behind it; don’t expect anyone else to be as excited about that idea as you are. Just keep showing your excitement in deed and others will take note and eventually come your way.

While they may come around to your level of excitement it will take some time and a lot of one on one effort. Even then you will have to do the majority of the work. Also if you are planting the seed don’t expect to be the one to harvest the plant. Once the seed takes root others will be fighting to do the harvesting. Just keep plugging away and take what you can get knowing what you did and realizing that you can still keep planting other seeds that will help grow the garden to your liking. Learn to thank them for helping, at the least it will baffle them; then move on.

I’m smiling after last night. We had our Muskegon County Republican Party Precinct Delegate Convention.

David Farhat was the Temp. Chair and did a remarkable job as we covered lots of new territory. Rules had to be checked, and decisions made on the fly and he handled himself well. In fact Susan Hughes co-chair and Stu Peterson the Secretary all were up to the task. I do pity Stu as he will have to put all this down into readable minutes LOL.



There were around 100 people there. The purpose of that convention was to get all the newly elected PDs together to elect 31 delegates to go to and represent us at the State Republican Convention. At that convention the Party nominees for SOS and AG and Supreme Court justices are picked by the PDs state wide among other duties.

I’m smiling because there were about twice as many PDs there who wanted to fill those 31 slots as there were two years ago. The seeds have taken root. The garden seems to be growing well.




There will be those who will say it should have been organized better, but they aren’t the gardeners. I felt a real sense of democracy in action that night. It took a long time, it wasn’t effiecient ballots had to be printed up and tallied. There was a lot of downtime in which to make new acquaintences and cement some previous ones. It took a long time and yet there weren’t any arguments or bad feelings that I saw. I felt we learned and grew through the doing.



What I saw was a group of people trying to overcome some obstacles and doing so in a democratic way. We had one overriding idea; we had had enough and were committing ourselves to doing something about it in a systematic way. For the first time in a while, I was proud of the Republican Party.

Regards, Live Dangerously Be A Conservative

PS I'd like to thank the state party for unleashing Barb Vander Veen who at the end spread the glories of Precinct Delegates far and wide and to whom much is owed.

Sadness in my Heart

Last night I went to bed with the knowledge Pete Hoekstra lost his bid to be our next Governor. My compliments to his crew, they triumphed over what they thought would be his chief opponent Mike Cox. His consultants just forgot to enter Rick Snyder into their computer models and that his strength was his grass roots until it was too late.

Last night too I went to bed with the hope that Ken Punter could rally from the returns of the perpetually late Norton Shores. At 1pm he was only behind some 500 votes. Well I see that Holly Hughes swept the 11 precincts of Norton Shores leaving Ken Punter around 2500 votes short.

I was also caught with a lump in my throat when I saw Bill Cooper had finished 4th in the 2nd Congressional. When I saw the effort and vitality he and his crew brought to campaigning in West Michigan Bill Huizenga as Holly pulled it out representing the old school politician.

I am saddened to see this fountain of new ideas shut off. Especially with Cooper I’m saddened by my very late entry into his race. I hope both these candidates don’t disappear from politics. They bring a needed freshness to politics.

I don’t have time to analyze any of these races now as there are a million yard signs that need pulling; but at first glance the paradigms are in flux. People in the more local races seemed to pick the experienced operatives, but the larger less personal races like the governorship for example they picked a newcomer, an unknown.

On that race they were more willing to pick a newcomer.

In the next rank down, the US House, there was a battle between the political operative Bill Huizenga that people had known as a politician for a long time and the non-politician/football player Jay Riemersma. It was close but the familiar won.

In the Hughes vote, she won more easily.

At my level to my utter disappointment Marcia H. Wright won. The local conservative battles in my neighborhood will increase ---

It will be more dangerous to be a conservative.

Change is always harder to do yourself than to think others should.

I’m still addled after this election and have signs to pick up. Then there is the question of which state do I want to move to.

Maybe Wyoming. ?????

LOL

Regards, Live Dangerously Be A Conservative

Never fear, hope abounds and the next place we have an ability to change the party from the inside is on the Precinct Delegate front. We as PDs can try to pick conservative nominees at the state convention then come back and pick our local party leadership. If that fails then we start recruiting new PDs now.
Never fear I ain't leaving.

