The Problem
In Meredith Wilson's The Music Man, the con man, Harold Hill, convinces the residents of River City, Iowa, that he has developed a new method for learning music, called the "think system". Hill’s theory is that if a musician uses the "think system" properly, he or she does not need to rely on written music. Instead, the musician only needs to think about the song long enough and hard enough, and he or she will be able to play it flawlessly. By the end of the play, the townspeople know they have been conned because it is obvious that the "think system" doesn't work, but Hill is saved by the local music teacher. It's a delightful story, but real life doesn't end that way.
As the noted educator, E.D. Hirsch, Jr., has tried to tell us for a generation, the American people have been conned since the 1930s with a version of the "think system", but there has been no happy ending. Hirsch’s central premise is that the decline in educational performance in our schools is directly related to a conscious decision by professional educators to abandon the use of a content-based curriculum in our public schools. Instead of a content-based curriculum, the education establishment has promoted a “child-centered” method of teaching that leaves each child to discover knowledge on their own.
As Hirsch makes clear in his most recent work, The Making of Americans: Democracy and Our Schools, this trade-out has produced societal illiteracy, because it led to a systemic failure to pass on the basic knowledge of language, history, and culture every American needs in order to function as a productive member of our society.
The illiteracy has led to a social nightmare in many communities, where up to 50% of students who start school will never graduate from high school, and 87% will never graduate from college. We are under-educating too many people, thereby condemning them, their families and their neighborhoods to chronic crime, deviancy, underemployment and poverty. Merely giving parents the choice to move their children to other schools that use the same teaching methods, or raising school and teacher performance criteria without addressing classroom content, will not fix this problem. Instead, the source of the problem—the content of our schools’ curricula—must be squarely addressed.
Let’s look at a practical example of how this problem plays out in our classrooms. When children enter pre-school or kindergarten, at some point they realize that there is a clock on the wall, but they do no yet know what it means, why it is there, and what you do with it. This information has to be taught and reinforced so the student will process it in many diverse contexts over years. So, in these early classes when students are introduced to reading a clock, their science instruction should be coordinated to teach about the rotation of the earth; math instruction should give equations and story problems that introduce real problems related to calculating and managing time that are age-appropriate; vocabulary lessons should introduce time-related words (e.g., minute, hour, day, night, month, season, year, and annual); grammar lessons should use these words in context; and short stories should be read that discuss time and seasons in context. Provided with this foundation, the child can begin to manage and understand time, but also will possess some of the linguistic and conceptual tools needed to later understand: the stories of Nathanial Hawthorne and poems of Robert Frost in which the setting in a specific season is critical to the meaning of their works; the relationship of time to the cadence and meaning of a Poe story or poem; why Washington’s army had to camp at Valley Forge, and why his winter crossing of the Delaware River was so dramatic; the importance of annual floods along the Nile to the building of the Egyptian empire; and much more.
If contextual facts are not taught early and incrementally, the student will find it hard to progress in school. Simply learning critical-thinking skills and how to apply them, without being taught contextual facts (and then learning to build on them with more contextual facts in diverse contexts), will impair a student's ability to continue to learn. Take a child who has lived in a home and neighborhood in Houston where many adults don’t have regular jobs, or where adults don’t functionally interact with their children. In the context of the previous example, have those children seen the seasons change enough to comprehend it? Have they seen a rhythm to their parent's daily routine, or heard people discuss deadlines and time commitments, enough to understand the concept and importance of time? If not, how will they discover the facts needed to critically think about these ideas?
By not teaching incremental, age-appropriate, comprehensive factual content--or core knowledge--cognitive science tells us that these students, who have no where else to “discover” such factual content, will fail. And guess what...students from these neighborhoods have failed and dropped-out of school in alarming numbers, while never having discovered the knowledge of language, history and culture they actually needed to succeed. It's like we've been asking our children to hum a tune they've never heard, or play a song on an instrument without learning the notes of the song or how to play the instrument--we've asked them to do something that can't be done, except by pure accident. We should never have left something so important, and so expensive, for our society to pure accident.
As Hirsch points out, we know how to fix this problem—we need to address the content of what we are teaching our children. If we fix this problem, it will be much easier to fix the structural tax and spending issues related to delivering education. If we don't fix this problem, no amount of tinkering with salaries, standards, taxes or budgets will improve the education of our children.
The GOP Solution
The GOP at all levels must address this problem as part of our effort to reconnect with the American public. Remember that the only institution in American life, which has involved, at some time and in some way, every individual, every family, every neighborhood, and every level of government, is our local school, and its problems affect us all—now and into the future. Recently, I stated during a candidates’ forum that I believe a central mission of a revitalized GOP must be to rebuild not just our commitment to liberty, but also the obligations that come with liberty, in order to defeat the Democratic Party’s embrace of statism. I call this commitment an effort to “Renew the American Community.” As part of this renewal of our sense of community with our neighbors, we must fix our schools.
What has been lost from our education is an understanding and appreciation by our children of the “American Story”: the cumulative wisdom of Western thought, together with the core principles and contexts underlying the structure and operation of American society. While our politics—both liberal and conservative—has focused almost exclusively on improving the process of delivering education, it has ignored the loss of this content from our classrooms. As a result, as many as 87% of our children in certain neighborhoods in Harris County do not possess the tools they will need to succeed in today’s economic environment, and virtually no one is being educated to succeed as a citizen—unless by accident, or outside of the public school system.
