Karl Rove has a decent breakdown of what the GOP has to do to get its groove back. There are a few things in it that I would take umbrage with, but no time this morning. Here are a couple of teasers that need to be a priority, especially in Minnesota’s Republican party. 

 

6.Good candidates are essential. The GOP’s return can start as early as 2010. In the first midterm, since World War II, the “out party” has gained, on average, two seats in the Senate; since 1966, it’s gained an average of 6 governorships, 63 state Senate seats and 262 state House seats. The GOP can have a better-than-average 2010, but only if it recruits strong candidates. Their cultivation starts now. States remain our best source of presidential contenders and new ideas, so elect more governors.

There’s another reason why governors’ races and state legislative seats must be a priority in 2010: redistricting and reapportionment in 2011. Seven electoral votes (and congressional seats) are projected to move from mostly blue to mostly red states, and every House district will be redrawn.

 

State House and Senate seats are key and cannot be thrown out of the gameplan for one state wide race. If we don’t take back the State House and make the State Senate close, Republicans will be run out of the State Legislature and Congress. 

We need to start working on the Legislative races and we need to do that yesterday! 

8. Anyone interested in 2012 must help in 2010. Republicans should remember how much presidential candidates help in re-energizing the grass roots, raising funds, encouraging good candidates and articulating a strong message. Palin, Romney, Gingrich, Pawlenty, Huckabee, Jindal, Giuliani: if you want to lead our ticket, earn our good will.

Think tanks like the Heritage Foundation, the Ethics and Public Policy Center, the Hoover Institution, the American Enterprise Institute, the Manhattan Institute and state-level operations are stuffed with writers and thinkers who should be drawn into the orbits of these potential candidates.

We need a Legislative council in Minnesota. We are running out of Republicans in office and they have barely enough time to address constituents, let alone craft good legislation. We need to assemble a committee of former legislators, industry pros from our GOP ranks, as well as conservative think tankers and yes, even the passionate grassroots. 

This group would work on crafting meaningful legislation and help sell it to the public. This group could help craft a contract for Minnesota, which is key to helping break the stereotypes that the local media have drilled into the head of voters. 

10. The GOP must master new media. Today, more than 70 percent of Americans say they find news online; 37 percent are online daily looking for it. Democrats have successfully developed tools to exploit online advocacy, and Republicans must spend more time and energy doing the same. The Web edge we had through 2004 is gone.

Blogs and cleaning up the online communications is key. Voters are disgusted by the volume and negativity of ads and I don’t think you get a good return on the investment. Sure you need them, but the level of saturation is just stomach turning. 

An online presence and embracing, not alienating, the blogs is also a critical move. True North was created to help fill that gap, and while successful, it faced a State Party and major candidate slate that refused acknowledgment of it. 

We will never make in roads in forming an alternative to the Strib and other hatchet job media outlets in Minnesota if we don’t engage and promote all the great bloggers in Minnesota. If we continue to funnel everything through a select handful of press release or national bloggers, we’ll continue to be preaching to the choir. 

Blogs are not something that are for just people who have already made up their mind. I’ve heard that from far too many decision makers in GOP circles. If these same people would help shed light on  our hard work and promote us as a credible alternative to the biased mainstream press, guess what, other people would read us. 

Yes, we can move votes, but our volunteer status does not have the bankroll to buy our way into undecided’s daily online browsing. 70% of the people get their news online. Why in the world would the MNGOP allow the biased media own that demographic. The online news sites are much more easily edited to favor the DFL. 

Blogs and other online venues of thought are not the enemy, but rather the future. It is time to start engaging them. The left has masterfully done so, but the center right bloggers are facing the big chill. Oh sure, the big names all get their props, but the real grassroots bloggers and Republican/conservative  activists who happen to blog are seeing the fruits of their labor going to waste. 

OK, that was more than a simple link, and I am not running late.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 17th, 2008 at 8:40 am and is filed under 08 Post Facto, 2010, MNGOP Reform, Minnesota, National, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.