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Friday, February 17, 2023
Thursday, February 16, 2023
Donald Trump is right to advocate "ballot harvesting." As long as ballot harvesting is legal, Republicans should do it.
Below are portions of a campaign solicitation I received from Trump recently:
Friend,
The radical Democrats have used ballot harvesting to cancel out YOUR vote and walk away with elections that they NEVER should have won.
But I’m doing something HUGE to fight back.
Our presidential campaign will launch our own BALLOT HARVESTING FUND in the states where the Left has been cheating the system.
Our path forward is to MASTER the Democrats’ own game of harvesting ballots in every state we can.
I disagree that Democrat harvesting of ballots amounted canceling your vote. Democrats simply campaigned smarter than Republicans.
We should do whatever is legal to win elections. We should not handicap ourselves. As long as ballot harvesting is legal, Republicans should do it. Republicans should also embrace early voting, mail-in voting, ballot curing and meddling in Democrat primaries. While we should continue to work to curtail harvesting, curing, and mail-in voting, we should compete with Democrats in using the tools available to increase the number of people who vote Republican. Below is a November 2022 blog post I wrote on the topic.
by Rod Williams, Nov. 18, 2022 - Now that the dust has settled from the mid-term election, it is safe to say that Republicans "underperformed." There was no Tsunami, no red wave; there was barely a pink trickle.
I am not disappointed. I did not want to see Republicans loyal to Donald Trump constitute a supermajority. I put loyalty to our nation above loyalty to Donald Trump. I did not want to see people holding office who would only certify election results if their party won. I am pleased that the worst of the election deniers lost. I did my part to help achieve this outcome. For the first time in my life, I contributed money to Democrats. In several races, I sent money to the Democrat opponents of the worst of the Trumpinistas.
While I did not want to see election-denying Trump loyalists take control of the legislative branch, at the same time, I did not want to see a clear Democrat majority that could advance the Biden agenda. What we got was gridlock. While the Dems control the Senate, not much legislation will make it past the Republican-controlled House to make it to the Senate. Given the circumstances, we got the best outcome possible.
Under normal circumstances, Republicans should have won big. With an unpopular president, high inflation, a crime wave, a southern border out of control, an energy crisis, a pandemic response based on pandering to teachers' unions rather than public health concerns, public schools that dumb-down kids and indoctrinate them, and the still recent Afghanistan debacle, the Republicans should have easily taken back both chambers of Congress. Instead, Republicans had the worst midterm performance of a party out of power in two decades. Where did Republicans go wrong?
I think the number one thing leading to this debacle is that the leader of the Republican Party is Donald Trump. Not enough people wanted to vote for a party, whose leader tried to overthrow the government and prevent the peaceful transfer of power. Also, Republicans had some loser candidates. Too many of our Republican candidates were conspiracy mongers and election deniers. Some were downright nut jobs. Trump's handpicked election-denying candidates underperformed horribly. I hope this Republican underperformance results in a diminishing of Donald Trump and the nomination of fewer nutjobs candidates.
I think it was not only trump and Trumpinista candidates that are the reason for a poor Republican performance, however. There are other things that I think contributed to a Republican loss and these are things that need to be fixed. Below are three campaign strategy changes I would recommend to the Republican Party.
Embrace Early voting.
Democrats are more likely to vote early than Republicans. This is generally true but not universal. In Florida, more Republicans vote early than do Democrats. Forbes reports that among the states that report early voters’ party affiliations, 43% of ballots were cast by Democrats and 34% were cast by Republicans (1). I am unsure why Republicans tend to shun early voting but we should embrace it and get out the early vote. Instead of the twentieth email or text or US mail solicitation to vote for candidate X, some of those solicitations should be to vote for candidate X and vote early.
A vote cast early means that a voter cannot change his mind due to a last-minute political development, or cannot fail to vote because of work obligations, family obligations, accident, illness, or death. An early vote is a vote in the bank. Republicans need an early voting strategy.
Learn to live with mail-in ballots and engage in ballot harvesting and promote ballot curing.
