[ACTIVISM] The Next Agenda Item For Free Republic

The focus for FReepers in the election cycle just concluded was to take back the Senate. 77% of FReeperdom opined that this was "critical."

Now, we have to reset the agenda. Of course, there are many agenda items already set, such as homeland security, confirmation of judges, making tax cuts permanent, passing a budget, etc. And before we know it, the 2004 election cycle will be upon us.

But before ANY of that can take place, I submit there is one item that is MOST important, before all of those.

The Senate is ours, but only just. One less Senator, and we'd be back to "parity," with Mr. Cheney representing the tie breaking vote--and we all remember where that led.

The new majority leader is likely to be the OLD majority leader, Trent Lott of Mississippi. It should come as a surprise to few here on FR that Sen. Lott has a very, very small coterie of admirers here. In short, we consider him basically spineless, and far too accomodating to the Democrats, not to mention "moderates" and RINOS such as McCain, Snow, Chaffee and others.

When the Senate proceeds with its business next year, the Dems will have had months to recover from their defeat. If the past is any indication, they will come back swinging, under the assumption that "stupid people" elected Republicans, and any "mandate" from "stupid people" can be ignored. This is precisely what happened after 1994--when the shift that gave the entire Congress to the Republicans was far more dramatic than this year--and by the next year (with Boy Clinton's help) they had painted the Pubbies into a corner. I don't believe the Republicans have EVER really taken the initiative as a result.

It's time to help our Republican Senators, in particular, to see that you cannot accomodate Democrats. They don't accomodate; they see any attempt to "reach out" to them as weakness, and they take full advantage.

After the 2000 election, even though the Dems were still in the minority, they took advantage immediately to demand "power sharing." Mr. Lott, of course, was quick to accomodate them, and the result was that a few months later they were calling Tom Daschle "Majority Leader."

This time, it can't happen. Democrats have to be kept on the defensive, and off balance. Things are far too critical now. Beside the war on terrorism, we have judges to confirm, and much critical legislation to pass. We have no time for Democrat shenanigans.

But we KNOW those shenanigans are going to occur. Believe me, it's NOT going to take long for the Dems to rally. They are infallibly convinced of their own superiority. They are willing to stop at nothing to get their way.

I propose that we begin discussions on how we can help Mr. Lott, for one, grow a spine. He and the Republican Senate leadership need help from loyal conservatives to see the evil that they face (you'd think they could see it for themselves, but they continue to surprise me).

This, to me, is JOB NO. 1 for Free Republic at this time. I'd like to solicit ideas on how to accomplish this. FR has proven to be a great voice for responsible government. This task is tailor-made for us.

I strongly recommend that we take several approaches simultaneously:

1. Assuming that Lott will not step aside and that he will be re-elected, he needs to be reminded of how he has been screwed by the democrats (Judge Dennis Shedd rejection comes to mind)despite his attempt at being magnanomous. Under this approach:

a. Compile a list of how the DEMs have angered Lott
b. Begin an e-mail campaign to Lott, reminding him of this
c. Get Freepers on Limbaugh to drill this point home. Lott monitors Limbaugh
d. Provide an easily accessible location for Freepers to find e-mail addresses and the item (a) list.

2. Encourage other Senators to seek the position. I recommend that we concentate on two. I would recommend McConnell and Nickols - senators that have in the past stood up to the DEMs.

a. Obtain a concensus from Freepers on the two Senators
b. Compile a list of how the DEMs have angered these two Senators
c. Begin an e-mail campaign, reminding him of thisand encouraging them to seek the nomination.
d. Provide an easily accessible location for Freepers to find e-mail addresses and the item (b) list.

