It is vogue these days, as good Republican editorialists, to bemoan the state of the Party ‘brand’.  President Bush has saddled us with Watergate-era popularity, Congress is and shall be firmly retained by Democratic majorities in both chambers, and Sen. Barack Obama will conquer and pillage in blue states, swing states, and red states on his way to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.  It is a bleak and jarring picture - especially so for a Party which, barely a few years ago harbored legitimate discussion about a ‘Permanent Majority’.

Perhaps the first problem we face is that we choose to discuss the future of the Party as though it were a Madison Avenue creation - a great theater actress who has fallen on hard times not for poor acting but for bad hair.  The Party elders that choose to keep talking ‘brand’ and cease talking ‘values’ are facilitators of peril, not remedy.  “Brand” suggests that in our fake and too trivialized society, the best means for political rebirth is a new logo, a fresh basket of buzzwords, and some catchy slogans.  Politics is thoroughly common in its ability to place too high a value on transient successes.   

For all the rhetoric about transformational elections, 2008 may distinguish itself not for its “return to sanity”, but an escape from it.  There is a real need for serious policy discussions.  Sen. Obama is not one of these “Third Way” liberals in the mold of Bill Clinton or Tony Blair, he is actively campaigning for President on a cornucopia of ideas that have been roundly rejected in the past. 

It falls on us to not be distracted by talk of a ‘new and improved brand’, and instead focus on promoting our values, especially those that we forgot about when Republicans were in power - a smaller government that cuts up the national ‘credit card’ and starts reducing the national debt, a simpler government that requires less red tape and agita to get things done, and a more fair government that does not favor one set of lobbyists over another - rather favoring sensible policy over foolish ones. 

We here in Connecticut have a central role to play in this discussion.  We’ve already eaten from the public policy menu Mr. Obama is selling - and damn it, we’ve already had two decades of all-you-can-eat buffet - and we know the ill effects: stagnant job growth, the third highest electricity rates in the nation, the highest gas prices on the U.S. mainland, and the heaviest per-capita tax burden in America.  Mr. Obama can put all the lipstick on the pig that he wants - what comes out the other end isn’t roses.  Republicans can and must make this case in the fall.

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

-Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address

With less than 100 days until the beginning of the 2008 Republican National Convention, the eyes of Republicans all over the world will turn to the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” as Arizona Senator John McCain is officially nominated to be the Republican Party’s nominee for President.

Connecticut Republicans are privileged to have a bit of Minnesota coming to us in the interim, as Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty - a frequently mentioned prospect for Vice President and McCain for President Co-Chairman - will come to the Nutmeg State on Friday, June 27, 2008, for the 2008 Prescott Bush Awards Dinner.

Pawlenty’s appearance follows in a long line of nationally prominent Republicans to speak before the Bush Dinner - MA Gov. Mitt Romney, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Sen. John McCain, Gov. Jeb Bush, and last year’s speaker, Fred Thompson.  As you’ll recall, Sen. Thompson spoke to the assembled guests at the 2007 Bush Dinner just as his Presidential stock was skyrocketing.  Gov. Pawlenty is often noted for his laid back midwestern style and “I’ll fly coach instead of first class” manners that are refreshing for a man who could, quite literally, be a heartbeat away from the Presidency eight months from now.  His address to the 2008 Prescott Bush Awards Dinner should be both entertaining and interesting.

And just two months after the Bush Dinner, the roles will reverse and Gov. Pawlenty will play host to Connecticut’s delegation (well, every state’s delegation) to the Republican National Convention.  30 delegates, 27 alternates, a herd of guests, and a troupe of reporters will set out for the Twin Cities on August 31st for the 9/1-9/4 Convention.

Until then, you can get ready for the RNC by doing some shopping for official gear, reading the blog, and booking your flights before they get too much more expensive.

Democratic leaders today announced they would call legislators back into Special Session on June 11 to extend the pernicious Conveyance Tax, which socks it to home sellers in times of economic uncertainty.

Unable to come to grips with a softening economy or even offer a up-or-down vote to the Republican Alternative Budget proposal that would flat-line the gross receipts tax on oil, sunset the estate tax and conveyance tax while offering early retirement to state workers, House Speaker James Amann and Senate President Don Williams, said the Conveyance Tax should be extended for two more years.

Then, of course, the tax will be sunsetted, like it was promised years ago. Right. The money generated last year - $40 million - is funnelled directly to cities and towns. The tax is being pushed by the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, which believes there is never enough money for local cities and towns to spend on municipal contracts. On other side is everyone else with a sense of fairness and a brain.

Only in Connecticut, do homeowners have to pay for the privilege of selling their most valuable, primary asset. One hopes enough people will raise the issue and make their voices heard at all level of government.

Enough is enough.

The always pertinent Wall Street Journal opened up an eastern front in the Battle for the White House this morning, reporting that Barack Obama is cranking up a Vice Presidential search committee.  And whom, you might ask, is under consideration?  The WSJ list, though it seems much more like a “Roster of American Democrats” rather than VP shortlist, includes none other than our own United States Senator, Chris Dodd.

Having scratched his Presidential “itch”, Dodd has returned to life as a Senator, presiding over his fiefdom that is the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs and otherwise enjoying his time in the House of Lords.  But according to the WSJ, Dodd could be quite a match for Obama.  Unfortunately, the WSJ also puts the ‘kiss of death’ on Dodd by equating him with Vice President Dick Cheney:

Sen. Dodd, who endorsed Sen. Obama shortly after withdrawing his own bid for the presidency in January, would bring experience to the ticket, similar to the way Washington stalwart Dick Cheney helped Texas Gov. George W. Bush in 2000.

The paper goes on to include the crass political angle, courtesy of the always-willing John Zogby: “If Obama is looking for the gravitas and the over-65 crowd, which he needs to cut into, then I think Chris Dodd is at the top of the list,” says pollster John Zogby.”  What an endorsement.

It’s still early in the Obama VP search committee - and its highly probable that all of this speculation, while fun, is simple drivel for politicos to chew over the long weekend.  But with Camp McCain assembling possible VPs for barbeque in Sedona, maybe Obama’s trip to the Wesleyan graduation will be followed by a swing over to East Haddam for some beer and grilled chicken.

Every Connecticut Republican’s favorite parlor game - “Who Will Speak at the Prescott Bush Awards Dinner?” is over today, and all the players who said, “Governor Tim Pawlenty” are the winners!

The Connecticut Republican Party announced today that the 30th Prescott Bush Awards Dinner will be headlined by Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, the national co-chairman of the McCain for President Campaign and an oft-mentioned potential VP pick.  Host of CNBC’s “Kudlow & Company”, Larry Kudlow, will again be this year’s special guest.  The dinner, to be held on Friday, June 27th, is held each year in honor of U.S. Senator Prescott Sheldon Bush, who represented Connecticut in the U.S. Senate from 1952-1962.  His son, George H.W. Bush was the 41st President of the United States, and his grandson, George W. Bush, is the current President.

We’ll have much more coverage about the upcoming Bush Dinner over the next few weeks.