local politics

New York State is a Microcrosm of the Republican Party's Problems

I know that this statement seems unfathomable, but its true. New York State has some really good local parties, right now few and far between, but a few. Other than that, New York State's local parties are stuck in the dark, without message, without leadership, without volunteers, without outreach, etc. They have pictures on the walls that depict shadows of their formerly great selves, but the shell is all that remains.  This was the case even before a number of  Republican Congressman retired, lest they get defeated. Despite the party being hollow, the shell still does remain, and this is what Republicans in New York and throughout the country must look to fill.

ALL POLITICS IS LOCAL (As long as you don't play the media game)

If there is anything that we can take from David Plouffe's recent interview in Conde` Nast, it is two things: 1. Don't buy the media's telling of the story as a party or campaign. People don't trust the media. However, make the media buy your story of the party and campaign. There are increasingly less media figures anyway so this might even get easier. 2. Start up campaigns with strong grassroots emphasis from the managers can focus mainly on grassroots and work.

Note here that there need to be managers. This is where we come in. Even the Ron Paul campaign had managers that decided what the logo, etc. was going to look like at first, but after that they enabled the grassroots to do what was necessary to get the ideas out.

We, who read and participate in these blogs, need to be the new managers. Stop worrying about who the next RNC chair is going to be. I hope it matters and it makes a difference, but in all likelihood it won't. We need to be the new chairmen, we need to be the new local party leaders, we need to be the new recruiters to fill the shell of our state parties so that we can have principled individuals rise to the top, drudgingly go to the Federal government to state the Republican Party principle that problems are best solved by those closest to the problem.

I mean of course our Republican Party elected officials in Washington don't listen to the grassroots and vote against bailout after bailout...there is no one of any significance who can hold them accountable back at home. So while King David Patterson's taxes on everything sits as a foreshadow to what will be the media story with the Obama administration (he HAD  to raise taxes, there was no other option), lets start at the local level and state levels and prove that there are other options. Where do you live? Go to your local party, and get involved. If they won't let you, then start running your own candidates. Anyone who is reading TheNextRight.com obviously has a better handle on the ways of the world than does the local party chairman. BEAT THEM at their own game. As for me, this will probably be my last post for a while, because that is exactly what I am going to do.

This past week, 15,677 signatures were filed with the North Dakota Secretary of State's office for the Income Tax Cut Inititiave. Sponsored by the North Dakota chapter of Americans for Prosperity, the initiative, if certified for the November ballot, would slash North Dakota's state corporate income tax rates by 15 percent and the individual income tax rates by 50 percent starting in 2009.

Apparently, North Dakota exepcts a budget surplus of anywhere between $700 million to $1 billion next year, so supporters of the initiative are looking for both tax relief and restrained government spending during these "sunny days." Smart!

But the AARP is opposing the measure because "it would hamper state and local governments’ and school boards’ ability to respond to emergencies or shifting priorities in the future." The North Dakota Farm Bureau is also opposing the measure citing "worries that it would place the burden of spending on increased property taxes." Now maybe North Dakota should start a government "rainy day fund" that is concomitant with this tax cut, but it's amazing what poor excuses are made to not cut taxes. (But I invite any North Dakotans to explain why voting Yes on this inititiave would be a bad idea.)

This will be the second income tax related ballot initiative this year, joining the Massachusetts Income Tax Repeal. While well intentioned, the Massachusetts initiative is a bit extreme as it would completely get rid of the 5.3% tax on wages.

With so much focus on the national economy during this presidential election cycle, there has been a lot of emphasis on the candidates' tax and economic growth policies. Folks in the broader national conservative movement need to realize that not only do local and state taxes have just as much of an effect on the economy as national taxes do; state and local tax, budget, government transparency, and other localized bread and butter issues can help build our farm team, as previously discussed.

Promoted by Patrick

This is a continuation of a previous post on why it's important for the next leaders of the GOP to focus their attention on identifying local and state leaders, as well as local and state issues, to win back the middle class:

"Major league/professional sports teams have 'farm team' systems where they can identify and train prospects. The best franchises in baseball have fully developed minor league system: Red Sox, Yankees, Angels, etc. The NBA only recently saw the usefulness of having a minor league system with the NBDL ... developing the Republican Minor League will be just as important, if not more important, than keeping the Republican Major League in line."

I was interested in a couple of the responses to this post, including a comment that argues that we should try our best to run in every race as well as a promotion of Slatecard, a Red counterpart to ActBlue.

I recently received an email from The Freedom Project, the PAC that provides "assistance to Republican candidates for federal office" run by John Boehner. (They pride themselves on being a "a web-based clearinghouse for Republican activism featuring online fundraising and grassroots tools, and regular updates on key races and critical issues.") The email, called "The Candidate Kit", was giving short blurbs on energy issues and legislation in Congress and giving advice to all candidates on messaging. Example from the email:

"Democrats continue to peddle their thoroughly debunked "use it or lose it" hoax. The Wall Street Journal calls it "obviously false." [READ MORE] Investor's Business Daily debunks a number of other "energy myths," nothing that "many in Congress seem either disconneted from reality or intentionally disingenuous about our energy crunch." ALL CANDIDATES: Challenge your opponent on supporting Democrats' "drill nothing" energy policy; point out that "use it or lose it" is already law and ask them to back their claims."

The obvious benefit from this is that all candidates, incumbents and challengers, can benefit from a clearinghouse that can assist them in messaging on national issues, especially an issue as hot as energy. My concern is that we start becoming lazy like the Democrats who share and plagarize messaging across the country in congressional and senate races.