This American Story should become the context in which the student’s exposure to every other academic discipline is processed, and in which he or she would then process a lifetime of learning after leaving school. This story, properly taught, should instill the student with the means of understanding not only the physical world they inhabit, and the political and economic system of our country, and of other countries; but also with the ethical means to make the right decisions as a member of the community. Once we decide on this course of action, textbooks must be developed in every discipline to mutually support this curriculum, and a modern and efficient delivery system must be developed at the state and local levels to provide this education.
The American Story should never be used to promote an ideology, religion or political party in any classroom or discipline. Instead, it refers to the contextual knowledge every child needs to possess in order to fully comprehend and use the language, mathematics, science, art, literature, history, economics, law, and culture of our society. The American Story provides a frame of reference to each child that is consistent with the great philosophical and political traditions championed by both the Republican and Democratic Parties, and with the theology of all the major religious traditions observed in this country, but without indoctrinating any child with a specific point of view. This story gives them the tools to function as adult citizens who will contribute positively to their families and neighborhoods.
As the party that prides itself on being the custodian of our society’s basic principles, and on preserving local control of our schools, the GOP must work to end the current social fraud caused by our educational "think system". The Republican Party at all levels must fight to improve the content of the education we provide to all our children, so that they, and their future families and neighborhoods, flourish. For if they flourish, they will be more inclined to embrace the individual obligations that come with the gift of liberty, which, in turn, will help us "Renew the American Community" without embracing an ever-growing government. As part of this fight, the HCRP should champion reform of the content of the curriculum in our local schools by supporting educators, school board candidates, and legislators who will address this issue.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
We Saw the Opposition on September 3—Are We Ready for the Battle Ahead?
On the evening of Thursday, September 3rd, I put on a red T-shirt that said “Vote Republican” and joined the crowd outside City Hall in Downtown Houston.
The focus of the event was the health-care issue. Liberal interest groups held a “protest” rally for Obamacare, while others of us lodged a counter-protest off to one side of the steps and reflecting pool. I spent much of my time watching, listening, and talking to fellow counter-protesters. I want to share with you what I learned.
First, I want to congratulate John Faulk, Eric Story, Josh Parker and the Texas Tea Party Society of Houston, and the several “right to life” and religious organizations, who came together on short notice to coordinate the counter-protest. I also want to commend Roy Morales and Chris Daniel for coming and participating. Although we were out-numbered, the size and energy of the counter-protest successfully drained some of the time and attention of the speakers away from what they had planned to be a love-fest for Obamacare.
However, what I saw concerned me greatly, and underscored one of the many reasons why I am running for HCRP Chair: the GOP is still not ready to fight the ground battle against the Obama machine.
Although the polls show that public support for the Democratic takeover of the health-care industry is plummeting, only the Democratic Party and its close allies appear ready for this fight. The sponsors of the rally were Organizing for America (an official affiliate of the Democratic National Committee), ACORN, and several unions. Their participants were bused to the rally and signed-in, their signs were pre-printed and professional, and the media was pre-positioned to record the rally from a position that exaggerated the strength of their numbers.
Meanwhile, the courageous individuals who showed-up to form a counter-protest were denied a permit to use a microphone or bullhorn, and were physically relegated to one area off to the side opposite of where the media was stationed. Except for the Texas Tea Party Banner, and a few pre-printed signs and cards, the signs held by the counter-protesters were hand-made and hard to see from a distance. This ad hoc assembly was no match for the Democratic coordination.
The GOP needs a functioning party apparatus at all levels—local, state, and national—that is ready to go toe-to-toe with the Obama machine that the Democratic Party is operating. We won’t assemble this apparatus by co-opting the name and email lists of the Tea Party and other new organizations for use by our party leaders (nor will we get very far when our current chair sends an email out that correctly notifies the base about Al-Jazeera's inexplicable presence in our County Jail, but then threatens public safety by mistakenly asking people to call and clog an emergency phone line). A party takeover of these new organizations, especially by the Keystone Cops operation now in control of Richmond Avenue, is not the answer.
This is not a top-down war—it must be fought from the grassroots, by the grassroots. Rather than takeover or co-opt the new organizations, the party needs to invite these new activists—both the leaders and the members of these new separate organizations—into the party, invite them into empty precinct chairs and other positions, and invite them into our affiliated clubs and organizations (or encourage them to affiliate their new clubs with the GOP). Then, we need to support their energy and innovation by helping to mobilize them into a force to rival Organizing for America.
If we don’t take these steps this fall, and channel the energy of these individuals into our primary and to help elect our candidates in 2010, we may look back on this time as the greatest wasted opportunity the GOP ever had.
If we are brave enough to open the party to this new opportunity, and act boldly now, I am confident we will re-take what we lost in Harris County, preserve what we have in Austin, and eventually re-take Washington.
The focus of the event was the health-care issue. Liberal interest groups held a “protest” rally for Obamacare, while others of us lodged a counter-protest off to one side of the steps and reflecting pool. I spent much of my time watching, listening, and talking to fellow counter-protesters. I want to share with you what I learned.
First, I want to congratulate John Faulk, Eric Story, Josh Parker and the Texas Tea Party Society of Houston, and the several “right to life” and religious organizations, who came together on short notice to coordinate the counter-protest. I also want to commend Roy Morales and Chris Daniel for coming and participating. Although we were out-numbered, the size and energy of the counter-protest successfully drained some of the time and attention of the speakers away from what they had planned to be a love-fest for Obamacare.
However, what I saw concerned me greatly, and underscored one of the many reasons why I am running for HCRP Chair: the GOP is still not ready to fight the ground battle against the Obama machine.
Although the polls show that public support for the Democratic takeover of the health-care industry is plummeting, only the Democratic Party and its close allies appear ready for this fight. The sponsors of the rally were Organizing for America (an official affiliate of the Democratic National Committee), ACORN, and several unions. Their participants were bused to the rally and signed-in, their signs were pre-printed and professional, and the media was pre-positioned to record the rally from a position that exaggerated the strength of their numbers.
