Thoughts from AFP: Where’s the Conservative Movement

 I spent some time at Americans for Prosperity’s second annual conference in Washington, DC this weekend. I will have several things to say, but let me focus on a series of conversations that I heard in the hallways and at the dinners. Where is the conservative movement going?

First, this crowd is very pessimistic about the election. Nearly all were not supporters of John McCain in the primary, and they weren’t excited about a McCain presidency. But they didn’t think that they were going to have that problem. Everyone was talking about a Barack Obama presidency.

Second, people were worried about the Democratic agenda in the next Congress. Card-check, health care, and the environment all came up regularly. I also mentioned that the first bill signed into law in the Clinton Administration was Motor Voter, which provided, 3 years later, the statutory basis of  Obama’s lawsuit, ACORN v. State of Illinois.

Third, no one sees who the groups will be. Furthermore, the old conservative movement leaders weren’t there. I saw Grover Norquist and Ed Meese, but I didn’t see Morton Blackwell, Paul Weyrich, Ed Feulner, or similar figures. Interestingly, the old conservative movement leaders who were there were Reagan people but not Goldwater people. Many of the old conservative movement institutions predated Reagan.

Fourth, the fact that those leaders weren’t there raises the question: who will be the next leaders. None of these groups have a credible succession plan. The stature of these groups will likely collapse. National Review, which does have some wonderful people but cannot be said to be the opinion leader it once was, was cited repeatedly as an example.

Fifth, people hate the bailout. I think that we will find that this issue will resonate with the grassroots for years to come. If Republicans and conservatives build a real grassroots, the movement will be able to fund itself without the instincts that led to the bailout. This will bring, in some ways, the grassroots into alignment with the people responsible for building and executing the party apparatus. If we are not, we will continue to be dependent upon business leaders who saw the bailout as necessary. If the movement cares about taking control of the party, it will need to figure out how to fund the party. Otherwise, this tension will continue.

Sixth, there is a lack of leaders. People are interested in Sarah Palin and Bobby Jindal. None of the other governors appeal. People know the names Jim DeMint and Eric Cantor. There aren’t other high-profile leaders that seemed to resonate. I don’t hear much interest in the other people who ran for President. The next round of GOP governors are going to create new models of conservative governance. And why didn’t no members of congress come to this meeting? Only James Inhofe, who got an award. Oy.

It really seems like it is time to build “the next right.” This old one doesn’t seem to exist any more. We will need new political leaders. We will need new organizational leaders. We will need new ideas.

I think that it is clear that AFP will be a leader in this space. AFP had more energy than any other group I have seen recently. They had 1,857 paid registrations in October 3 weeks before the election. Trade associations and unions put more people into rooms in DC, but I can’t think of any conservative interest group other than NRA which has a larger national convention.

  

McCain campaign attacking Fannie Mae in slideshow [UPDATED]

I hope this sticks

[UPDATE: If you read the Ambinder piece, you’ll see that this
was leaked to Marc: it’s an internal document designed to
make sure that the GOP’s people are up to speed on this issue. –
Moe Lane]

This makes a good point. Congress (Republican and Democratic)
attacked Enron, but nothing against the politically connected
Fannie Mae. Here’s a slide show,
care of Marc Ambinder
, that the McCain campaign is passing
around:

Will the next Republican House caucus be anti-bailout

Democracy Corps, a project of James Carville and Stan Greenberg, notes that House Republican incumbents helped themselves — at least in terms of keeping their jobs — with the bailout vote:

Most of these incumbents initially voted against the Wall Street bailout, which was less popular in these incumbent districts than in the open seat races.[3] So it is possible that these incumbents have marginally improved their standing by opposing the bailout.This possibility is supported by the fact that in the incumbent districts Democrats are only even on who would do a better job with the economy and trail by 2 points on who would best handle the financial crisis (whereas they lead by 5 and 4 points on those issues respectively in the open seats).

So if the Republcians in targetted seats who are most likely to win re-election voted against the bailout, it seems likely that one of the "lessons of the 2008 election" could be that the GOP shouldn’t abandon its core principles on the bailout. This could have a real impact on the future of the caucus.

Fox reporting on OH voting irregularities

Fox is covering the voting issues in OH:

Transcript after the jump:

<!–break–>

 

GRETCHEN CARLSON: Let’s talk to you about a story out in Ohio, I believe, Columbus. Of course Ohio we were just talking about, one of the most important battleground states there, and they started this controversial program this week where people could come and register to vote and vote at the exact same time before you could actually try and prove where they actually live, if they are actually residents, or if they’re just Mary Poppins.  Well now there is a report coming out by Shelby Holiday from palestra.net where she says that she was going to do some reporting on what she thought was going to be a lot of students coming to register to vote.  But what she ended up seeing were bus loads of homeless people being brought into these places and registering and voting.  And she joins us now on the phone from Columbus, Ohio.  Good morning to you.

STEVE DOOCY: Shelby?  Shelby?  Shelby, are you there?

