Saturday, March 26, 2011

True the Vote National Summit Trains Sold Out Crowd

The first True the Vote National Summit hosted by the King Street Patriots was held in Houston with a sold-out crowd. With a stellar roster of speakers, the crowd was treated to the inspiring story of Anita MonCrief as the first speaker Friday night and the final speaker Saturday afternoon was Andrew Breitbart.

And who was taking it all in as a member of the audience? Tea Party candidate Joe Miller, the challenger to senior Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski. Accompanied by his wife, he even brought a bit of a floor show to the room as he demanded a rebuttal to the opinion expressed by Saturday keynote speaker, John Fund. The author of "Stealing Elections", Fund was asked by an audience member about his thoughts on the 'stolen' Alaskan election. Fund said that though some questionable ballots were counted, the election was overwhelming won by Murkowski. He attributed the loss not to an election lacking in integrity but to mistakes made by the candidate - Joe Miller - and his campaign. Miller didn't take kindly to that assessment and stood to demand a rebuttal. He was granted time and spoke. Fund in no way implied that Miller wasn't up to serving and wasn't attacking him personally, but Miller is clearly still raw over the loss.

That impromptu mini-drama was an added bonus for the audience.

Friday night not only featured the opening speaker of Anita MonCrief who spoke of her ACORN whistle blowing story - which spotlights the efforts of far left groups who deliberately provide fraudulent voter registrations - but also the speeches from Hans von Spakovsky, a former Federal Elections Commissioner now with The Heritage Foundation as Senior Legal Fellow and Manager of Civil Justice Reform Initiative who spoke to the necessary of Voter ID legislation in the states. And the final speaker Friday night was former Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman. Who better to tell the story of how important the integrity of the election process is? There were 19 precincts in Minneapolis - a liberal area - with more votes than voters registered. Al Franken was eventually declared the winner and provided President Obama with the 60th vote needed in the U.S. Senate to pass Obamacare.

Saturday, before and after John Fund spoke, mini training sessions were conducted by members of the King Street Patriots. These sessions included voter rolls, research and verification; education and training; preparing for election day; and building teams in communities nationwide.

Warner Todd Huston, a popular blogger and contributor to several websites. He is now midwest editor for RedCounty.com He spoke of the importance of a presence in social media and with websites for every group. He described today's citizen journalist as "the pamphleteers of our day", a tradition hearkening back to the days of the Founding Fathers.

Christian Adams, now counsel for True the Vote, is a former DOJ attorney who resigned after Attorney General Eric Holder refused to prosecute the Black Panthers voter intimidation case. He heads the Election Law Center. He spoke of the importance of conservative action to hold states accountable for maintaining accurate voter lists. It has been the law since 1993 in Section 8 under the Motor Voter Law signed into effect by former President Clinton. Adams noted the complete lack of interest from Holder and his Justice Department to prosecute voter fraud cases and it should be made into a campaign issue in 2012.

The grand finale was delivered by Andrew Breitbart. With a gift of showmanship, Breitbart does not disappoint. He animatedly spoke of the Democrats' control of the traditional media which has caused ordinary citizens to do the job of journalist. And he spoke of the fact that it is women who are leading the Tea Party movement. He is a fan of both Herman Cain and Allen West - "Herman Cain and Allen West have more courage in their thumbs than the entire Republican party".

And, for fun, here is a new project from Breitbart: www.celebritieswhoflycoach.com which he created as he flies coach ("steerage") himself and has noted he is not the only recognizable person to do so.

The crowd was left with a timeline suggested by Catherine Engelbrecht, President and Founder of King Street Patriots and True the Vote for activist organization in the run up to the 2012 election.

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