Fighting Women On The Left

We will now listen to a forum on how to fight Women on the left. We have all heard of the GOP's "war on women" that the left loves to ramble on about, but who is really waging that so-called "war"?
  Tami Nantz, co-founder of Smart Girl Politics, Hadley Heath, Colleen Holcomb, and also a co-founder and President of Smart Girl Politics Stacy Mott.
  Turnout tends to be higher among women. Young voters tend to be much more Democratic. However, young voters are not always the most reliable. Within the ranks of women, married women vote more often than single women, but single women voted overwhelmingly voted for Barack Obama. Among people who stated that "compassion" was an important trait among candidates, they also voted very strongly for President Obama and Democrats.
 What are some factors that might drive the gender gap among voters? One thing that is being brought up is that perhaps Conservatives have not traditionally brought forth good role models. That maybe Conservatives have backed themselves into a corner. Many Conservatives all too often, get elected, get to Washington, and forget the values and principles that got them elected. That the success that Democrats have had in selling the "war on women" is maybe a reflection of Conservatives failure to produce a counter to a Sandra Fluke.
  Could the real war on women be all the female owned businesses that will have to shut their doors because of a terrible economy, and strangling governmental regulation. How many women have, or will lose their jobs, not only because of the Obama economy, but because of impending universal health care? So many women on the Left claim to speak for all women and they most certainly do not!
  From an international perspective, does the United States look small when they see us arguing about all of the drugs that the left says must be covered, including contraception, when around the world, so many women are struggling to not be treated as second class citizens? It must seem pretty silly if you are a woman in Saudi Arabia, who cannot drive or go out of the house by herself.
  So what can women do in the future to fight the left and their "war on women"? Focus on the real wars, the unemployment lines, the gas pumps, and anywhere that grassroots work will truly make a difference. Make sure to hold your Legislators accountable for what they do and do not vote on. Let them know we are watching.
  The story the left's "life of Julia" ad campaign was successful, not because she was portrayed being dependent on the government throughout her life, but it was, at it's core, a positive story. The problem of messaging is a re-occurring theme. Fundraising is also a big problem. Liberal women's organizations out fundraise Conservatives 5-1. Democrats tend to make women a priority.
  Conservatives need to use their networks of bloggers, writers, radio hosts, and commentators to get the Conservative message out. Again, don't just preach to the choir, but go places that maybe no one has heard that message.
  Conservatives also need to use the left's terms against them. When they talk about women's rights, talk about your right to things such as self defense, and not reduce the term "women's rights" to merely reproductive rights. Throw the word "extreme" right back. So many of the left's views are definitely extreme. The left also has the mainstream media in their corner, and many times it seems to be a hopeless cause. That is where most of new media, mostly Conservative come in. so many people, especially young people, get their news online first. We must use that.
  A big problem is that Conservatives tend to "eat their own". When women like Christine O'Donnell and Sarah Palin run for office, they are not supported. That problem also exist in Conservative media. The people who have "made it" and become successful, do not seem to remember where they came from and help the bloggers, writers, etc., who are coming along behind them. It scares away a lot of women who may be considering running for office, or considering starting to write.
  Successful left wing PAC's like EMILY's List are hugely successful. They are well funded, and in fact, EMILY's list is branching off to start a new PAC. Conservatives  must learn to be better fundraisers.
 Be a Conservative "Community Organizer"!     
             

