Friday, February 23, 2007

Rudy gains conservative support, KS GOP gears up for battle

This post is full of random news. First, 2 prominent conservatives have announced their support for Rudy Giuliani and taken jobs with his campaign. These include Jerry Kilgore, 2005 GOP nominee for Virginia governor, who will be heading up Giuliani's VA operations, and recent 2006 Iowa gubernatorial candidate Jim Nussle (see here). I'm sure Giuliani won't miss a beat in publicizing this news, as he knows he needs the support of the conservative primary voters in several key states (and snagging native Iowan Nussle's endorsement is a good start. Guiliani also reached out to conservatives this week by pledging to appoint strict constructionists in the mold of Roberts and Alito to the Supreme Court.

Back in KS, Kobach's 2nd in command in Topeka, Christian Morgan, has indicated the party's primary focus right now is fundraising. In March, they will start selecting persons to fill various committees (recruitment, GOTV, coalition building, etc.). This also comes with the firing of several members of the former staff and Ron Freeman's exit. I hope these efforts pay off with huge dividends in the form of increased donor pledges and a solid financial structure heading into the '08 elections.

Next tues (2/27) is the big mayoral primary in KC, in which the top two vote getters will advance to the general. It looks like Al Brooks, Becky Nace, and Mark Funkhouser are in the top 3--and 2 of those 3 will advance to the general (my prediction).

Anyone see that new talk/news/entertainment show on Fox called "Red Eye"? It's annoying at times, and is so far from being intellectually stimulating that at times I'm embarrased to watch it. But you do get the news, it's fun, and it's interesting. For someone like me who has had to be endure John Stewart's daily liberal dose on the "Daily Show" for some comic relief mixed with politics, this is a somewhat refreshing alternative, and I'll admit it--I'm addicted. Check it out weeknights on Fox News at 1 am.

That's all for now. Next week, I'll be in DC (for the first time since turning 21!) attending CPAC, White House Briefing, Capitol Hill briefing, and having dinner with VP Dick Cheney and a select group of GOP donors. Long story, but short summary: I won a scholarship to attend the conference that came with some added perks.

2 comments:

Federalist said...

Brandon,

Can you point me to the most recent republican platform. If it has not already started, we should look at starting that.

I believe a good platform drives a good political process.

SLW

Brandon said...

Scott,
Here is a link for excerpts of the platform, from the JCRP site:
http://www.johnsoncountyrepublicanparty.com/pages/main.aspx?A=Topics:Issues&T=73457

The entire platform is no longer listed online, however, I do have a written copy that I can show you when we meet. I'll be back in KC for spring break the week after next, and we can set up a time to mee and I can show you the copy I have.