Republic Insider

A great time to be a voter

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:39:00 CST

Another night, another great and dramatic speech. John McCain did exactly what he needed to do. He cut to the chase and spoke from the heart.

Looking back on all the great convention speeches we saw from Republicans and Democrats, I'm impressed by the quality of choice that we have in this election. Instead of four rich, middle- to old-aged, politics-as-usual white guys, we've got four people of incredibly varied and colorful backgrounds.

We've got John McCain, a man who was a prisoner of war for five and a half years (think about that: five and a half years) and who could make history as the oldest first-term president.

We've got Sarah Palin, a poised, tough-talking Alaskan mother of five who not too long ago was the mayor of a small town that nobody outside her state has ever heard of, and who has the historic chance to be the country's first-ever female vice president.

We've got Barack Obama, a man who rose from a fatherless childhood to become the first black man to win a party's nomination for president and who has a chance to become the first president of any color besides white.

And we've got Joe Biden, a man who persisted through the death of a wife and infant daughter to become one of the country's longest-serving senators.

These are all people who've climbed their own personal mountains to get where they are. Compare their stories and personalities to those of Bush/Cheney/Kerry/Edwards, and you've got quite a contrast.

I can't wait to see the debates. I expect they'll reveal even more about these already intriguing characters.

Focus 2020

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:59:00 CST

Mayor Lou Sebert and other leaders from throughout the Mitchell community today announced the beginning of Focus 2020, a planning process designed to create a vision for Mitchell's future.

Mark Buche, president of Tessier's, will serve as the group's chairman. Focus 2020 will include numerous committees devoted to various aspects of community planning.

Sebert said Focus 2020 will resemble the past Vision 2000 effort.

"It's been 16 years since we created a long-range plan for our future," Sebert said. "... It's time for a new plan."

You can read more about the announcement by clicking here or reading tomorrow's Daily Republic. In the meantime, I'd like to open it up to your thoughts.

What plans and goals would you like to see incorporated into Focus 2020?

P.S. We've started a Focus 2020 page over at mitchellrepublic.com where our coverage of Focus 2020 will be archived. During the next year, you'll be able to use the page to read news stories, see photos, vote in polls, watch videos and hear audio related to the Focus 2020 project.

Palin sprouts coattails

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:26:00 CST

If you need further evidence of the effectiveness of Sarah Palin's speech last night, here it is: Republican politicians are now trying to hitch a ride on her coattails instead of McCain's or Bush's.

An example is Joel Dykstra, the Republican challenger to Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson. Dykstra sent out a news release today condemning Johnson for criticizing Palin as a "weak choice." (It's interesting that Dykstra waited until the day after Palin's speech to release any official comment about her. Maybe he wanted to see how she performed before hitching up to her bandwagon, or maybe he just recognized what an incredible impact her speech had on Republicans and other voters and decided that he should strike while the iron is hot.)

Dykstra said in the release that he's a fresh, "change" candidate like Palin, and he said his positions are like Palin's positions.

"My energy policy positions are exactly the kind of solutions that Governor Palin outlined in her speech last night," Dykstra said in the release.

It'll be interesting to see if Palin's coattails keep expanding.

Palin's big night

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 08:04:00 CST

I thought Sarah Palin's speech last night was masterful. She came off as tough, intelligent and poised. She definitely solidified her spot on the ticket.

That said, I couldn't help but thinking that this is a woman who, until days ago, was completely immersed in the goings-on of Alaska. I doubt she's spent much time thinking about foreign affairs, and I think the parts of her speech that were devoted to foreign affairs were the weakest.

I also think that, in the final analysis, people will vote for McCain or Obama -- not Palin or Biden. Whatever Palin accomplished last night, it could be wiped out tonight if McCain doesn't live up to expectations.

What did you think of Palin's speech?

New 'visioning process' for Mitchell

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:04:00 CST

A news release today from Mitchell City Hall says there will be an announcement at 4 p.m. Thursday at the Ramada about a "new community-wide visioning process."

I called Mayor Lou Sebert to ask for more details, but he said everything is being withheld until the announcement.

My immediate guess is that this will be something like the old "Vision 2000" group, which Sebert was a member of. But that's just a guess.