Meanwhile, the courageous individuals who showed-up to form a counter-protest were denied a permit to use a microphone or bullhorn, and were physically relegated to one area off to the side opposite of where the media was stationed. Except for the Texas Tea Party Banner, and a few pre-printed signs and cards, the signs held by the counter-protesters were hand-made and hard to see from a distance. This ad hoc assembly was no match for the Democratic coordination.
The GOP needs a functioning party apparatus at all levels—local, state, and national—that is ready to go toe-to-toe with the Obama machine that the Democratic Party is operating. We won’t assemble this apparatus by co-opting the name and email lists of the Tea Party and other new organizations for use by our party leaders (nor will we get very far when our current chair sends an email out that correctly notifies the base about Al-Jazeera's inexplicable presence in our County Jail, but then threatens public safety by mistakenly asking people to call and clog an emergency phone line). A party takeover of these new organizations, especially by the Keystone Cops operation now in control of Richmond Avenue, is not the answer.
This is not a top-down war—it must be fought from the grassroots, by the grassroots. Rather than takeover or co-opt the new organizations, the party needs to invite these new activists—both the leaders and the members of these new separate organizations—into the party, invite them into empty precinct chairs and other positions, and invite them into our affiliated clubs and organizations (or encourage them to affiliate their new clubs with the GOP). Then, we need to support their energy and innovation by helping to mobilize them into a force to rival Organizing for America.
If we don’t take these steps this fall, and channel the energy of these individuals into our primary and to help elect our candidates in 2010, we may look back on this time as the greatest wasted opportunity the GOP ever had.
If we are brave enough to open the party to this new opportunity, and act boldly now, I am confident we will re-take what we lost in Harris County, preserve what we have in Austin, and eventually re-take Washington.
A Plan for Future Coordination: The HCRP and the TFRW clubs in Harris County
Recently, I had the privilege of speaking to the Bay Area Republican Women's Club ("BARWC"), an affiliated member of the Texas Federation of Republican Women ("TFRW"). As anyone who has ever been involved with the party knows, the secret to the GOP’s electoral success is the hard work and dedication of its women—as volunteers, as organizers, as fundraisers, and as candidates. The indispensable vehicle for mobilizing our women has been our Republican Women’s Clubs. Unfortunately, what I observed as a candidate during the last election cycle was a disconnection between many of the TFRW clubs in Harris County and the operation of the HCRP during the last election cycle.
The analogy I’ve used to describe this disconnection is to an old pocket watch. For a pocket watch to work, the gears must not only turn, they must engage each other. During the last election cycle, our clubs and party organization functioned like a watch in which the gears are all moving, but none of them engage each other. The outcome was predictable. Now, the gears need to be re-engaged for us to re-capture Harris County for the GOP.
Therefore, during my recent speech I outlined my proposal to restore the historic role of our women’s clubs in the operation of the HCRP as part of my strategic plan. To restore that role, I’ve specifically proposed the following:
*Inclusion in the governance of the HCRP. I intend to revise the structure of the HCRP’s Advisory Board to dedicate 4 of the 15 seats on the board to representatives of the TFRW Clubs located in Harris County. The proposal is that each of the four seats will be assigned to clubs located in each of the county commissioners’ precincts, and the seats themselves will rotate among the clubs in each precinct on an annual basis. Therefore, no club or region will be allowed to dominate involvement on the board, or be left out of involvement on the board. I promise that the final design of this plan will be decided after consultation with the President of the Greater Houston Council of the TFRW.
*Providing the core of our volunteer staff. As part of the effort to get local chapters of all of the affiliated clubs working with the HCRP again, I will ask the TFRW clubs to establish a volunteer staff to provide for continuous, open operation of the headquarters office, and any and all satellite offices in the county, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week throughout the year. During the 60 days leading up to and including the early vote and Election Day, the operation of these offices should be staffed at least 10 hours a day, 7 days a week. As part of this effort, I will ask the TFRW to work with the HCRP to design and implement local programs, like after-school activities, adult education classes and citizenship classes, which can be conducted in future satellite offices.
*Direct involvement in the GOTV effort. In consultation with the President of the Greater Houston Council of the TFRW, and the presidents of the TFRW clubs throughout Harris County, the new Vice Chair (Director) of Campaign Support will work with the clubs to coordinate volunteer participation with campaigns and the party’s mobilization and get-out-the-vote efforts.
*Inclusion in the communication loop within the party organization. As affiliated organizations develop online, the HCRP will link the TFRW club websites and social networking sites into the secure intranet to be developed for the party, in order to facilitate communication and coordination among campaigns, precinct chairs and club members in preparation for, and during the 13-day get-out-the-vote effort. These links will create “virtual” satellite offices that are linked into the full menu of online party communications and organizations.
*Cooperation to expand our outreach through electronic technology. The HCRP will work with our affiliated clubs, including the TFRW clubs, to promote the creation of new online “virtual” clubs as part of an effort to embrace younger voters. Many people under 35 years of age spend hours socializing and networking with others online in ways that mimic the ways we and our parents used our Republican clubs and community service organizations. We need to try and harness this energy and socialization to our advantage by learning to incorporate these new networking methods into the culture of our historic club-based organizational structure.
*Inclusion in the training process. The HCRP will develop and implement a Candidate Training Seminar and a Consultant Training Seminar, with the help of affiliated clubs, including the TFRW clubs. These seminars should provide consistent training in campaign technology, marketing and get-out-the-vote activities to all prospective candidates and their consultants. Access to this seminar should then be provided on a quarterly basis in the future.
