Archive for the ‘Midwest Republican Leadership Conference’ Category

The Midwest Republican Leadership Conference got a lot of press in the mainstream media and on the blogosphere.

This post is a–by no means comprehensive–roundup of what I’ve been able to track down.

Check it out after the leap.

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Sunday was the last day of the conference.

I wrote this post during the day on Sunday, but I had to head out for home in southern Indiana (it was a beautiful day for the drive, I must say) before I could post it, and I didn’t get it posted last night because I was working on something else.

Better late than never.

Congressman Thad McCotter (MI-11) spoke for breakfast and gave a good talk, and several workshops on topics as varied as fundraising and renewable energy followed.

Congressman Steve Buyer (IN-4) spoke at lunch; if he doesn’t have a touch of something greater in him like a Senate bid (insomuch as serving in the Senate can be considered greater), I would be surprised.

Buyer told some pretty amusing stories, and related various outrages perpetrated by the Democrats since they took power, going—as he put it—from minority to monarchy.

Some of those incidents were things like the infamous stolen vote on the House floor that I had heard about, and others—like a move to cut veterans’ benefits—were things that I had not (but will be blogging about sometime soon after I look into them further).

The story from last night that seems to be percolating in the Washington media is that Thompson was “sober and somber” even bordering on gloomy.

I would not go that far; Thompson clearly owned the room from the moment he entered until the moment he left.

More on that, and some inside baseball about a ground team faux pas after the leap.

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Here is part one of Fred Thompson’s speech at the Midwest Republican Leadership Conference. I apologize ahead of time for the jerkiness of the video.

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By: Brian Sikma

John Gizzi from Human Events was one of the many pundits, politicos, and politicians who attended this year’s Midwest Republican Leadership Conference (word has it that the turnout was lower than in past years). Hoosier Access was able to get an interview with him and I expect that the Tech department will have that up for your viewing pleasure sometime this week.

Notice: This is tooting our own horn, but nobody (except for maybe C-SPAN) covered the MRLC as good as Hoosier Access did. We appreciate the help provided to us by the good folks over at Republicans Radio.

Anyway, Mr. Gizzi wrote a very interesting article in Human Events online about his observations and conversations at the conference.I recommend that you read it. The only error in the article is when Gizzi reports that no strong replacement to Rep. John Hostettler has arisen in the 8th CD. Gizzi can’t be faulted for this but the party activist who gave him the information should have known that Greg Goode is a candidate, and a very strong candidate at that too.

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By: Brian Sikma

One topic that presidential candidates at the Midwest Republican Leadership Conference had to address was the subject of the War on Terror. Although America is facing important domestic policy decisions, the War on Terror is an event that is not only defining our time, but is also defining us as a country. Thus, every presidential candidate no matter what their domestic policy ideas are, must address the subject of the War and articulate their views on how important this conflict is.

Although I’m not a fan of Mitt Romney, one thing that I really like about him is his use of the word “jihadist” when speaking of the deadly, hate-filled enemy we are fighting against in this long war on Islamofacists terrorists. The term jihadist conjures up images of a foe who is seeking to wage an unceasing and unmerciful fight against out civilization. So far, Romney has been one of the toughest candidates when it comes to the war.

The Politico’s Jonathan Martin (who was present at the MRLC) thought that Gov. Mike Huckabee’s performance at the press conference was very weak on foreign policy. Martin went so far as to say that if Giuliani is the 9/12 candidate (meaning that his candidacy was created out of the ashes of 9 /11) then Huckabee was the 9/10 candidate. A candidate who is too focused on domestic issues and doesn’t care enough, or doesn’t understand, the importance of the Global War on Terror.

I see Mr. Martin’s point, but I have to say that there is a side of Huckabee that he didn’t seem to cover. When speaking to the crowded hall at lunchtime, Huckabee used a phrase and drew a comparison that I have yet to hear any presidential candidate use. According to Huckabee, this war against radical Islamic terrorists is not a normal geopolitical war (we all knew that I hope), but at its root is a war between two faiths. The implications of this statement are huge. One faith wants to take the world down into a bondage, the other faith wants to liberate men not so they can do whatever they want, but so that they can do what is right.

