Five Points

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

More on S.C.'s Governor

I've added a few paragraphs to the original post on remarks by S.C. Governor Mark Sanford this weekend. Just so you'll know.

Labels: CLC

Saturday, April 28, 2007

Agreed on History

Gov. Sanford finished his remarks with the account of Col. Joshua Chamberlain's recovery of some 200 deserters for the Union army, culminating a few days later in their successful defense of Little Round Top on the Union left at Gettysburg. It's a great piece of history and I have used the incident for illustrations of several things in presentations I've done, too.

Sanford says that their success on the second day of Gettysburg set up the final victory on the third day, which changed the course of the war and certainly of the country.

What's more, he said, it changed world history too, because in his opinion a disunited America would not have been capable of fighting the two-front war against Fascist and Imperialist agression in the 1940's.

I have had the same thought in the "what if" mode. Could two Americas have been united enough to oppose Hitler and Tojo? Good question, and maybe doubtful. There is great security in believing in a God who does rule in the affairs of men, and therefore knowing that all events of history have passed through His hands and are fully integrated into His providential plan for the world.

Labels: CLC

S.C.'s Governor

South Carolina's governor is providing the keynote for lunch today.

He spoke on the spirit of the founding revolutionaries, who banded together make a positive change in their country, without waiting for instructions or leadership from the government. They believed and codified that the individual is the sole repository of power in our political system, and any portion of government has legitimacy only so far as the people have consented to it.

The response to Hurricane Katrina illustrates how far we have consented. Where do people turn when we feel threatened? "Too often, it's the government."

He references Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat and says that for the first time in recorded history, a kid here in Raleigh is directly competing with a kid in Shanghai, Dublin, or another foreign location. We aren't tied to geography like we always were. This is a world completely unimaginable to our grandfathers or even our fathers. David McCollough, the author of 1776, said the most pivotal time in America's history was not 1776 but 2000-2005.

Sanford says that education is the great frontier of the conservative movement. I didn't catch the rest in my notes -- it was a passing comment -- but I think he's right, and not just in the institutional sense of what do we do with the schools. Conservatives have to educate the electorate on why this principles are so important. There is a lot of education pouring through the screens of the main stream media, and we need to get the canoe moving against the current.

"Wherever you are and how you'd like to make a difference, please don't forget the small things," Sanford said. "The name of the game is trying to make a difference by keeping the promises you made to get in there."

Warfare has casualties, he said, and conservatives are in a battle. We need to be ready to lose if necessary to get the message out and stand on principles.

"Be of courage and be willing to take risks," he said. "Winston Churchill said, 'Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm'."

"Look for ways to be happy warriors," the governor said. The Biblical parable of the talents, he reminded, is "not about what we do best, but what we do with what we have."

"Remember it's a movement, not a transaction," he said.

-----

UPDATE: Added more notes to the original posting.

Labels: CLC

The Theme

While listening to Lt. Gov. Steele, it struck me that the overriding theme of this conference would have to be "Get over it and get to work". Those weren't his words, but that is the underlying or the overt message of many of the speakers I've heard this weekend.

Coming from the party which lost over two thousand officeholders in the last election, that's good advice.

Labels: CLC

The Unified Message and the Candidate to Carry It

Laurie Byrd (Whizbang!), in the audience behind me, said that the independence of people like Bill LuMaye and Fox News, neither of which lockstep with talking points, is what makes them successful.

Jeff Katz calls the "unified message" idea "a recipe for disaster"; conservative media is already portrayed as Republican shills. "A good talk show host knows his audience and what they want to talk about. A great talk show host is not afraid to occasionally tell his audience, 'I don't agree with you.'" Rush Limbaugh was always most popular when there was an opposition candidate in office, and he has suffered from the perception that he has been carrying water for the Republicans. "You believe what you believe, advance that, and do it without reservation, with hesitation, and without apology ... without saying 'This is what the Republican party should be doing', 'This is what the Democrats should be doing'."

Nathan Tabor said he doesn't mean talking points, but linking together to help one another out.

