Stephen Gordon's blog

Patrick Ruffini wrote that “The Rightroots Needs Less Meta and More Purpose.” I’ve recently been involved in two Twitter campaigns which have convinced me that the proper combination of meta and purpose can lead to political success. 

Free the Hops

Free the Hops is an organization behind a recently successful bill to allow beers with more than six percent alcohol (98 of the world's 100 top gourmet beers contain over six percent alcohol) to be sold in Alabama. After a hard fought four year Internet-based campaign, the wildly popular bill finally passed in Alabama’s lower legislative chamber.

When the bill hit the state Senate, one senator decided to filibuster the legislation. Every time the bill came up on the floor, he’d irritate his colleagues by preaching about the evils of alcohol. After years of hard work by thousands of activists, it looked like the bill was going to die. That’s when we decided to take it to the Tweets. 

Despite the protestations of folks like Mike Huckabee, Republicans need to get back to basic message of small-government conservativism if they choose to win elections once again.  I've said this time and time and time and time and time again. Folks much brighter that me (i.e. Richard Viguerie, Ryan Sager, John Dean, Peggy Noonan, Ron Paul, Michael Tanner, Bob Barr) have been presenting the same message since before the 2006 elections.

One of the people I continue to cite as an example of good conservative messaging is SC Governor Mark Sanford.  Here's Frank Luntz analyzing the Republican and Democrat response to a recent Sanford ad:

"Governor Sanford is the most articulate Republican out there right now and the other Republicans ought to pay attention," said Luntz a couple of days ago on Fox. "Or if they don't, their numbers will continue to languish."

"The implication of Hayek's position is that conservatism can never achieve the vision of genuine individual freedom - it can only oppose the Left," writes Jon Henke - hitting the nail squarely on the head in my opinion.  He also provided an outline as to what successful policies from the right must contain.

While I generally agree with Hayek's position, I'll note one general exception to the rule: The Contract with America.

Instead of spending all of our time making ad hominem attacks on the left, I thought I'd try to begin a process of coming up with a new plan for the right.  Toward this end, I've created a crude list of issues around which a winning coalition might be able to be formed. 

To be sure, I don't agree with the approach I've taken on each item below, nor do I think I have anything remotely resembling a finished solution. This came from the gut - I didn't poll on the issues or consult any polling data.  I didn't  tackle some issues which I personally find more important and know there will be plenty of opposing views to some of my suggestions.

Please feel free to rip this up, offer better wording or suggest better alternatives.  However, keep one thing in mind: the goal isn't to promote my personal agenda or your personal agenda, but to build a winning coalition which moves policy in a more responsible direction.  Here's my initial proposal for...

Republicans need libertarians more than libertarians need Republicans.  It's time for libertarians - fiscally conservative, socially tolerant people who advocate limited government and individual freedom - to start fighting back. - Jon Henke

There are all sorts of self-described libertarians out there: Ron Paul libertarians, Libertarian Party libertarians, Club for Growth libertarians, Cato libertarians, Reason libertarians, Next Right libertarians, Neal Boortz libertarians and Lew Rockwell libertarians.  There are also millions of people who don't even know they are libertarians.

During the Goldwater-Reagan years, Republicans knew they needed libertarian votes to win the White House.  After George H. W. Bush disregarded his "read my lips" pledge, libertarians felt pretty isolated until the Republican Revolution.  Once the Republican Party gained control of Congress, libertarians and the goals of the Republican Revolution were simultaneously flushed down the commode of win-at-all-costs politics.

Republican leaders were warned time and time and time and time again that they would pay a price for dismissing potential libertarian supporters. Republicans did pay a significant price in 2006, but continued on as if nothing had changed.  Immediately after it became apparent that John McCain was going to win the 2008 Republican nomination, the Libertarian Party sent a funeral wreath to the RNC.

There are a lot of senior Republicans who apparently wish for this downward spiral to continue, as they continue to bash libertarians to this very day. 

