Interview with Congressman Kevin McCarthy

Last week, I sat down on a couple occasions with US Representative Kevin McCarthy. Kevin represents the 22nd District of California in the Congress and serves as the Chief Deputy Whip for the Republicans in the House under the leadership of Whip Eric Cantor. You will recall that we interviewed Eric a couple months ago for this blog.

Both Eric and Kevin are members of a group called "Young Guns," and our conversation dealt mainly with this entity, its goals and the progress that is being made in meeting those goals.

Kevin was in town stumping for my boss's re-election campaign.

If you are not yet familiar with Kevin, my bet is you will be in the years to come.

He is most impressive in his approach to politics and to Republican efforts to take back control of the Congress.

In November of 2008, Newsweek magazine called McCarthy one of the GOP's "most persuasive compelling members." Roll Call newspaper named him the 110th Congress' "Rookie of the Year," and the Weekly Standard dubbed him "the strategist" behind the young guns movement in the House GOP.

An entrepreneur prior to coming to Congress, before his 21st birthday, Kevin started and sold a deli business. That respect for the free enterprise system is evident in his talks and speeches today.

Kevin and his wife, Judy, have two children and Kevin travels home each weekend to California (a 13 hour flight ordeal).

In my conversations with Kevin, I was struck by his Gingrich-like quality of methodically planning the logistics and strategy behind otherwise routine party building activities. Activities like candidate recruitment.

In addition to his duties as an elected official, Kevin is the appointed Recruitment Chairman for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) and when we spoke, he had just completed a recruitment tour that took him from Illinois to Iowa, to NC and then on to Tennessee. This was his second such whirlwind recruitment effort in recent months and he shared his passion for recruiting quality "fresh faces" from around the country to run for Congress.

To assist in the formerly ad hoc candidate recruitment process, Kevin set up up a three step process whereby potential candidates are identified and groomed to advance to full blown candidate status for office. Each step comes with a designation: The first is the "On the Radar" candidate, the second is the "Contender" candidate and the final and strongest designation is the "Young Gun." This designation process is fluid and a potential candidate can move from one designation to the other. The goal is to find fresh faced people, identify them and get their interest in running (On the Radar), work with their strategy and fundraising goals to achieve a certain level of credibility (Contender) and then assist them with the resources they need to go full blown into the campaign as the Republican front runner (Young Gun).

Over 80 seats are currently targeted nationwide by the Young Guns and 53 already have qualified Republican candidates identified and in the process of setting up their races.

This is good news for us Republicans. The level of planning and strategy I saw in Kevin, and Eric Cantor when he was down earlier in the year, encourages me that we are in good hands and have a chance to take back the House over time.

I was equally impressed with Kevin's embrace of technology and he shared with me some of the activities he is involved with in terms of transitioning the Republican members into this arena. By the way, be on the lookout for a Young Guns website in the very near future. Think of a Conservative version of ActBlue. Stay tuned.

I would not be surprised if Kevin is the new GOP Whip one day or higher. If you don't know him now, you will one day.

PS -If you like book recommendations, Kevin (a voracious reader) recommends the following four books:

The World is Flat

Good to Great

Money Ball

The Next Hundred Years

Young Gun to Stump for Sue Myrick

The Weathervane is pleased to announce that US Rep. Kevin McCarthy will be in Charlotte on September 14th stumping for Sue. While in town, Kevin has agreed to be interviewed for this blog. We are big fans of Kevin, and look forward to discussing the future of the Republican party with him.

If you are not yet familiar with Kevin, he represents California's 22nd district in Congress and serves as Chief Deputy Republican Whip under Rep. Eric Canter whom the Weathervane interviewed earlier this year.

Kevin is one of the leaders of the Young Gun movement in Congress, helping to recruit fresh young faces to run for Congress.

Be on the lookout for our interview with Kevin.

