Oakland County Republican Convention

Tonight was the Oakland County (MI) Republican Convention, and as an elected official from northern Oakland County, it was my duty to show up, and I thought I'd pass along some of my thoughts and observations about it to you.

One of the great aspects of going to these events and actually participating in partisan politics is that you come in contact with people who believe in and talk about such things as freedom, liberty, and choices- the first conversation that I overheard on coming in the room was a conversation about how we can work to better protect individuals life, liberty, and property in this great Republic. While the Democratic Party might sound like a Marx convention, talking about the People, welfare, and increasing taxing and spending, the Republican Party sounds like the Founding Fathers, discussing the Declaration of Independence.

Like most Republican gatherings, it began with the Pledge of Allegiance, and as usual, I wonder if the Democrats begin meetings in a similar manner- I would guess that they don't. Some of the aspects of the Pledge really don't fit with the modern liberal Democratic Party- promising to do something, believing in God, and believing in liberty.

Next, the new chair, David Law, made some remarks to the delegates there. He talked about fighting through the Democratic wave, overcoming the wave of popular opinion, and focusing on creating good policy and talking about how to make government better. The Democrats will overreach- in fact, the Bankrupt America Pork Bill they passed yesterday shows how much and how often they will overreach- and when they do, they will be held accountable. Mike Cox, the Attorney-General of Michigan, followed him, and looked and sounded better than in the past, spreading a message of mostly hope and change- hope that as a country we are merely in the darkest of night before the Republican sunrise, and speaking about how we can work to change our nation into a prosperous and moral one again.

The only real objection I had came next at the meeting- the likely new state chairman, Ron Weiser, gave a speech that focused on stamping out dissent and enforcing unity in the party, something I wrote about earlier this week. I reject that philosophy- now is not the time to build a unified voice, but to re-discover our conservative voice and learn new ways to voice it. I aim to cause chaos, and got the impression that Weiser looks down on people like me.

After that speech, former-Congressman Joe Knollenberg spoke, and conversationally mentioned that he was proud of the House Republicans, who all stuck together to vote no yesterday, and was also proud of the Democrats who joined with them. He said that the reason why more Democrats didn't vote no is because Pelosi ordered them to toe the line, or else there would be consequences. Say what you want about President Bush or the Republicans when they controlled Congress, but they at least said 'vote your conscience' or 'serve your constituents'- only Democrats believe in tyranny and oppression, and Pelosi is a great example of someone who wants power in order to control others, not to make the country more free and prosperous.

Before I left I had a nice conversation with a friend of mine, who is from East Germany, and still remembers from her childhood living under the communists. She is increasingly dismayed by the direction our nation is heading- instead of moving farther from communism, farther from corruption, farther from poverty, farther from the ills of living under a tyrannical government, she thinks that we are moving closer to these things, especially with the latest elections and legislation passed in Congress. Hearing this from someone who has been there made an impression on me.

Not bad for a couple hours on a weekday night- if you aren't involved with the Republican Party yet, I advise you to do so- it is a rewarding experience.