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When Thompson entered the room before the dinner began, he started to work the tables shaking hands and taking pictures. He was quickly mobbed by excited dinner attendees wanting pictures, handshakes, and autographs (I myself got a number of pictures that I will post shortly, and I got Thompson to sign my lanyard badge).

None of the other presidential candidates (Romney, Huckabee) were greeted like this, and none seem to have generated this level of interest and excitement. I have lost track of how many people throughout this weekend that told me that they were looking forward to seeing him.

The rock star is here; more after the leap.

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A forum being hosted by Ari Fleischer with Abdul, Jonathan Martin of Politico, and Fred Barnes of Fox News and the Weekly Standard.

Fred Barnes: Maybe.

Martin: History is against it.

Abdul: People vote for who they like, regardless of anything else. There is hope; Luke Skywalker blew up the Death Star, but don’t rely on it. Likens Hillary to Darth Vader.

And on that happy thought, more after the leap.

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By: Brian Sikma 

Day One of the Midwest Republican Leadership Conference was quite an exciting day. With hundreds of Republican activists on hand, it was a cross section of the party faithful from across the Midwest. Everyone from faithful campaign volunteers and donors all the way up to presidential candidates seem to be having a good time.

As I spoke with people who had been to this event before, they said that the turnout for this year’s event was much smaller than previous presidential campaign years. Some thought that the smaller turnout was an indication of how dissatisfied the grassroots of the party is right now. These people are solid Republicans who have always voted Republican, but right now they’re not happy about the lackluster performance of the top presidential contenders. From immigration and border security to missed opportunities to wisely use the Congressional majority that we had before the 2006 election, these people see their party and their party’s candidates all under performing.

One candidate, however, didn’t pass up this chance to take his message to the potentially key supporters gathered there in Indianapolis.  This candidate’s tactic was simple: Talk about what you believe in and listen to the voter’s ideas.

(Click “Read More” to read the rest of this article.)

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Greg Garrison
Told a great anecdote about interviewing former RNC Chairman Ken Melman before the 2006 election. Told him a simple three point campaign to win the election, an easy billboard:

Cut taxes.
Win the war.
Secure the border.
Vote Republican.

Great turn of phrase. Things like, “the 22 square miles of land surrounded by reality that we call the nation’s capital.”

Mike Sodrel and Mike Pence after the leap.

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It’s day two for the MRLC.  There are some interesting events that are going on today including an immigration panel moderated by Greg Garrison of WIBC with the panelists being Congressman Mike Pence and former Congressman Mike Sodrel.  Also former Bush press secretary Ari Fleicher will be talking about the media’s impact on politics.  Obviously, were interested in what he says about blogs and the internet in general.

Then tonight is the Fred Thompson dinner.  Hopefully, we’ll get some time with him….hopefully.

It’s 7:15 and we’re about to have Mitt Romney address the crowd at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS). Former State Republican Chairman, Mike McDaniel is warming up the crowd as he opens the night. The crowd seems to be pleased that they were able to escape the downtown Westin for an evening after spending the entire day there.

(Since this is the “Midwest” Republican Leadership Conference, there has been an ode to Ohio and their former state Republican chairman Bob Bennett in between Mike McDaniel’s emcee work and Guv. Romney’s speech. More to come.)

Jim Bopp, one of Indiana’s prized lawyers and a fighter against legislation such as the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform bill before the Supreme Court is introducing Governor Romney right now.

(7:45pm)

We now have Mitt Romney!

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In the interests of full disclosure, I will say up front that I am not terribly well disposed to the Romney candidacy.

His policy positions seem too recent and his conversions to them too coincidental in their timing for me to accept him as genuine.

His speeches and ads seem too focus-grouped, and that’s without making the usual clever comments about his hair.

Anyway, bear that predisposition in mind as you read what follows after the leap.

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