Q and A: Jim Pendergraph

I caught up recently with former Mecklenburg County Sheriff Jim Pendergraph. Here is the interview:

1. Do you miss being Sheriff?

Yes, I miss the opportunities to meet people and deal with problems. I certainly do not miss the budget issues facing everyone right now. This is a tough time to be Sheriff. I probably would not have been as agreeable to cut my budget without some guarantee that there would be less crime and fewer inmates to deal with. That is a guarantee that no sane person could or would make.

2. What do you think was your biggest accomplishment in your law enforcement career?

I am proud of my entire law enforcement career but especially proud of my years as Sheriff of Mecklenburg County. In 13 years, I turned the largest Sheriff's Office in NC 180 degrees from an embarrassment to one of the most professionally recognized law enforcement agencies in the United States.

3. What does your political future hold?

I don't know that it holds anything. I am enjoying retirement and will decide later on this Fall if I will get back into the political arena.

4. Who was / is your mentor in your career?
I don't know that I had a mentor. I watched some of the people in charge as I came up through the ranks and made my mind up that if I were ever in a position of authority that I would not treat my people like some of my supervisors treated us.

5. What do you think about the future of the Republican Party?

The Republican Party has great potential with the right leadership. The Republican Party needs to be recognized as a party that is more than against abortion, against gun control, against taxes, and against same sex marriage, etc. Even though these are important issues, Republicans need to be known for less government, national defense, how to operate government within our means, enforcing the laws, (all laws), and not worrying so much about what is 'politically correct' but what is best for our United States.

Q and A with Jim Pendergraph

Coming to The Weathervane this weekend is my interview with former Mecklenburg Sheriff Jim Pendergraph. Hope you will check it out.

Q & A with Meck Deck Blogger, Jeff Taylor

Following is my interview with Jeff Taylor, blogger for the Meck Deck blog ( http://charlotte.johnlocke.org/blog/) put out by the John Locke Foundation:

1. What's your background? Where are you from, your previous profession, eduction, etc.

Born in New Jersey, grew up outside of Akron, OH, joined the mass exodus from the Rust Belt to land in Charlotte in 1978. Graduated from Independence HS in 1983, from UNC in '87. Majored in philosophy, which means I am qualified to hold no specific job, but can tell you at great length why that is so. Fell into journalism, wound up in DC for 13 years, first working for the Evans-Novak Political Report, then as a Washington correspondent for Investor's Business Daily. Came to my senses, moved back to Charlotte in 2003. Slid into being a Charlotte presence for Carolina Journal and the John Locke Foundation. I think I first wrote for CJ in 1989, so that is also a full-circle deal. Latest piece was on Jim Black's oddly lop-sided fine settlement via scrub land.

2. How did you get involved in blogging?One of my steady freelance gigs was with Reason magazine, and I started blogging at Reason's Hit&Run blog from its inception in November 2002. Blogging, particularly short, link-heavy posts, just fits the way my brain works -- you know, like a ferret on crack. But at the same time, sometimes is harder to write short and make it meaningful. That's why I look to Nietzsche, Mencken, and Bierce as proto-bloggers.

3. How would you describe your political philosophy?

Government is a fire-axe. When you get it out and start swinging it around, you better have a damn good reason.

4. What trends in Charlotte-Mecklenburg politics most concern you?

Apathy. You do not have to look any further than the turnout in Republican precincts in November to see that. But I do see some spark in the Tea Party movement which, properly understood, is a protest movement against the local status quo leadership. Why someone in power has not embraced that message is baffling to me. It might cost a few mea culpas, but the alternative is to get rolled over by Democrats this fall. A close second is our county and city elected leaders being more or less completed controlled by professional staff, which in turn explains the out-of-control spending and debt levels.

5.Where do you get your news?

