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Political Lessons I Learned From My Mother – RealClearPolitics

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My mother, Phyllis Schlafly, had a political career of nearly 70 years, during which she learned the art of civic activism through trench warfare and positively impacted the lives of many. The problems of today can seem daunting, but fortunately we have the experiences of our elders’ available to us. 

Here are the lessons I learned from my mom’s life in politics: 

It’s never about the last election; it’s always about the next one. Win or lose on Election Day, the day after is the time to learn from your mistakes and evaluate your next move. The same theory holds true for votes in the legislature: Once the votes have been cast, organize for the next issue and the next vote, even if that is repealing the last vote. 1964 was a blowout loss – which depressed many Goldwater supporters, but for my mother, the lessons learned in that election made other victories possible. 

A ballot does not contain an “explain your vote” section. People will vote with you for a variety of reasons. Accept their support; don’t criticize their reasons. 

Not everyone will support you on every policy. Make alliances on each issue, not a total platform. People rate their issues differently from how you may prioritize yours, so work with anyone who will agree with you some of the time. 

Don’t hold grudges. The art of politics is friendliness across the spectrum. If your personality is such that you tend to hold grudges, get out of politics. Your opponent in one legislative battle may be your best ally in another. Stay polite. For example, due to my mother’s kindness and professionalism, her Democratic U.S. senator never failed to wish her Happy Birthday. Stay in continual – and polite – conversations with everyone involved. 

Expand your reach by making alliances across religions. Phyllis Schlafly was a Roman Catholic, but her supporters included Baptists, Church of Christ, Evangelical, Latter-Day Saints, Orthodox Jews, and more. 

God is on your side, but God has a lot to do. Don’t count on God to stuff the ballot box; that’s your job. 

Never apologize for your beliefs or stances, ever. Your supporters don’t need apologies, nor do they want to see weakness in a leader, and your enemies don’t value apologies. In the current political climate, the media is obsessed with getting conservatives to apologize for their beliefs. Their goal is to weaken our leaders; don’t let them win. 

Everything you say or do is “on the record.” Never speak, write, email, text, post, or tweet anything that you do not want to be seen on the front page of a newspaper. 

Frame the debate to win the debate. Don’t use the language that your opponents use; instead choose words that communicate your side of the issue, such as pro-life or “death tax” instead of “estate tax.” Recently, conservatives have been using the phrase “crony capitalism.” I object; there is nothing crony about capitalism. Cronyism is the elite playing favorites, which is the heart of communism. Don’t sully a good word like capitalism. 

Distill your message to 60 seconds. Endlessly repeating the same message is very effective. When the media ask you questions on other topics, always answer with the message you want to send. 

Choose your battles. There are countless harmful policies in the world, but not every battle is winnable. Choose battles that can be won. After all, winning is more fun than losing! 

Accentuate the positive. Yes, you will lose battles, but they can become pyrrhic victories for your opponents. Barry Goldwater’s loss in 1964 led directly to Ronald Reagan’s victory in 1980 because conservatives spent 16 years building their grassroots. Learn the lessons of a defeat, but never dwell on the defeat (see Lesson No. 1). 

Accentuate the negative. The easiest way to defeat bad legislation is to enumerate how individuals will be negatively affected by the proposed law. Make it personal and relatable. 

Focus on the states. Most politicians are eager to get to the national limelight in Washington, D.C. But more action happens in the state legislatures. It’s easier to pass good bills and defeat bad ones in the individual states. Many are wooed by national news and not paying attention at the local level, so there’s a real opportunity for big policy wins. You can also groom the next generation of political leaders, who will remain indebted to you because you knew-them-when. 

Thank people. After a vote is taken, most people move on to the next issue. Win or lose, thank those who were on your side. You want their support on the next vote, and honey catches more flies than vinegar. 

Thank your supporters. Most people involved in politics are volunteers. Appreciation is their payment. Eagle Forum has given hundreds of Eagle Awards over the years to the volunteers who gave their precious time and energy. 

One of my favorite quotes from my mother is, “Politicians usually have more votes before they speak than afterwards.” It is easier to like a candidate before you find out you do not agree with him/her on a particular issue. Get prepared and learn the issues that your particular audience is interested in and be ready to answer questions in a way that won’t lose their support. Plus, short speeches are more effective than long speeches. (Back to No. 9: distill your message to one minute. )

Be available. Don’t hide behind staff or layers of bureaucracy. Answer your own phone and email at any time. Our home phone number was always listed in the phone book. 

Smile, smile, and smile again. Be happy and optimistic. Your supporters need encouragement, and your opponents are driven crazy by your joy. 

