http://www.thebobdavispodcasts.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/The-Bob-Davis-Podcast-458.mp3

Podcast 487

Confessions of a Delegate. As commentators, political junkies, your next door neighbor and just about everyone speculates about the number of delegates garnered by candidates in the 2016 primary race, I thought it was time to actually talk to one of the delegates to a past convention to get an idea of what it’s like. Thus, Confessions of a Delegate. Mark Johnson was a republican activist supporting Texas Congressman Ron Paul for president in 2012. Johnson was part of the storied Minnesota Delegation, one of five state delegations pledged to support Paul. We’ve all seen the shots on TV from the convention floor. What was it really like to be on the floor at the convention? What was it like to experience the power of the establishment first hand, a republican establishment bound and determined not to allow the Texas Representative a chance to speak to the convention or have his name entered into nomination from the floor. What did the establishment do? They changed the rules before the convention (the now famous rule 40b) and prevented a so called ‘minority report’ on the rules committee from being entered into consideration and voted on, making sure Minority Report author Morton Blackwell’s bus didn’t make it to the convention in time for the vote. The establishment also disqualified the Maine delegation and replaced them with Romney supporters. Why is this important. This fight is nothing compared to what could happen if none of the candidates reach Cleveland with enough delegates pledged to them to achieve a nomination on the first ballot, an outcome which appears more and more likely, an outcome all three remaining candidacies appear to be preparing for. Now ‘retired for the time being’ Johnson talks about his experience and has some advice for the delegates elected to their conventions in 2016. Sponsored by X Government Cars and Pride of Homes and Luke Team Real Estate. (Editor’s note; At one point I refer to what happens when delegates get to ‘Tampa’, since we were talking about Tampa and 2012. I meant to say Cleveland, where the GOP convention will be held in 2016.)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 40:46 — 93.3MB) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Podcast 456

Bad Omen. A special primary election in Minnesota’s 35th Senate District results in 60 percent of the vote for RINO Jim Abeler over the Tea Party and Republican Party endorsed candidate Andy Aplicowski and may be a bad omen for the general election in 2016. The Iowa Precinct Caucuses are on February 1st. Minnesota’s caucuses are on March 1st. With the national media reporting on the Republican Party ‘Civil War’, and the impact of the Tea Party in that ‘civil war’ it looks like the Tea Party is all show, and no go. Tea Party groups can’t seem to get out the vote for ‘principled’ conservatives. Is this a bad omen? Is it possible voters don’t agree with the Tea Party message? Are the Tea Party groups lazy? Or, maybe Tea Party groups are just ignorant of what real political organizing requires. If this happens nationwide in 2016 then the so called ‘grassroots surge’ of ‘principled’ conservatives in the Republican Party, supported by Tea Party chapters all over the country, may be one of the biggest busts, and thus one of the biggest stories of 2016 bad omen, or not. Offering excuses doesn’t cut it. Win, or go home. Sure, the story line of the Tea Party as kingmaker serves the mainstream media’s interests now, but if the Tea Party can’t produce results what the media gives will be taken away, mercilessly. What’s wrong? This might be considered a harsh analysis for some, but when the Tea Party candidate loses by sixty percent of the vote, it’s a criticism that should be heard and a story that’s not being told. Is there something these groups can do to improve their performance? What happens if they keep failing to win? Sponsored by Hydrus, Pride of Home and Luke Team Real Estate.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 39:26 — ) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS

Podcast 434

Coffee by The Fire. It’s finally starting to feel like October in the upper midwest with temperatures dropping, leaves falling and scudding grey clouds. The days are shorter, the nights longer, and that means its time for a podcast, with coffee, by the fire in the Broadcast Bunker. In podcast time, this is being posted on a Friday. The last week or so has been a rush of technical issues, crazy political stories, parties, lunches, client calls, late night discussions about everything under the sun, and reading a lot of news. Sometimes it’s good to just sit down in front of the microphone and do a podcast. All the ‘podcast manuals’ say you’re supposed to ‘know what you’re going to talk about’. Years of experience in talk radio taught me that sometimes the best thing to do is walk into the studio with no notes, no paper, and nothing in mind. In this podcast I talk a little about my current love-hate relationship with politics and media, media coverage of politics, review the technology issues I have been having lately, present a on-the-spot theory about social disruptions caused by operating system updates pushed out to your computer (Editor’s note: Say no, unless you know all the implications of updating your computer’s operating system.) Anyone ever say to you, “People are acting weird today”? Maybe its because there’s a rolling effect from all the updates blowing out people’s phone apps, peripherals and generally messing with us. What will happen when someday driverless cars, autonomous machines, androids, robot manufacturing and remote controlled bulldozers update and just stop? Hiring people to monitor all that stuff and keep systems operating might – gasp – actually create jobs! Finally, a discussion of the joys of being in business for yourself and how weird it is for a ‘creative’ type to be enthralled with the business side of his business. Welcoming Hydrus as a sponsor to the Bob Davis Podcasts and sponsored by X Government Trucks. 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 42:14 — ) | Embed

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS