Thursday, April 14, 2011

Janet for RNC

There are two simple reasons that Janet Beihoffer will get my vote for National Committee Woman.

Housework is something you do that nobody notices until you don't do it.  ~Author Unknown

In party politics, housework is the ground game that nobody likes to do but is vital to a successful campaign.   In 2010, the ground game that everyone took for granted was the battle for election integrity-making sure those who voted were actually eligible to do so.

In 2011 we have the luxury of discussing which voter ID bill is best suited to be passed out of the GOP majority legislature.  What happens when it gets to the governor's desk is open for debate, but for the first time in decades there is real hope for actual change.  But six months ago, Minnesota Republicans were still wondering how many college students would vote twice, how many felons would cast a ballot, and how many absolutely unknown voters would be vouched for by somewhat known voters, and then disappear back into the shadows.

The battle for election integrity in 2010 began in 2009, when the MN GOP Chairman Tony Sutton asked Janet Beihoffer to handle the election day operations for 2010.  Her idea was to increase the number of GOP election judges so that we could have a better presence inside the voting precincts.  The 15 month long project started with plans to register more Republican election judges, beginning with precinct caucuses in February, continuing through district and state conventions, and ended up with a record number of Republican election judges last November.  

I have yet to meet another candidate for RNC who can show me a year long plus unpaid volunteer position for a project that most people said was impossible, but in the end played a key role in giving the Republican party its first majority in both houses since before I was born. 

The second reason I support Janet is that I trust her completely.  That's no small statement for someone who defines trust as 'someone you would share a foxhole with'.  I met Janet by mail when she started sending care packages to my unit in Iraq after reading a  Powerline post.  I met Janet in person in 2007 when I was fresh back from Iraq, and interested in getting involved in party politics.  I actually remember asking her what a 'Bee-Pow' was, not understanding what this BPOU acronym stood for.  Since then I have had hundreds of conversations with Janet, and I have never known her to be anything but honest and upfront with the truth.  The two people that the Minnesota GOP chooses to send to the RNC are our representatives to the national party, so trust in what they are doing to represent us is critical.  I trust Janet.

I will cast my vote Saturday based on two simple criteria-who has the experience to tackle the issue of election integrity at a national level, and who I trust with representing me to the national Republican party.  Janet is the runaway favorite in both areas.

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