Arrogance

Arrogance

Many, many months ago, nearly a year ago Ken Punter announced that he was running for the 91st State House Seat, I became excited about his candidacy. Shortly afterward I wrote the following in his support.
---------------
During these perilous economic and moral times in Michigan and our Country; I find it reassuring to find a citizen leader of Ken Punter’s character willing to pick up the gauntlet of political leadership. Ken Punter, ex marine, long time husband, father and resident of Ravenna calls this desire to enter into public service - “servant leadership”.

Ken Punter is not arrogant.



Ken's website http://votepunter.com

For too long we have had representing our districts, professional politicians who seem more interested in re-election than serving their constituents. Ken has the strength to stand for what he believes over what is politically expedient.

That strength of character is founded in his faith, and I feel that faith will guide his heart and soul when making the hard decisions of a State Representative. His experience in the Marines, and in helping, along with his wife Kay to raise their beautiful family, has left him with a can do mentality and the self control to see a job through to its conclusion.

Ken has the vision and the practical experience to stand tall when necessary and be that “Servant Leader” upon which this country was founded. Along with his other civic volunteer efforts Ken has been on the Ravenna School Board for 15 years.

He knows how to say yes to common sense and no to non sense.

I am happy and proud to endorse Ken Punter as the next State Representative for the 91st District.

Bob Carr
Precinct Delegate, Precinct #6, Ward #2, City of Muskegon

-----------

At the time I wrote that, Ken was the only Republican Candidate for the seat. At the time Holly Hughes was telling people that she was running for the State Senate Seat. Well - as she was telling everyone that she was Senate bound, State Rep. Goeff Hansen from Hart jumped in with both feet and started running. He let Holly do the talking but he started walking – door to door that is. Mr. Hansen was a seasoned Rep. and knew what it takes to win elections - people. He understood it was people who won elections and money was just a tool. As he became relentlessly active in Muskegon County, he started getting endorsements from the big shots some of whom Holly was relying on. With all of the door to door, he was also getting known to the people that matter just as much, the voters – you and I.

Soon Ms. Hughes felt the pressure from those in the know to take her money and influence to try something else. She had run in 2008 and lost the race for the 91st. She probably figured that this new guy, lacking her political knowledge and contacts would be a push over, plus she already had all of her signs from her previous race. She also figured she could twist some arms for endorsements of the political establishment she knew and had donated money to so well in the past.

This is the arrogance I’m talking about. The arrogance bred of money and power. Even Goeff Hansen ended up supporting her. Up and down the political line she got the political endorsements. She does have guts, recently she put her sticker on Pete Hoekstra at an event I had. On top of that when the owner and Pete wanted a picture taken together she jumped behind the counter and wedged herself between the two. Bob Scolnik who was also taking the picture because he was a friend of the owners had to ask Holly to uninsert herself. LOL

Another recent example of the Arrogance of monied candidates occurred at the County Fair. We Republicans have a booth there. Ken and Kay Punter have been selflessly making sure our booth is up and staffed during the 5 day affair. (Election Year or No) Kay gathers the candidate signs and literature from the HQ and sends out letters to all to make sure they have lit at the booth and to come on down and meet the people. This booth was for the Republican Party to gather new members and let people know what we stand for along with helping our candidates. For example Bill Cooper called ahead and sent a couple of his volunteers to watch the tent for a few hours one day. Punters each day open and each night closed the booth when no one is there. They weren’t politicking; they were doing what they had done the last few years, trying to promote the Republican Party.

The Punters broke the 5 day fair down into about 30 one hour time slots for the busiest times during those five days. Filling those slots as always is a tough thing to do. Getting back to the arrogance thing. Unlike Bill Cooper calling ahead and putting his crew into the time slots needed, Holly’s crew arrived on the scene with 6 or 7 people when we had two people already there and they took over.

If they would have coordinated with us we could have taken the others volunteer and filled an empty slot.

On top of that, the Hughes bunch broke some of the rules and stretched another.