I would like to see mail-in voting curtailed. While there has been no evidence of widespread voter fraud tied to mail-in voting, the potential is there. In 2020 due to the Covid pandemic, many states liberalized their requirements for early voting, some without legislative action but in response to court orders. I support legislative action to roll back mail-in ballot voting and efforts to regulate who can pick up and deliver mail-in ballots. While trying to do that, however, Republicans need to learn to compete with Democrats for the mail-in vote.
There are three strategies for winning the mail-in vote. Republicans should encourage mail-in voting among eligible Republicans, should make sure Republicans take advantage of available ballot curing and Republicans should engage in legal ballot harvesting.
Republicans should target the Republican elderly and other Republican voters who may be eligible to vote by mail with advertisements informing them of the process and urging them to take advantage of it.
Ballot curing is the process of fixing a defective ballot after it is mailed in. A lot of mail-in ballots are initially rejected because of failure to follow procedures. Rejected ballots could make a big difference in the outcome of a close election. Rejected ballots may be rejected because something like the signature on the outside of the envelope does not match the signature on file. This may be "cured." It may be as simple as filing an affidavit with the election officials that says something like, "Mrs. John Doe is the same person as Ms. Jane Doe." Democrats are much better than Republicans about checking to make sure mail-in ballots are counted and if not, contacting Democrat voters and telling them how to "fix" or "cure" a defective ballot. Republicans need to be as good as Democrats at this.
Ballot harvesting is the process of someone going out and calling on voters to collect from them the mail-in ballot they were mailed. I think this process should be banned or greatly curtailed. In my view, all mail-in ballots should be returned by US mail. Even if that is the case, there is still room for someone to knock on a door, help the voter fill out the ballot, collect it from them, and put it in the mailbox for them.
The campaign worker doing this only calls on the people who are of his party. This kind of ballot harvesting works well in assisted living facilities and nursing homes. Democrats are much better at doing this than Republicans. Republicans need to get as good as Democrats at this form of campaigning. When you think about it, this is not much different than giving elderly nursing home voters a ride to the polls on election day. You only give people of your party the ride. While Republicans may be squeamish about ballot harvesting, as long as it is legal, we need to be as good as the Democrats about doing it.
Meddle in Democrat primaries.
Perhaps the most important thing Republicans could do to improve their chances in the next election is to meddle in Democrat primaries.
In the Republican primaries prior to the 2022 midterm election, Democrats threw a lot of money into the campaign of the most Trumpinista of Republicans. They spent more than $40 million boosting the candidacy of six GOP candidates. These radical Trumpinista Republicans beat their more mainstream primary challengers and the Trumpinista Republicans won their primary. The strategy was to nominate the most easily beatable Republicans. It worked. The Trumpinistas won the primary and all six lost to their Democratic challenger in the General Election.
While this practice may appear distasteful, Republicans need to fight fire with fire and play the game. Republicans should help the most extreme Democrats in Democratic primaries. We should help nominate the most beatable Democrats.
Now, this would not work everywhere. There are Democrat strongholds where a candidate could not be too woke or too leftist to be elected. No doubt there are some urban congressional districts in college towns where a committed Maoist would not be too extreme for the electorate. There are districts, however, where the Democrat voters are not totally committed leftists and where a moderate Republican could beat a super woke, super leftist Democrat. In those districts, we need to nominate the worst Democrat we can find.
What would these candidates look like? It would be a candidate who advocates or has advocated defunding the police. It would be someone who favors open borders, and pro-illegal immigration policies. Such policies as welfare benefits for illegals and giving illegals the right to vote, defunding ICE and Border Patrol, or tearing down the Trump border wall. It would be someone who advocates a national law to permit unrestricted abortion up until birth and the government pay for the abortion. It would be someone who wants to forgive all student loans and make college free. It would be someone who supports what is called "gender-affirming" policies. It would be Democrats who do not shy away from advocating support for "democratic socialism."