Minority Outreach Panel

We are now listening to a panel on Conservative messaging to minority communities. The panel includes Brittany Morrett, blogger and activist Adrienne Ross, and is being led by Kira Davis.
  One question is, should the Republican Party have a specific person or persons designated for "minority outreach"? The subject of marketing came up. Brittany explained how one might market the conservative message to different people. She used the example of selling a car. You will market the same car differently to a 16 year old boy than you would to a 67 year old woman.
  Adrienne Ross said what many have said, that the GOP should not announce that they want a new black friend, just do it! Go to places that you would not normally go. Get out of your comfort zone and just go talk to people. Chances are, they will listen.
  Brittany asked the question, do Conservatives have any sort of groups such as La Raza? The answer is, they do not. If voting trends of Hispanics continuing to vote Democrat, Republicans will become a regional party. One out of five Hispanics vote Democratic.
  Adrienne asked if we are willing to articulate our message in a way that Blacks and Hispanics will relate to?
 Kira asked what are the top questions that Black and Hispanic voters are asking in various communities represented by Smart Girl Attendees. Brittany brought up immigration as a top priority in the Hispanic community. This went back to something that Adrienne said about being unafraid to bring up uncomfortable but necessary questions.
  Brittany also said a top priority for Hispanics is education. A "home run".
Adrienne brought up the fact that even though unemployment among the black community is soaring, yet Obama's "coolness factor" with black voters tends to override these facts.
 Kira explained that one way to fight the coolness factor is for people to "stop raising politicians". Andrew Breitbart one said that politics is down stream from culture, therefore one definitely effects the other. She also said that Conservatives need to get rid of their sometime "get off my lawn" mentality.
  All the panelists agreed that the best approach is to come at people from a place of love. It doesn't solve all the problems, but it can go a long way.
  An audience member mentioned the entitlement society we live in. It goes across the spectrum. it is not just a minority problem. However, we cannot assume that someone votes Democrat strictly from an entitlement standpoint.
  Another audience member suggested college and church youth organizations. The GOP is sorely in need of being seen in these communities.
  Democrats are always in black churches, yet they are always the ones complaining about separation of church and state, yet they are there. Republicans need to be there too.
 Bottom line. Watch our rhetoric, learn how to market freedom.      
                  

Welcome To Smart Girl 2013

As we say on Conservative Cauldron radio, good Friday afternoon to all! We are LIVE from Indianapolis at the 2013 Smart Girl Summit! The next two days will be filled with tons of great speakers and a whole lot more! Right now, we are listening to opening speaker, Indiana Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann. She is speaking about women in public service. She is a relative newcomer to elected office. She said that if someone had told her 5 years ago she would be standing here at SGP2013 speaking to the crowd, she said she would have said they were nuts! But here she is! A week before her first legislative election, she was 10 points down. She said she would not run a dirty campaign. Long story short, she won 52-48 percent a week later. Ellspermann was very instrumental in getting Right To Work passed in Indiana. She also serves on several Indiana State Legislative committees, including the Agriculture Committee.
  Ellspermann spoke about electing many more women in the nation's Statehouses. She also says that women should set a higher bar in their behavior. Be authentic. Tell people who you are, and what you plan to do. Do not mudsling! it does not set the bar high. The Republican Party needs women more than women need the Party. Remember that should you decide to run for public office. Studies have shown that when women are asked to run for office, they accept, and more often than not, they win.
  Sue Ellspermann is a great opening for this year's summit!
         

Boys Will Be Boys

It has gone on, almost literally, since the beginning of time. Powerful men, or wannabe powerful men, having illicit relationships with women who happen not to be their wives.
  John Kennedy was notorious for his extra-curricular activities, his affair with Marilyn Monroe was no secret. Horndog behavior seems to know no party affiliation. Republican Louisiana Senator David Vitter admitted being unfaithful in his marriage a few years back. More recently, former Governor, now Republican Congressman from South Carolina, Mark Sanford gave new meaning to "hiking the Appalachian Trail", when it was discovered in 2009 that he had given both his family and his staff the slip, and was in Argentina with a mistress. A mistress who is now his wife.
  But when it comes to, well, gettin' a little on the side, no one can top those Liberal Democrats! From JFK, RFK, and almost anyone else named Kennedy, to Elliot Spitzer, husband and father of the year John Edwards, Bill Clinton, San Diego Mayor creepy Bob Filner, and that oh so smooth operator, Carlos Danger himself, Anthony Weiner. The boys from the blue states, appropriately enough, keep meeting up with other women, and keep getting very publicly busted.
  In light of Weiner-gate, a rumor of a long hidden Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky sex tape is surfacing. Just as front runner for 2016 Hillary Clinton is readying herself for campaign mode. The question is, what is it with these guys?! Is it because Liberal Democrats don't talk about "family values", they think it will all just slide under the radar? Thanks to a complicit media, who thinks the small print in their job description says, "cover Democrat butt", it most likely will. Unless the object of your affections goes public. In Weiner's case, his BFF Sydney Leathers.
  The women in these raunchy tales are not without blame. Not at all. Every one of them knows the man in question is married. In Weiner's case, at the time of his first outing, with a wife in the early stages of pregnancy. Is a man who has his name and face in the spotlight every day too much of an aphrodisiac? Is this age of "it's not my fault" lack of personal responsibility the possible culprit? It's anyone's guess. It is quite apparent however, that if there is a "D" after your name, not only do your peccadilloes have a better chance of being swept under the rug, they may just be a resume enhancement.
  Alas, this completely unacceptable behavior will continue. The men will apologize over and over, and the women will write books, and/or continue to provide audio, if not video footage of all of the tawdry goings-on.
  With Liberal Democrats around to provide all of the "entertainment", who needs reality TV?      
    

