2007 Taxpayer’s Rally Wrap-up & Video Dump
Here’s a potpourri post of the 2007 Taxcut Rally.
Mark Buesgens and Tom Emmer – Click to watch (8 mins 19 secs )
This one is really worth it. Watch Mary Liz Holberg & Chris Gerlach perform a little Dr. Seuss-like Green Eggs and Taxes. – Click to watch (6 mins 19 secs)
House Minority Leader Marty Seifert – Click to watch (4 mins)
US Rep. Michele Bachmann (MN6) – Click to watch (7 mins 48 sec)
US Rep. John Kline(MN2) – Click to watch (5 mins 14 secs)
There’s a bunch of other activist groups from the right who spoke as well. I’ll try to get them together later today.
Here’s a couple other clips I have already posted.
Watch Minnesota Republican Party Chair Ron Carey get booed and visibly shaken by the crowd’s reaction his reading of a letter from US Sen. Norm Coleman – Click to watch (4 mins 44 secs)
(My previous post) Does this look like a guy with his finger on the conservative Republican pulse, or trying to…. well, I know what I think he’s doing, what say you?
And then there’s Jason Lewis, the guy who put this rally together. Click to watch (16 mins 7 secs)
And here’s my post with some pictures.
Here’s some bloggers who were there at the Rally and have posts and pictures up.
And possibly even the Anti-Strib team.
If I missed anyone, please let me know.
Added: SpeedGibson
Stay tuned, I’ll post a low quality version of the entire rally from start to finish later today.
Update:
Here’s the video of the entire event – Click to watch (1 hour 36 minutes)
(All pics, and video from the event are the sole property of Andy Aplikowski and www.residualforces.com. You may not use this video or pictures with out my express consent. That goes double for you dumpster divers out there. )
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I was there too, as I was for all the previous rallies. I was stage left near the top of the stairs. Sounds like the rest were stage right.
I recorded much of the TV news that night, which I summarized on my blog. It’s amazing to see how many unforced errors they can make in a few seconds on this rally by dozens (KARE 11), hundreds (WCCO 4), or thousands of protesters.
Great work, I added you above. That wily local MSM, its almost like they want to downplay how not everyone wants more taxes.
Andy, is this your way to criticize our GOP Senator Norm Coleman?
Did the lefty blogs, MN Blue and Lloydletta, get permission to post this video?
You are once again proving that you have a political tin ear. Wake up.
Conservatives who attack “RINO”s are playing into the DFL’s hands. Do you ever think they’ll realize who they are really hurting in the end?
LLL:
You’re once again proving you have no clue. Did you even read my post, or just follow orders to attack me?
I am trying to help Coleman, and the party. It is the people at that event that hold the key to broad sweeping victories. It is the message they so desperately want to see championed by officials and candidates that hold the key to reversing the course.
Are you saying that the era of small government is over, and that conservatism is dead? Is that the tin ear you speak of? I know there are some in this party who despise limited government conservatism, but they fail to see there is already a party trying to win on the opposite at the ballot box, we can’t afford two parties waging a bidding war for votes.
And finally, since I’m pretty sure you’re just a Carey apologist, is his strategy for 2008 to run around shutting up people like me so Norm can win, even though it is people that sound like me that hold the key to taking back the MN House? I’m just curious, because that has been my suspicion all along, and the way you’re attacking me lends credibility to my argument.
maybe you need to put down the kool aid, stop taking the attack line talking points, and think for your self. We have enough head nodders and yes men in this party, They’ve held power with in it for far too long.
Yesterday you saw ideas draw thousands of people to show up, imagine what would happen if the vast resources of the MNGOP could spread that across to all corners of the state. Imagine the army of motivated volunteers to help Coleman, Bachmann, kline, (even) Ramstad, but more importantly all 134 MN House races.
And the people like you and Brent here, only want to shut us up. How is that uniting? How is that energizing the grassroots? It sure feels to me that I know what the Carey plan is for the grassroots, if you are in fact his messenger. “Show up, shut up, and do what you’re told”
Am I wrong? Is is this not the grassroots Carey speaks of all the time.
Brent:
RINOs that attack conservatives are not just playing into the DFL’s hands, they are playing the DFL’s hand. If it makes you feel any better, I was not joining in the chants or boos.
Andy, I’m not trying to shut you up, hopefully you know that. I just try to point out some realism now and then
As far as yesterday, I think that there are people who really believe that rally like that make a difference. Get a clue. The only difference that could be made was last November and the preceding months.