Someone said conservatives don't have a George Soros funding our own Moveon.org, but Tabor asks, "Are all conservatives broke? ..." but re-emphasized that we need to be working together wherever we can. Mittan said recently a legislator (Susan Fisher) clearly presented different positions on LuMaye's program in Raleigh than she had said on Mittan's in Asheville; a mutual listener tipped them and the two programs shared that information. However, it was the listeners, not the hosts, that made that happen.

Curtis Wright said, in response to a question why conservative candidates have difficulty getting on the radio, that the liberal network better understands sales, and that conservative candidates don't do the job about returning calls and emails. Jeff Katz said that supporters and staff need to be working on the candidates to make them interesting guests, too. "If you want your guests on the air, you have to remember this is an entertainment medium." He continued, "We had better decide what conservative means --" such as whether Rudy Giuliani is really a conservative, to be speaking at this conference, for example. "Fundamentally, your guy has to be interesting ... it's about grabbing as many human beings as possible and force them to listen as long as possible." And Bill LuMaye says the problem he sees is that no candidate has emerged with enough conservatism to attract the energy and excitement which he believes is latent in the community.

Nathan Tabor asked how many bloggers were in the audience. I saw at least eight hands; just in my corner of the room, literally within arm's reach, are myself, Scott Elliott, and Laurie Byrd. Tabor said there are local commentators blogging in every county about local issues and events, and activists need to get their candidates in touch with these people, too.

Ric Martinez said we have to remember that dealing with ideas and facts is not enough; we have to remember that emotions are legitimate too. Limbaugh is successful because he not only communicates the ideas, but engages you with humor and emotion too. Wright also points out that we have to work hard and share information to make this happen.

Donna Martinez said the liberal message is, "We care and we want to help you." Conservatives have to communicate that too.

Elizabeth Torres is a young woman in the front row, and she told me before the session she intended to be part of the Q&A. She just asked how we should get the message to the young people. Mittan said that the largest bloc is people who don't listen to the radio; he is reaching out to people who don't tune in to Limbaugh and listen to Mittan on their way to Hannity by speaking at college campuses. Elizabeth told me that her older sister is the one who was talking with Howard Lee in yesterday's education panel.

Penultimate question is coming from a young man who is vice-chairman of the UNC-Greensboro College Republicans. His comment is that liberals are targeting young conservatives on campus, and the only air they've been able to get is Wright's station in Wilmington and Mike Adams on Townhall.com. Wright said the reason Greensboro got on the air in Wilmington is there was a connection with UNC-Wilmington and the Star-News wouldn't cover it; it was newsworthy so his station carried it all day. The key is finding news and then packaging it.

Coming from my own experience leading a nonprofit advocacy group, I can say "Amen" to that. Ric Martinez told him, no offense, but, "Too bad. You don't decide what's news. You have to be persistent." And that, I think, is quite true.

Session over, on to lunch ...

Labels: CLC

Racial Politics and Conservative Media

An African-American man in the audience said there is not enough coming from the GOP to discredit the leadership of Sharpton and Jackson; he said the black community doesn't see them as leaders but idiots, but the Republicans are not reaching out on that subject.

Curtis Wright challenged his fellow hosts to open their shows on a daily basis to Democratically-registered black leaders, as he [apparently] has done. Bill LuMaye said that he has done some outreach of some sorts but recognizes (and has experienced) the danger that their shows and sponsors become targets. "Isn't it powerful radio, though?" Wright asked. Comments from the panel and the audience say that the problem is conservatives are always on the defensive here and should not be.

Ric Martinez said that the Hispanic community tends to be conservative by nature, and immigrants do not naturally go to Social Services because that option doesn't exist where they're from. He said he is regularly asked, "Why do Mexicans work so hard?" He said it's nothing magic, it's just that there's no other option back where they're from.

Martinez continued to emphasize the issue is not so much what the community believes but what the media presents, and we who have connections with the media need to be standing forth for conservative principles.

Labels: CLC

Process Check

I've got some notes from the other speakers at breakfast, including Senator Smith, but I'm going to be catching up on them as I have opportunity during the day.

I've had some interesting conversations this morning with Patrick Ballantine, Dr. Erik Root of the N.C. Family Policy Council, Bart Ely of Clear Glass Productions, Matt Mittan of WWNC in Asheville, and columnist Ric Martinez. I'll see if I can work some of this in during the day.