Celebrating The Harvest Every Day

  Tomorrow, Pagans and Wiccans will celebrate the first of three harvest holidays. Lughnassadh (Lu-na-saad), or Lammas, is the celebration of the first fruits, vegetables, and grains of the season. The second and third being the Autumnal Equinox, or Mabon, on September 21, and Samhain (Sow-en), better known as Halloween.
  The word "Lammas" comes from the old Anglo-Saxon phrase "hlaef-mass", which means "loafmass". It was the time when agricultural societies, most of them at the time Pagan, would gather the first grains of wheat and bake bread. It was also called literally, the "feast of first fruits". There would be feasting and celebrations. Offerings would be made to the Celtic Sun God Lugh.
  So how in the world does the average person, who lives in an urban area, and who most likely is not a Wiccan or Pagan, relate to such a "holiday"?
  Harvests come in many forms. Not just the fruit, veggie, and grain variety. We all have personal harvests we must bring in. It might be a new job, new ideas, new beginnings of any kind. Do you have a project of some sort that you have been working on, and would like to wrap it up and get it done? Sounds like it is harvest time for you. Are you getting ready to start a new job that you have spent years in school studying for? Finally then, the fruits of all of your hard work are more than ready to be harvested!
  Harvests come in small packages too. The harvest of a good job, and a happy and healthy family and home are harvests

we all celebrate everyday. Just your own personal accomplishments are harvests to be celebrated. Because like growing things, you have nurtured and cultivated them until they are jobs well done, that you can and should be proud of.
  We have seasons of flood and drought throughout our personal harvests as well. But we manage to muscle through them. Sometimes we come out on top, sometimes not. The harvest isn't always what we thought it would be. That is the way of growing things, be they in the ground or in our daily lives. Sometimes the harvest exceeds all of our expectations! Those are the best kinds!
  I hope that by sharing my holiday, it will be better understood. Let's celebrate all of the harvests in our lives, big and small. May Lugh bless them all!
  Happy Lammas!


DON'T MISS! August 9 and 10! The Conservative Cauldron will be reporting live from the 2013 Smart Girl Summit in Indianapolis! Plenty of great speakers plus a whole lot more!      

Trayvon and Malala

  Last week, the entire nation was fixated on the verdict in the George Zimmerman trial. Seventeen year old Trayvon Martin was shot and killed during a scuffle with Zimmerman, the neighborhood watch captain.
  We can all agree that being a teenager is no walk in the park. It is, for good or bad, a transformative time in life.
  But while we were all bemoaning the lack of "justice" that Trayvon did not receive in his life cut short so tragically, there was another teenager who was making news of her own. If only the media had seen fit to actually recognize that it was in fact, news.
  Sixteen year old Malala Yousefzai spoke at the United Nations last week. For those unfamiliar with her story, Malala, is an advocate in her native Pakistan for education for girls. A view not very popular in the Middle East. In October of 2012, while getting off a school bus, Malala was shot in the head and neck in an assignation attempt by the Taliban. She has endured additional surgeries and extensive rehabilitation since the attack.
  These are two very different teen agers from opposite sides of the world, from cultures that could not be more different.
  Living less than a stellar life is certainly no justification for Trayvon Martin's untimely death. However, it has been widely reported that Martin was a known burglar, with pictures of stolen jewelry on his cell phone. It was also reported that there were traces of marijuana in his backpack and in his system at the time of the shooting. Was Trayvon Martin headed down a destructive path? Could be. He was also suspended from school a few times. We could only hope that if this was the case, that a teacher, coach, or his parents would have recognized it
  There stood Malala, on her sixteenth birthday, in front of the U.N. General Assembly. So petite in front of that giant crowd. Clad in a beautiful pink sari and headscarf of her native land. So poised and dignified, in a manner far beyond her years. From this tiny girl came a voice that filled the hall. She said she forgave the Talib who shot her. Quite a departure from "creepy ass cracka". Her only desire, to see children everywhere, girls and boys, get an education. She said that the Taliban thought the bullets would silence her. They almost did. But they only made her stronger, more courageous, more determined.
  While Americans marched, beat up, destroyed, and even killed in the name of "justice for Trayvon", Malala Yousefzai stood before the world, including her enemies, asking, no demanding a basic human right. A right quite frankly, Trayvon Martin did not seem to care too much about.

