I am not asking for a seat at the table. I’m not even asking that they feel me or anyone else out about picks like this. What I am saying, however, is that the NRSC clearly has some screws loose and lacks good judgment. – Erick Erickson

I’m going to pick on Erick here.

No, I like him fine… I like what he is trying to do.

I don’t like how he is trying to do it… and that said… I’m not sure I know what he thinks he’s trying to do and how he’s trying to do it. If I understand this what Eric is saying is:

We need to run conservatives for the senate in conservative states… like Florida. We can get by with less than conservatives in other places (Mark Kirk in Illinois and Mike Castle in Delaware).

And Erick is mad at John Cornyn for not doing just that and endorsing Charlie Crist in Florida.

If I got all that correct… then the question becomes:

‘is the course that Erick now takes… using the bully pulpit that is RedState to demean John Cornyn and this selection the right thing to do?’

I say no… while it might be the only course of action left, it is not the correct course of action. We missed that weeks or months ago. Why?

“I am not asking for a seat at the table”

Why the hell not? If not you, then who? If not someone then how do you think the process gets changed? You are either part of the problem, part of the solution, or part of the scenery.

Today, right now… which one of those is RedState? Which one is Erick Erickson?

You want to lead a conservative revolution? Then lead it.

(I fully and completely admit that I have no idea what has gone on before, and behind the scenes… in some way I HOPE that one or more of the replies I get to this is: ‘we’ve tried all this before.’)

Erick: have you sat with and spoken to John Cornyn? With anyone at the NRSC? Has someone spoken to him/them post Nov 2008 on behalf of RedState? Who in/on the NRSC is conservative? Why was this meeting, this speaking, this conversation not happening in Dec 2008 or Jan 2009?

Why is there not a coordinated strategy between RedState and… well everybody else in the party?

Somebody needs a seat at the table… somebody conservative. If we do have a conservative at/on the NRSC, how then did this happen? If we don’t…

Enough of would’ve, could’ve, should’ve. Now what?

Get RedState a seat at the table.

Is there a conservative challenger in Florida? If not move on… more on that in a moment.

If there is… get with him/her and run that SOB…

Raise money for him… have him speak at the meetup in August… ‘keynote’ him. Get him on and keep him on the frontpage…raise money for him… get him on the radio, put him on the map and keep him there.

Win or lose the message you HAVE TO get to the NRSC is: ‘wouldn’t this all be better if we worked together?’

If our guy wins so much the better… if not the fact remains… tens of thousands of dollars and a ton and a half of exposure went the way YOU WANTED IT TO.

You are either part of the problem, part of the solution, or part of the scenery.

If there isn’t a conservative horse in the Florida race… find another one. (Chuck DeVore? Just a thought)

Again… raise money for him… have him speak at the meetup in August… ‘keynote’ him. Get him on and keep him on the frontpage…raise money for him… get him on the radio, put him on the map and keep him there.

(BTW: who’s in charge of getting C-Span to Atlanta?)

Erick, if you and RedState don’t come out of this fight stronger… then it was a fight not worth having. Stronger is more powerful, and that means ‘a seat at the table.’

Before doing battle, in the temple one calculates and will win, because many calculations were made;

before doing battle, in the temple one calculates and will not win, because few calculations were made;

many calculations, victory, few calculations, no victory, then how much less so when no calculations?

By means of these, I can observe them, beholding victory or defeat!

-SUN-TZU