In addition to the candidate taking these radical positions, the candidate needs to be on the record taking these positions so that in the general election, a graphic presentation of out-of-control crime can be shown along with a film clip of the candidate saying we need to defund the police, preferably before a cheering crowd. Or, the out-of-control border can be shown with the candidate advocating tearing down the Trump wall. There might only be half a dozen districts where this can work, but that can make a difference in which party has control of Congress.
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Tuesday, February 14, 2023
Federalist Society present economist Bryan Caplan February 22nd
February Fed Soc with Bryan Caplan
Please join us on February 22nd for our talk with Bryan Caplan on the Economics of Discrimination!
Details:
Lunch and refreshments are included. CLE credit will be available. Onsite parking is available but we are not validating for this event.
About Bryan
Bryan Caplan is an American economist and author. Caplan is a professor of economics at George Mason University, research fellow at the Mercatus Center, adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, and former contributor to the Freakonomics blog and EconLog. He currently publishes his own blog, Bet on It. The bulk of Caplan's academic work is in behavioral economics and public economics, especially public choice theory.
Location: Womble Bond Dickinson, 1222 Demonbreun St. 9th Floor, Nashville, TN 37203
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Sunday, February 12, 2023
Is TBI investigating Nashville DA's office? Allegations of monitoring employee's conversation w/o consent & employee working on Funk's campaign while on the clock.
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| To view the video, follow this link. |
... Citing the need "in certain, rare instances" to not comment to protect "the integrity of TBI's investigative process," a bureau spokesperson refused to say.
... "Our agency will fully review any information and evidence presented to us in accordance with state law. These reviews may or may not result in formal TBI investigations. For these reasons, and to preserve the overall integrity of our agency’s work, we are not able to provide information about our involvement in this matter."
... Beginning in November, our NewsChannel 5 investigation discovered a part-time employee who Funk had paid $75,000 a year with little evidence of the work he did for that money. In some cases, emails and his calendar did not match the timesheets he submitted. ... In one case, a set of leave documents appeared to have been altered.
... More recently, our investigation uncovered evidence that listening devices were placed in areas around the DA's office where individuals' conversations could be monitored and recorded without consent. ... Funk's team has insisted it did nothing wrong. (Link)
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Listening devices installed around Nashville DA's office, vendor confirms; DA defends practice.
By: Phil Williams, NewsChannel 5, Feb 09, 2023 - District Attorney Glenn Funk's team installed listening devices in areas around the DA's office capable of picking up conversations of employees and visitors who are not warned about the audio monitoring, NewsChannel 5 has learned. ... Funk's team could be violating a law they are bound to enforce. ... president of the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyer (TACDL), Jonathan Cooper, called it a "betrayal of trust." ... Funk's team had refused to produce videos and audio requested by NewsChannel 5 Investigates from their security system
...the company that installed the security system confirmed the existence of eavesdropping devices in areas of the downtown office building controlled by the DA's office — cameras equipped with microphones capable of picking up conversations — in the elevator lobbies outside DA offices as well as inside the office's main lobby. (For a lot more on this story, follow the Link)
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The Davidson County Republican Party (DCRP) meets for Reorganization Convention. Rousing speeches, election of new leaders.
by James Garrett, Former Chair of the Davidson County Republican Party, February 12, 2023 - The Davidson County Republican Party (DCRP) met Saturday morning, February 11, 2023, for their biennial County Party Reorganization to elect its officers and key grassroots leaders for the next two years. Members of the State Republican Party leadership attended, including Chairman Scott Golden, who spoke to the crowd once the event got underway, and members of the State Executive Committee. 
James Garrett
The energy was high as the DCRP Reorganization was kicked off with outgoing Chairman, Jim Garrett, welcoming the crowd. Linda Knight offered the opening prayer and shared tributes, followed by a moment of silence, in memory of Republican leaders who have passed away since the last Reorganization in 2021. Those remembered were Phil Valentine, Tootie Haskins, Tim Skow, John L. Ryder, and Maclin P. Davis Jr. Then Chairman Garrett led the attendees in the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States flag. This was followed by recently-naturalized citizen, Tobias “Tobi” Maier, leading the Salute to the Tennessee flag.