No cars or trucks are allowed once the Fair starts, Holly’s crew drove up and kept the truck there while they were there. The next day the gates were closed.

The rule book said No political signs allowed outside of booths, Hughes signs soon starting popping up.

Then a 4’x4’ large sign was put up where the kids collected the prizes they won and people were taking pictures. My sources told me it cost her $200 for that photo opp. That was her standard campaign sign where only smaller sponsorship signs normally go.

Then there is the pig auction. We know from the last election that Holly loves pork as she bought the prize pig in 2008, which incidentally got her picture in the Ravenna newspaper. I guess they had plenty to eat from that pig because the next year (a non election year) she didn’t buy one.

Well this election year she bought two. If she had at least common sense you would think she would have a pig roast for a fundraiser.

Ken Punter has been putting out some pretty good literature.
I know this because the old saying imitation is best form of flattery.
I say that because as in the picture below. Ken came up with the theme for one brochure of Ken is a Pro. Then listing all the things he is pro about.
Shortly after that Holly does the same sort of thing.



Next Ken’s brochure tells of his experiences in the marines and his leadership skills etc. Well Holly’s whole back of the pamphlet would make one think that she won a medal.



Then again as with the pig auction thing the next Holly imitation has her standing in a corn field in non work clothes, showing what? – that she knows how to walk between the rows of corn without getting her clothes dirty. Compare that to Ken’s pics.



We have the choice between the imitation and the real thing.

We have the responsibility as Citizens in our Free Country to elect those who will do the job we entrust them to do.

I think Ken Punter will do that, I’m voting for him. You decide for yourself, I just ask you to think about which one once elected will spend the time, read the bills and do the research keeping in mind his constituents at home. Which candidate will put “People over Politics”?

Regards, Live Dangerously Be A Conservative

Integrity and the Rule of Law

When I was first asked to become a Precinct Delegate (PD), I asked what I had to do. I was told not to worry about it; I didn’t have to do anything if I didn’t want to. Since then I have been on a quest to find out what a Precinct Delegate is and what can they do. I wanted to answer my question of “why become a PD”

There is a big story breaking in the news concerning the Tea Party and the Tea "PARTY" in Michigan.

Let me explain.

First the Tea Party

If you ask anyone, they know what the Tea Party is; they have seen it on TV, read about it in their newspapers and seen it plastered all over the internet news services both good and bad.

Fair warning I am the Chair of our local Tea Party; believe me we fall somewhere in-between “good and bad”. Speaking from experience the Tea Parties throughout the state have been committed to not forming a 3rd party because as we have seen in the past (Ross Perot comes to mind) a 3rd party only divides the Conservative vote.

Now the Tea "PARTY".

The big news story is the attempt of someone or some group not connected with any known Tea Party group has claimed the name Tea Party as its own and is setting up a political Party, a 3rd party. They have gathered enough signatures to get put on the Michigan ballot this November. Those signatures are now in front of the State Board of Canvassers. They will probably ok it.

Next they held the required state party convention to nominate candidates for their party.

In that same document they also usurped along with our name the Icon of our Tea Party movement. Below is a picture of our coiled snake with the caption Don’t Tread on Me. If this fraudulent effort is allowed to stand; your ballot this November will have along with the Democrat name and Logo of a Donkey and the Republican name and logo of an Elephant, the name Tea PARTY and the logo of the coiled snake.



If you watch the news you would more than likely know what that symbol means to those in the original Tea Party movement. It is one of the Icons of the Tea Party movement from the beginning. I remember buying my first “coiled snake” flag in Grand Rapids. It proudly graces our regular Tea Party monthly group meetings now.

Why is all this important?

All this activity to start a 3rd party in Michigan is shrouded in secrecy. The person filing the signatures is an unknown union worker who contributed to two different places last year for a combined total less than $100 dollars. The Consulting firm was paid over $100,000 to collect signatures. Nothing else is known. His address is a PO box and repeated tries have received no answer.

The recent “Convention” they claimed to have had was also shrouded in secrecy. No publicity, no location, and no exact time. In all reality probably just some phone calls were made. However over 20 candidates were nominated including those for Secretary of State, Attorney General and all the State House and State Senate races which are considered a tossup for this coming election.