Labels: CLC

Friday, April 27, 2007

A parting observation

Here in the midst of the Conservative Leadership Conference, there is one room reserved for the North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards Commission meeting still in progress. Interesting juxtaposition.

Labels: CLC

Collecting thoughts

Former Maryland Governor Bob Ehrlich listens to introductory remarks

from Civitas vicepresident Tom Stith on Friday.

Labels: CLC

"We've got to be relentless"

Former Maryland governor Bob Ehrlich made a $6 billion turnaround in state budgets, from a $4 billion deficit, while in office. He made department heads start with 88% of the previous year's budget and justify every dollar more to him personally. And he said, "We governors like to say we created so many jobs, but really, I just got out of the way of 100,000 new jobs that were created in our state."

But he said we have to face the facts of the 2006 elections. "We need to think about what a wipeout election this was, as a constant reminder when we regain power, that we can not mess up."

It was an "edgy" talk, as he warned, but good to consider. His overall point: "If these numbers are to turn around, we have to be hyperactive to get this message out to the community." We can view last November as a loss, or as a defeat, but it's up to us to rebuild our credibility now, while it's low for the conservative movement.

Labels: CLC

Newtonian ideas

Congressman Pat McHenry said the time has come for Republicans to embrace Reaganesque ideas, concepts so big and all-embracing he calls them "Newtonian".

We know how to make the phone calls, we know how to knock on the doors, but if we can't explain to the people what we want to do with that power if they give it to us ...

What are these big ideas? McHenry says a free market reform of healthcare and education, making both of them tax free. "If it's really a priority, then show it," he said. Tax reform should be a primary goal, and should begin by abolishing the tax code effective December 31, 2010, when the Bush tax cuts revert back to Clinton-era levels. He called for the Secretary of Education to cut fifty checks a year, block grants to the states, then go home, work completed. (This is closer to a Constitutional role of the federal government in education, anyway.) Judiciary reform should take the form of term limits for federal judges and redistricting after every census, just like the legislature. Finally, he called for "a 21st Century Manhattan Project" to eliminate the dependence on foreign energy -- again, as a free market, incentive-driven endeavor. He suggested a $1 billion prize for energy innovation.

Labels: CLC

A need for self-restraint

Justice Bob Orr, gubernatorial candidate, gave an excellent speech on the need for citizens and businessmen, as well as their representatives, to "avoid the temptation" to seek incentives, concessions, and other financial benefits from the government.

If we do not exercise self-restraint, we will suffer, business with suffer, and the government is going to continue to encroach in your life.

This past week Orr argued at the Court of Appeals on the case of the Dell incentives, $300 million worth from the state and Winston-Salem, and spoke of the importance of the "'public purpose' provision" in the state constitution -- that tax funds cannot be taken for any reason but a definite public purpose.

He included an excellent quote from Edmund Burke which I will try and update later on.

Humor: Justice Orr apologized for leaving early, but he has a political event in the western part of the state tomorrow morning and an event back here Sunday. He said he is the only candidate who does not have his own airplane, but he has christened his pickup truck "Orr Force One" and plans to sell T-shirts, hats, and mugs to people who have ridden with him.

Labels: CLC

Reagan's Legacy

The love and reverance we see for Ronald Reagan is more than simply team spirit. Reagan was a genuine conservative whose convictions didn't change and "evolve" as he mounted the political ladder.

A couple of years ago I reviewed Lee Edwards' short biography The Essential Ronald Reagan. One incident stays in my memory. Edwards had an opportunity to visit the Reagans in their apartment shortly after Reagan entered the political scene. In a quiet moment, left alone in their den, Edwards browsed their bookshelves. Not only did the Reagans have copies of classic economics books by the likes of Hayek and Bastiat, they were well-worn, dog-eared, and thoroughly annotated by the owner.

Another book, Reagan In His Own Hand, is a collection of the essays he wrote for his radio broadcasts in the 1970's. They are brilliant, like gems of concise viewpoint from an unerringly conservative position, and cover a wide range of topics and issues. They are great examples of the art of writing, apart from their philosophical content.