*Coordination of candidate forums. The HCRP will include the TFRW clubs in the scheduling of formal candidate forums during the primary season.
*Involvement in the creation of a sustaining-donor fundraising campaign. The HCRP will ask the clubs to coordinate an annual fundraising drive for the party during the spring of each year to augment our development of a sustaining base of small and medium-size contributors for the party.
*Providing staff for our "war room" to respond to media stories. The HCRP will develop an online virtual “war-room” through the new interactive website. The purpose of the war-room will be to serve as a fast-paced clearinghouse of information that would provide precinct chairs and activists with quick responses to negative stories about Republican candidates and policies after the stories appear in local media and on liberal blogs. Our activists can then use this information to rebut these stories when talking with our voters, and to send rebuttals to the media and blogs. We will ask members of our TFRW clubs to help staff this war room, and to mentor young, computer-savvy volunteers who we also will recruit.
*Involvement in the public promotion of the party and its principles. The HCRP will develop a media plan to re-educate voters about our principles and to promote our message. This plan will include the creation of short spots on local media and the Internet, including radio and TV stations that service our Target Outreach Communities, in which noted spokespersons and party officials discuss the application of our principles to real issues. We will ask our TFRW clubs to provide volunteers to help prepare, produce and participate in these spots.
*Involvement in the process of meeting and registering new voters. When schools start in August of each year, the HCRP needs to have representatives on those campuses talking to the new incoming students. When new housing developments start to sell homes, or when occupancy permits are issued, we should be there with a welcome basket of sorts (including voter-registration forms). When a new business opens, we should greet the new entrepreneur with our message and our best wishes. I will work with the President of the Greater Houston Council of the TFRW clubs, and the presidents of the local TFRW clubs in Harris County to provide volunteers to staff this project.
*Support for GOTV in cross-county races. Finally, as part of a new coordination effort with adjacent counties with which we share overlapping congressional, legislative and judicial districts, the new Vice Chair (Director) of Campaign Support will work with the President of the Greater Houston Council of the TFRW clubs, and the presidents of the local TFRW clubs in those affected districts, to help with joint, cross-county mobilization and get-out-the-vote efforts.
In addition to these proposed steps, I and the members of the new leadership team will include the President of the Greater Houston Council of the TFRW in our consultations as we develop and implement our reform agenda for the HCRP. I am confident that if we work together, we will restore the prominence of the GOP in Harris County. I look forward to that effort.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Time
In recent posts I’ve discussed how the HCRP should address the problems of credibility, communication and organization. With this post I plan to begin wading into the issue of how to distill our principles into a message to coordinate with the campaigns of our candidates and elected officials.
In this first post on this issue I want to address what I believe must be a fundamental concept underlying our message: Time.
No, I’ve not fallen off my rocker and think that the GOP should now be in the wrist-watch or clock-making business; nor am I about to bloviate about the nature of the universe. Instead, I believe the GOP will not reconnect with the average voter, and rebuild our credibility, until we show how our principles and policy prescriptions are relevant to their daily lives. What issue could be more relevant to daily life, and to our agenda, than time management?
Think about it: if we Republicans believe that the answers to most of our problems lie in shifting control of money and decision-making away from government or an anointed elite, and back to the individual, we must realize that one of the most important tasks for American government at the local level is to secure the maximum amount of time for use by the individual to pursue his or her happiness, and the happiness of others. As you read the rest of this post, keep in mind all of the times you have talked with others about volunteering, or getting involved in local government or school issues, only to be told that people don't have time to get involved.
Regardless of what the environmentalists say, the only truly scarce, non-renewable resource is time. For Republican principles to work effectively to improve society, individuals need control of as much time as possible every day to spend in pursuit of their well-being, as well as the well-being of their families, their neighbors, and their communities. People need time to volunteer, and to devote to local government and schools. When we couple the amount of time most of us devote to earning an income, with just the amount of time we spend in traffic every day, it is easy to see why we have ceded so much control over our lives and our communities to others—especially to bureaucrats. This problem will only get worse here, and in surrounding counties, as Harris County’s population alone is projected to double over the next 10 to 15 years.
However, not all of us have the same problem with time. In certain neighborhoods, the problem is not too little time. Instead, the key problem is that too many people, including children who have dropped-out of school, and under-educated and unemployed men, have too much time on their hands, and they lack the ability or the inclination to control that time wisely. As a result, they use their abundance of time to tear, rather than mend, the fabric of their lives, the lives of their families, and the lives of their communities.
Therefore, to address the pressing issues facing our county now and over the next decade, the local GOP, working with its elected officials and candidates, needs to develop a message and a policy agenda that includes a focus on returning control of time to individuals, while re-channeling wasted time among some individuals toward their self-improvement and the improvement of their neighborhoods. Every issue we face should be looked at from many different angles, including in the context of time. Such issues include:
These efforts can be enhanced by understanding—
By developing messages and policies designed to preserve this most precious commodity, and to promote its use for the well-being of the individual and all he or she cares about most, we could begin to address many of the daily frustrations in people’s lives and tap into a great reservoir of good will in this community. Once we make such a visceral connection with the average voter, we can use that connection to rebuild our credibility with voters by showing how our ideals are relevant to their daily lives.
Ultimately, recognizing the importance of time, and developing relevant policies to address its importance, will help us elect Republicans to office throughout all of the cities and communities that comprise Harris County.
In this first post on this issue I want to address what I believe must be a fundamental concept underlying our message: Time.