You wonder why head nodders and yes men have held power for way too long? If there was 5000 people at the rally yesterday, which may be a conservative number, and they were evenly distributed over all 66 districts (They weren’t, obviously the Twin Cities would have been better represented), then there would have been ~75 people from each district in attendance. I’ll tell you what, we didn’t even have 75 people at our caucus last year. This year for our BPOU convention we didn’t even fill up all all our alloted slots to the State Central Committee.
Think there’s too many head nodders and yes men representing the party? It’s not that they have been fighting hard to hand onto power. It’s that no one else has literally walked in to take it from them. I mean that literally. If anyone from my district cared who was the State Chair they could have walked into the convention, signed up, and voted for the next state chair in June. How many cared enough to do that? Zero, nadda, no one.
And you blame Ron Carey, Rep Ramstad, Senator Coleman and Pawlenty for the problems you see in the Republican Party? Get real. I’ve been trying to say this here and other places for months. It’s not the head nodders and yes men and RINO’s who are the problem in the party. It is the people at the rally yesterday who think that they’ve done there duty by going to the state capital and making a lot of noise, but don’t even make enough effort to participate at least enough to pick who the state chair should be.
Bmetzler, amen!
Andy loves to make noise here, but when push comes to shove and the real work need to gets done, he is nowhere to be seen. The same can be said for many of the dittoheads at today’s rally (I’m sure there were some real workers there though). Again, sorry to beat a dead horse, but I reference the critical final days of the election cycle when Andy gallavanted across the state on the Kennedy bus when real work needed to get done in his district.
The taxpayers league and other conservative groups were not able to motivate their people last year — b/c of the same problems within the GOP activists ranks. Unfortunately, a new sargent/chief/colonel ain’t going to solve this.
as a humorous aside: can someone with computer skills photoshop (and post here) Andy’s head onto the famous shot of Dukakis on the tank. Now THAT would be hilarious (and very fitting)!
What the people in the MNGOP leadership need to understand is people don’t show up just to show up. They expect results. It is easy to bitch and moan about people not showing up, it is another entirely to simply attack them for it.
Why was no one from MNGOP going around getting names and contact info?
Why was no one from the major campaigns of House & Senate Caucuses going and getting names and info?
Someone just got around 5000 people who are pretty darn likely to vote GOP, and well, we let them get away.
I would strongly urge every one to notice what the cowardly anonymous LLLAwson, and the other Ron Carey apollogists love to do. Attack, divide, and conquer. They pass blame, accept only the good, and deny they could do anything differently.
Until Lawson lets me know who he is, and where he’s getting his information, well, I’m done with him.
As far as the attacks about my own district, well, if he lives there, he had a chance to run against me. If he didn’t notice I was reelected.
Come on Lawson, which one of Carey’s friends are you? Come on tough guy. Let the people know who they are dealing with. Like me or not, I at least have the balls to put my real name on things.
I do love how all Ron Carer and his ilk can do is attack and make excuses. They can’t really deal with the criticism, they just want to silence the opposition.
Well, sorry, I expect a lot more out of people.
Brent,
I’ll continue or debate later. At least I know who I am dealing with.
This is getting fun! I don’t know if Andy cares if I say this, but for those whining about Andy not doing anything, I’m going to back him up here. I was in the back of the room when he was first “elected” as BPOU chair. Andy has done more work for his BPOU then anyone else in the district. Maybe even more then all the delegates in his district combined. If anyone in his district feels that he isn’t doing enough it is time for them to put up or shut up. If anyone in another district feels Andy isn’t doing enough they should be evaluating who’s doing the work in their district. That’s all.
Why was no one from MNGOP going around getting names and contact info?
What do you mean? The caucuses are always the same time and same date. The locations of the caucuses are public information and can easily be found by making a phone call. What do people expect? A bus to come to their house and force them to go to the caucus and be a delegate so that the party fills their delegate quotes???????
Someone just got around 5000 people who are pretty darn likely to vote GOP, and well, we let them get away.
Well, well. How sad. I’m crying puddles. Boohoo. I may say something like “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” here, but apparently thats not darn likely. The world today is apparently full of wusses who would be willing to change the world only if someone goes around and gets their name on the list.
Technically, we should be focusing our efforts on those who don’t really care to get them to vote for our candidates. Not zealous fanatics who would come to a rally, but apparantly those people are plenty happy to let Senator Pogomiller run the state unless someone signs them up for something.
About Taxpayers League and other conservative groups not motivating their troops. I personally don’t believe that they have a clue about making a difference politically. Nor does Jason Lewis either sadly. I listen to Jason Lewis bitch and moan about all the supposed problems with the Republican party and RINO’s, but I never hear him talk about what to do about about it. He shouldn’t one week without reminding everyone that if they want to make a difference politically they should go to their caucus next March and become a delegate. He should mention it so often that by next Febuary everyone has the date checked, circled, and blocked off in Red.