The panel this evening is fleshing out the history with some of their personal recollections of Ronald Reagan. Former Lt. Gov. Jim Gardner shared his time spent with Reagan as a young Congressman in the 1960's and as political campaigner at other times. His wife observed that a campaign trip to Asheville, when then Governor Reagan stepped aside to allow her to exit the plane first, was "the first time I wasn't run down by politicians fighting their way to the microphone." He was a real gentleman as well as a real conservative.

Frank Gaffney served in Reagan's State Department and most recently got headlines when his documentary film, Islam v. Islamists: Voices from the Muslim Center, has been supressed by the PBS which commissioned it. He says our current fight against Islamofascism is exactly parallel to the fight against Soviet Communism in the 1980s. Gaffney says that we need to take the same steps that Reagan did, including defining political statements like his "Tear down this wall!" speech, and serious efforts to dry up the funding which keeps terrorism going.

Congressman Pat McHenry observes that Ronald Reagan made a point of befriending House Speaker Tip O'Neill to expedite the political battles he had to face. This is not standard practice now in Congress. On the other hand, Gaffney pointed out, Reagan had to contend with a Democratic Congress that wanted to impeach him over Iran-Contra, wanted to derail the Strategic Defense Initiative, and went absolutely bananas over his "destructive" statements confronting Communism.

The impact Reagan had on conservatism and this country as a whole can't even start to be appreciated in a single session, but it's always good to hear from those who knew him first hand and had experience in "the revolution". It's probably time for another.

Labels: CLC

A moment of illumination

Does Justice Bob Orr receive direct revelation from the Supreme Judge?

Or does the photographer have a problem with stray light?

Labels: CLC, Humor

What's conservatism without Boy Scouts?

My neighbors at lunch were Will and Dewey, twin brothers and Scouts who were invited to lead the Pledge of Allegiance at the opening session. In the course of the conversation Dewey allowed as how his patrol became bored with the traditional names and mascots, and under the influence of way too much caffeine one evening, hit on the "Rabid Chicken" as their mascot. The badge company must have been bored as well, since they created the image for them.

Seems like I was in "Wolf Patrol" when I was a Scout.

A further times-are-changing moment when I asked if their weekend canoe trip was in state. "I hope so," he said. "My Ipod isn't charged up."

Uh oh. The Scout motto is "Be prepared!" Hopefully that's survived the digital revolution.

Labels: CLC, Humor

Questions for the education panel

After the presentations from the four panelists, the audience took part in a lively Q&A session. Frankly, Chairman Lee got hammered pretty hard by the group, and he handled their questions very well. I have to hand it to him for coming to a venue which might be expected to be pretty skeptical about the public school system he helps oversee.

Student interests

In answer to a high school student's question [unfortunately I didn't catch it], Lee said he wants to promote online self-study and more relevant course material even at very young ages. He is also in favor of more peer collaboration and peer tutoring. "One of the things we miss is what really we should be doing to hold and enhance the attention of students," he said, and asked the student for her ideas. She said "maybe not as much books" -- Lee says "Yes!" -- "and shorter classes, since the ADD students are mixed in with the regular students." She said her sister goes to the John Locke Foundation's lunchtime Shaftesbury Society lectures and they are much more interesting than the books the schools use.

An older gentleman disagreed with this sort of concern, saying "Our heads are in the sand and the tail is wagging the dog, worrying about keeping the students happy. We need to be focused on giving them what they need to learn. She needs to be made to do the work she needs to achieve and be successful, and not asked 'What do you want to do today, dear?'

"The highest percentage of kids on grade level [in the counties I researched] was Cumberland County 57%, Robeson 27%. How in God's name do you expect kids to do anything if you socially promote them and you can't hire them to do anything? I was a business owner and I hired high school graduates who couldn't fill out the application forms. I believe you are trying to do your job, Mr. Lee, but I'm just telling you like it is."

Dropout statistics

A man on the front row seconded Stoops' call for better statistics, saying that DPI reported 95% graduation rates until last February, when it suddenly dropped to 68%. "What bothers me," said Lee, "is whether that dropout rate is real either. If that kid leaves the school and enrolls in the community college, he's counted as a dropout but I don't think so."