No, I’ve not fallen off my rocker and think that the GOP should now be in the wrist-watch or clock-making business; nor am I about to bloviate about the nature of the universe. Instead, I believe the GOP will not reconnect with the average voter, and rebuild our credibility, until we show how our principles and policy prescriptions are relevant to their daily lives. What issue could be more relevant to daily life, and to our agenda, than time management?
Think about it: if we Republicans believe that the answers to most of our problems lie in shifting control of money and decision-making away from government or an anointed elite, and back to the individual, we must realize that one of the most important tasks for American government at the local level is to secure the maximum amount of time for use by the individual to pursue his or her happiness, and the happiness of others. As you read the rest of this post, keep in mind all of the times you have talked with others about volunteering, or getting involved in local government or school issues, only to be told that people don't have time to get involved.
Regardless of what the environmentalists say, the only truly scarce, non-renewable resource is time. For Republican principles to work effectively to improve society, individuals need control of as much time as possible every day to spend in pursuit of their well-being, as well as the well-being of their families, their neighbors, and their communities. People need time to volunteer, and to devote to local government and schools. When we couple the amount of time most of us devote to earning an income, with just the amount of time we spend in traffic every day, it is easy to see why we have ceded so much control over our lives and our communities to others—especially to bureaucrats. This problem will only get worse here, and in surrounding counties, as Harris County’s population alone is projected to double over the next 10 to 15 years.
However, not all of us have the same problem with time. In certain neighborhoods, the problem is not too little time. Instead, the key problem is that too many people, including children who have dropped-out of school, and under-educated and unemployed men, have too much time on their hands, and they lack the ability or the inclination to control that time wisely. As a result, they use their abundance of time to tear, rather than mend, the fabric of their lives, the lives of their families, and the lives of their communities.
Therefore, to address the pressing issues facing our county now and over the next decade, the local GOP, working with its elected officials and candidates, needs to develop a message and a policy agenda that includes a focus on returning control of time to individuals, while re-channeling wasted time among some individuals toward their self-improvement and the improvement of their neighborhoods. Every issue we face should be looked at from many different angles, including in the context of time. Such issues include:
- the physical infrastructure of roads and transportation;Some of our Republican elected officials already are thinking about these issues in a manner consistent with an emphasis on time. Our Republican county commissioners and county judge are looking at the future development of our physical infrastructure, and the location of medical clinics, in ways that would maximize efficient use of time and resources; our tax assessor is simplifying access to the many services his office provides by making access to these services available closer to where people live and work; and our Republican District Attorney and judges are looking at ways to preserve punishment for breaking laws while keeping young, non-violent offenders in school and preparing for effective citizenship, rather than wasting their time and futures behind bars.
- community development and location;
- construction and operation of utilities, schools, hospitals and emergency services;
- incorporated versus unincorporated development and governance of new communities; and
- the community infrastructure of law enforcement and the judiciary, of schools, and of private organizations that care for the needs of citizens.
These efforts can be enhanced by understanding—
- the important relationship between effective time management and every conscious or subconscious choice a citizen makes every day; andObviously, it is too simplistic to say that promoting a new emphasis on the control of time will miraculously solve all of society’s problems—that would be ridiculous. However, because this issue is so important to making the rest of our agenda work, we Republicans have ignored it to our detriment.
- the daily frustration people suffer because of a desperate feeling that they lack control of their time and, therefore, lack control of their lives.
By developing messages and policies designed to preserve this most precious commodity, and to promote its use for the well-being of the individual and all he or she cares about most, we could begin to address many of the daily frustrations in people’s lives and tap into a great reservoir of good will in this community. Once we make such a visceral connection with the average voter, we can use that connection to rebuild our credibility with voters by showing how our ideals are relevant to their daily lives.
Ultimately, recognizing the importance of time, and developing relevant policies to address its importance, will help us elect Republicans to office throughout all of the cities and communities that comprise Harris County.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Our Leadership Team: Fundraising
One of the promises I have made since I began running for HCRP Chair, is that I would run to lead an experienced and diverse team of local Republicans to rebuild the party quickly in order to win the 2010 elections. I know that there is too much to accomplish in too short of a period of time for one person to take-on all of the responsibility alone.
Over the last few months, I have been meeting with, and continue to meet with leaders of every faction, every age group and every community within the party. Many have already agreed to serve on the leadership team if we win, and I will be announcing several of them for key positions before the March primary. We will go into the election presenting ourselves as a team, and I will run as the leader of that team.
Consistent with my promise, I want to announce the first member of that team today.
Of the many issues facing the party, one issue that impacts every other issue is the financial condition of the HCRP. Last year, after deducting the money that flowed through the party between the state and the county party and from the incumbent judges’ campaign accounts for the joint judicial campaign, the party actually spent $416,427 on the operations of the party. Meanwhile, its independent fundraising base of 306 individuals, 13 entities and PACs and 4 local clubs, raised only $243,297 (in fact, $84,500 of that amount came from contributions from only two individuals). What kept the lights on at Richmond Avenue for the Republican Party in the most Republican-leaning metropolitan county in the country last year were continual infusions of cash from elected officials and candidates in a year when they needed the money for their own fall campaigns. That situation was pathetic.
But it’s gotten worse. As of June 30, 2009, after the party’s biggest fundraiser of the year, the party was left with a little over $11,000—not enough to continue paying its rent or its staff during May and June, and not enough to pay debts owed from the 2008 campaign cycle. Moreover, much of the money that was raised came from those same elected officials and candidates who desperately need the party to help them, not the other way around.
