Coming back to frigid air, snow, and ice was indeed the furthest thing to my liking but what the hell did I care? I had a killer tan, I just spent two week’s being paid to essentially drink my weight in beer and painkillers (not pills guys it’s a drink: Google it) and eating conch fritters.
Going through the mail over the weekend following my return, I’d received a notice of an upcoming Full Committee meeting for precinct chairs (I’d been unanimously chosen to lead my respective precinct having stepped up to the plate at the caucuses) and so my attendance was requested.
I arrived early and sat quietly as people began to show up. Sitting to my left was a younger guy with a longer bob haircut [flippin’ hippie!] (little did I know this was Grant not to mention our endorsed candidate. You can go to grantcermak.com and click on “campaign trail” and then “photos from SD58” to see his old haircut). As the meeting commenced and introductions went around, some people took the opportunity to state their reasons for getting involved. Having no compunction with taking the party’s course of moderation to task, I talked about the smoking bans, professional sports team stadium subsidies, and a few others. As the strategies were put forth on the table and action items were distributed, the meeting adjourned shortly thereafter. As I was gathering up my bag, Grant turned to me and said he like what I had to say. We began to talk about issues, monetary policy, and a whole host of other things. He asked me what I did for a living and what my level of involvement was within the party. At the time, I had been writing editorials and defending Conservatism and Individualism for the past two years and told him as much. His ears perked up when I said editorials.
He told me he’d like to have me work on his campaign. I was interested but still remained reserved as I was still harboring a great sense of uncertainty as to his positions on the issues. I told him I might be interested but that I’d have to sit down with him and get a better idea of his overall vision. He asked me if I’d attended the BPOU because he layed most of it out there. I mentioned that I had been in Tortola. He joked that he might have figured as much seeing as how I was about ten shades darker than the rest of the pasties in the group. We talked about the Caribbean for another 30 minutes. We exchanged contact information and went on our way.
Sometime thereafter, Grant sent me an email saying he was holding a campaign meeting at his house and really wanted me to attend. Again, having a hint of reservation, I went (at Beth’s urging believe it or not!). Being that he lives about 10 blocks from me, it was hard to opt out on account of a time constraint that’s for sure.
I met a handful of other people there (including Grant’s lovely wife Jennifer) who were delegated various tasks and responsibilities. Adam Weigold (who is also a Sons of Liberty member) was serving as Grant’s campaign manager, and Adam Chin was there too (he’ll come in to play later so remember him). Grant had asked me to bring some writing samples along so he could take a look at them. After looking them over, Grant offered me the role of Communications Director/Press Secretary. The title seemed much too formal but essentially, I was charged with the task of getting Grant’s name and ideas into the media (be it newspaper, radio, or television). He also wanted me to handle editorials and press releases on his behalf and be his go to guy if he needed information regarding an issue. The job was mine if I wanted it. Considering I’d just eaten half the plate of Jen’s infamous coconut macaroons, I could hardly say no.
So, we forged ahead. We starting gaining traction in the community newspaper (Camden Community News), some of our press releases were getting picked up (his being the first in Minnesota to receive the endorsement from Ron Paul was huge), and together we were out in the community talking about policy and issues. Grant’s 3 primary campaign issues were Taxes (Minnesota was the 5th highest per capita but probably higher going forward vis’ a vis’ the spending orgy by the Democrats here), Crime (the Minneapolis Police Department doesn’t investigate “property” crimes), and Education (more on this to come but in the interim check out mnsonsofliberty.com for the report). It was great to be digging in feet first. He looked to me in providing feedback on preparing and putting together the campaign literature as well.
On the education stuff, we knew very early on that the district’s levy request ($60 million over 8 years) had every potential of being a hot button issue. The district had closed a brand new school (built in 2000) a mere seven years later (along with many others over the past 4 years), class sizes had gone up despite their last levy promises to the do the opposite, and of course many others. We knew that people were still pissed about the school closures.
As part of gaining a better understanding of the district and their budget practices, Grant and I were adamant about gathering up their budgets and looking at the numbers to get a better understanding of how much money was there and where the hell it was all going. We both had each others backs on this issue. We were committed to stick with it.
We stuck with it despite his campaign manager’s reservations about the importance or significance of it. We continued with it even, following a meeting after I’d put together 8 years of district budgets and actuals and we began to review some of the outrageous discrepancies between the two, Adam Chin merely shrugged finding nothing wrong with the practice only to shake his head and leave the meeting thus throwing in the towel because he “didn’t see the purpose in it”.