A recent relocation to the state said he is substitute teaching in the local schools and said in his view, "Chaos in the schools starts at the top." Lee expressed concern that the problem is with local boards which are not performing. Stoops immediately disagreed, referencing the Teacher Working Conditions Survey, saying that the governor, SBE, and DPI, focus on pay and benefits rather than the teachers' stated concern about incompetent administration and leadership. Lee had already stated that until we can make teaching more attractive, safe, decently paid, people are going to make another choice and teacher turnover would remain high.

"At the same time, you're completely wrong saying we don't prioritize this," said Lee. "We cannot ignore the fact that teacher pay is an important part of what we do. Keep in mind this is an initiative for Governor Easley and he said it will be a priority for the state board."

Lee challenged the questioner why he was substituting instead of full time; the listener said he tried but was told there was not a high need for history teachers, like he was in West Virginia. Lee said, "You contact my office; you've been given bad information."

Support for charters but not those charters

"When the charter school movement started in North Carolina, the state board threw out charters like apples coming off a tree, because they were under pressure from the legislature," said Lee. "What I want to do is have a methodical approach, not a blue ribbon commission ..." He said again that he didn't care how many charter schools there are if they are done the way he envisions. He was asked then why not support removing the cap on charters now? He said the commission is a six month project only but left the question somewhat open.

Item: Howard Lee said he purchases a lottery ticket every week. Lee said the legislature's current education budget is "ugly!" and the board is looking to help them "pretty it up".

Labels: CLC, Education

Performance, preparation, and violence in education

Friday's education panel included Howard Lee, chairman of the State Board of Education, and Dr. Terry Stoops, education analyst for the John Locke Foundation, as well as Senator Harry Brown and Representative Dale Folwell of the General Assembly.

Howard Lee says he is working to gain more authority for the SBE to take over school systems from local boards which are taken up by internal strife. He asserts that "Public schools are working". He praised the "Learn and Earn" program and agreed with the call for more "themed high schools".

"If there's one thing I hope we in NC can get away from, it's the mega-high-schools where kids can get lost," he said.

Alternatives to traditional schools

"I am a very strong advocate for charter schools," said Chairman Lee. "I am not an advocate for some of the charter schools we have now.

"I don't think we can build enough buildings to accommodate the growth we have and expect every child in a classroom. That's why I support virtual schools where a gifted and talented student can accelerate themselves through the system. We can no longer require students to put in seat time; the thing that concerns me is the kids that are dropping out is not just slow learning kids, some are very smart kids who are bored to tears."

The new testing review commission will have its first meeting in two weeks, "determine where we are, how many of these tests are useless, and create a system where teachers can get immediate feedback rather than waiting for the end of the year."

In the next 30 days he will have a charter school review commission. "I want the charter schools who are not performing off the books. The idea of the charter school was freedom from the red tape, not that they should not meet standards. If they do that, we don't need to care about the number. I don't care if we have a thousand, if they are performing ... " he said.

"Think with me for a minute," Lee continued. "When we went to school, the community felt ownership of the schools ... we have lost that. Parents are not engaged, the community is not engaged, in some case the schools encourage the community not to be engaged."

He cited constant turnover of teachers and weak community support as continuing problems. "Our goal has to be to prepare students to function in the world, not just in North Carolina or their community," he said. "Guess what, the car that is now number one in the world is Toyota; if we're going to be engaged in that business, we better be able to speak a little Japanese and understand the Japanese culture ..."

School violence is not adequately documented

Dr. Terry Stoops of the Locke Foundation mused that "we are so willing to close down charter schools but not regular schools." Lee interjected "That was the part I left out of my remarks."

Stoops said he'd like to use his time for a rebuttal, but he chose to focus on school violence issues. He said there is a rising awareness that school crime statistics have been "grossly inaccurate".

According to him, in 2005, a Colorado school claimed no crime the same year a student was stabbed to death in the cafeteria. The largest school district in NC reported one sex crime in the 2004-2005 school year, but actually apologized for the administrative oversight when it was published there were several serious and literally hundreds of minor sexual offenses. In some cases, crimes were never reported because the school could not identify the offender.

Why is this happening? "It is an era of accountability. A school not doing well in testing but wishing to show improvement in some area can fudge on crime statistics to claim they are creating a safer school environment," Stoops said. There are also questions of definitions of certain crimes and violence.