We plan to change this dynamic by creating a new fundraising initiative under the guidance of a new Vice Chair of Finance (who I will appoint as a Director until we amend the Bylaws). The Vice Chair will work with the Treasurer on creating and implementing the budget, and will supervise a fundraising team. We intend to simultaneously implement a Capital Campaign to raise funds to modernize the party to prepare for the 2010 and 2012 election cycles, while working to with the Vice Chair's team and the current finance committee of the Executive Committee to build on current ideas, and generate and implement additional ideas, for creating a sustaining contributor base.
To help me turn this around, I am proud to announce that long-time Republican activist and community volunteer, Robert “Bob” Shults, has agreed to serve as the Vice Chair of Finance. Professionally, Bob is a name shareholder with the law firm of McFall Breitbeil & Shults, P.C., is a former Assistant District Attorney for Harris County, a member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel and Defense Research Institute, and was chair of a subcommittee on insurance coverage for environmental claims of the American Bar Association. His community work includes his service on the board of Child Advocates, Inc., and his appointment in May, 2008 by Governor Perry to serve on the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission. Bob is a long-time member and former President of the Greater Houston Pachyderm Club, is the current President of United Republicans, and has campaigned and fundraised tirelessly for Republican candidates over the years.
I welcome Bob to our team.
Over the last few months, I have been meeting with, and continue to meet with leaders of every faction, every age group and every community within the party. Many have already agreed to serve on the leadership team if we win, and I will be announcing several of them for key positions before the March primary. We will go into the election presenting ourselves as a team, and I will run as the leader of that team.
Consistent with my promise, I want to announce the first member of that team today.
Of the many issues facing the party, one issue that impacts every other issue is the financial condition of the HCRP. Last year, after deducting the money that flowed through the party between the state and the county party and from the incumbent judges’ campaign accounts for the joint judicial campaign, the party actually spent $416,427 on the operations of the party. Meanwhile, its independent fundraising base of 306 individuals, 13 entities and PACs and 4 local clubs, raised only $243,297 (in fact, $84,500 of that amount came from contributions from only two individuals). What kept the lights on at Richmond Avenue for the Republican Party in the most Republican-leaning metropolitan county in the country last year were continual infusions of cash from elected officials and candidates in a year when they needed the money for their own fall campaigns. That situation was pathetic.
But it’s gotten worse. As of June 30, 2009, after the party’s biggest fundraiser of the year, the party was left with a little over $11,000—not enough to continue paying its rent or its staff during May and June, and not enough to pay debts owed from the 2008 campaign cycle. Moreover, much of the money that was raised came from those same elected officials and candidates who desperately need the party to help them, not the other way around.
We plan to change this dynamic by creating a new fundraising initiative under the guidance of a new Vice Chair of Finance (who I will appoint as a Director until we amend the Bylaws). The Vice Chair will work with the Treasurer on creating and implementing the budget, and will supervise a fundraising team. We intend to simultaneously implement a Capital Campaign to raise funds to modernize the party to prepare for the 2010 and 2012 election cycles, while working to with the Vice Chair's team and the current finance committee of the Executive Committee to build on current ideas, and generate and implement additional ideas, for creating a sustaining contributor base.
To help me turn this around, I am proud to announce that long-time Republican activist and community volunteer, Robert “Bob” Shults, has agreed to serve as the Vice Chair of Finance. Professionally, Bob is a name shareholder with the law firm of McFall Breitbeil & Shults, P.C., is a former Assistant District Attorney for Harris County, a member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel and Defense Research Institute, and was chair of a subcommittee on insurance coverage for environmental claims of the American Bar Association. His community work includes his service on the board of Child Advocates, Inc., and his appointment in May, 2008 by Governor Perry to serve on the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission. Bob is a long-time member and former President of the Greater Houston Pachyderm Club, is the current President of United Republicans, and has campaigned and fundraised tirelessly for Republican candidates over the years.
I welcome Bob to our team.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Improving Communication Within Our Party
Last week, I addressed the credibility gap within the Republican Party in a post entitled, Matching the Message with the Messenger. In that post, I noted that we must realize that the gap is caused by a systemic problem within the party that must be addressed by focusing on communication, self-interest, competition, and culture. I promised then to elaborate on the communication issue, so I will do that now.
As I wrote last week, to improve communication we must begin to open a dialogue between our elected officials and our party leaders, activists and voters, in order to begin to harmonize the desires of our party with the issues faced by our elected officials on a daily basis in the process of administering their offices. The questions are “how do we open and sustain this dialogue”, and “what is the role of the HCRP in that process”. The answer is that the process must be layered throughout all of the groups and factions of the party (formally and informally), and the HCRP should be the primary facilitator of the dialogue. The goal must be to improve communication between our elected officials and the organization of the HCRP, and between our elected officials and our activists and voters.
There are several ways to start this process. First, I would quickly rebuild the relationship between the HCRP and our elected officials by creating a monthly meeting or luncheon to be attended by elected officials and the members of the HCRP Advisory Board. Each month, the meeting would include a different group of elected officials, e.g., judges, county commissioners, state legislators, state senators, Congressmen, etc. These meetings would focus on the concerns of both groups; how our elected officials are promoting, and/or can promote Republican policies; and how the HCRP can help our elected officials. The outcome of these meetings would be communicated through the secure intranet to the precinct chairs.
Second, our plan to reform the HCRP organization contemplates a high-level of interaction between the Campaign Support sub-organization from the Director/Vice-Chair down to the block captain, with candidates at all levels. The plan also contemplates interaction between the campaigns and the Communications sub-organization and the Outreach sub-organization. The divisions and groups within the proposed new HCRP organization are designed to support the campaigns of our candidates and elected officials by improving the process of identifying Republican voters, communicating with and mobilizing those voters, and getting those voters to the polls during the 13-day general election.