Impassioned speeches given by U.S. Congressman John Rose (R-TN-06) and the newly-appointed Chairman of the House Homeland Security committee, U.S. Congressman Mark Green, M.D. (R-TN-07) rallied the enthusiastic attendees with news and promises of actions to be taken in the days and weeks ahead in Washington DC. Both effective speeches preceded the day’s main agenda. Also present were dignitaries including Congressman Rose’s Chief of Staff, former Congressman Van Hilleary, and Metro Councilman Robert Swope.
The Chairman of the Contest and Credentials Committee (C&CC), John Richardson, took the stage and guided delegates/attendees through the proper procedures of the election as dictated by the current DCRP Bylaws utilizing Roberts Rules of Order. Throughout the process, the Parliamentarian, John Wendt, was consulted for clarification of several items. A delegate moved to waive the requirements in the State and County Bylaws stating qualifications for individuals to be qualified to hold County Party office. Initially, the Chairman of the C&CC ruled that the motion was not proper. Then, a motion was made to reconsider the Chairman’s ruling. That motion was voted down by the attendees.
The Davidson County Election Commission was kind enough to provide voting machines and a bipartisan staff to facilitate accurate ease of voting and potential changes in candidates arising from nominations made from the floor. In the end, the machines were used only once for two positions – 1st Vice-Chairman which was uncontested and 2nd Vice-Chairman which was contested. Ten of the twelve positions up for election, including that for Chairman, were elected by acclamation of the attendees.
The Reorganization proceeded with the election of a full slate of County Executive Committee officers.
Those elected to be officers of the County Executive Committee were:
- Lonnie Spivak – Chairman
- Laura Nelson – 1st Vice-Chairman
- Dia Hart – 2nd Vice-Chairman
- John Wendt – Recording Secretary
- Larry Charles “Chuck” Grimes – Corresponding Secretary
- Shannon McGuffin – Treasurer
- Leroy “Johnny” Ellis – Assistant Treasurer
The final round of floor nominations was accepted for key activist positions of Regional Vice-Chairmen. As candidates for these positions were uncontested, an easy voice vote brought the voting portion of the agenda to a close.
The introduction of the recently-elected Young Republican (YR) officers was supported with a hearty round of applause.
The newly-elected Chairman, Lonnie Spivak, in his closing comments, said:
Together, the new board and I will work tirelessly to uphold the values of the Republican Party and promote the principles of limited government, individual freedom, and fiscal responsibility. In the coming weeks and months, we will reach out to all of Davidson County who have not yet found the Republican Party, listen to their concerns, and strive to find solutions that benefit our community in a way that expands our numbers and promotes our values.
I am committed to making our party more engaging, and representative of the diverse perspectives and needs of our county. Together we will work to build a strong and united party, where every voice is heard and Every Vote Counts. Let us move forward towards a brighter future for our city and our great state.
Overall, this was a highly successful reorganization, and the Republican Party in Davidson County is sure to see future success.
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Thursday, February 09, 2023
Tennessee House Speaker Mulls Rejecting US Education Money
Cameron Sexton said rejecting nearly $1.8 billion of federal K-12 education dollars would let officials to "educate the kids how Tennessee sees fit."
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP), Feb 8, 2023 - One of Tennessee’s most influential Republican lawmakers says the state should stop accepting the nearly $1.8 billion of federal K-12 education dollars that help provide support for low-income students, English learners and students with disabilities.Cameron Sexton
House Speaker Cameron Sexton told The Associated Press that he has introduced a bill to explore the idea during this year’s legislative session and has begun discussions with Gov. Bill Lee and other key GOP lawmakers.
“Basically, we’ll be able to educate the kids how Tennessee sees fit,” Sexton said, pointing that rejecting the money would mean that Tennessee would no longer have “federal government interference.”
To date, no state has successfully rejected federal education funds ... The idea has also come up elsewhere in recent months among GOP officials, including in Oklahoma and South Carolina.
