Month: February 2015

We need to build upon, and exploit, our imminent victories in Utah, Wyoming, North Dakota and West Virginia.  After the South Dakota win Hal Wick called the Mark Levin Show to announce the news.  He was able to explain to the call screener who he was, and what he’d done.  But Levin was off on some rant about ISIS and never put Hal on the air.  But Hal planted the seed, and when we get our 26th state the call screener will remember Hal’s call about #25.  I’m betting the screener is smart enough to realize this is something the audience, and the host, would find interesting, and encourage Levin to take the call.

Levin is bright enough, but he lacks judgment, as evidenced by his embrace of the CoS model.  He’ll resist climbing down from that horse, but it will happen.  He’s not a fool.  The sooner he gives up on CoS the better.  His audience understands Article V.  If they knew we were closing in on 34 they could be a huge source of grass roots support.

The best person to make these calls is the sponsor, but that may not be possible because of time commitments.  You need to devote three hours, from 4:00 to 7:00 MST, to this call.  If the sponsor can’t do it we need a substitute.  In Wyoming that might be Bill McIlvain, in Utah the head of the College YR’s.  In any event the sponsor needs to find an instate surrogate if they can’t do it themselves.

The exploitation of talk radio should not be limited to Levin.  Anyone who has the time can call Limbaugh, Hannity and the others to trumpet the good news.  Our message of hope can go viral, and should.

But we’ve got to make that happen.

Idaho, maybe.  The LDS is a dominant force in Utah politics.  It’s nearly as important in Idaho.  We have reason to believe that a number of Idaho LDS co-religionists were watching their brethren in Utah, and will follow their lead.  Idaho has about five weeks left in their session, enough time to ram a bill through if leadership wants it.

If that pans out we’d have a shot at 34 this year.  The Dakotas and three of the four mountain states (ID, UT, WY), when added to Wisconsin, West Virginia, and South Carolina get us to 32.  With our momentum building all of these are realistic.

Oklahoma would be the key.  We got our asses handed to us last year.  It was ugly.  But we’ve got 20% turnover, and the freshmen haven’t been exposed to Birch bullshit for years, so they’re gettable.  Dr. Coburn made his pitch.  It’s a tough state, but not as tough as Montana, with 40% Democrats and a Democrat Governor.  So you can lose a fair number of Republicans (as just happened in Utah) and still win.

Then to Arizona, our 34th state, and a reckoning with one Andy Biggs.  I’m not underestimating the man.

But he stands alone.

Five minutes ago Utah Rep. Kraig Powell gave a powerful closing argument on our bill, which passed 40-30.  The Senate really shouldn’t be a problem, so this is virtually certain to be  #26.

Every state we win has a name next to it  — the one who made it happen.  In Utah it is a man I am proud to call my friend, Kraig Powell.

At an Amendment Convention twelve solid red states*, with a total of 52 electoral votes (less than 10% of the total), will hold the balance of power, with almost a quarter of the vote.  California will have one vote, but if voting power is determined according to the Electoral College it would have 55, more than the twelve red states combined.  Why would these states, or any red state, vote for anything other than one state, one vote?  This is the way I should have framed my argument to Senator Nicholas, instead of the more general point that I did make.

He figured it out.

Alaska, Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, New Hampshire, Nebraska, Utah, Kansas, Arkansas and Mississippi.

Rep. Kraig Powell put the CoS bill out on the floor yesterday as a kind of test vote.  It lost, 34-38.  For us, that means we have a base of 34 that we can count on.  Since CoS essentially calls for an open convention, it is far scarier than our little BBA convention.  I’m betting Kraig gets four more.

Senator Bramble will carry our bill in the Senate, if we get there.  He’s a Utah version of Wyoming Senate Majority Leader Eli Bebout.

He gets it done.