We need better data and information, and make sure DPI is accurately reporting this stuff, he said. "We have programs like Positive Behavior Management that we don't have rigorous analysis to tell us whether these programs are working or not."

Stoops mentioned the media did not report that charter schools had a 30% decrease in suspensions while district schools reported increases. District schools reported 3.1 suspensions per 10 male students, while charter schools only experienced 1 per 10.

Every Child Ready to Learn

"If we have one goal in public schools, it should be not to humiliate a child," said Rep. Folwell of Winston-Salem. He has introduced an eight-word bill to change the cutoff date for kindergarten from October 16 to August 31. He said that North Carolina's public school classrooms have the largest age span of nearly any in the nation and it is a difficult prospect for a 4-year-old to be sharing a classroom with a 6-year-old.

He also called for a unique student identifier which would allow the Employment Security Commission to link a person's work history with his school record, all the way back to kindergarten. He said this is already in place in some states. This gives me some concern but I can't comment right now.

Labels: CLC, Education

Just one question, Mr. Mayor ...

Rudy Giuliani was our lunchtime speaker and was genial, well-spoken, connected with the crowd, and all the other things that are said about the mayor. He delivered several applause lines on his strongest issues, which of course are security and governmental reform. One of them, though, left a question hanging, and though I tried to get in on the brief Q&A session at the close, we got cut off at three questions only.

Giuliani spoke of his experience and frustration attempting to reform the New York City public school system, and said he was "starry eyed" to think that he could expect the same success he'd scored with emergency services, social welfare programs, and other big governmental projects. No such luck with the school systems.

He said the turning point in his thinking was when the Children's Scholarship Fund offered 2500 grants to allow parents to enroll their children in private or parochial schools. When the public school authorities refused to allow the CSF information to be distributed in the public school systems, Giuliani said he couldn't override them -- he only controlled two votes on the seven-member board.

Even with very little promotion, though, the CSF program received 168 thousand applications. What does that say?

He argues that since we are already going to spend the money, from $6000 to over $20 thousand (for special needs children), why not increase the alternatives and options available to families, beyond the public schools in their district of residence?

There was much applause because many of us here support the idea of educational reform, expanded alternatives such as public school choice, charter schools, and even tax credits or vouchers to help families direct the funding where they believe their children will be best served. However, Giuliani is not running for mayor or governor, he's a candidate for president, so my unasked (and therefore unanswered) question is:

What is the role of the federal government in an endeavor which is historically and Constitutionally a state and local issue?

See Amendment 10.

UPDATE: Joseph Coletti and I have some back-and-forth on Giuliani and schools in The Locker Room here, here, here, and here.

Links:
Reason & Revelation: Lunch with Giuliani

Labels: CLC, Education

First we eat

The opening session is lunch, with an unapologetic blessing in Jesus' name, courtesy Judge Ann Calabria. Jon Sanders at the Locke Foundation saved me a great seat near the front, though I think my pictures will show Rudy Giuliani emerging from a broadleaf palm like ... well, never mind.

Good national anthem and dinner music from the Wake-Rolesville chorus. Senator Fred Smith has a seat nearby but he's out working the crowd. Justice Bob Orr came in a few minutes ago but it looks like he's going to do lunch first. I'm with the judge on this one.

Labels: CLC

Where's the protest?

I saw at least two left-leaning (charitable description) websites had targeted the conference for protests ("IMPEACH!"). However, as I observed to another exhibitor, it looks like God has prepared a welcome for them -- the rain is coming down in sheets outside.

Of course, one of the groups is focused on April 28, so if the Ides of March are come, they are not yet gone. So to speak, anyway.

Labels: CLC

Five Points

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

More on S.C.'s Governor

Saturday, April 28, 2007

Agreed on History

S.C.'s Governor

The Theme

The Unified Message and the Candidate to Carry It

Racial Politics and Conservative Media

Process Check

Friday, April 27, 2007

A parting observation

Collecting thoughts

"We've got to be relentless"

Newtonian ideas

A need for self-restraint

Reagan's Legacy

A moment of illumination

What's conservatism without Boy Scouts?

Questions for the education panel

Performance, preparation, and violence in education

Just one question, Mr. Mayor ...

First we eat

Where's the protest?

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