Phyllis Schlafly was a successful grassroots organizer because she exemplified “what you see is what you get.” She believed in what she did, and her authentic voice is a model for all women. Adhering to these rules helped her, and those she counseled, win a lot of important political fights in her day. But these rules transcend time; they are ever-present in our national political scene. The philosophical base upon which they all sit is that truth, tenacity, and tireless effort can take you far — if you are willing to stand on the proper principles and fight your hardest, you put yourself in the best position of winning! 

Anne Schlafly Cori is chairman of the Eagle Forum, a pro-family public interest group.

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Opinion: Canada's foreign policy and its domestic politics on Israel's war against Hamas are shifting – The Globe and Mail

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The vote in the House of Commons last week on Israel’s war against Hamas represents a shift in both Canada’s foreign policy and its domestic politics.

The Liberal government is now markedly more supportive of the rights of Palestinians and less supportive of the state of Israel than in the past. That shift mirrors changing demographics, and the increasing importance of Muslim voters within the Liberal coalition.

Both the Liberal and Conservative parties once voiced unqualified support for Israel’s right to defend itself from hostile neighbours. But the Muslim community is growing in Canada. Today it represents 5 per cent of the population, compared with 1 per cent who identify as Jewish.

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Although data is sparse prior to 2015, it is believed that Muslim Canadians tended to prefer the Liberal Party over the Conservative Party. They were also less likely to vote than the general population.

But the Conservative Party under Stephen Harper deeply angered the community with talk about “barbaric cultural practices” and musing during the 2015 election campaign about banning public servants from wearing the niqab. Meanwhile, Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau was promising to bring in 25,000 Syrian refugees to Canada if elected.

These factors galvanized community groups to encourage Muslims to vote. And they did. According to an Environics poll, 79 per cent of eligible Muslims cast a ballot in the 2015 election, compared with an overall turnout of 68 per cent. Sixty-five per cent of Muslim voters cast ballots for the Liberal Party, compared with 10 per cent who voted for the NDP and just 2 per cent for the Conservatives. (Telephone interviews of 600 adults across Canada who self-identified as Muslim, were conducted between Nov. 19, 2015 and Jan. 23, 2016, with an expected margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points 19 times out of 20.)

Muslim Canadians also strongly supported the Liberals in the elections of 2019 and 2021. The party is understandably anxious not to lose that support. I’m told that Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly often mentions the large Muslim community in her Montreal riding. (According to the 2021 census, 18 per cent of the people in Ahuntsic-Cartierville identify as Muslim.)

This is one reason why the Liberal leadership laboured so mightily to find a way to support last week’s NDP motion that would, among other measures, have recognized the state of Palestine. The Liberal caucus was deeply divided on the issue. My colleague Marieke Walsh reports that dozens of Liberal MPs were prepared to vote for the NDP motion.

In the end, almost all Liberal MPs ended up voting for a watered-down version of the motion – statehood recognition was taken off the table – while three Liberal MPs voted against it. One of them, Anthony Housefather, is considering whether to remain inside the Liberal caucus.

This is not simply a question of political calculation. Many Canadians are deeply concerned over the sufferings of the people in Gaza as the Israel Defence Forces seek to root out Hamas fighters.

The Conservatives enjoy the moral clarity of their unreserved support for the state of Israel in this conflict. The NDP place greater emphasis on supporting the rights of Palestinians.

The Liberals have tried to keep both Jewish and Muslim constituencies onside. But as last week’s vote suggests, they increasingly accord a high priority to the rights of Palestinians and to the Muslim community in Canada.

As with other religious communities, Muslims are hardly monolithic. Someone who comes to Canada from Senegal may have different values and priorities than a Canadian who comes from Syria or Pakistan or Indonesia.

And the plight of Palestinians in Gaza may not be the only issue influencing Muslims, who struggle with inflation, interest rates and housing affordability as much as other voters.

Many new Canadians come from societies that are socially conservative. Some Muslim voters may be uncomfortable with the Liberal Party’s strong support for the rights of LGBTQ Canadians.

Finally, Muslim voters for whom supporting the rights of Palestinians is the ballot question may be drawn more to the NDP than the Liberals.

Regardless, the days of Liberal/Conservative bipartisan consensus in support of Israel are over. This is the new lay of the land.

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Recall Gondek group planned to launch its own petition before political novice did – CBC.ca

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The third-party group helping promote the recall campaign against Mayor Jyoti Gondek had devised plans to launch its own petition drive, as part of a broader mission to make Calgary council more conservative.

