50 years ago today my father died. He was only 39 years old. We were on our way home from vacation and had stopped in Denver to see my grandmother. He wasn’t an important person, by anyone’s standards, and I’m one of probably only two people left in the world who even knew him.

I just have a few memories left. I remember so clearly the ambulance crew pushing the stretcher past Nana’s dining room table and he looked over at me and told me not to be scared, I’d be okay. He probably knew he wouldn’t be. I think I remember being told that he had died, but I don’t remember how we got back from Denver to Helena. To this day, I have no recollection of the funeral either, but several years later I was able to go to the cemetery and walk right up to his gravesite, even though I hadn’t been there since the day he was buried.

For many years I idolized my father. He was the “good guy”; Mom was the “bad parent”. She got all the blame; he got all the credit. At some point I grew up and realized that – like all the rest of us – he probably had his good points as well as his faults. It doesn’t matter now one way or the other, but I wish I could thank him for a gift I know he gave me that has stayed with me for all these years – a love of reading for pure enjoyment and entertainment. Give me a book over a movie any day!

I don’t remember exactly what his job was – he worked for the State of Montana in the Mitchell Building. (I think I remember that because of the white buffalo was displayed in the front lobby until the museum was built.) His job involved a little bit of travel and when he came home he would bring me a book. I vividly recall curling up in the living room with the newest “Cherry Ames” mystery and reading clear through ’til bedtime. I LOVED those books!

I still love character-based series: Susan Grafton’s Kinsey Milhone, Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum, Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp. Alex Cross, Alex Deleware, Ben Kinkaid, Peter Decker, JP Beaumont, Butch Karp, and a whole host of other fictional characters have become the same kind of friends that Dad first introduced me to. Many times during my life, when I was uprooted from one place and moved to another, I always knew where I could find a familiar friend.

I’m sure he had more influence on who I am than I will ever realize, but my world has always been a much bigger and more interesting place because of the books I have read and for that I owe much to my father.

So today, I just want to let him know I remember and I appreciate what he did for me. And he was right – I was okay without him. But I missed him. And I still do. Some things never change.

Love you Dad!

A serious lack of experience shouldn’t disqualify a guy from getting a job. He’s smart. He’ll be able to figure it out.

How’s that working out for you?

Much has been said and written about what and how the Republican Party should do to turn around its fortunes in 2010 and 2012. There is, in fact, no shortage of recommendations: be more conservative; attract more moderates; go back to Republican principles; ignore the Religious Right; be more Constitutionalist; be more Libertarian. Throw all the incumbents out.

Follow those directions and victory is assured? Not exactly. Follow that route and the Promised Land is probably a lot more than 40 years away because certainly those directions are nothing short of confusing to the max.

Karl Rove on Fox News Sunday had the most practical, realistic, and honest advice we could ever want: Find candidates that reflect your views and work your butt off to get them elected.

Ok – so that sounds simple and obvious. Why then did the Republicans loose so badly in the last election? Precisely because we didn’t find candidates that we believed supported our political views – starting at the top. John McCain – God love him – is an honorable man, a hero, a great American. We respect him; we thank him for his many years of service and sacrifice for this country, but we Republicans never really supported his positions on many of the issues we find important. His commitment to Life was fine – no argument there. But that’s not the only issue that Republicans vote on – contrary to what many on both sides of the abortion issue would like to have us believe. And we knew he was totally behind our military and our national security. BUT – there was McCain-Feingold, the campaign finance legislation that most Republicans believe violated our First Amendment (Freedom of Speech) rights; his proposed solution to the illegal immigration issue (amnesty by any other name?); his support for the original financial bail out program during the election focused our concerns on his fiscal conservancy. When we tallied up the score, John McCain was only batting .500 on the top six issues for conservative voters. Had it not been for his breathtakingly brilliant choice for a running mate, Sarah Palin, McCain would have suffered not only an electoral college thumpin’, but a huge percentage point loss in the popular vote too.

When push comes to shove – Americans want to vote FOR something – and in 2008, most Republicans couldn’t vote for John McCain; all we could do was vote against Obama.

The same could be said for many of the “down ticket” races also. Here in Montana, our second-tier races generated less enthusiasm than a bucket of warm spit. Who in their right mind would get out there and work for Bob Kelleher? Max may not be anybody’s definition of a political giant, but he isn’t a perennial political joke either. Denny Rehberg may not have lit anybody’s fire, but John Driscoll assured a safe seat there – so no need to get worked up on that race. And in the statewide races, enthusiasm for our candidates ranged from pretty enthused (Tim Fox!) to supportive but not willing to work hard for them (Roy Brown and Duane Grimes) to apathetic-at-best (Elaine Herman and Brad Johnson).

When we look for reasons why Montana Republicans did so poorly in the statewide races, the reality is that we didn’t have candidates we were willing to work our butts off for. Simple as that. If you look at the local races there were very real successes. Right here in Lewis and Clark County – the People’s Republic of. County Commission race. Ed Tinsley – grand high almighty rising star in the Democrat Party, incumbent, lots of money, name recognition, perfect candidate on paper. Challenger – Derek Brown – virtual unknown, political neophyte, no big money or party backing. He captured the imagination and fire of the community and was able to reach out with his message of honesty and accountability to gain the ACTIVE support of literally hundreds of local citizens. His victory was hard fought and very sweet. There were plenty of other local and legislative races around the state where the general antipathy of the Republican Party was overcome by the hard work and enthusiasm of individual supporters who were willing to do whatever it took to prevail – even against huge odds.

As we look toward 2010, the message is clear: If Republicans are going to be successful we need to find good candidates who articulate a message we can support. And then we all need to work our butts off. It really is that simple.

BARACK OBAMA IS MY SHEPHERD,
I SHALL NOT WANT
HE LEADETH ME BESIDE THE STILL,
FACTORIES AND ABANDONED FARMS.
HE RESTORETH MY DOUBT,
ABOUT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY.
HE ANNOINTETH MY WAGES WITH TAXES & INFLATION,
MY EXPENSES RUNNETH OVER MY INCOME.
SURELY POVERTY & HARD LIVING,
SHALL FOLLOW THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY,
AND I SHALL WORK ON A RENTED FARM,
AND LIVE IN A RENTED HOUSE FOREVER.

5000 YEARS AGO MOSES SAID,
“PACK UP YOUR CAMEL, PICK UP YOUR SHOVEL,
MOVE YOUR ASS, AND I WILL LEAD YOU,
TO THE PROMISED LAND.”

5000 YEARS LATER F.D.R. SAID,
“LAY DOWN YOUR SHOVEL, SIT ON YOUR ASS,
AND LIGHT UP A CAMEL, THIS IS
THE PROMISED LAND”

THIS YEAR BARACK OBAMA WILL TAKE YOUR SHOVEL,
SELL YOUR CAMEL, KICK YOUR ASS,
AND MORTGAGE THE PROMISED LAND TO CHINA.

But I just have to share this.