SHELBY HOLLIDAY: I went down to go do a story and was down at vets memorial in Columbus, Ohio.  I saw all but about two students in the 30 minutes I was there.  The young people that I did interview were telling me that they were with organizations who were picking homeless people off the streets and bringing them to the polls and encouraging them to vote.  So, check this sound bite out.

DOOCY: Shelby, I understand.  Ok, let’s listen to the sound bite, sorry.

PERSON 1: We’re running a free vote taxi program.  We will come and pick you up at your house.  Drop you off wherever you want.

PERSON 2: And people at the bus stop asked them if they’re registered to vote.  And if they weren’t I said “get in the car I’m bringing you.”

PERSON 3: See me walking around and stuff so they said “hey, man you want to vote?”  And I said yeah I’ll vote.  I said, he said, “man I’ll take you anywhere you want. I said “that’s cool.”

PERSON 4: It’s fast and the people are very polite, and they explained, you know, all about it.

PERSON 3: I mean, if they say “sign the ballot,” just give them and do exactly what they ask you to do.  I mean, hey, this is America.  Know what I mean?

DOOCY: Shelby, so these organizers who are picking up all these people, what are they telling them to do?  If they are bringing them out of a homeless shelter, what are they telling them is in it for them?

HOLLIDAY: Well, organizers, when I spoke with the organizers, they said they are trying to help those, it might be a little move tough for them to vote this year.  They want them to get out and vote and want them to exercise their right to vote.  So the organizers are just really trying to help people who don’t have IDs or don’t have a permanent address to get out there and cast ballots.

BRIAN KILMEADE: Do you think that some of them, while they’re driving out there, are telling them who to vote for?

HOLLIDAY: Well, no, all the people I spoke with that they were bipartisan.  But when I talked with the homeless people, it became apparent that they were being offered rides to whoever they wanted or, I’m not, I can’t — it did not appear that these homeless people… Most of them did not know exactly what was going on.

DOOCY: Alright, Shelby Holliday from palestra.net. We thank you very much.  We understand from her blog at palestra.net Shelby also said that the people who winding up there, they didn’t have to prove they lived in the state.  In fact, she talked to one guy who was about to get on a bus to go to Chicago, Illinois where he lived.  All they had to do was give four numbers.

CARLSON: Well this is the whole problem with the whole thing, and this is why it went to the highest levels of the court.  Because with Ohio being, really frankly any state, but with Ohio being such a close state, is this right?  You be the judge.

 

Fox covering Ohio voting irregularities

We may stop this with enough scrutiny

Fox is covering the voting issues in OH:

Transcript after the jump:

GRETCHEN
CARLSON:
Let’s talk to you about a
story out in Ohio, I believe, Columbus. Of course Ohio we were just
talking about, one of the most important battleground states there,
and they started this controversial program this week where people
could come and register to vote and vote at the exact same time
before you could actually try and prove where they actually live,
if they are actually residents, or if they’re just Mary Poppins.
 Well now there is a report coming out by Shelby Holiday from
palestra.net
where she says that she was going to do some reporting on what she
thought was going to be a lot of students coming to register to
vote.  But what she ended up seeing were bus loads of homeless
people being brought into these places and registering and voting.
 And she joins us now on the phone from Columbus, Ohio.
 Good morning to you.

STEVE
DOOCY:
Shelby?  Shelby? 
Shelby, are you there?

SHELBY
HOLLIDAY:
I went down
to go do a story and was down at vets memorial in Columbus,
Ohio.  I saw all but about two students in the 30 minutes I
was there.  The young people that I did interview were telling
me that they were with organizations who were picking homeless
people off the streets and bringing them to the polls and
encouraging them to vote.  So, check this sound bite
out.

DOOCY:
Shelby, I understand. 
Ok, let’s listen to the sound bite, sorry.


PERSON
1:
We’re running a free vote
taxi program.  We will come and pick you up at your
house.  Drop you off wherever you want.


PERSON
2:
And people at the bus stop
asked them if they’re registered to vote.  And if they weren’t
I said “get in the car I’m bringing you.”

PERSON
3:
See me walking around and
stuff so they said “hey, man you want to vote?”  And I said
yeah I’ll vote.  I said, he said, “man I’ll take you anywhere
you want. I said “that’s cool.”

PERSON
4:
It’s fast and the people are
very polite, and they explained, you know, all about
it.

PERSON
3:
I mean, if they say “sign
the ballot,” just give them and do exactly what they ask you to
do.  I mean, hey, this is America.  Know what I
mean?

DOOCY:
Shelby, so these organizers
who are picking up all these people, what are they telling them to
do?  If they are bringing them out of a homeless shelter, what
are they telling them is in it for them?

HOLLIDAY:
Well, organizers, when I
spoke with the organizers, they said they are trying to help those,
it might be a little move tough for them to vote this year. 
They want them to get out and vote and want them to exercise their
right to vote.  So the organizers are just really trying to
help people who don’t have IDs or don’t have a permanent address to
get out there and cast ballots.

BRIAN
KILMEADE:
Do you think
that some of them, while they’re driving out there, are telling
them who to vote for?