It would be one thing if the status quo had all the seats locked up and no one else could get a delegate or alternative seat if they tried. It would even be right to argue the case if they had a united 50%+1 seats held and people who wanted things different could participate but never change anything. But it’s not. Anyone who wants to can walk right in to any BPOU and make a difference. I used to think that it wasn’t that way, or at least only in a few weak BPOU’s. But now I almost believe that it is the case in every BPOU. There is no BPOU where a bunch of true conservatives can walk in a turn the party upside down.
Look, I guess some people believe that it is the MNGOP or even the State Chair’s responsibility to make sure that every delegate and alternative seat is filled up next March with “true” conservatives. It’s not. Even if there were enough delegates this summer to elect Repya, he’s not going to force enough people to come to the caucus and fill every seat available. Just as the MNGOP’s job isn’t to force elected Republicans to legislate “properly” it also isn’t their job to force conservatives to come and participate and actually make a difference.
The responsibility for actually making an effort to come has to be with the individual themselves. In the end, they make the commitment, they make the difference. If Jason Lewis and the rest of the conservative talk radio hosts want to rally people together to go to the caucus and make a difference, I could almost guarentee you that they turn the party upside down. Maybe for good, maybe for bad, I don’t know. But they would shake it up.
My crystal ball tells me that Jason Lewis keeps whining about RINO’s and tax increases, bloggers keep blogging about how pathetic the Republican party is, and Ron Carey gets reelected while nothing changes.
It’s too bad, there’s so much potential being squandered apparently by people who are waiting for someone to come around and take their name and phone number.
one last comment: Andy, how did those photos you posted with Kennedy and Rove turn out?
Had the Senate race been close, I heard from a Dem. friend that they were going to do a massive statewide mailing with Andy’s photo of Rove whispering in Kennedy’s ear.
Wow. WOW! Bmetzler and LLLawson (doesn’t T-Paw have ties to Lawson Software?) going after the activists who showed up for the rally. Wow. Really? Wow. Andy didn’t just hit the nail on the head when he wrote, “Yesterday you saw ideas draw thousands of people to show up…”
IDEAS! It was ideology that motivated these activists (myself included) to give up their day and show their support. For a cause! When we have something to believe in, we show up. With the lackluster candidates we’ve been presented, and a muddy, or non-existant message, there’s nothing to get fired up over. Ron Carey and Tim Pawlenty saying things like, “we’re not perfect, but at least we’re better than the Democrats” is not going to motivate anyone to give up a sunny Saturday to make phone calls, or drop literature, or even show up for a convention or caucus.
Don’t disparage activists for rallying around an idea! Learn from that! This is how you motivate conservatives. This is how you get out the vote. This is how you raise money.
Failure to do that, and the politics of staying in power taking precendence over principles is why Republicans have suffered staggering losses the last two cycles.
Ah. Late-hour insomnia is causing my mind to wander… Incomplete thoughts. Sentance fragments. What I had meant to say was:
Andy didn’t just hit the nail on the head when he wrote, “Yesterday you saw ideas draw thousands of people to show up…†he drove it through a cedar 4×6 in one blow, with his bare hand.
Do conservatives not show up because there are lackluster candidates, or are there lackluster candidates because conservatives don’t show up? See the difference? That’s what I’m trying to point out. It is easy to stay at home and blame others because things aren’t the way you want them. It is a little more painful to blame your own inaction as the cause that the candidates representing you are lackluster.
I’m perfectly happy with Pawlenty, Coleman, and Ramstad representing me. As long as they choose to seek the Republican endorsement, I’ll be seated as a delegate to endorse them. No one tries to challenge me for the opportunity to endorse candidates. I like it that way. Apparently conservatives do too. They’d rather be unmotivated whining about the party rather then spending a Saturday actually making a difference.
It could easily be your party if you wanted it. But for now it’s my party, and I barely have to do anything to hold it.
Brent:
Quick point here.
Conservatives expect more than just getting the chance to endorse someone once every 2, 4, or 6 years. They expect legislative results to match the campaign rhetoric used to get the endorsement in the first place.
i know it irks people but that’s why a lot of people didn’t show up to help last year. Why would they bust their butts to help people that are little better than the DFL in most cases?
The line why vote RINO when there is a perfectly good DFLer on the ballot too, really does ring true with a lot of people. And I know the moderate to liberal R’s would love to purge the party of idealistic conservatives, but we’re a pretty large block. What is it, like 33% on Minnesotans identify as Conservative compared to 20% liberal? That isn’t exactly a demographic you can evict from the party Brent. There are not enough moderate R’s and RINOs to make a difference or even make up a majority. As much as the ‘ideologues’ are cursed by some elected R’s and MNGOP leaders, they are the ones who draw crowds…..