I thoroughly agree with your point. I've put some thought into the matter, and offer the following plan:
1. Possible contenders to Trent Lott as Majority Leader have withdrawn their hats from the ring. So, he's going to get the post, and the ability to get things done in the Senate will depend on him.
2. I suggest a thorough FReep of Trent Lott, to happen in two forms:
a. A fine demonstration by the exellent folks at the D.C. Chapter, as soon as Lott is back in his offices, and as soon as certain critical matters, spelled out below, have been taken care of.
b. A FReep by e-mail of Lott, subject to the same conditions.
3. The objects of this FReep will be:
a. Reorganization of the Senate as soon as the lameduck session begins, not waiting until January. That means a new Majority Leader, new Committee Chairs, and new membership to reflect the new Republican majority. The theme of this is: "The Majority / We Have It / Let's Use It" (Jim Talent will be seated immediately, as will What's-His-Name from Minnesota who may not vote with Lott but certainly will not vote with Daschle. So the Republicans will have a majority now, not even relying on a tie-breaking vote by Cheney.)
b. The Senate has about fifty bills bottled up, thanks to Daschle, which have already been passed by the House. The most important of these is Homeland Security. The themes of this are: "Free / the Daschle / Fifty" and "Homeland / Security / Now" (As you can see, all themes are stated in a way that can immediately appear on posters.)
c. Immediate Committee hearings on judicial nominees who have not gotten them, and immediate floor votes on those who were highly qualified but were savaged by Leahy's Committee by votes of 10-9. The themes of this effort are: "Justice / for the Judges / Means Justice / for America" and "'Highly-Qualified' / Is Fine With Us"
4. Before we go public, I think we should have a thread on FR chaired by Jim Robinson, to set our themes and approaches. There's been substantial trashing of Trent Lott on FR such as Trent ("Vacant") Lott, and references to "a spinal transplant." He's there, he's going to stay there, and we have to work with him and through him. On rhetoric and approaches, I think we should have guidance from JimRob before we go public. (I confess my own guilt in this matter.)
5. In addition to FReeping Lott, we should FReep the media. Again, we have to get our act together and be ON MESSAGE before we do this. I think the first demonstration outside Lott's office will get more press coverage than our Rallies on the Mall have done, for two reasons -- this is the FIRST such demonstration directed at Lott, and it is a man-bites-dog story because we support Lott and yet are demonstrating to push him to do certain things. The media FReep should be three days before the office demonstration, to get the word out.
6. Last but by no means least, we need to talk to the American people about the agenda in the Senate. We have a medium to do that -- talk radio. We should target the whole spectrum from the top national hosts like Rush, to the regional leaders like Jerry Agar, 50,000 watts in the afternoon out of Raleigh, NC. Again, we MUST be ON MESSAGE before we do this. A thread on FR on the day selected could allow FReepers to report in, as they make it on-air on various shows. The talk radio FReep should be two days before the demonstration, to encourage participation by all who can make it.
Because there is a critical role in this for JimRob, I have flagged him with this response. Also, because the FR Network might want to be involved, I have flagged Bob J. I think I've identified the three main issues -- reorganize the Senate now, pass Homeland Security and the other captive bills, and get some judges confirmed. (We might specifically focus on Dennis Sheed, to pay a last compliment to Strom Thurmond.) But, the discussion thread I propose might result in changes in priorities. To hold our focus, I suggest that we come out of that discussion with a bullet list of no more than three items, and guidelines on language to be used in the demonstration and in the FReeps of Lott, of the media, and of talk radio.
Once we have our program set, then we should seek out our natural allies among other interested organizations, both to help in getting the word out, and to pump the numbers in the demonstration itself.
Hope these thoughts are useful.
Respectfully Submitted,

Congressman Billybob

On American Politics

Click for "to Restore Trust in America"

The vast majority does not want to take responsibility for their own lives.....we'll always be the underdog..

________________________________________________________

I believe Tuesday proved otherwise. I see a right light at the end of the tunnel. The vast majority that participate in voting has awaking to the goings on in politics.

The vast majority should be fully aware that there is no lengthy alternative for them any longer, so its a must that they take responsibility for their own lives.

Just as there is new blood needed for both party leaders, new young blood is needed in the voting popularity. So that means more recruiting is needed.

Does a poll exist that has the stats for voters under the age of 30 years old?

We don't want to settle to always be the underdog.

Dawg, Keep hope alive!!!

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.