Miscellaneous

Big break in Oregon.  I didn’t hear from Leader Ferrioli’s office for a couple days, and figured they were gun shy, afraid I was some kind of nut.  So I emailed Lars Larson, asking to appear on his show.  He emailed back, and it’s on.  His producer, Tony King, will get ahold of me next week to set it up.

Lars owns Oregon, and is syndicated nationally.  He’s ranked #28 in talk show hosts in the country, which is not to be scoffed at.  I have no doubt whatsoever that he and I will hit it off.  He calls Portland “Havana on the Willamette”.  Reminds me of me.

This is big not only for the effort in Oregon, but potentially for all over the country.  I want to meet him personally.  Some hosts don’t like in studio guests, some do.  If he’s up for it, I’ll either fly to Portland, or drive up the Oregon Coast with my wife, Babbie.  Her call. 

I’m hoping to go to Salem before the show to do a press conference with Leaders Ferrioli and McLane.  It would be around Feb. 3, the start of their session.  They would announce the introduction of Article V Resolutions in the House and Senate, describe why this is important not only for Oregon, but for this almost bankrupt country of ours as well.  They’ll call on the Speaker and Senate President to expedite action on these bills, and bring them to the floor for a vote.  Hell will freeze over before that happens, but that’s fine.  Republican legislative candidates all over Oregon will have an issue.  And that is, quite precisely, the mission of the Reagan Project.  Ferrioli and McLane haven’t yet bought in to this whole thing, and I’ll disappointed if they don’t.  I’ve offered to appear at the presser with them, to say how important the Oregon legislature is to this entire effort.  I’d lay it on a little thick.

I owe Larson.  I’m at his disposal.  Because I’m so familiar with the format, I know how to be a perfect guest.  Never miss any opportunity to make the host look good is rule one.  And you’re not giving a lecture, you’re entertaining an audience.  Humor helps a lot. And passion.  And if you interact with a caller, know how to handle it.  It takes a little touch.  Anyway, Lars is my ticket to similar shows around the country.  One reason I want to be in studio is to ask him if he knows John Carlson in Seattle, which, of course, he does.  Carlson ‘s almost as big in Washington as Lars is in Oregon.  I really want to get on Carlson’s show, and unless he and Lars have some kind of issue between them, an introduction from Lars will do the trick.  I’ll go on to ask if he knows Terry Meiners in Louisville.  That’s the show I’ve got to get on in Kentucky.  I’ve got four or five other hosts I can ask him about, in Minneapolis, Tulsa, Salt Lake, New Orleans, Phoenix, etc., if he wants to be helpful. 

Back to Oregon, and Lars.  If I can get him all jacked up about this, he can take some ownership of it, make it his baby.  And if it passes he can rightfully take some credit.  If he does buy in, I’ll team up with him, and Oregon will be ours.

A looming deadline is January 31, the last day to file for the Kentucky legislature.  We need to turn six seats in the House to make Minority Leader Jeff Hoover the new Speaker, replacing Greg Stumbo.  We already have the Senate.

I’ve called or emailed Hoover, the Kentucky Republican Chairman, and Terry Meiners, a popular radio talk show host on WHAS 840, Louisville.  Earlier I contacted Kentucky internet columnist John David Dyche, who says Hoover has a shot.  I hope to talk to Hoover on Monday. 

I’ve also tried to contact Rep. Mark Huffman, who I spent some time with at ALEC.  Mark is the Ohio legislative liaison with the Republican Governor’s Association.  I’m also trying to get Ohio Gov. Kasich’s office involved in getting through to the RGA.  Prior to ALEC, I tried to get through myself, unsuccessfully.

In 2012 the RGA spent $26 million on state legislative races.  If we can get them to commit some of that money to Kentucky, it might help Hoover in his efforts to recruit candidates.  He’s only got about six weeks to do it.  People need time to make a decision to run for the legislature.  It’s a big commitment.  They need to get their spouse on board.  I’m hoping the Obamacare Debacle is convincing people that 2014 will be a Republican wave, bigger than 2010.

The BBA Task Force will not be involved in Kentucky.  This is a job for the Reagan Project, over which IRS rules, or campaign finance laws, do not apply.  The Reagan Project is fully protected by the First Amendment.  The Supreme Court, liberal and conservative, has always been intolerant of any attempt to restrict an individual’s right of free speech.  And the Reagan Project enjoys that highest level of protection.

This could be important in Kentucky.  The guy we want to take out, Stumbo, is a former Attorney General of Kentucky, and a hard core bare knuckles Democrat.  He won’t go down easy.  He’ll use every weapon at his disposal, including bogus lawsuits claiming campaign finance law infractions.  He’s done it before, and I expect he’ll do it again.  I wouldn’t be surprised if the son of a bitch sued me.  I’m not worried about it. I’ll go pro se, knowing the First Amendment is my shield.