Third, we contemplate a greater use of the internet and radio to facilitate communication. The secure intranet will provide a means for candidates and elected officials to interactively communicate with everyone within the HCRP organization, to address concerns, to develop ideas, to mobilize help for campaigns, and to mobilize responses to the media. We also intend to take our coordinated messages to blogs, social-networking sites, and radio. We will use radio by creating 30 second to one-minute spots, narrated by our party leaders and elected officials, to tell the public about the work our elected officials are doing that is consistent with our principles, and to address important issues and policy initiatives with the public.
Fourth, I would continue the program of Townhall meetings and the plan for the “Roots” initiative started by the current team at Richmond Avenue, but I would revise their mission to focus primarily on rebuilding dialogue and relationships between our elected officials (and candidates) and the public. Instead of using the Townhall meetings to promote the current HCRP leadership team, I would use these meetings to promote the current work of our elected officials, by letting them discuss their offices and their ideas, and by giving them a forum to address the public’s concerns. Rather than promote the “Roots” program as a fundraising activity right now, I would first use the program to rebuild relationships between the party leaders and elected officials on the one hand, and activists at the grassroots on the other hand, by creating a process where these people interact at the precinct level with voters. Only after that relationship has been rebuilt, would I transition this program into a vehicle to create a new small-donor base for the party.
We can not begin to address the perception gap between the concerns of activists and our elected officials without taking concrete steps, like these, to improve communication. The HCRP can not continue to just criticize our Republican officials and widen this gap; it must take the lead in narrowing the gap by facilitating the communication.
As I wrote last week, to improve communication we must begin to open a dialogue between our elected officials and our party leaders, activists and voters, in order to begin to harmonize the desires of our party with the issues faced by our elected officials on a daily basis in the process of administering their offices. The questions are “how do we open and sustain this dialogue”, and “what is the role of the HCRP in that process”. The answer is that the process must be layered throughout all of the groups and factions of the party (formally and informally), and the HCRP should be the primary facilitator of the dialogue. The goal must be to improve communication between our elected officials and the organization of the HCRP, and between our elected officials and our activists and voters.
There are several ways to start this process. First, I would quickly rebuild the relationship between the HCRP and our elected officials by creating a monthly meeting or luncheon to be attended by elected officials and the members of the HCRP Advisory Board. Each month, the meeting would include a different group of elected officials, e.g., judges, county commissioners, state legislators, state senators, Congressmen, etc. These meetings would focus on the concerns of both groups; how our elected officials are promoting, and/or can promote Republican policies; and how the HCRP can help our elected officials. The outcome of these meetings would be communicated through the secure intranet to the precinct chairs.
Second, our plan to reform the HCRP organization contemplates a high-level of interaction between the Campaign Support sub-organization from the Director/Vice-Chair down to the block captain, with candidates at all levels. The plan also contemplates interaction between the campaigns and the Communications sub-organization and the Outreach sub-organization. The divisions and groups within the proposed new HCRP organization are designed to support the campaigns of our candidates and elected officials by improving the process of identifying Republican voters, communicating with and mobilizing those voters, and getting those voters to the polls during the 13-day general election.
Third, we contemplate a greater use of the internet and radio to facilitate communication. The secure intranet will provide a means for candidates and elected officials to interactively communicate with everyone within the HCRP organization, to address concerns, to develop ideas, to mobilize help for campaigns, and to mobilize responses to the media. We also intend to take our coordinated messages to blogs, social-networking sites, and radio. We will use radio by creating 30 second to one-minute spots, narrated by our party leaders and elected officials, to tell the public about the work our elected officials are doing that is consistent with our principles, and to address important issues and policy initiatives with the public.
Fourth, I would continue the program of Townhall meetings and the plan for the “Roots” initiative started by the current team at Richmond Avenue, but I would revise their mission to focus primarily on rebuilding dialogue and relationships between our elected officials (and candidates) and the public. Instead of using the Townhall meetings to promote the current HCRP leadership team, I would use these meetings to promote the current work of our elected officials, by letting them discuss their offices and their ideas, and by giving them a forum to address the public’s concerns. Rather than promote the “Roots” program as a fundraising activity right now, I would first use the program to rebuild relationships between the party leaders and elected officials on the one hand, and activists at the grassroots on the other hand, by creating a process where these people interact at the precinct level with voters. Only after that relationship has been rebuilt, would I transition this program into a vehicle to create a new small-donor base for the party.
We can not begin to address the perception gap between the concerns of activists and our elected officials without taking concrete steps, like these, to improve communication. The HCRP can not continue to just criticize our Republican officials and widen this gap; it must take the lead in narrowing the gap by facilitating the communication.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
A Time to Fight
A friend of mine sent me a copy of an email that is being circulated by Organizing For America (“OFA”), which already is the source of some chatter over Facebook and Twitter. As you may know, OFA is the affiliate of the Democratic National Committee that continues to control, communicate with, and mobilize Obama’s campaign foot soldiers. For the last several months, the focus of OFA has been on the Health Care issue.
The latest email told the recipient:
In my community in Indianapolis, OFA members like me are fighting hard to raise awareness and build support for health insurance reform. We're calling our neighbors, going door-to-door on the weekends, and even spreading the word through local barbershops. …
…I'm asking you join me in making sure Organizing for America has the resources to pull off this historic campaign. Can you join me in donating $1 per day until we enact health insurance reform?
My friend who received the email and forwarded it to me is a long-time Republican and McCain supporter, who somehow got on Obama’s email list during the campaign last year. In his email message, he asked me a simple question: where is our party organization at any level on this issue? As I pointed out in another recent post, the GOP should be developing and campaigning for a market-based alternative health-care system, but the question posed to me is more basic. Why is our party not matching OFA’s mobilization effort?