We still get the The Charlotte Observer delivered at home, although I sometimes wonder why. Too often there is no news in it. Case in point, and I emailed Rick Thames on this and have yet to hear anything back, is the lack of any July 1st these-laws-take-effect-today story. That is just a staple of covering local government. The N&O had one for the Triangle region, but Charlotte got zippy. Really hard to figure that one. I also rely on the world's greatest Web site, Fark.com and Bloomberg's business coverage. David Mildenburg covers banking and finance for Bloomberg from Charlotte and he is really required reading. Pretty much all of Bloomberg is, as they usually drill down better than other outlets. My home page is Google news, so a fair amount comes from there. Used to listen to talk radio, but I just wound up angry and depressed. Also I get ideas from Twitter and try to cruise by the local TV station sites everyday. TV news on a TV is almost uniformly unwatchable or simply too slow for me. Not their fault -- ferret crack-brain, remember.

Brigitte Gabriel: Q and A

Following is the first in a series of interviews I'm conducting with prominent agenda-setters in our country.

Today's interview is with NY Times Bestselling author and founder and President of ACT for America, Brigitte Gabriel, whose lastest book, They Must Be Stopped, is currently available at all bookstores nationwide.

1. What is ACT for America and why did you start it?

ACT! for America is a national grassroots issues advocacy organization dedicated to protecting America’s security and freedoms from the multiple threats posed by radical Islam. I founded ACT! for America because I realized that, while education about the threat of radical Islam is necessary, it’s not sufficient. It will take informed and organized grassroots action to pressure elected officials to ignore political correctness and do what is necessary to protect America from the ever-growing threat of radical Islam.

2. What in your personal background drove you to start this organization?

Growing up in Lebanon I witnessed first-hand how radical Islamists take advantage of the tolerance and liberties afforded to them. I saw how, when they felt strong enough, they turned on the very Lebanese Christians who welcomed them in the name of multi-culturalism. I saw how attempts to accommodate the increasingly aggressive demands of the Islamists simply emboldened them and made them more aggressive, until they felt powerful enough to strike us militarily.
The same thing has been happening in Europe and Great Britain for the past 30 years.
I believe it was Albert Einstein who wrote “insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.” America is the last, best hope to stop the worldwide rising tide of radical Islam. We must not repeat the mistakes that were made in Lebanon, Europe and Britain. History shows that when radical Islam surges it takes organized resistance to stop it. That is what we are building with ACT! for America – organized resistance to the rising tide of radical Islam.

3. Is America in danger, and if so, from whom?

America is in danger from both violent jihad, which includes acts of terrorism, and “cultural” or “stealth jihad.” What most Americans do not yet understand is that radical Islamists generally see themselves, and rightly so, as following in the footsteps of the prophet Mohammed. Mohammed engaged in or ordered dozens of violent acts during his life, including the beheading of some 800 Jews. In recent years historical revisionists have attempted to cover up these facts, but in the devout Islamic world the prophet’s use of violence to advance Islam is understood and emulated. Mohammed also counseled stealth in dealing with enemies of Islam, which has given modern-day Islamists the model to follow for trying to subvert societies from within, or what is known as “stealth jihad.”

4. Name three things all Americans should know but don't with regards to the dangers we face as a nation.

First, the “extremism” of radical Islamists is actually more in harmony with the Islam practiced by Mohammed than the Islam practiced by so-called “moderates.” An objective study of the holy books of Islam, Islamic history, and the life of Mohammed leaves the student with an inescapable conclusion – that while there are many peaceful Muslims, Islam, historically and doctrinally, has never been a religion of peace. Second, the typical approach of the West to deal with problems, i.e., through “negotiation” and “dialogue” in the hopes of achieving a mutually agreeable solution, will not work when dealing with radical Islamists. They see such an approach as weakness and an acknowledgement that Islam is in fact superior to all other religions, and thus divinely destined to rule the earth. And third, that Islam is as much a supremacist political ideology as it is a religious belief. Thus, it is distinctively and disturbingly different from Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc.

5. How can I get involved with ACT for America?

Log on to our website, http://www.actforamerica.org/. There you can sign up for our free daily email alerts, find out where local chapters are, and join thousands of patriotic Americans who are doing something about protecting America. I also encourage our readers to get my latest book "They Must Be Stopped" Why we must defeat radical Islam and how we can do it. Learn and pass on the knowledge. Become an activist. It doesn't take many people to change the world, it only takes a dedicated few.