The Pizza & Politics tour makes its way tonight to Northeast Iowa. Please join us in Dubuque at 6:30 pm at The Shot Tower at 290 Locust Street.
Pizza & Politics Tale of the Tape
Cities Visited: Mason City, Davenport, Burlington, West Des Moines, Orange City, Cedar Rapids and Cedar Falls
Miles Traveled: 1,511
Winter Storm Warnings: 2
Pizzas Consumed: I don’t want to know
RPI Candidate Forum
Saturday’s RPI Chair Forum has been extensively covered by both mainstream media outlets and the conservative Iowa blogosphere, so I wanted to offer a few quick takeaways from Saturday’s forum before I jump into the car and head to Dubuque
Transparency. I have stressed repeatedly throughout my public campaign for chair that all Republicans have a vested interest in the leadership of our party. Kudos to the State Central Committee for providing a very public platform for Iowa Republicans to meet, question, and interact with all the candidates for chair. Ours is a party that believes in an honest and open government that is accountable to the people and it is refreshing to see our party “walk the walk” in applying these principles to the selection of our next leader.
Enthusiasm. I have frequently commented during my Pizza & Politics tour how impressed I am with the number of Republican activists who are eager to engage in our party’s renewal. Saturday was no different as over 100 people turned out for the forum. This optimism, energy and passion among activists at all levels will be a key ingredient as we build toward our 2010 electoral successes.
Civility. While SCC member Bill Schickel referenced Reagan’s 11th Commandment during his introductory remarks, it was encouraging and illustrative that at no point during the forum did it need be invoked.
The six of us set the tone for moving the party forward by focusing on the tasks crucial to building the organizational, financial and communicative structure for battling the Democrat majority and its “more government cures all ills” ideology. Over the past year, our party has seen a hard-fought GOP presidential caucus, a competitive primary for the US Senate and the Second Congressional District, as well as numerous state legislative primaries. With those battles in the rear-view mirror, it is imperative we continue to look ahead as RPI and its Chairman will be at the tip of the spear from day one in aggressively communicating to Iowa’s voters that conservative, results-oriented solutions empowering private enterprise and the family are sorely needed in Des Moines and Congress.
All the candidates bring different life experiences and skills to the RPI, but after this weekend there should be no doubt by anyone that all my colleagues competing to lead the Iowa GOP have the best interests of the party in their hearts. Many excellent thoughts were shared not just by the candidates, but by those activists in attendance. I am confident following next Saturday’s vote all Republicans are ready to move forward – together - in creating a Republican Party of Iowa that is a relevant force in delivering GOP victories at all levels throughout Iowa.
