National Kommitteewoman Endorsement: Sandy Greiner

This Saturday Iowa Republicans will elect a new National Kommitteewoman at the state konvention. The two main candidates are State Representative Sandy Greiner, and Iowa Right to Life President Kim Lehman.

For me the choice is simple, there is only ONE Krustacean in the race and that’s Sandy Greiner. As an avid reader of this blog, I’m confident that she is prepared to represent Iowa Republicans on a national level.

Now this is really nothing to joke about. Our National Kommitteewoman will be one of the few voices defending Iowa’s First in the Nation status. Now I was able to get my hands on both Sandy’s and Kim’s letters, below is the main point each make.

Sandy Greiner

“One of the greatest challenges Iowa will face in the future is protecting our “First in the Nation” Caucus status. It will be the responsibility of the Iowa National Committeeman and the Iowa National Committeewoman to see that Iowa’s interests are voiced clearly and concisely when those decisions are made.

Iowa’s Caucus status is not only the responsibility of our Committee people. Equally important will be the effort to rebuild our party in order to regain Majorities in the Legislature and Congress, as well as reclaiming Terrace Hill.”

Kim Lehman

“The most important job for the National Committeeman and National Committeewoman is to represent Iowa and maintain our position as first in the nation. Being first in the nation is a long tradition and very important to Iowa politics. The Nation looks to us to kick off the presidential election cycle, a role that has become our identity.”

Both of these letters are fine, but I think Sandy’s experience as a legislator in invaluable for this position. She also has served on the National Rules Kommittee, and served as the National Rules Kommittee Secretary at the 2004 National Convention. Again, Sandy brings some very solid and important kredentials to bring to the table.

In Kim Lehman’s letter she states “that leaders should keep these priorities: God, Family, Country, Republican Party.” She then goes on to say, “I strongly believe that if we do this, the role of government would be reduced and the social issues we struggle over would be resolved.”

Now I don’t disagree with her, but the position of National Kommitteewoman is a highly political one. I don’t get the sense from her letter that she understands how badly other states want to strip away our First in the Nation status.

What people need to understand is that Iowa should go first not just because it’s been that way for a long time, but because we take our privileged status very seriously and do it well. I’m konvinced that Iowa and New Hampshire are the only states that can really give any candidate a real shot. If the nomination process began in Ohio or Michigan the candidates with a huge bank role would be the only ones able to compete.

I know a lot of people think John McCain hates the Iowa Caucuses. He should be very thankful for them. It was the Iowa Caucuses which allowed an underdog like Huckabee to take root and grow while his initial campaign crumbled. Huckabee provided McCain cover and gave him some precious time to rebuild and capitalize on New Hampshire, another small state.

On the other hand if the first state was a larger one with multiple media markets, or if there were a cluster of states that kicked off the process McCain would have been DOA. I think it’s important to tell people why Iowa and New Hampshire are good at what they do, and why their status should continue.

Back to the National Committeewoman race. Kim is a very nice lady, and give her Krusty Kudos for the work she does with Iowa Right to Life. Sandy Greiner (who is also Pro-Life and was one hell of a legislator) knows how to operate in a highly political environment, and has the experience necessary to represent Iowa Republicans from day one, and help protect our First in the Nation Status.