The Mackinaw Center’s article below points out how the Political Director of the Oakland Co. Democrat Party notarized almost half of the Candidates that the “Tea PARTY” nominated.

The Mackinaw Center’s publication, Capitol Confidential just ran an article by Tom Gantert claiming a “smoking gun” has been found linking this “Tea PARTY” to the Michigan Democrat Party Oakland branch.

-----link-----
http://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/13260
--------------

So – what does this have to do with my being a Precinct Delegate? After reading the article above and having met Mr. Gillman through the Tea Party circuit; I realized that because I had become a PD I knew the terminology behind the method through which Mr. Gillman ferreted out the smoking gun.

The article quotes Mr. Gillman as saying "I couldn't get hold of these people (candidates)," said Gillman, who then said he knew that they had to file affidavits of identity with the state when running for political office. "Otherwise, it's like these people don't exist."

As I read the article I knew what the “affidavit of identity” was because I had to fill out one myself and get it notarized when I ran for PD. Just the background and information I picked up to become a PD helped explain the article and gave me a clearer picture of this whole mess and the way the political process is being corrupted.

This goes to the sanctity of the individual vote.

For all the candidates for Secretary of State who are reading this and have been hounding me for my vote because I’m a PD; if you take a strong stand right now on this issue, it will mean more to me than all the emails, snail mails and robocalls touting your integrity.

That is one of the answers to my question – “why become a PD”

The other answer to that question comes in the knowledge I have found out about the political process and how as a PD I can make a difference. As a PD I have a direct say in who becomes the nominee for my party for SOS and AG among others at the State Convention. I found out they weren’t nominated on the primary ballot but rather at convention of which I as a PD have a voter.

The bottom line is that words and symbols mean something and should be protected. When words and symbols can be corrupted and fraudulently used to corrupt the vote of honest Americans – Well - That Should Be Illegal.

The honesty and integrity of the rule of law is what my version of the Tea Party movement stands for, the integrity of my voting rights is what I’ll fight for.

Regards, Live Dangerously Be A Conservative

Sunday Morning Thoughts

Sunday Reflections – The Day Of

Today as I reflect on the things I’ve done the last couple of years and the mish mash of eclectic things I have tried to accomplish; one thing kept coming to mind.

Nothing I did made headlines and while I admit that headlines would have made me feel good; it would have been in the end counterproductive.

What I realized was that big events or stories that erupt into banner headlines are made up of all sorts of smaller events of every type. I realized also that these small efforts can build upon each other and create the ground swell for the type of events that garner headlines. Knowing that I was a part of the smaller events brought me comfort this day - this Sunday.

This reverie brought to my mind the whole idea of blogging, and some of my old internet haunts. One of which was Libertas which had closed down last summer.

-----link-----
http://www.libertasfilmmagazine.com/
--------------

I had followed and blogged about this site a couple of years ago as being part of the effort to take the conservative message and introduce it back into the main stream "pop" culture. In this case the movie industry. Libertas tried to provide a platform for conservative actors producers and directors to give vent to being black balled from the news outlets and the movie industry itself. Libertas would highlight those efforts and try to help sell them once produced. I, in my little local way highlighted them at the time and their movie selections.

Libertas struggled, shut down for awhile. They, as I did must have felt they had little effect. I see now they have reemerged in a sharper, brighter, and glossier format. The link above tells of the new movie Salt staring Angela Jolie. Below that is an article about the movie being made based on the classic Ayn Rand book “Atlas Shrugged”.

Also different actors have come out of the closet and proclaimed their “Conservativeness”. What was responsible for this? Not one thing, but as a friend always reminds me about the book Glenn Reynolds wrote called an Army of Davids, a lot of people and ideas and events are making it possible.

The point I’m trying to get to here is that small steps matter. The plethora of small ideas and efforts put forth by an "Army of Davids" against the Goliath that is Government has had huge effect. Through the Alternative Media of the internet these small steps by different people are exposed to the “Free Market Place of Ideas” and through the free choice of the public the best ideas survive and have a chance to flourish.