Project YYC had planned with other conservative political organizations to gather signatures demanding Calgary’s mayor be removed, says group leader Roy Beyer. But their drive would have begun later in the year, when nicer weather made for easier canvassing for supporters, he said.

Those efforts were stymied when Landon Johnston, an HVAC contractor largely unknown in local politics, applied at city hall to launch his own recall drive in early February. Since provincial recall laws allow only one recall attempt per politician per term, Project YYC chose to lend support to Johnston’s bid.

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“Now we have to try to do door-knocking in the winter, and there’s a lot of preparation that you have to contemplate prior to starting. And Landon didn’t do that,” Beyer told CBC News in an interview.

Project YYC has helped gather signatures, created a website and erected large, anti-Gondek signs around town. It has supplied organizational heft that Johnston admits to lacking.

Their task is daunting.

According to provincial law, in order to force a recall plebiscite to oust the mayor before the term is up, they have two months to gather more than 514,000 signatures, an amount equal to 40 per cent of Calgary’s population in 2019.

They have until April 4 to collect that many signatures, and by March 21 had only 42,000.

Beyer criticizes the victory threshold for recall petition as so high that it’s “a joke,” and the province may as well not have politician recall laws.

So if he thinks it’s an impossible pursuit, why is he involved with this?

“You can send a message to the mayor that she should be sitting down and resigning … without achieving those numbers,” Beyer said.

Project YYC founder Roy Beyer, from a Take Back Alberta video in 2022. He is no longer with that provincial activist group. (royjbeyer screenshot/Rumble)

He likened it to former premier Jason Kenney getting 52 per cent support in a UCP leadership review — enough to technically continue as leader, but a lousy enough show of confidence that he announced immediately he would step down.

Gondek has given no indication she’ll voluntarily leave before her term is up next year. But she did emerge from a meeting last week with Johnston to admit the petition has resonated with many Calgarians and is a signal she must work harder to listen to public concerns and explain council’s decisions.

The mayor also told the Calgary Sun this week that she’s undecided about running for re-election in 2025. 

“There used to be this thing where if you’re the mayor, of course you’re going to run for another term because there’s unfinished business,” Gondek told the newspaper.

“And yes, there will be unfinished business, but the times are not what they were. You need to make sure you’re the right leader for the times you’re in.”

The last several Calgary mayors have enjoyed multiple terms in office, going back to Ralph Klein in the 1980s. The last one-term mayor was Ross Alger, the man Klein defeated in 1980.

Beyer and fellow conservative organizers launched Project YYC before the recall campaign. The goal was to elect a conservative mayor and councillors — “a common-sense city council, instead of what we currently have,” he said.

Beyer is one of a few former activists with the provincial pressure group Take Back Alberta to have latched themselves to the recall bid and Project YYC, along with some United Conservative Party riding officials in Calgary. 

Beyer’s acknowledgment of his group’s broader mission comes as Premier Danielle Smith and her cabinet ministers have said they want to introduce political party politics in large municipalities — even though most civic politicians have said they don’t want to bring clear partisanship into city halls.

Although Beyer admits Project YYC’s own recall campaign would have been a coalition effort with other conservative groups, he wouldn’t specify which ones. He did insist that Take Back Alberta wasn’t one of them.

A man in a grey baseball cap speaks to reporters.
Calgary business owner Landon Johnston speaks to reporters at City Hall on March 22 following his 15-minute conversation with Mayor Jyoti Gondek. (Laurence Taschereau/CBC)

Johnston says he was approached by Beyer’s group shortly after applying to recall Gondek, and gave them $3,000 from donations he’d raised.

He initially denied any knowledge of Project YYC when documents first emerged about that group’s role in the recall, but later said he didn’t initially realize that was the organizational name of his campaign allies.

“They said they could get me signatures, so I said, ‘OK, if you can do it by the book, here’s some money.’ And it’s worked,” he said.

Johnston has said he’s new to politics but simply wants to remove Gondek because of policies he’s disagreed with, like the soon-to-be-ended ban on single-use plastics and bags at restaurant takeouts and drive-thrus.

He’s no steadfast conservative, either. He told CBC’s Calgary Eyeopener that he voted for Rachel Notley’s NDP because one of its green-renovation incentives helped his HVAC business.

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Larry David shares how he feels about Trump – CNN

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Larry David shares how he feels about Trump

“Curb Your Enthusiasm” star Larry David shares how he feels about former President Donald Trump and the 2020 election. Watch the full episode of “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace,” streaming March 29 on Max.


03:21

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