Monday, January 28, 2008

Miss Michigan Wins Miss America

Ok, I have been away from posting. And what do I do for my first post back? That's right, I am dumbing down my blog. Just for this post though. I am always excited for my state, whether it be in political terms or anything else. So, I would like to congratulate Miss Michigan Kirsten Haglund for winning this year's Miss America Contest.
Let's be honest here. I don't pay too much attention to theses things. When I was a little girl it was fun to watch. But I am grown up and I don't have time to care. I have seen that they are trying to make these beauty pageants more hip and cool. From what I remember, I seem to like the old pagaents better.
But here is what I want to talk about in regards to politics. I still check in on Huckabee blogs. They all seem to be talking about some "establishment" trying to bring Mike Huckabee down. OK fine whatever. But then they talk about "replacing the 'old guard' with new." Essentially they want their own "establishment." Is their any difference between the two ideas? Do two wrongs make a right? They feel put out by some "establishment." Even though they feel exluded, they want in turn to exclude.
I am sure y'all are thinking I must have a serious case of ADD to go from Miss America to the Republican Party. But follow with me. I am trying to tie the two together. In Miss America pageants it is pretty girls with grace and style. I for one, grew up with average looks without much grace and style. I could get all jealous and say that because of my looks and poise I am being excluded and decide to start some sort of revolution to have only ugly girls participate in Miss America contests. Or I could just say that that's the way things are. Or, if I was younger, I could try to change make-up styles and learn me some manners, and then work my way up through the pageant system. I would have to start off in local contests, then regional, then state and onto national. I highly doubt that your plain Jane will ever become a pageant participant. Maybe someday there will be a time when all girls can participate in pageants. A more rounded pageant if you will, where maybe looks and brains can compete. But it would be wrong to kick out all the pretty girls just because ugly girls are upset. Should ugly girls hate pretty girls just because they aren't pretty or should they hone in other attributes about themselves?
Here is where I make the Republican comparison. Just like in the pageants, you can't just walk into a Republican meeting on the national level and think that because you don't like the way things are run you can just get rid of people and take over. If you truly want to get involved with Republican politics you need to work your way up. Start attending county meetings. Run for precinct delegate. Make friends, not enemies, with people who are already involved with party politics. This way you will be able to get recomendations from people who have clout. Sometimes I need to follow my own advice. Ah well, they all love my opinionated self. Once you have become a precinct delegate keep on attending meetings and county conventions. Try to get yourself to be able to attend state meetings and conventions. This is where making friends with clout comes in. Since my county is rather small and there is only two official delegates I am automatic to attend the state convention. But in larger counties, one might have to work harder if they wanted to go to the state convention.
Now this year will be my first convention in which national delegates are selected. So I am not sure how it will all work out. But I do know that out of dozens of people in my district, only 3 will get chosen to attend the national convention. Again this is where making friends comes in handy. For obvious reasons, I am not even going to attempt to try to go to the national convention. I am not that well known and there are people ahead of me with clout who are more deserving.
Just like in the pageant example, you will not get far trying to take over some "establishment." Working hard to get somewhere is what makes our country great. Working hard to get somewhere is the principles of the Republican party. Whining is not principles. As a member of the working class, I am not a stereotypical Republican. But if I work my way up, I will be accepted by doing the things I am supposed to not by whining. I have no intention on revolting and starting my own inner "establishment." I plan on being accepted by merits alone. If I somehow feel excluded, why is it right for me to exclude others?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kathy,
I don't understand where you come up with the idea that Huckabee and us bloggers want to make our own "establishment". We have simply said that the Republican establishment does not want Huckabee to win the nomination for obvious reasons. First, if he does win, he will not be in their debt and they will not be able to control him, as they can other candidates. It has nothing to do with making our own "establishment". All we want to see happen is for the people who are working so hard to make this country what it is to have a say in what goes on in our political party. What is wrong with that?

Michigan Redneck said...

Over on Kevin Tracy's blog he is talking about "replacing the cronies." I really didn't want to do this. Because I respect you and your taking time to make your comment, yet I felt the need to respond back. In order for me to do that, I need to copy/paste something from Kevin Tracy.
"But since the GOP establishment primarily cares about themselves, the second thing that may happen would be considerably worse for them… Mike Huckabee could get the nomination and actually win the nomination and send the old cronies packing, replacing them with people who have a serving class mentality rather than a ruling class one." link here; http://ktracy.com/?p=806.
I like Kevin and all, which is why I originally didn't want to bring him into this. But talk like this scares me. There is nothing wrong with Evangelicals and working class to join the Republican Party. But there is no "establishment." And for Evangelicals and working class to join in, they need to do the things I suggested.
There are some people who have worked hard to establish themselves within the party. These people have worked hard to get where they are. Not all of them are on the up and up. But most of them are decent people. Remember, I once supported Mike Huckabee for about 10 months. I have learned that there is an in/out mentality from within. Which is why I am actually worried about Kevin. If Huck does get the nom and his people come into the party they will get rid of the Catholic once they get from him what they want. They are looking for happy-ass picture perfect married, 2.5 kids, ranch house living, soccer mommy SUV driving Evangelicals.
But there is no conspiracy on Romney's side, like many of you are talking about. It is not just the bloggers I am worried about. it is the people within Huck's campaign that I am also worried about.
I could say more, but I won't.

Lets Get Crafty said...

Where was Kirsten Haglund from?

destilando cafe said...

Don't worry, Huckabee, (like Edwards,) won't get the nomination. He did give the old gasbags quite a scare, though! Huckabee and Edwards are both populists. They actually preach to the people the bigwigs of both parties take for granted, but inevitably screw over after they rise to power. They are refreshing voices in their respective parties. Romney and Clinton are both phonies. I love the way McCain deflected Romney's sniping about his environmental concerns. I love the way Obama shows up the Clintons for the ferrets they are. If the nominees are McCain and Obama, a real choice will be ours. If it's Clinton and Romney, the establishment-constructed political phonies, every voting booth should come equipped with a barf bag.

destilando cafe said...

Kirsten Haglund is from Farmington Hills. I think her grandmother was Miss Michigan too. It's so cool that a Michigan girl won--when I was a little girl, it was always a Southerner, Miss Alabama or Miss Texas. (Maybe her victory means the north is becoming the economically underdeveloped side of the country the way the south was when I was young. Bummer. ) : ()

Anonymous said...

Kathy,
What would be wrong with having a President and members of Congress that would have a serving class mentality? We have had leadership that is made up of ruling class people who don't have a clue what people like you and me go through every day. That is just one of the vast differences between Huckabee and Romney. Huckabee actually knows what we go through to make ends meet.

Michigan Redneck said...

I am not saying there is anything wrong with that. I am just saying it is wrong to replace one with the other. This is America, where everyone should be able to work together, regardless of financial class.

Anonymous said...

Kathy,
If there is one thing you should have known by now it is this. One of Mike Huckabee's strong points is the way he is able to work with people from both sides of the aisle and from all walks of life. That is one of the reasons he was able to get so much accomplished in Arkansas. Huckabee isn't interested in getting rid of everyone else, he just wants to change the way Washington works and make it more attuned to the needs of people like you and me.

destilando cafe said...

Huckabee was cool in the debate tonight. Very agile and ready with his responses. It was great the way he refused to arrogate Ronald Reagan's endorsement to himself and instead praised Reagan. (Of course, the Dems in my living room said "Reagan, this, Reagan that. Why don't they just clone Reagan's DNA and be done with it.") But yeah, I agree, why would any self-described "poor" person be with Romney? Of the rich, by the rich for the rich.