According to Sexton, Tennessee is currently in the financial position to use state tax dollars to replace federal education funds. ... the state could easily cover the federal government’s portion. Federal dollars make up a small slice of Tennessee’s K-12 education funding, ... “We as a state can lead the nation once again in telling the federal government that they can keep their money and we’ll just do things the Tennessee way,” ... Spokespersons for both Gov. Lee and Sen. Randy McNally appeared open to entertaining Sexton’s proposal. (read more)
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Wednesday, February 08, 2023
Taking Social Security off the table is cowardly and does nothing to solve serious problem.
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Currently the maximum amount of income subject to SS tax is set at $160,200. It goes up every year based on a formula. There is reluctance to drastically raise the cap because there is a desire to maintain the fiction that social security is a retirement plan instead of admitting that is a welfare Ponzi scheme. SS is a transfer payment where money paid in today by people who are working pays most of the benefit that current retirees receive. Dems are now uninhibited about calling for making the rich pay "their fair share," so the reluctance to raise the cap may be diminishing. As pointed out above however, even totally eliminating the payroll tax cap would only close 40 to 60 percent of the program’s structural imbalance. And this will have negative consequences. It will suck so money out of the economy it will slow growth, leading to less tax revenue and increasing Federal borrowing. The cost of interest on the debt will make it even harder to ever balance the budget. Alternatively, the government could borrow from the Federal Reserve, euphemistically called printing money, which weakens the dollar and leads to inflation. Either option would be unsustainable and will hasten a financial collapse.
What I suspect will happen in 2035 is Congress will end the fiction that social security is a retirement fund and will fund the SS deficit out of general revenues. Budgets have not balanced in many years. The only way the SS deficit can be funded out of general revenue is by more borrowing or inflating the money supply. Neither option is a solution and will hasten an economic collapse.
We have known for decades the SS trust fund was running dry. Both parties kept kicking the can down the road. The longer we wait the more difficult it is to fix the problem. To take Social Security off the table is kicking the can further down the road and burying your head in the sand. Taking Social Security off the table is cowardly and does nothing to solve the problem.
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Tuesday, February 07, 2023
Mark Woodward, Recording Secretary for the Davidson County Republican Party, gives a State of the Party report. Mark is not seeking reelection.
Dear Nashville Republicans,
I have served as the Recording Secretary for the Davidson County Republican Party for the past four years, and I wanted to share my perspective on the growth and success of our party over the last four years and my hopes for the party now that I am resigning my position.
It may not seem this way from the outside, but Republicans in Davidson County have made huge strides from where we were just four years ago. We tripled and quadrupled our volunteer base and fielded more candidates in county races than ever before in recent memory.
And we galvanized voters who showed up at the polls. Here’s an example. In 2018, Democrat Rachael Elrod won School Board District 4 with over 67% of the vote. In 2022, “No Woke" Todd Pembroke held her to a modest 57% victory, gaining on her by a net 700 votes. In a small school board race, that vote shift is significant. On a small budget, Todd Pembroke garnered a full 1000 votes more than the charter-funded opposition candidate from 4 years earlier.
We campaigned hard, and our volunteers did not let us down. They gave money, knocked on thousands of doors, made hundreds of phone calls, and showed up in person to hold signs on Election Day. The results did not go in our favor, but the momentum coming out of the election is ours. The Democrat Party cannot continue to silence free speech, support the indoctrination of students without facing a tremendous backlash from citizens who are waking up and willing to fight for their country.
The unsung hero of our local campaigns was a transplant from the UK named Bart Smith who became our 2nd Vice Chair in 2022. Recently transplanted from the UK, Bart managed and/or gave significant help free of charge to all but one of the local Republican and Independent candidates. He helped with strategy, designed mailers and door hangers, arranged interviews, organized fundraisers, and was behind several successful DCRP press releases. Bart’s considerable talent, fueled by deep convictions was met with only gratitude from candidates and volunteers, but earned him no small degree of suspicion from others on the board. In his zeal to get things done, he accidentally missed a few steps of protocol and personally offended some important people. DCRP board members wasted precious meeting time upbraiding Bart for moving too fast and putting campaign concerns above his responsibilities as DCRP 2nd Vice Chair.