HOLLIDAY:
Well, no, all the people I
spoke with that they were bipartisan.  But when I talked with
the homeless people, it became apparent that they were being
offered rides to whoever they wanted or, I’m not, I can’t — it did
not appear that these homeless people… Most of them did not know
exactly what was going on.

DOOCY:
Alright, Shelby Holliday
from palestra.net. We thank you very
much.  We understand from her blog at palestra.net Shelby also said that the
people who winding up there, they didn’t have to prove they lived
in the state.  In fact, she talked to one guy who was about to
get on a bus to go to Chicago, Illinois where he lived.  All
they had to do was give four numbers.

CARLSON:
Well this is the whole
problem with the whole thing, and this is why it went to the
highest levels of the court.  Because with Ohio being, really
frankly any state, but with Ohio being such a close state, is this
right?  You be the judge.

 

Barack Obama is glad that Ohio is run by Democratic machines like Chicago

Given the things going on in Ohio over the next couple of days, perhaps Barack Obama shouldn’t be comparing the Ohio election process to the Chicago machine:

Transcript:

SUPPORTER 5: i would like to know what you can say to reassure us that this election will not be rigged or stolen? [applause] — or stolen? [applause]

SEN. OBAMA: it helps in Ohio that we have democrats in charge of the machines.  but, look, i come from chicago. some want to be honest, it is not as if it is just republicans who have monkeyed around with elections in the past. sometimes democrats have, too.

Turns out that there’s even some overlap between the Chicago and Ohio machines:

"Who are you voting for?" I asked another homeless man. "Baraaaack," he replied. "I want him to do his thang, you know, do his THUG THIZZLE, you know…"

As I started interviewing the homeless men, it became clear that their "buddies" who drove them to the polls were pushing quite an agenda. The homeless guys were being bribed with rides, food, and who-knows-what to go "vote."

My new THUG-THIZZLE friend told me that he wasn’t even from Ohio and that he was getting on a Greyhound to go back to Chicago. Yet he was voting in one of the key battleground states? How was that fair?

And how was he going to get to the Greyhound station? His "friend" that had brought him to the poll promised to take him wherever he wanted… the only problem was, his friend appeared to be long gone.

At this point, I was disgusted that the organizations seemed to be exploiting the homeless. But I was even more disgusted when they flat out admitted it.

 

OH SoS rejecting election observers; Perfect vehicle for election fraud

Early voting is taking place in Ohio. Through the end of the week, people can register and vote on the same day. The Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner argues that they are merely "casting their ballot" rather than "voting" so the fact that Ohio statute requires 30 days between registering and voting would not interfere.

 So here is what is happening today. People are showing up to register and vote. There is no affirmative evidence that these people have not registered or voted somewhere else. There is no control. Normally in an election, partisan election monitors are allowed into polling places so that they can police each other. But not in two counties, Franklin and Montgomery, in Ohio. Brunner also issued an advisory opinion to counties saying that they are not required to allow election monitors. Watch an election observer be turned away.

Now if you want to see what is actually happening on the ground? This video shows interviews with people who are voting in Franklin County, where Republican election monitors are not being allowed into polling places.

 My favorite is the quote:

It’s a perfect opportunity for them to come in, register at a temporary address like a homeless shelter or a YMCA or something like that. They can register at that address because they don’t know where they’re going to be tomorrow or next week."

The registrar also doesn’t know where they will be. And there is nothing stopping that person from registering at a different location tomorrow (or later today).

Note that Brunner cannot be said to be simply trying to protect the franchise. After all, she directed county officials to discard absentee ballot applications. These are just partisan hacks interested in winning elections. If that means stealing votes… I wonder how much that bothers her?

OH SoS rejecting election observers

Perfect vehicle for election fraud and it could be happening
now

Early voting is taking place in Ohio. Through the end of the
week, people can register and vote on the same day. The Ohio
Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner argues that they are merely
“casting their ballot” rather than “voting” so the fact that Ohio
statute requires 30 days between registering and voting would not
interfere.

 So here is what is happening today. People are showing up
to register and vote. There is no affirmative evidence that these
people have not registered or voted somewhere else. There is no
control. Normally in an election, partisan election monitors are
allowed into polling places so that they can police each other. But
not in two counties, Franklin and Montgomery, in Ohio.
Brunner also issued an advisory opinion to counties saying that
they are not required to allow election monitors
. Watch an
election observer be turned away.

Now if you want to see what is actually happening on the ground?
This video shows interviews with people who are voting in Franklin
County, where Republican election monitors are not being allowed
into polling places.

 My favorite is the quote:

It’s a perfect opportunity for them to come in, register at a
temporary address like a homeless shelter or a YMCA or something
like that. They can register at that address because they don’t
know where they’re going to be tomorrow or next week.”

The registrar also doesn’t know where they will be. And there is
nothing stopping that person from registering at a different
location tomorrow (or later today).

Note that Brunner cannot be said to be simply trying to protect
the franchise. After all,
she directed county officials to discard absentee ballot
applications
. These are just partisan hacks interested in
winning elections. If that means stealing votes… I wonder how
much that bothers her?