@ Alioto’s Restaurant; Giuseppe Room; 3041 N. Mayfair Rd.
at the door registration: $35; pre-registration $25

5:00 social hour
6:00 dinner
7:00 Keynote Speaker: Jim Sensenbrenner

Call Vicky Ostry @ 414-475-7000 or email at victoriaostry@yahoo.com

-Jason K.

An AP article from earlier today outlines the deportation of American author Jerome Corsi from Kenya. A Kenyan immigration official announced that Mr. Corsi was picked up by police for “not having a work permit.” Mr. Corsi was in Kenya to launch his book “The Obama Nation: Leftist Politics and the Cult of Personality.”

I want to make two things clear before I comment. First, I have not read the book. The AP seemed to think the book includes “innuendoes (sic) and false rumors.” Having not read it, I cannot comment on whether that is in fact the case. However, I would have to agree with the title that there does seem to be a “cult of personality” today in American politics. Second, I do not claim to possess any special knowledge regarding Kenyan immigration law. However, I think most would have to agree that this does not pass the “smell” test.

Without digging into all the details, the most troubling aspect of the situation is not that an American citizen is being deported because he does not share the government’s political opinions. No, what is most troubling is that Sen. Obama, the same Sen. Obama who had ten years teaching CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, initially had “no comment.”

Obviously the 1st Amendment’s Free Speech protection does not apply to Kenya. But don’t you think Sen. Obama could have used the opportunity to declare in grandiose fashion the need for political opponents to be treated fairly? Couldn’t the situation be seen as one in which Sen. Obama could have used his tremendous political capital in Kenya to encourage the acceptance of differing political views? Instead, Sen. Obama sits idly by as an American citizen is shipped off because he wrote a book which Sen. Obama obviously does not agree with.

I would expect the hope/change candidate to seize such an opportunity.

-Jake

A Samsphere is chance where WI’s top bloggers come together to network, meet with organization leaders and citizen leaders and enhance Wisconsin’s online community (although you don’t have to be a blogger to attend). The WI Samsphere is October 18th sponsored by SAA and Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin. The event starts on Friday evening with a mixer followed by a Saturday all-day Samsphere training.

The event is completely free, Friday’s get together and Saturday’s training which includes food all day. The event will be held in Milwaukee. You may register here: https://samadams.kimbia.com/samssphere

If you have any questions about the Sam Adams Alliance, this Samsphere, feel free to contact CYPMilwaukee@gmail.com .

Jason K.

The following is a hilarious recap of the election so far. It is balanced, so you have to be able to see the humor in both candidates.

http://www.peteyandpetunia.com/VoteHere/VoteHere.htm

(Thanks for the link Joe Bonow!)

Check out the Wisconsin Forum at www.wisconsinforum.org.

This organization hosts speakers (for all ages) for dinner throughout the year at the Milwaukee Athletic Club. The first this year is October 9. Cocktails are from 5:30-6:30 P.M. Dinner at 6:30 P.M. with the speaker starting after 7:00 P.M. Cost to attend is $45.00 and includes dinner.

October 9th Speaker: Dr. Samuel Gregg

What’s Wrong with Europe?
By any standard of civilization growth and decline, Europe is in crisis. Marked by collapsing birthrates, stagnating economies, and denial of its historical roots, much of Western Europe appears to be in deep trouble. In his talk, Dr. Samuel Gregg, director of research at the Acton Institute, explores the reasons for contemporary Europe’s problems, and outlines its future prospects. Gregg has written and spoken extensively on questions of political economy, economic history, ethics in finance, and natural law theory. He is the author of several books, including On Ordered Liberty (2003), and his prize-winning The Commercial Society (2007).

Feel free to contact Cindy Davis (cmdavis@foley.com) to register or more information. She and I, among others, will be there.

Jason K.

I want to thank those that came out Tuesday night to make phone calls at the GOP Headquarters in West Allis. Jason and I were unsure how many people would show up. While we would have obviously loved even more help, those that took the time to help were enthusiastic about the task. I don’t think I’ve ever had as much fun making phone calls.

A special thanks to Jeff Schaefer, Luke Steffel, Kyle Mayo and Matt Dambach for making a good number of calls.

Note our last volunteer opportunity before the election will take place Tuesday, October 28th. Refreshments and pizza will be provided by the campaign.

This Tuesday the CYP’s of Milwaukee will be hosting a phone bank at the Milwaukee County GOP headquarters. The office is located southeast of 84th and Greenfield in West Allis.

If you have always wanted to volunteer but have hesitated because you were unsure about the process or didn’t want to show up alone, now is your opportunity to help out.

We will be arriving around 6:00. The calls are extremely easy. If we get a good group together, we should be able to make a large number of calls in a short period of time.

Refreshments will be provided.

Now is your chance to “step up to the plate” and help elect Sen. McCain!

I know we normally feature serious posts regarding political updates and policy discussions, but today is a special day here in Milwaukee.

I was roughly three months old the last time the Milwaukee Brewers participated in a playoff game. Unfortunately, my baseball memories include a lot of average baseball, including the awful 2002 season in which the Crew won a total of 56 games. 90 wins just makes things a lot more fun.

I witnessed Braun’s walk-off grand slam on Thursday and can confidently say this is a special team. So when you feel yourself getting overwhelmed with the whole election, just take a break and think about the 2008 Brewers. Enjoy the ride!

-Jake

Thanks to everyone who joined us at County Claire this evening. Once again, it was exciting to see some new faces. Several people mentioned that they found out about the event via the McCain website. It is great to hear that word is spreading through different channels.

State Rep. Leah Vukmir, McCain Field Staffer Josh Ladd and Republican Party of Wisconsin Chairman Reince Priebus all talked to the group about the upcoming election and how we can all get involved. Thank you to them for taking time out of their schedules to stop by.

I hope that everyone who came had a great time. For those of you who couldn’t make it, be sure to check the blog/emails/facebook for details regarding next month’s event. We’re hoping to have some more great speakers as we head toward the final stretch of the campaign.

Thanks again to everyone for making the night a success. Hope to you see you at the CYPM sponsored phone bank next Tuesday!

-Jake

As a follow-up to my earlier post regarding the “Big Ten” poll, there was some interesting news in the JS All-Politics Blog (note, while the JS is most definitely not conservative or even “balanced,” it is a great source for breaking political news).

As I mentioned in the previous post, both Obama and McCain seemed to indicate early on that they were going to attempt to make inroads into previously uncontested states. However, as the polls suggest, political reality takes hold and states slowly shift to a “safe” or “leaning” category for the respective candidates.

As a perfect example of this, the JS notes that Obama is now moving field staff from North Dakota, a place where he thought he would be able to compete following the primary, to Wisconsin. This illustrates that the 50-state strategy at this point does not work and secondly, that Wisconsin is going to play a pivotal role in the election’s outcome.

Also, note as an aside that spending resources on a 50-state strategy is something that must be done in off-years. If anything, the GOP needs to realize that for a conservative candidate to have a viable chance to pick up numerous Midwestern states, states that all things being equal have broken to the Dems over the past two presidential elections, it will need to commit resources in off-years.

I know it has been attempted. In fact, I worked for the Republican Party of Wisconsin in a joint effort with the RNC in 2005 to establish regional offices around the state. While it was definitely difficult work, I’m confident that work laid the foundation for a very organized state-wide structure. McCain currently has a field office in every major Wisconsin city. This effort needs to be carried forward so that the infrastructure can be used in 2010 for the gubernatorial candidate and future presidential, senate and congressional candidates. It’s simply a matter of organizational will and resource commitment.

-Jake