From the Ground on Up: Restoring the Republic[an Party] in Minneapolis

Indeed Tip O’Neill was on to something when he said, “All Politics is Local”. Oft forgotten it is no doubt, at least with respect to responsiveness, a political truism. So when on both the National and Statewide scale GOP leadership left Minneapolis’ grassroots Republicans want for leadership much more aligned with their pursuit of individual freedom and liberty (both economic and otherwise), the obvious response was to get some boots not only on the ground but in positions where they could affect the sort of change they were seeking.

Destined to have become a movement, the Minneapolis grassroots Republicans might trace their official origins back to February 2007 during the city’s caucuses, in which the extent of GOP discontent led to a huge following for the anti-war Republican hopeful congressional representative Ron Paul of Texas. However, it wasn’t merely “Paulites” (as they came to be known) that were leading the charge for much needed change within the party. Supporters of other candidates such as Fred Thompson and Tom Tancredo came to the caucuses with all sorts of criticisms of their own against a Republican party they no longer recognized. From everything to anti-private property endorsed measures such as smoking bans and wetland protections, to ethanol and professional sports team stadium subsidies, to light rail boondoggles and increasing energy costs spawned from rampant global warming environmentalism, the discontent amongst Republicans was well above and beyond the obvious resulting from the Bush Administration’s foreign and domestic policies.

As the resulting caucuses and primaries across the country played out, subsequently anointing Arizona Senator John McCain as the party’s nominee, and when at the state’s Republican convention an objective vetting of (now former) Senator Norm Coleman was thwarted, it became not only increasingly apparent to the grassroots movement how great was the divide between they and the GOP establishment, it further served as a reality check on the necessity to effect change to its structure. For, within the party’s structure there exists a myriad of crucial committees. Committees, whose sole responsibility is to select candidates and delegates, make changes to any rules and/or platforms, etc. And, unless the grassroots Republicans could take control of these key leadership positions, effecting change within their own ranks would prove futile.

And so it began; the liberty movement, whose primary endeavor was to gain the necessary control of as many local and state leadership positions as possible, began organizing en masse. Meetings were held. Ideas were discussed. Strategies were implemented. Soon thereafter, candidates such as Grant Cermak, representing the Minneapolis’ north side and Bill Jungbauer stepped up and fought hard to reestablish principles within a political party that they saw as their best hope at preserving the great American experiment and the virtues of individual freedom and liberty. Niklas Ludwig began organizing candidates to run for Minneapolis school board and eventually city council. Countless others began organizing as well. Yet, while the liberty candidates, along with their many campaign volunteers and liberty supporters were committed to fighting gallantly, all involved knew full well that the movement; the cause for which they were fighting for, would not cease with mere electoral defeat when in fact such defeats came to fruition. The most distressing of these without a doubt that of Ron Paul himself who’s pointed campaign rhetoric on the nation’s lose monetary policies and the Federal Reserve’s attributing culpability and have proven dead on.

However despite the losses and not too soon thereafter another flurry of meetings complete with a great many liberty advocates were scheduled, calendars filled, and action items handed out. The cast of players was many but in their commonality was a quest for restoring freedom and liberty back into a party that had wandered and gone seriously astray of those great virtues.

Though the players in this pursuit are aplenty, amongst the many are a handful whose determination and fortitude has now put them in control of their respective Senate Districts where they are sure to be a force for principled politics steeped in the traditions of individual freedom and liberty. They are, Candace Oathout (SD45), Grant Cermak (SD58), Melissa Hill (SD59), Brandon Ferdig (SD60), Jeane Inselman (SD61), and Spence Fasching (SD62). Other notables include Ryan Sinn’s leadership in SD51B, HD50A (save for chair John Anderson), and slices of SD63 and SD54 represented by Dorothy Flemming.

It is players such as these that are committed to putting the GOP and its fundamental principles front and center in waters previously uncharted by Republicans. Making their presence known in such unlikely places as Minneapolis’ Pride and Juneteenth Festivals, this liberty breed of Republicans is finding much common ground with individuals who may have previously reserved their loyalty to the Democratic Party.

“It goes back to the Ron Paul message of restoring individual freedom and liberty”, says Grant Cermak former House Representative who challenged incumbent Joe Mullery back in November. Cermak, still politically active, now chairs the senate district. “The magnitude with which the government grew during the Bush years and continues to grow at an alarming rate under the Obama administration, poses a far greater threat than any standing army to each and every American. There’s a growing awareness. People are beginning to ask themselves precisely how we’re going to pay for all of this.”

Certainly not to be forgotten amongst the working hands, Nik Ludwig who’s heading up the city committee in Minneapolis has been making strides in seeking out potential candidates. Landing home schooler Kari Reed who fought an uphill battle for a seat on the Minneapolis school board in which she lost amongst a flurry of DFL candidates, Ludwig remains committed to finding candidates whose fidelity goes beyond mere party affiliation. And, sure to be the most notable of these candidates is none other than “Papa” John Kolstad who received a ringing endorsement for Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak’s position.

And what is it about “Papa” Kohlstad that has the liberty Republicans in Minneapolis singing praises? According to Ludwig, “Well, as our spokesman, he has years of experience fighting for the people in Minneapolis and he has enormous respect among the DFL and Green Party grassroots. This will help gain us access to groups that would never allow us in the door, and our city council candidates will be able to talk to constituents that wouldn’t normally give us the time of day.”

Certainly nowhere else does it become more vital to get your message out than in politics. And, if the Minneapolis liberty Republicans can at least get their foot in the door in areas where they previously hadn’t been able to, there’s a likely possibility that area residents will take into consideration the prospect of buying what they’re selling which is a plethora of fresh ideas in a city that has grown stale at the behest of the old guard.

Whatever the outcome in the coming months and years, Minneapolis’ liberty Republicans have their boots on the ground bringing their message local in hopes of eliciting, from area voters, the sort of refreshingly positive responsiveness to which O’Neill alluded.