Hugh Hewitt Patriot Forum

Last night we attended the Hugh Hewitt Patriot Forum at the St. Paul Hotel. As our guests, we invited my nephew and his girlfriend. (The nephew is working on Brainstorming's site design.) I think I can safely say neither of them would describe themselves as conservatives. When we asked them to join us I made it clear Hugh was a conservative talk show host and referred them to his site and show. It was a double treat to have the chance to see Hugh in person and to have them join us. I got the impression they found it interesting that during the discussion period there were questions critical of spending under the Bush administration. I hope they enjoyed themselves. We appreciated their willingness to attend though they knew in advance they might not agree with everything said. I know I was not focused on politics at that age, so they're ahead of the curve.

On to the forum.

We sat with a group of people wearing T-shirts for Liberate America. Their founder explained they would like to see America get out of the U.N. They arrange protests around the cities.

Since I knew a number of local bloggers planned to attend, but I had no way to recognize them, I approached Hugh near the end of dinner and asked if he could point out the guys from Fraterslibertas. Captain Ed had mentioned he planned to try to sit with them. Hugh was incredibly gracious, asked me if I had a blog, was I conservative, how many hits a day I got, if I would be applying for membership to the Northern Alliance? We also talked about poker since I told him that's what I'd blogged about yesterday. It was very nice of him to take the time and the interest. I agree with everyone who's mentioned his generosity.

We couldn't spot the Fraters guys right then, but he told me he'd be asking them to stand during his talk.

When he got up to speak he asked how many in the audience were aware of blogs. I would guess 50 or more of the approximately 400 or so people there raised their hands, a percentage way higher than the general public because Hugh, High Commissioner of the Blogosphere has made people aware of them through his show. He sees the medium as revolutionary, saying he knows all about Minnesota politics from reading Northern Alliance blogs, even though he doesn't subscribe to any local papers.

He asked the members of the Northern Alliance to stand up. The Powerline guys were at a table up front. Two of the Fraters guys, Atomizer and the Elder were at the table next to me. (I watched my P's and Q's lest the Atomizer label me as a heckler.) I didn't see Mitch Berg from Shot in the Dark. Too Bad. I would have liked to meet him. Hugh asked if Captain Ed was there, but it appeared he didn't make it, (more on that later.)

The focus of Hugh's speech was strategy for the presidential election, citing national security as the one critical issue Republicans need to keep front and center. In his opinion, the U.S. can survive a bad tax structure, or social change. The one thing we can't afford to get wrong is protecting the nation. Failure to continue to fight the war on terror would be too costly. For that reason, he argued, the central issue the Bush team needs to focus on is national security. Fogging that message with domestic issues, social issues, etc., would be a mistake. For that reason, he feels this is the most critical national election he's seen.

The Bush doctrine, of willingness to preemptively strike nations that potentially pose a threat by their willingness to deal with terrorists will not be legitimized until the American people confirm it by re-election.

He also discussed the potential for Republican gains in congress, noting the open Democrat seats and current Senators that are vulnerable, (Daschle and Boxer were mentioned). I know I have been frustrated since gaining the majority with the ability of the Democrats to block legislation and especially judicial appointments, (for which Hugh said he prefers the nuclear option of changing Senate rules so cloture would be a matter of a simple majority.) There has been some movement of the electorate to the right, (Minnesota being a stellar example.) This election presents the opportunity to gain enough seats in the Senate to truly enact the conservative agenda.

During the discussion period, one gentleman suggested Hugh invite Michael Savage on his show to discuss immigration. Hugh responded that Michael was wrong on the immigration issue and his message is divisive. His point was made by two audience members subsequentially getting up to defend their wives, both legal immigrants. When you talk immigration apparently, people don't hear the distinction between legal and illegal. For that reason Hugh defended Bush's proposal that congress discuss a way to deal with the immigration issue, with amnesty being taken off the table.

The spending under Bush was criticized by an audience member. In Hugh's opinion, he has not vetoed legislation because he wants to be re-elected. Hugh said he would be willing to pay for the 500 billion dollar deficit if it meant keeping a president who was strong on national security. Notice we keep returning to that theme?

Another audience member brought up the reluctance of christians to become involved in politics. I actually wanted to respond to this question, but time ran out. If by chance he reads this, I would refer him to Paul in the book of Acts 22: 25-29:

But when they stretched him out with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?" When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and told him, saying, "What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman." The commander came and said to him, "Tell me, are you a Roman?" And he said, "Yes." The commander answered, "I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money." And Paul said, "But I was actually born a citizen." Therefore those who were about to examine him immediately let go of him; and the commander also was afraid when he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had put him in chains.

Notice that Paul appeals to his rights as a citizen of Rome? I agree that pastors should not do politics from the pulpit. However, I do think the church can encourage their members to exercise their rights as citizens and vote.

At the end of the Forum I introduced myself to the Atomizer and the Elder. Atomizer said he'd been reading Brainstorming yesterday! How cool is that? He also checked to see if I went with the dress....which I had.....lol. (However the snowmobile boots, long coat, pants, and head wrap were in the van in case of winter emergency. Us northern girls have to be prepared for anything.) I asked if they had seen Captain Ed, but he was nowhere to be found.

When we got home I checked Captain's Quarters to see what had happened to Ed. It turns out it was a parking problem. I can attest downtown was nuts last night. In fact, my nephew arrived after they limited valet parking to overnite guests too. Then they were stopped in traffic forever, finally leaving his car in a precarious spot. He later went back and moved it to a lot a few blocks away. We'll catch Ed next time.

We really enjoyed the evening. Hugh is unique not only in his promotion of blogs, but in his show content. He has the best guests in politics, then there'll be a discussion on Dickens, or a guest like Ken Tamplin, (a show I really enjoyed.) The Hubby enjoyed it too, although he would have preferred it was a little less focused on the campaign, with more on conservative thought. It was nice that if you chatted with another audience member you didn't have to start at the beginning to fully explain the issue you were talking about. This was a politically active and informed crowd.

However I have to question the sanity of anyone who is going snowmobiling today??? (Someone did point out at least there are no trees on Minnetonka.) Hugh is also broadcasting live across the street from the ice castle at 5 tonight. I won't be able to make it due to work, but there's also a Young Life fundraiser at R.F. Moeller at 7 PM tonight if you're in the twin cities area. Apparently champagne will be $25 per glass and one glass will have a $1000 diamond in it. If anyone attends, I'd love to hear about it.

Update: The Elder posts his take on the evening. I had forgotten we were invited to chase them and beat them with sticks! Did I mention that both the Atomizer and the Elder were younger than I imagined? I spoke briefly with Tordas who encouraged me to come on the next Patriot Cruise.

Comments

[Teresa]

Sounds as if you had a great evening. Isn't it fun to meet people you've only corresponded with online! *G*