Ron Carey's fundraising letter

Minnesota GOP Chair Ron Carey's barely literate, revolting plee for cash entitled, "The Party of Ellison" landed like a flaming bag of dog doo in my Inbox on Wednesday. Mr. Carey wants money so that the GOP can continue practicing the politics of division in Minnesota. His message should be read by people of all political stripes. It should be read aloud in classrooms and discussed. Comprised of half-truths, lies, red herrings and fear mongering, all of the propositions contained in Carey's letter should be examined, held to the light, and allowed to degrade to dust under the judgement of more honest souls than the author.

Let's begin:

1. "This is not your Daddy's DFL anymore." As Republicans, if we lose this year, the Democrats who will run our state will be radical leftists who will say or do anything to impose their beliefs and values upon our state. Hubert Humphrey's DFL Party has been replaced by the Party of Keith Ellison. The stakes have never been higher nor the choice more clear than what we face in November." This sets the tone for the whole letter. This is name calling, something at which the GOP is very adept. You should ask yourself, what does "radical leftist" mean? Does the term have any real connection to the personalities and concepts under discussion? Am I dismissing an idea that serves my best interests because it is named something that I don't like? It is beyond ironic to hear Carey speak of his daddy's DFL when the moderate scions of the Minnesota Republican party have openly repudiated its aims and the aims of the national GOP.

2. "The time has come to take a stand now for our core Republican values: less government, lower taxes, personal responsibility, individual freedom, stronger families, and domestic tranquility through a strong national defense." The idea here is that the GOP still stands for core Republican values. These days, the GOP is the party of big government, decreasing earnings paired with increasing costs of living, vivisecting the constitution to remove personal freedoms in the name of security (and elections), paying lip-service to family values while it soaks in a brine of corruption, paying more lip-service to national defense while exposing our military to foreign boondoggles without the proper equipment. By the way, the national GOP slate, Kennedy, Kline et al have voted the party line like faithful little bootlickers, despite the non-partisan noises they make in campaign season. Bachman would certainly follow suit.

3. The letter goes on to ask the reader to "imagine the consequences of a Wetterling/Kloubachar/Ellison/Rowley/Hatch victory. Carey uses another array of lies and propaganda techniques. In particular, he abuses Ellison not just with his association with Lois Farakahn and for accepting money from an alleged Hamas supporter, but for trying to hide it in the future. I hasten to add that Ellison has openly discussed these issues today. There is no reason to believe that he wouldn't continue to do that in the future.

4.I need your help. Our common-sense message will prevail if I can fund a massive voter education and turnout drive. Right now, I'm significantly short of what we need to put our own version of the Ohio plan into action. Please carefully consider what we have at stake in this election and reach into your pocketbook for one last gift to help our great Republican team in the critical final push. I don't have the union bosses, or the well-heeled celebrities to turn to; I have good Minnesota citizens like you.. The Ohio Plan!!? Yes, give money to the Minnesota GOP so they can emulate Ohio: I guess the MN GOP plans to embezzle rare coins from the state and rig the elections.

One can only hope that people are well and truly exhausted from 8 years of polarization. This letter is from a man and a party who want you scared, unthinking, and uninformed. It is evidence that they, not the democrats, will do anything to maintain the power so rapidly slipping through their fingers.