As I published yesterday, in my Diary of a City Council Candidate (#11!), I spent all day Saturday in Campaign School tooling up for this November’s election. One of the speakers was a GOP operative/fundraiser/and the head of the Republican Party in Los Angeles. Why he came up to Silicon Valley (over 300 miles away) to talk to a room full of mostly Democratic candidates for Mountain View City Council, I have no idea.
His name was Ron Robinson, and he is quite the character. He was an older gentleman, perhaps in his mid 60’s, spoke about a mile a minute and had a flattop like he just got out of the military. His discussion was mainly on campaign organization (spent a considerable amount of time bashing the “technological advantage” of the Obama ’08 campaign. I nearly said aloud, “Yeah, but he won.” Whatever. LOL). The website on his business card linked to some GOP donor data. Interesting.
He then turned to the “grassroots” organization that is being put into place for Dr. Ben Carson, for President of the United States. I had to admit, I had never heard of the guy. According to Mr. Robinson, there is already over 17,000 volunteers to help him run, including “5,000 in Iowa.”
In a quick Google search, you can see why the GOP is so hot on this guy. He’s African-American. I’m assuming they want to run their version of a sane Herman Cain. Dr. Carson certainly seems sane on the surface. I don’t know much about him. He was just interviewed in yesterday’s Parade Magazine. Since I no longer receive a Sunday newspaper, I would have missed it.
PARADE: As you look at the field of potential Republican contenders for president, is there anyone who jumps out at you as an attractive candidate?
CARSON: I particularly like Ted Cruz, because he’s hard to intimidate. Courage is something that’s so vital to the maintenance of a free society. When you have a lot of people who just go along to get along, that’s when things begin to change under your feet and all of the sudden you’ve got a different society.
PARADE: So if you were in a room with Sen. Cruz, you’d urge him to run?
CARSON: I have been in a room with him–he’s a good friend–and I think he’s the kind of person who really could make a difference.
So there you have it. He’s a Tea Party guy. With a big and growing following.
Have a nice day.