Conservative always seem to win the argument on paper. We have enough reams of paper devoted to the conservative message to repopulate six Brazilian rain forests. The problem is, nobody reads that anymore.

Andrew Breitbart was the first person I heard actually talk of taking the conservative message and putting it into the Pop Culture. Andrew took the old saying “a picture’s worth a thousand words mixed it with the internet and video and started making headway in the pop culture of the news media. People had for years written lengthy exposes about the corruption in non profits and nobody listened. When Breitbart built his platform “Big Government” for people to tell the same story with video; everyone took notice.

James O’Keefe and Hanna Giles took advantage of that platform and were able to take down ACORN with some video on YouTube.

-----link-----
http://biggovernment.com/tag/acorn-prostitution/
--------------

So as I relax finally and get a chance to blog this Sunday morning, I’ll give thanks that I am able to do those small things which added to everyone else’s may do some good in the world. Although I wonder how buying the remaining 400 prizes for a flag giveaway or transplanting a tomato plant will change the world – I will continue to believe it will therefore I’ll do it.

Besides, some things are just worth doing. And as John Wayne might say about reflections and that already it's almost noon -- "We’re burning daylight."

Regards, Live Dangerously Be A Conservative

David and Goliath (local American style)

David and Goliath (American Political Style)

There is a primary race in my neck of the woods that is shaping up to be a classic David and Goliath story out of the Bible. That race is for the 91st district State House seat.



If you remember from the Bible, Goliath was a giant standing over 9 feet tall and clad in name brand armor. He represented the Philistine army as they faced off against King Saul and the army of Israel. Due to the immense size and strength of the mightily armored Goliath, King Saul’s army was intimidated and frightened into not attacking.

That came to an end when David, a teenager who had been sent by his father to get news of the battle heard the taunts and insults of Goliath. With only the simple faith of his beliefs he stepped onto the field and won a victory over the Philistines.

We all know the story, though everything was against David, the simple faith in his beliefs led him unswervingly to attack and defeat the mighty Goliath. Ever since; that story has come to symbolize the triumph of the underdog over seemingly insurmountable odds.




In this current reenactment the role of David is being played by Ken Punter and Goliath by Holly Hughes. The seeming strength of Holly Hughes lies in the size of her bank account and her armor is made up of all the National Republican contacts and offices she holds. She knows all the right people personally from John McCain to Michael Steel. On down the food chain to Ron Weiser the Republican State Chair.

On top of this she is the National Republican Committee Woman; a highly influential position in National Party Politics. She was instrumental in electing Michael Steel to the National Republican Chair.

On the National Republican Party stage she is a key player.

Combined with the armor of her name dropping and the towering height of her financial stature she is indeed daunting to lesser mortals. Now to the specifics.

Both of the Republican Candidates have submitted their pre-election financial reports for the primary. A recap of the information which is available on the Secretary of State website is as follows:

Holly Hughes: Contributions - $25,896.41; Expenditures - $119,780.23; Cash Loans from Candidate (this election cycle) - $80,000.00; Account Balance - $7,340.39

Punter: Contributions - $10,960.33; Expenditures - $14,475.57; Cash Loans from Candidate (this election cycle) - $5,000.00; Account Balance - $1,373.43

Goliath is out spending David by 8/1 !!!!!Most people would gasp and say Ken Punter is outmatched and sure to lose.
I simply wonder why Holly Hughes thought she needed to spend so much against a rival spending so little in the primary.

I also start to wonder if Ms. Hughes spends her own money so freely how will she spend the taxpayer’s money.

Ken Punter is not easily intimidated; I guess that is what comes from retiring from the Marines as a Lieutenant.Colonel. In the same vein he knows how to stay focused and follow through what he starts. His 15 years on the school board attests to that.

He brings to the field in his sling a simple but deadly weapon --

People Over Politics

As with the stone in the Bible; Ken Punter’s simple faith in that slogan may indeed bring down a modern day Goliath.

If that happens; as with the Army of Israel the Republican base will then have time to think and realize it was really inevitable.

Regards, Live Dangerously Be A Conservative