Here's one very recent example (other funny examples here) from Alabama of how Republican politicians alienate most normal Americans and why they are despised by so many people.

In Alabama, there has been a well-organized movement to pass legislation which will allow the beer aficionados of the state to drink some of the better-rated gourmet beers of the world. Because beers containing over six percent alcohol are outlawed, Free the Hops is pushing legislation which will permit Alabamians to drink more than just one or two of the world's 100 top-rated beers.

Republican State Senator Hank Erwin has been an outspoken opponent of this bill.  Instead of letting it go to a vote, he places his moral code above the legislative process. Erwin has been filibustering the bill and plans to continue until this legislative season ends.

Erwin's strange views on morality have already placed him in the national spotlight.

"New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast have always been known for gambling, sin and wickedness," wrote Erwin about why Hurricane Katrina hit. "It is the kind of behavior that ultimately brings the judgment of God."

According to stories I'm hearing today, Senator Morality doesn't mind breaking his word when it gives him political leverage.  Two reliable sources close to the Free the Hops effort have relayed pretty much the same story to me.  According to them, a Free the Hops lobbyist approached Erwin about not filibustering the bill.  Erwin had a gun rights bill he was pushing and a deal was cut: Erwin wouldn't filibuster the gourmet beer bill if the lobbyist would support the gun bill. 

As I hear it, the lobbyist did push hard for the gun bill, but it failed anyway.  Now Erwin isn't holding up to his end of the bargain.

Senator Erwin isn't just some isolated state rep from some backwards district.  He's a seasoned Senator with high name recognition who just threw his hat into the ring for the 2010 Lt. Governor's race.  Most Republicans I know will vote for any Democrat before they'll vote for Erwin for this statewide office -- but there are still plenty of folks who will vote for him.

So long as Republicans continue to support politicians like this, I'll predict that the GOP will continue to slide deeper into the electoral abyss.

As there has been a lot of conversation about the framing of conservative messaging and how to deal with with race issues on this site, I thought I'd bring up two articles I wrote for another website today.

The first article deals directly with the first issue I'd like to raise.  A host of elected Republican officials are rightfully calling for Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to submit her letter of resignation.  While I'm sure someone has, I've yet to see someone provide a politically viable suggestion to replace the DHS Secretary.

It's one thing to take political swipes at the opposition.  It takes leadership to find a solution which might be acceptable to the Obama administration, Republicans and a general public that is generally more concerned with good government than with the latest political barbs.

My solution to this situation may not be the best one, but at least I've offered a host of reasons as to why Judge Andrew Napolitano could be a very suitable replacement for Janet Napolitano.  The American public has been crying for solutions, not partisan bickering.  The GOP could have easily stepped up to the plate on this one, but didn't.

The other issue I'd like to cover is race. On rare occasions, there is an element of truth to cries from the left about racism on the right.  Most of the time these allegations couldn't be farther from the truth.

However, assuaging one's conscience by casting a vote for Michael Steele and then disregarding the black community for the next several years will not win Republicans votes from the African-American community.  Like any other votes, these have to be earned.

In Alabama, two Republicans are making a difference in the African-American community on a solidly conservative issue: property rights.   If you aren't aware, in the land of Rosa Parks, black people are frequently taken advantage of when it comes to eminent domain abuse.  A few years back, nationally syndicated talk show host Neal Boortz heavily publicized one such case in nearby Alabaster, Alabama.

I'd like to quickly highlight these two Republicans who aren't afraid to step out of their own comfortable communities to help those with fewer political or financial resources.  The first is Alabama State Senator Scott Beason, who will sit on a panel next week at an Alabama Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights panel entitled “Civil Rights Implications of Eminent Domain Policies and Practices in Alabama.” Senator Beason is highly respected throughout the state, and it's easy to see why.

A key driving force behind this panel is Shana Kluck.  Shana is not only a member of the Alabama Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, but she also serves on her state GOP executive committee, is president of the Alabama Republican Assemby and serves as secretary of the Alabama Republican Liberty Caucus.  When she's not busy homeshcooling her four children, consulting on Web 2.0 projects, engaged in Eagle Forum activities, attending various political meetings around the state and working behind the scenes on a variety of conservative and libertarian causes, she is busy helping me on campaigns.