On a cc (conference call) with Scott, Dave and three Representatives from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Jim Stalzer, Manny Steele, and the senior spokesman, Hal Wick.  Hal had informed me, in an earlier 6:00 a.m. call, that he had come within two votes of getting elected Mayor of Sioux Falls recently.   Hal explained that the Tea Party had two wings in South Dakota, at either end.  Sioux Falls in the east and Rapid City (or Rapid) in the west.  We’ve got the east end covered since its leader is his brother in law.

We agreed to bring in the I Am American crew, around Jan.6th.  In my earlier call with Hal, I had agreed to spend the week of January 20th in South Dakota, doing talk radio in Rapid City, Sioux Falls and Yankton, 90 miles to its south.  I would drive from Sioux Falls to Pierre, lobby for a couple days, then drive to Rapid City.  I’ll need to a pay a $40 fee to be a lobbyist, which can be done online.

While in Pierre (population: 15,000) I hope to meet as many as possible of the 35 Senators and 70 Representatives.  The first night I will attend Hal’s ALEC reception for legislators, lobbyists, and guests.  The following night I will host a dinner for Hal, Manny, Jim, and whoever they invite.

We have supermajorities in both Houses, all the leadership is on board, (except for the House Majority Leader, who Hal believes will not be a problem).  Our opposition, the John Birch Society and Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum, doesn’t seem as well organized.  Last year we were defeated on the floor, apparently because of last minute lobbying by two elderly women lobbyists.  One of them is unwell, so I think we’re O. K. in South Dakota.

Had nice talks with Steve Elzinga, a staffer for Sen. Ferrioli, and Scott Jorgensen, Rep. McLane.  They understood what I was talking about, and were supportive.  Steve’s a former ALEC staffer, and gave me three additional talk shows to target, in addition to the all-powerful Lars Larson.  I followed up with an email.

As I brainstormed how I was going to get on these shows, I realized it wasn’t going to be easy.  On my show in Alaska, people would just call me up, and if they sounded interesting I’d book them.  Not going to work with Larson and people like him.

I’m going to call them back tomorrow, and request that they talk to their bosses and acquaint them with what I’m doing.  If they like it (and they should; I’m trying to help get them in the majority) I’m going to ask them to get through to Larson and the others and see if he’ll book me.  Otherwise I’m going to have to get creative in order to get an appearance.

Called staffers in Washington House and Minnesota House and Senate.  Did not get through, but sent emails explaining what I’m up to.  I’ll call again tomorrow, and call the Kentucky House and Maine House and Senate as well.  Based on today’s experience in Oregon, if I can make my pitch over the phone it goes over well.  And, at the moment, the most realistic chance I’ve got at getting on the shows I want to get on is through an introduction by House and/or Senate Minority leaders.

Did learn that the 2010 election did produce a tie in the Oregon House, so Oregon is by no means out of reach.  We only need two senators, and they think they’re going to get one of them.  Since the big wave of 2010 was based on just the passage of Obamacare, and 2014 will be based on its catastrophic implementation, next year’s wave should be quite a bit bigger.  Oregon and the other four are within our grasp.

If we can capture the legislatures of blue states like OR,WA, MN, and ME, the path to 38 and ratification is open.  The blue firewall is down to CA, IL, NJ, NY, VT, CT, RI, MD, MA, and DE.  That’s ten, not the thirteen they need.  And Delaware isn’t actually that far fetched for us.

If this wave of 2014 is big enough, we could do some historic stuff.

State Rep. Bob Thorpe is a BBA Task Force co-founder and our sponsor in Arizona.  Had a long chat with him and Dave Biddulph about our effort there.  Turns out that the Senate President may not be as much of a problem as we thought.  Gov. Brewer will be of no help since all the Republican legislators are pissed off at her.  Bob will work with Sen. Al Melvin and Typhoon Lou on getting an I Am American presentation set up in Phoenix in January.  Once we have a firm date Bob and I will appear on “The Joe Show” in Flagstaff, and, much more importantly, we should be able to get on Mike Broomhead’s show on KFYI in Phoenix. We’ll talk about Article V, the BBA, and promote the I Am American event.  Bob says we only have a two vote majority in  the Senate, which means we can’t leave any stone unturned.  I feel a lot better about Arizona after talking to Bob.

An excellent article on the Mt. Vernon Conference appeared today at Forbes.com.  It was written by a friend of the Convention of States guys, and gave them prominent mention.  Nothing about the BBA Task Force, and our 20 resolutions.  I wrote the first comment, correcting that omission.  Even though it was very well written, it doesn’t seem to be getting any traction, which is hard to figure.