Tales from the Astroturf

It has been about two years now that I have been a recovering straight ticket Republican voter.  I used to think all Republicans were the same before I got on or fell of the wagon (however you want to look at it).  Who knew?  I know that this makes some people in the party angry because I and others like myself get bashed daily by people with more ridiculous screen names than mine.  How dare we require our candidates and elected officials to abide by the principles of our party!  Just get ‘em elected, right?  I have one simple question.  When did it become good enough to be just a littler bit better than a Democrat and what does this accomplish?  If someone has an answer please let me now.  The last I checked, if there is no clear agenda there is no progress.

I guess one would label me “grassroots” or “conservative activist,” however I had not been to one GOP function until the Republican Party of Iowa Reagan Dinner.  You know, the event where Terry Branstad proved to everyone in Iowa, C-Span, and the national media that he has not “missed, um, ah, um, a, um, step” since being out of office.  Now I realize that this event was supposed to be a rah rah session for the GOP but I wondered if everyone in the room was just pretending or just plain clueless.  Numerous times the Republican victories in New Jersey and Virginia were cited and that the party was coming back.  I just wanted to raise my hand and shed some light on the situation.  The wins in these two states had nothing to do with people coming back to the party but it had everything to do with giving the middle finger to Pres. Obama.  Seriously, do you really think Republicans turned it around in twelve months?  There is still much work to be done  and to get cocky about it would be fatal.

Getting involved in the grassroots level has opened my eyes and sometimes I wish I could go back to being blissfully ignorant about the Republican party and where it is headed if more people like me don’t take a stand.  But from what I have seen, the lengths that people will go to in order to fight for their principles and the candidates who represent them are extraordinary and there are plenty of people out there doing the same thing I am doing.  Do people actually get paid for this type of work?  News to me, however, I would take one member of the grassroots over ten paid campaign staffers any time.  For example, the RPI Reagan Dinner pulled in about five hundred people statewide.  A couple of weeks ago an event was held for Bob Vander Plaats hosted by one of his volunteer county chairs in Ottumwa that had almost 200 attend and the amazing part is that you could fit the number of conservatives in this county in a coat closet.  There are people doing this type of thing all over the state.

The past two years have been an eventful ride.  To underestimate what the Astroturf can accomplish and the strong networks that exist would be a huge mistake.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you.