We complain amongst ourselves, discuss theory, and pass along complicated charts, but where is the mobilization? Where are the volunteers mobilized to call our neighbors, or go door-to-door, or talk in our local barbershops, or send text messages? These tasks should be the job of our Precinct Chairs and club members, and mobilization of those volunteers should be a fundamental task of a functioning party organization. Failure to mobilize the party organization to wage this fight is further evidence of a dysfunctional party apparatus.
I stress again, that we do need ideas and alternative policies, but we also need mobilization—and we needed it yesterday. Sending out 650-word essays on maintaining the status quo is not a plan for mobilization. We knew this issue was coming for over a year, and yet we have no plan for a concerted counter-attack. If we are to get this country, this state, and this county back on track for the GOP and our principles, this must change.
To make the necessary changes to combat and contain the explosion of government created by Obama and desired by Democrats here in Texas, the GOP must mobilize the growing millions of men and women who want sanity returned to the operation of our government. To start this mobilization, the GOP must understand what its goal must be: nothing short of rebuilding America consistent with its founding principles. To rebuild America, we must renew the Republican Party into a fighting machine for our ideals, which will require a modernization of our party organization into an apparatus capable of mobilizing our grassroots into action. Our fighting machine will need leaders: either those who already are in the party organization, or those from outside the party who share our principles and who are tired of the mess our political establishment in Washington has created and is expanding. We must look for leaders who will lead and work--in Congress, in our legislatures, and in our neighborhoods.
The plan we have proposed for the HCRP is designed to make these changes at the local level. The plan will only work, though, if our Precinct Chairs accept the mantle of leadership, work to mobilize the grassroots, and then lead them to act when we need action. If they won't do this, we must find those who will.
Unfortunately, we can not wait for the primary next March to start the needed transformation of the GOP, or the HCRP. Passively grumbling about the direction our country is taking, or emailing dissertations in favor of the status quo, won't stop the OFA, and it won't defeat the Democrats' plans for our state and country. The GOP, including the HCRP, must regroup now for the political battle it now faces, and then take the battle to the OFA for the hearts and minds of our neighbors. We need to join our Precinct Chairs and club members with the Tea Partiers and other activists into an immediate mobilization against the growth of the Obama government. If we do this, we will gain the trust and confidence of millions of disillusioned citizens yearning for leadership from the GOP, and we will lay the groundwork for victory in 2010. If we don't, we soon may not recognize the country we live in.
The latest email told the recipient:
In my community in Indianapolis, OFA members like me are fighting hard to raise awareness and build support for health insurance reform. We're calling our neighbors, going door-to-door on the weekends, and even spreading the word through local barbershops. …
…I'm asking you join me in making sure Organizing for America has the resources to pull off this historic campaign. Can you join me in donating $1 per day until we enact health insurance reform?
My friend who received the email and forwarded it to me is a long-time Republican and McCain supporter, who somehow got on Obama’s email list during the campaign last year. In his email message, he asked me a simple question: where is our party organization at any level on this issue? As I pointed out in another recent post, the GOP should be developing and campaigning for a market-based alternative health-care system, but the question posed to me is more basic. Why is our party not matching OFA’s mobilization effort?
We complain amongst ourselves, discuss theory, and pass along complicated charts, but where is the mobilization? Where are the volunteers mobilized to call our neighbors, or go door-to-door, or talk in our local barbershops, or send text messages? These tasks should be the job of our Precinct Chairs and club members, and mobilization of those volunteers should be a fundamental task of a functioning party organization. Failure to mobilize the party organization to wage this fight is further evidence of a dysfunctional party apparatus.
I stress again, that we do need ideas and alternative policies, but we also need mobilization—and we needed it yesterday. Sending out 650-word essays on maintaining the status quo is not a plan for mobilization. We knew this issue was coming for over a year, and yet we have no plan for a concerted counter-attack. If we are to get this country, this state, and this county back on track for the GOP and our principles, this must change.
To make the necessary changes to combat and contain the explosion of government created by Obama and desired by Democrats here in Texas, the GOP must mobilize the growing millions of men and women who want sanity returned to the operation of our government. To start this mobilization, the GOP must understand what its goal must be: nothing short of rebuilding America consistent with its founding principles. To rebuild America, we must renew the Republican Party into a fighting machine for our ideals, which will require a modernization of our party organization into an apparatus capable of mobilizing our grassroots into action. Our fighting machine will need leaders: either those who already are in the party organization, or those from outside the party who share our principles and who are tired of the mess our political establishment in Washington has created and is expanding. We must look for leaders who will lead and work--in Congress, in our legislatures, and in our neighborhoods.
The plan we have proposed for the HCRP is designed to make these changes at the local level. The plan will only work, though, if our Precinct Chairs accept the mantle of leadership, work to mobilize the grassroots, and then lead them to act when we need action. If they won't do this, we must find those who will.
Unfortunately, we can not wait for the primary next March to start the needed transformation of the GOP, or the HCRP. Passively grumbling about the direction our country is taking, or emailing dissertations in favor of the status quo, won't stop the OFA, and it won't defeat the Democrats' plans for our state and country. The GOP, including the HCRP, must regroup now for the political battle it now faces, and then take the battle to the OFA for the hearts and minds of our neighbors. We need to join our Precinct Chairs and club members with the Tea Partiers and other activists into an immediate mobilization against the growth of the Obama government. If we do this, we will gain the trust and confidence of millions of disillusioned citizens yearning for leadership from the GOP, and we will lay the groundwork for victory in 2010. If we don't, we soon may not recognize the country we live in.
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