More Tired Iron or Why My Minivan Should Be Taking Campaign Contributions

Howdy all,

Over this week I have went to 3 different political fundraisers 3 nights in a row. Uff-da! Now they were all for good men who are doing (or will do) a good job if elected or reelected. That said, if I could, I would file papers for my minivan and throw a fund raiser for it. Why?

About 1000 rea$on$ why.

1st - It has 'carried the water' for the GOP elephant since 1998, it has driven to remote corners of rural Minnesota and Wisconsin carrying 4x8 and smaller campaign signs, re-rod, wire and bag ties. It has transported candidates and volunteers. It has idled while I knocked doors and dropped literature. It has done the grunt work where the rubber hits the road (literally) without so much as a thank-you.

2nd - Gas is $4 a gallon, 'nuff said.

3rd - My minivan has never went back on a promise and has always gotten me from point A to point B. It has never backpedaled or compromised and it only reversed it's position when I shifted into reverse.

4th - She just saw a mechanic today and it will cost @#!$%! to fix it's current problems which it incurred over 10 years of service and over 151,000+ miles.

5th - Even with all it's problems, my minivan still is easier on the pocketbook than the Wisconsin Transportation Fund, the DMV or any light rail scheme the state may conjure.

Folks in Madison, D.C. - do you hear me?

Jim

Remember When?

Greetings,

Remember when we were told by a certain candidate that foreign leaders told him he needed to beat Bush?

Well, times have changed and since 2007, the pendulum has swung the other way. The problem is this is being buried under the election right now. While the press dismisses Bush as irrelevant in his 2nd term, our president is being actively engaged by European leaders. Recently President Bush met with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and the 2 clearly have a good working relationship and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are no longer problematic. The tide was clearly turning back when Merkel visited the Crawford Ranch in Texas last year in 2007. President Bush pretty much restricts visits to Crawford for leaders he gets along with well. Nicholas Sarkozy was also there and it is no secret that Sarkozy and Bush get along well and Sarkozy ran on a platform of repairing Franco-U.S. relations and Bush's relationship with Sarkozy has made Gordon Brown jealous it seems. Brown ran on not being a Tony Blair clone and now appears to be backpeddling. But he will have to work hard at fighting his own personal and political tendencies while the U.K. press dubs Sarkozy 'Sarko the first buddy'. Meanwhile, in Italy it appears that Silvio Berlusconi and his allies are retaking Italy. Italy had kicked out Berlusconi and after a brief reign of incompetence by the left, Berlusconi is back.

In a nutshell, Bush has succeeded in creating a strong working alliance between himself and Berlusconi and Brown, Merkel and Sarkozy. They all agree on Iran and Afghanistan, only Iraq creates any tension in this 5-way alliance and they are too smart to let the hard left exploit it and divide them.

But Bush also remains (he always was popular) is the former communist block countries of eastern Europe as well - save Russia. By expanding NATO he has simultaneously weakened Russia and made himself a hero throughout Eastern Europe. Whether it's Albania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Georgia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Ukraine, etc., President Bush has been very attentive to meeting the needs of these new U.S./NATO allies and as a result we have an excellent buffer between us and Russia should any Cold War feeling reemerge.



Whatever is handsome up to now anyways?

Jim

Republican State Convention Archive At WisconsinEye

Greetings,

Unable to attend the Wisconsin GOP Convention earlier this year? Go Here for the entire archive of the Wisconsin Republican State Convention held in Stevens Point.

Later,

Jim

Me At Wisconsin GOP Convention

Greetings,

Click on this link to see me interviewed for about 10 minutes, it will open your default media player to play the file.

Best Wishes,

Jim

A Brief Intro

Greetings,

I am a conservative Republican, born, raised and educated in the Midwest. I grew up in southeastern Wisconsin, attended college in both Wisconsin and Minnesota and have served as a county chairman in both states for the Republican Party. I was active in the campaigns of State Rep. Connie Ruth, Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer, Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Congressman Gil Gutknecht, Senators Rod Grams and Norm Coleman in Minnesota. I got my start politically in Minnesota as a Vice-Chair of the Mankato State College Republicans and what is now the Minnesota State University of Mankato.

Since moving to back Wisconsin I was active as a Bush organizer in Portage County and served with their county party along with some very motivated and talented people. Portage County has been a liberal 'college-town' and labor union style democrat stronghold for many years but was a bastion of moderate Republicanism prior to that. The demographics are changing as Stevens Point has began to level off in growth while southward Plover grows with a lot of suburban and office-park growth and eventually the demographics will turn it Republican, it is only a matter of time.

I am currently the County Chair in Lincoln County, Wisconsin. It is represented by Don Friske [R-Merrill] in the 35th Assembly (House) seat and the Democrat who held our Senate seat was just vacated by Roger Breske (D-Eland who looked vulnerable) and now Tom Tiffany [R] is running against former Democrat Assemblyman Jim Holperin. Something about the way this guy emerged reminds me of how Walter Mondale was recruited at the last minute to run against the more youthful, appealing Norm Coleman when the late Senator Paul Wellstone's airplane crashed, leaving the Minnesota DFL without a candidate and so they dragged out an old war horse with high mileage but the voters were not buying it. Holperin is already digging for deep-pocketed liberal donors here in the north woods.

That's all for now,

Jim