Of course Grant and I stood on principle and stuck to our guns. We were later vindicated as Adam Chin later went on to acquire the CQEMPLS (Citizen’s for Quality Education) website a mere 4 weeks prior to the election. The CQE was a hastily crafted attempt to thwart the referendum issue by merely being the opposition to it. They hadn’t any concrete numbers, figures, percentages or facts with which to sell the idea. Those answers lay in the data that Grant and I had compiled and which the CQE members were hot to get their hands on. They would later come to us eventually asking me to give the opposing view on the referendum at the Cleveland Neighborhood Association political forum since I was well versed in the # of schools that had been closed, the budgetary information, etc.
The more Grant and I worked together and hung out, the more we came to realize how similar our political ideology and philosophies were. It is said that you’ll never find that “perfect candidate” with whom you agree with on everything. Nonetheless, Grant was a near a perfect candidate as I could have hoped for. We also came to find out that our musical tastes were right in sync. It seemed that everytime he’d mention a band or a CD and then I’d say Kristie and I just picked it up from the library he’d fire back: “I’m on hold for that. How do you and Kristie get that shit so quick??” It’s now gotten to where I just give him the disc rather than have it go back into the mix only to leave him waiting til it comes around to him in the hold list.
Sometime later, Grant told me about another thing he had going that he wanted to bring me into the loop on. This was of course the MN Sons of Liberty. The purpose of the MN Sons of Liberty was to keep the effort we were building alive following the elections. It is essentially the armory for our cause. Grant and I now Co-Chair the Research Committee. It is a think tank, analytical group that we crafted to do the hard work and compile data that we can then feed into the media and most importantly into the hands of candidates whom we support. Our efforts in this regard gained us 3 radio appearances with a 4th (another Wave Project gig on 90.3fm KFAI) six months from now.
At his 30th birthday party, I gave him a copy of Atlas Shrugged. It was a killer party at a nice Irish bar downtown here called the Local. I was pleased to be in such good company that I was shocked when the lights came on at 2am (I usually am in bed around 9pm). He’d never read Rand before and I knew him well enough by now to know that he’d get much out of it. I should have waited….
He went to the Pitchfork music festival in Chicago and brought it with. Little did I know, the man’s a flippin’ speed reader. Upon his return, he’d already blazed through the first 3rd of the book. He was in a quandary, he needed a pep talk. He began to wonder what the purpose of running his campaign was for. He wanted to more about Rand’s overall philosophy. After the pep talk, he knew that his effort was first and foremost for his own self interest. He wasn’t running for “the people” or any of that. He was running to save himself from the oppression of government. He put the book down. He told me last night, when he stopped by to pick up a CD (one that of course he was on hold for), that he was going to finish it on vacation in Jamaica this December.
Anyways…I could certainly go on and on and on about all of the intricacies of the campaign, how in the end we lost the battle, how the referendum passed, how the sales tax for water and the arts passed, how Grant garnered about 19% of the vote in a district where its constituents are born into the Democratic party, about how out door knocking one evening a man actually said to him: “I’ve been voting Democrat for the last 40 years and my belly’s always been full.”, and surely a number of other finer details. I won’t.
The biggest problem in all of it, lay in the Congressional District and Senate District apparatus. It goes back to those that “Do” and those that “Do Not”. There was no structure to it. If we wanted people to phone bank, we had to find them, if we needed lawn signs distributed we had to distribute them. There were times where meetings were held and you’d be lucky to find 5 people in the room.
The campaign was part of a whole. Grant will tell you as much. He and I are pressing forward in taking over the Senate District here. Dan Neisen had done it for a long long time. Dan’s a good guy but he’s ready to pass the torch.
Through the MN Sons of Liberty and the Congressional and Senate District here, we will build this thing from the ground up. It will not produce an immediate result. It will take time but we will build this to become a driving force. We had vision then and people came around to accept it. We have vision now and again people will come around to it. Those that do not, we do not wish them in our ranks anyway.
He’s a good man this Grant Cermak; a principled guy. He is my brother in arms and I’m so glad to have fought alongside him.
….coming up in the final Pt. 3 “Where do we go from here”??...
5 comments:
Wow, he just turned 30?
It is so awesome to see there are some in the next generation who are smart and articulate and most of all dedicated!
Yep. He's 30 and I'm only 35. We've plenty of years and plenty of fight within us.
Damned young'ns.
Wait, I'm 35 too. Crap.
Wait. I cans till call Grant a young'n. Damned young'n. :)
The story is good so far. Can't wait for part 3.
Glad you're enjoying it. I should have thrown in my runin with a seemingly rabid pit bull that I encountered out lit dropping the Sunday before the election.
Damn good thing he was on a short chain.
You can still do that. Just make it Post-election Chunky part 4 - funny shit from the campaign trail.
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