Auditing the Republican State Central Committee Meeting
I had a meeting on my calendar this afternoon that was a "must attend" for me.
I'm not a pheasant hunter, and I choose not to watch the ritual weekly beatings of the Vikings, although I see they pulled it out today. So I chose to "audit" today's GOP Republican State Central Committee meeting. As a student might audit a class by attending, since I'm not a Republican State Central Committee Member, as a long-time Republican activist I attended just to see the sights and learn. And it was worth it.
I got to rub elbows with Secretary of State Chris Nelson, Lt. Governor Dennis Daugaard and his wife, PUC Commissioner Dusty Johnson, State Auditor Rich Sattgast (as if I don't see him often enough), and several others. And I really enjoyed meeting Minnehaha County GOP Chair Sara Burnette. She's pretty sharp, and she seems to be one of the best Minnehaha Co. Chairs I've seen in a while. I also met and chatted with SD College Republican Chair Jennifer Giannonatti, another up and comer. I'd love to see both of those ladies running for something soon. (I also added SDCR's blog to the feeds and links -pp)
I tentatively lined up my next Video Blog interview, and I also mentioned to State GOP Vice Chair Elli Schwiesow she made the Mitchell paper.
And, ok. Admittedly, I got a charge over people going "Oh, YOU'RE the guy who writes the War College." So, MP, I'm at least at 16 or 17 people who read this.
Biggest highlights of the meeting for me? I wrote a check to the Republican Women for a project they are working on for kids. I'm going to try to get some information to post here to help them promote the effort. Im a cheapskate, but what I heard about it moved me enough to pry a moth-eaten check out of my checkbook. I'll try to have some information about the project here soon.
I also got to meet Jarrod Johnson who is talking about running for the Office of School and Public Lands. Without having met him, I had written about his electoral chances previously, noting that as a challenger candidate, he has an uphill battle as any challenger candidate does. We chatted and had a good discussion.
My impression after meeting him? I'm wondering why people are telling him to run for School and Lands.
But don't take that as criticism (Especially Jarrod). Because after meeting him, my question is why hasn't the party been seriously talking to him about taking on Herseth? I was THAT impressed with him. There is some serious political "rock star" potential in him as a candidate.
If you've been around a while, you see politicians and potentials who run for various reasons who want to serve. And there are those who you meet and think "this guy or gal is going places." And that they have a quality that lets people view them as someone they'd like to have representing their interests. Jarrod impresses me as a genuine and likeable person.
And he has that "it" quality. John Thune has it. Stephanie Herseth has it. And so does this guy. I say if they're smart, the National Republican Congressional Committee should look him up.
If not? Well, then the GOP has a genuine contender for the South Dakota Office of School and Public Lands.
Stay tuned.
I'm not a pheasant hunter, and I choose not to watch the ritual weekly beatings of the Vikings, although I see they pulled it out today. So I chose to "audit" today's GOP Republican State Central Committee meeting. As a student might audit a class by attending, since I'm not a Republican State Central Committee Member, as a long-time Republican activist I attended just to see the sights and learn. And it was worth it.
I got to rub elbows with Secretary of State Chris Nelson, Lt. Governor Dennis Daugaard and his wife, PUC Commissioner Dusty Johnson, State Auditor Rich Sattgast (as if I don't see him often enough), and several others. And I really enjoyed meeting Minnehaha County GOP Chair Sara Burnette. She's pretty sharp, and she seems to be one of the best Minnehaha Co. Chairs I've seen in a while. I also met and chatted with SD College Republican Chair Jennifer Giannonatti, another up and comer. I'd love to see both of those ladies running for something soon. (I also added SDCR's blog to the feeds and links -pp)
I tentatively lined up my next Video Blog interview, and I also mentioned to State GOP Vice Chair Elli Schwiesow she made the Mitchell paper.
And, ok. Admittedly, I got a charge over people going "Oh, YOU'RE the guy who writes the War College." So, MP, I'm at least at 16 or 17 people who read this.
Biggest highlights of the meeting for me? I wrote a check to the Republican Women for a project they are working on for kids. I'm going to try to get some information to post here to help them promote the effort. Im a cheapskate, but what I heard about it moved me enough to pry a moth-eaten check out of my checkbook. I'll try to have some information about the project here soon.
I also got to meet Jarrod Johnson who is talking about running for the Office of School and Public Lands. Without having met him, I had written about his electoral chances previously, noting that as a challenger candidate, he has an uphill battle as any challenger candidate does. We chatted and had a good discussion.
My impression after meeting him? I'm wondering why people are telling him to run for School and Lands.
But don't take that as criticism (Especially Jarrod). Because after meeting him, my question is why hasn't the party been seriously talking to him about taking on Herseth? I was THAT impressed with him. There is some serious political "rock star" potential in him as a candidate.
If you've been around a while, you see politicians and potentials who run for various reasons who want to serve. And there are those who you meet and think "this guy or gal is going places." And that they have a quality that lets people view them as someone they'd like to have representing their interests. Jarrod impresses me as a genuine and likeable person.
And he has that "it" quality. John Thune has it. Stephanie Herseth has it. And so does this guy. I say if they're smart, the National Republican Congressional Committee should look him up.
If not? Well, then the GOP has a genuine contender for the South Dakota Office of School and Public Lands.
Stay tuned.
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