Considering Shana's schedule, very few of us have grounds to offer the excuse that we are too busy to become more involved in the African-American community.

Instead of sitting around complaining about how black people voted in previous election cycles, Senator Beason and Ms. Kluck are taking leadership roles in providing justice for members of the African-American community.

If I may be so bold as to provide two solutions for the conservative movement, they are:

• Instead of merely attacking the opposition with nuisance fire (appropriately called sniping) to exploit a weak spot in their battle line, maximize your attack by actually providing a viable politcal solution.
• If you aren't active in your local African-American community, you've no right to complain if you receive very few of their votes on Election Day.

Personal responsibility is a key component of conservativism and just stewardship should be a part of conservative leadership.  Hopefully, Republican Party leaders will take these sorts of messages to heart.  Otherwise, one can expect the GOP to walk through the wilderness for another 38 years.

As I've said, before we focus on winning back majority status, the first priority must be reforming the Republican Party. - Jon Henke

Shortly after I wrote this quick piece for the Alabama Republican Liberty Caucus website, I was called by someone in another state who tracked down my cell number from a press release.

I had posted the now-going-viral video below of South Carolina Congressman Gresham Barrett (R) being booed, told to go home, and having people turn their backs on him when he spoke at the Greenville, SC Tea Party.

Calling out a Republican from my state congressional delegation for a bad vote on an amendment to the budget bill was my initial intention, but it's starting to turn into more than this now.

My caller liked the idea so much, he's beginning to quietly organize his folks to show at a scheduled event for one of his local "RINOs in DC."  They plan to boo, turn their backs, and video the entire encounter.  They also plan to quietly alert the media in advance.

From the perspective of someone who helped organize a large 2003 Tea Party event to begin the process to kill Alabama Governor Riley's proposed tax increase, I know how angry fiscal conservatives can feel about folks who have betrayed them.  More recently, we even dissed a Republican Secretary of State who demanded to speak at one of the April 15th Tea Parties I helped organize.

Pondering all of this, I contacted a few Tea Party organizers I'd been in contact with see what they thought of the general idea.

"Hell, yeah!" was the immediate response from one person I've never heard use that word before. 

"We should do it even for one bad floor vote," wrote one organizer about a specific Senator in his state.  "This way, he'll get the message that we'll be watching every minor move he makes."

To wrap this all up, it's better that I don't identify any states or congressional districts already targeted.  This way, every last Republican with a bad fiscal conscience (or desire to be re-elected) who currently holds public office should be having nightmares about who might show at his or her next campaign rally or public speaking event. A healthy dose of paranoia can sometimes be a good thing.

Even little ol' me can turn out a few thousand on fairly short notice in my state.

If you haven't seen the video yet, it's worth your time to watch it.  And if you are a Republican holding public office, think about how embarrassed you will feel losing to some unknown challenger come next primary election night. Only those with guilt in their hearts have to fear being next on the list.  If you think you might be on the list, I'd start with a call to my favorite spin-meister to come up with either the first or the best mea culpa that money can buy.

H/T to the good folks at the John Locke Foundation.

This one is from the newly formed Alabama Republican Liberty Caucus.

While at an Alabama Eagle Forum banquet on Friday night, I was fortunate enough to grab a few minutes alone with 2010 Alabama gubernatorial candidate Tim James.  While James doesn't have a long and padded political resume, he's the son of former Governor Fob James and is well known in conservative circles in the state.  He's been significantly increasing his public appearances and media exposure, of late.

When I had the opportunity, I asked James if I could ask him a quick question.  "Sure," he replied.  The question I lobbed at him was whether or not he would absolutely commit to not increasing taxes if elected governor. 

The following government conference on openness and transparency is CLOSED to members of the public and the press. The information below comes from this URL: http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/foiapost/2009foiapost6.htm.