Can any point to an example of when a squishy moderate anyone drew 5000 plus people to the Capital on a gorgeous Spring day? If the party wants to draw crowds, rather than deal with the people who simply show up, they better take note of what happened Sat.
And this gets me off to thinking about so much more, but I gotta get some work done. More later.
Conservatives expect more than just getting the chance to endorse someone once every 2, 4, or 6 years.
Sorry, but that’s the game. If you show up and endorse someone you have a chance of changing something. If you don’t bother showing up, those who do show up get to call the shots. Same with electing delegates and BPOU officers bottom up. You must be present to participate. Results may vary. Historical performance is not indicate of future trends.
They expect legislative results to match the campaign rhetoric used to get the endorsement in the first place.
That’s nice, and I expect certain legislative results also. There have been times where I have been the only delegate seated at a Republican state or congressional convention or committee meeting from my BPOU. I’d expect that, say in Ramstad’s case, the results that I ask him to consider are weighted more heavily then some whiner who doesn’t bother showing up, but still expects “results.” As a reminder, I’m perfectly happy with Ramstad’s results thus far. If anyone from my BPOU is unhappy, they should challenge me for my delegate seat. Oh, but that only happens once every other year and they want results now. I pity them.
The line why vote RINO when there is a perfectly good DFLer on the ballot too, really does ring true with a lot of people.
If conservatives are happy with the DFL, that’s fine. Don’t try to change anything.
As much as the ‘ideologues’ are cursed by some elected R’s and MNGOP leaders, they are the ones who draw crowds…..
Who cares about crowds? Really? I mean it’s sweet and all that, but that’s like being excited about a 20th ranked football team playing against a 1st rate team just because they have the bigger crowd of fans in existence. They may have more enthusiasm, but they are still going to lose. It would just make a little more of a difference if they cared about who was actually on the team they were cheering for. Oddly enough, the same thing happens in politics as happens in sports. Eventually the losing team falls so far behind the fans give up and start leaving. The difference is that in politics, the fans are supposed to be picking the team mates. And the idealistic conservatives may be doing a better job rallying, but a poor job picking the team. Not that I mind, of course, it just makes it easier to keep my delegate seat and keep supporting Ramstad, Pawlenty and Coleman.
Wanted to chime in on the conservative orgs in this state. They are worthless! I have a theory that they simply exist to give themselves jobs. Has any of them really tried to take anyone on? Taxpayers league puts out mailings(usually well done) but only send them to conservatives that are active. Maybe print up a sign or two. Who takes on Ed MN? I know its a tall order.
Also Andy on the chair of the BPOU just a warning. Big personalities win BPOU chair easily but they also can drive a lot of people away. I steped into a BPOU that was lead by that kind of person and I had to wonder into the woods to find the people who were turned off.
Who takes on Ed MN?
There is http://www.edwatch.org/ but they are a small group I think. No representation in my BPOU politically that I know of.
I’m jumping in late, but I’m jumping in anyway.
LLLawson – you don’t know what the heck you are talking about. AAA did more in this last election than you did in the last 10! As a fellow BPOU chair I saw AAA doing the work. WHERE WERE YOU?????
Brent – you have a couple of points vis a vis which came first – the lackluster candidates or the lack of inspired voters. I can only speak for the voters in my county – here goes. I know a lot of dedicated Republican donors and volunteers who WALKED AWAY FROM THE MNGOP because of certain candidates and their leftward turns (no names mentioned but they WERE the top of the ticket this year). I had many a hard worker turn away from me saying that the party no longer represented them so why should they do anything for the party. Some of these people were fellow BPOU OFFICERS!!!!! Like AAA there were nights when I was the ONLY ONE making the GOTV calls. When I called the MNGOP to plead for direction, they responded by pulling the field staffer assigned to our county!
Dan is correct – we need IDEAS not “well we’re not the DFL…”. IDEAS win elections – the DFL had ‘em this year – the MNGOP DID NOT! Those who disparage the activists for clinging to an idea when it is thrown to them are what is WRONG with the MNGOP. Right now, Mrtruth, the Conservative organizations are the only ones with ideas.
Oh and Mrtruth…..I feel your pain. We could probably trade stories!
LL
April 14 Tax Cut Rally …
An
estimated 7,000 showed up at the steps of the Capitol April 14
for a Tax Cut Rally. Hosted by Clear Channel with legislators and organizer radio host Jason Lewis, the event was a great
success. Over 18,000 Minnesotans signed the Tax Cut……