  Perhaps if America is looking for a hero for teenagers, they should look beyond a dope-smoking would be burglar.
  If I had a daughter, she would look like Malala.     

Could It Happen To You?

  Well, the verdict is in, the jury has spoken. Whether you like the outcome or not, our justice system works. For everyone. First of all, we must recognize the first true victim in this case. A young man's life was tragically struck down before it had a chance to really begin. Trayvon Martin will never know the pride and accomplishment of such milestones in life as high school and college graduation. Leaving home, getting a job, getting married and having a family of his own. It happens to too many young men like him. Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin have lost their child, and they will always have holes in their hearts, and will always be mourning him. No parents should ever have to endure such pain for the rest of their lives.
  But there is another victim. Yes, he is still alive. But is he really?
  On the morning of February 26, 2012, George Zimmerman was just like you and me. He had a wife, a house, a job, and a family. That Sunday night, he decided to get some grocery shopping done to get ready for the week ahead. I have done that, have you? That totally innocent decision changed his life forever.
  Could something happen this week, in the course of your daily life, that could change your life in a heartbeat? Most of us will drive to a job tomorrow. George won't. More than likely, he never will. Who will hire him? Maybe you will stop off at the grocery store too. George won't. He can no longer leave his place of residence by himself. People have threatened to kill him. They have even created a Facebook page entitled, "Kill George Zimmerman". Could it happen to you? George didn't think so either.
  George's wife was going to school to be a nurse. Can she continue? Possibly, Zimmerman is a fairly common surname. Maybe no one will do the math. But what if they do? George's mother took the stand to defend her son, like any mother would. Can she leave her house alone? George's brother Robert was also very outspoken in his defense. Should he also worry for his safety? How many friends has George lost in this circus? No one could blame people for just not being able to deal with this type of attention, no matter how good of friends they were. Or, are they wondering, is this really George? How well do I really know him? Now, let's look ahead a little. George and his wife are a young couple. What if they decide to have children in the future? Will those children be safe, or will someone decide that "justice for Trayvon" includes harming that child?
  The CEO's of the race hustler industry, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. I refuse to call either of them "reverend" because nothing about them is. Who renders earthly judgment on them? George Zimmerman is just the latest in a long line of destroyed lives left in their wake, all in the name of "civil rights". When will either of these pathetic examplesDeen's life and work?

of humanity be held accountable for their atrocious actions? Is it a stretch to wonder if either of their miserable fingerprints are on the destruction of Paula
  Trayvon Martin's life is over. A truly sad thing. But what will life really be like for George Zimmerman and his family? What will you be doing this week that George can no longer do because he must fear for his life and look over his shoulder for the rest of it? A trip to the grocery store? Dinner and a movie with your spouse? Maybe a ballgame or a concert? Or just going to a job?
  Jesse and Al's dirty work is far from done in this case. They will begin camping out on the doorstep of the Department of Justice for a chance at possible federal charges against George Zimmerman, and Eric Holder's trolls will no doubt help in any way they can. Jesse and Al, like the vampires they are, will search for another victim to feed off of.
Who will be next? Could it happen to you?