EckerNet.Com

This has been an interesting election cycle already, and it started at the very beginning.

When Minnesota’s Precinct Caucuses took place, even the most optimistic planner wouldn’t have guessed at the turnout.  It was massive, it was young and it was filled with first-timers.  Political virginity became an endangered species overnight.  And the energy level was off the chart.

Political veterans, including myself, were overjoyed, if somewhat overwhelmed, at the turnout.  New people are always welcome in politics, especially the young and energetic.  But many of us were also realistic enough to understand the reason for the turnout.  The first truly contested presidential race on both side of the aisle.  Most of us figured the enthusiasm would die quickly once candidates solidified.  Although it was still nice because if even 10% stuck around, it’s a huge bump in participation.

So BPOU conventions rolled around, and once again we had very high turnout.  But then we had contested nominations in our district, and despite our turnout repeated all over the state, I assumed that participation would start dropping soon.

Well, this weekend CD2 held their convention, and participation was still going strong.  A full delegation packed the house, with more alternates waiting in the wings.  Lots of new people continued to fill the ranks, even at a level at which it’s often the same faces over and over.

But that didn’t even tell the full story.  The reality become obvious to me later in the day.  The future of the party is very bright indeed.

One of the tasks for CD2 was to pick three delegates to send to the National Convention to be held in St. Paul, Minnesota.  Now, understandably there was great interest.  Initially roughly 90 people were vying for the three slots.  Eventually once financial and time obligations were made clear many dropped but still 68 wanted to try.  To aid the process each had to give a short speech to the convention outlining their qualifications.

Oh sure, we had a lot of old faces up there, some quite literally.  However, there were also lots of new people and almost without exception, all of them were very well spoken and solid in their beliefs and convictions.

I was particularly impressed with two youngsters, who not yet 18, were participating in their first election ever.  Not only were they already solid conservatives at this tender age, but were very well spoken and eloquent, leaving an impression fair beyond their years.  I think those two, who I didn’t get a chance to talk with afterwards, made a larger mark upon me than anyone else that day.  It’s easy to get cynical about politics, but it’s also nice when that flame is rekindled, and it certainly was by these two.  If they ever read this I’d like to say thanks.

And I’ve often heard predictions that 2008 is going to be another tough year for conservatives, and I certainly understand the reasoning for such predictions.  But I got the distinct impression that either nobody at CD2 has heard their predictions, or they almost universally regard them as utter nonsense.  It’s nice to see and makes it a little easier to work the trenches when victory is not considered a lost cause.

Suddenly the outlook and path to this November, and many Novembers beyond, looks a whole lot brighter.  I can’t wait.