Chairman James Garrett did his best to stay above the fray while protecting Bart from official discipline. But the damage was done, and Bart resigned after the election.
Two other heroes that deserve recognition are John and Carol Wendt. Carol has been the 1st Vice Chair, and John a Regional Vice Chair for the last few years. They came into the party with a plan to recruit and train volunteers, and they did what they set out to do. They created a volunteer manual, they organized volunteer events, and created a community where there had been none. Along with their organizational talent, they are people of great character. I can remember a situation in a board meeting where two members had a sharp disagreement with one actually daring the other to quit the party. With calm dignity, John broke in and reminded everyone to communicate in a respectful way. Not only his words, but his manner — quiet, calm and confident — completely quelled the storm and earned John my enduring respect.
James Garrett has endorsed Lonnie Spivak to replace him as chairman at the coming reorganizational convention on Saturday, Feb 11. In his post lower down on this page, Mr. Spivak shares his goals for the party. I commend his digital engagement idea and his awareness of the issue of competing conservative groups. Should Mr. Spivak win, I hope he will support some of the good efforts that are already underway. Dia Hart and Laura Nelson are spearheading a committee to engage, recruit, and train local candidates — and they are on fire. Carol and John Wendt have breathed fresh life into the party, engaging volunteers and organizing events. We need to keep the momentum going and build on what we have started for the sake our movement and our message.
It is about the message. Republicans stand for freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the rule of law, personal responsibility, patriotism, and family values. These ideals are not always glamorous, but our society is built on them, and they are worth fighting for.
If you want to get involved at the local level, please attend our Davidson County Reorganizational Caucus and Convention on February 11, 9:00 AM at the Millennium Maxwell House Hotel.
Thanks,
Mark Woodward
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Nashville-Area Democrat Bob Freeman Ponders Leaving the State House for City Hall to Tackle the Titans Stadium Deal, Metro Public Schools
Tennessee Stae, February 6, 2023- Live from Music Row, Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy ...host Leahy welcomed State Representative Bob Freeman (D-Nashville) in studio to answer questions on a run for Nashville mayor, reducing Metro Council, Titans Stadium deal, and the state of MNPS.Bob Freeman
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Freeman: ... I think that what our city needs right now more than anything is that our next mayor can actually work with the state and can help the state realize that this should be a very profitable and successful partnership and that the success of Nashville drives the success of the state. ... this idea that we can have a combative relationship with the state has been shown to not be true. Look at the legislation that’s in front of us right now to cut the council size, remove the funding for the Music City Center, remove the airport board or airport authority, and the sports authority. ... These are all decisions that should be made locally. And if we had the ability to sit down with the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker and negotiate in good faith, I think we would be in a different spot.
... bill before the Tennessee General Assembly to cut the size of the Metro Council from 40 to 20. What’s your opinion on that bill?
Freeman: ... I think the bill is horrible. I think the idea that people from outside of Nashville get a say in how we do politics here locally is laughable at best. (Read it all at this link.)
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Nashville mayoral race: Wiltshire takes early fundraising lead with nearly $1.1M on hand
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| Matt Wiltshire |
Candidate Freddie O'Connell ... $244,255 in financial disclosures ...
Candidate Sharon Hurt, ... reported $5,200 in contributions.
the qualifying deadline for the Aug. 3 election months away on May 18, the 2023 mayoral race is just getting started.
... Wiltshire, an economic development and affordable housing veteran, launched his mayoral campaign in July 2022 after leaving his post at the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency in April.
Wiltshire raised $888,184 in contributions in the last six months. With the addition of a $348,904 personal loan, his total raised thus far is $1,237,088.
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Monday, February 06, 2023
First Tuesday guest speaker is Troy Brewer, Comptroller for the Tennessee Republican Party. Meeting Tuesday Feb 14.
If you waited too late to register, I bet they can squeeze in an unregistered guest.
Visit the First Tuesday webpage for more information.
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