March 9th, 2010 by Richard Norman
This past weekend I had the privilege of meeting Mark Meckler and Jenny Beth Martin, the Co-Founders and National Coordinators of the Tea Party Patriots. Mark and Jenny Beth told their stories of how they became involved in the Tea Party movement. Both were very disenchanted with both the Republican and Democrat parties and both were looking for a way to vent their frustration with the political system which they saw as being “broken”.
Neither of these individuals set out to start a movement. It was a situation where they became involved and one thing led to another. In Mark’s case, he has given up his law practice to work on the Tea Party movement full-time. Jenny Beth and her husband had just gone though some very difficult financial troubles. In neither case was their involvement “convenient”. And in both cases, their involvement was a sacrifice.
I deeply admire people like Mark and Jenny Beth who love their country and put their country ahead of personal gain. We have a lot to learn from their commitment. They, like the Tea Party activists who threw tea into the Boston Harbor, have put love of country above all else. I salute them.
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March 2nd, 2010 by Richard Norman
Sometimes it seems as though good, old-fashioned customer service is a thing of the past. But then, when you least expect it, there it is again!
My wife and I had one such experience recently. During the second “blizzard of 2010″ we were staying at a hotel in Tysons Corner so we would not get stuck in our house (way out in the country) for days. We checked in on Friday and by Sunday, Vickie was ready to get out of the hotel. We ventured over to Tysons Corner Center which reopened on Sunday after being closed by the blizzard on Friday. We had been looking for new bedroom furniture and we stopped in to a store called “Arhaus”. I was not familiar with it but I really liked the look. We found a bedroom set we were really interested in. The sales clerk told us that the set was on sale and we would save about 25% on everything. Then she told us there was a “snow storm special” with an additional 5% off (roughly the sales tax). Then she told us we could also get “one-year same as cash” financing at zero percent interest! SOLD!
While the furniture was already in stock, we couldn’t take delivery for several more weeks as we knew it would be a while before we could even get back to our house. So we set delivery for twenty days later. The day before delivery day, someone from the company called to give us a specific time for delivery. 10:00 a.m. The next morning we had moved out the old furniture and were getting ready. My cell phone rang. It was the driver telling me he would be about 15 minutes late. Not to worry.
The driver arrived on time in a huge moving truck. He and another fellow unloaded the furniture and set it up in our bedroom. They were very friendly and professional. Within an hour of their leaving, someone from the company called to make sure I was happy. Then on Monday came another call from the sales person who sold us the furniture just to make sure we were completely satisfied.
The entire experience, beginning to end, was everything you would ever want in buying furniture. I can highly recommend “Arhaus” to anyone in the market for new furniture. And they now rank up there with Nordstrom and Lexus for outstanding customer service. By the way, you can shop online at www.arhaus.com!
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February 23rd, 2010 by Richard Norman
Much has been written and said about CPAC 2010. As one who spent Wednesday through Saturday at the Wardman Park Marriott attending the conference, I would like to add my two cents worth.
First and foremost, CPAC 2010 was the most energetic and exciting CPAC I have ever attended and I have been every year since 1983. Not only did they surpass the highest previous year’s attendance by more than 20%, the program was packed with more useful information for grassroots political activists than ever before. I have never seen so many breakout sessions, or so many useful and helpful workshops on all kinds of subjects.
The speaker line-up in the main auditorium (which seated in excess of 3,000 people and was full at most times during the day) was fantastic. Much stronger than previous years.
The event was not without controversy. First there were those who were sniping at it because of the co-sponsor lineup which included the gay Republican group “GOProud” and The John Birch Society. There were the Tea Party activists and the Ron Paul followers and lots of (small “l”) libertarians and (capital “L”) Libertarians. There were those who want to build a border fence and those who are for more open immigration policy. There were those who were pro-Bush-wars and those who were opposed to the Bush wars.
All-in-all, I can honestly say that this group at CPAC was the most “diverse” gathering of conservatives that I have ever seen. Libertarians, gay Republican, Birchers, neo-cons, traditional conservatives, social conservatives, birthers, etc. But the glue that held this group together is opposition to Big Government and Barack Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. Let’s hope that all these conservative factions can continue to agree upon the one common enemy until it is defeated. If that can be done, CPAC 2010 and the Conservative Movement, will be remembered as a success.
February 16th, 2010 by Richard Norman
First there were the Tea Parties in the summer and fall of 2009. Then there was Virginia where the conservative GOP candidates swept all three state-wide seats in the November 2009 General Election. And on the same day, New Jersey, where the GOP won in a state where anyone with an “R” beside their name is thought of as a hopeless cause.
Then there was NY-23 where conservatives and Tea Party activists showed the Republican Party and the NRCC that you cannot feed voters chicken manure and tell them it is chicken salad. The conservatives forced the Republican nominee into third place where she ultimately dropped out and endorsed the Democrat (who was to her right).
Of course, who could forget the kick in the gut of the Democrat party when Republican state legislator Scott Brown won a come-from-nowhere victory to win the late Senator Ted Kennedy’s seat in the United States Senate. Not only becoming the first Republican to represent Massachusetts since Edward Brooke back in the 1970’s but winning by promising to be the 41st vote against government-controlled health care, the life-long dream of Senator Kennedy!
Next you have Florida where the NRSC-blessed candidacy of RINO Governor Charlie Crist has become virtually a sideshow as conservative former Speaker of the House Marco Rubio has trounced him in every straw poll taken around the state. Rubio went from 30 points behind Crist to leading him by ten points!
In California, conservative Representative Chuck DeVore has come from nowhere to be polling side-by-side with the moderate party favorite Carly Fiorina and just six points behind radical-liberal Senator Barbara Boxer who is seeking her fourth term in the Senate.
In Arizona, conservative former Congressman J.D. Hayworth is challenging the GOP’s moderate standard-bearer in the 2008 Presidential campaign, Sen. John McCain in the GOP primary. I was in Arizona last week and am told by insiders that McCain is taking the Hayworth challenge very seriously.
Last week I was also in Nevada visiting with political insiders where the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is polling very poorly and could easily be picked off by any one of three GOP candidates.
Just yesterday, one of the Senate’s most re-electable Democrats, Evan Byah, with $13 million cash on hand and a commanding lead in the polls, dropped out of the race moving Indiana from the “Solid Democrat” column to the “leaning Republican.” Former Senator Dan Coats is seeking the GOP nod and will be the likely winner regardless of who the Democrats nominate.
In Alabama, our client the former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, Roy Moore, the most strictly-Constitutional and conservative candidate in the race, is leading the party-favorite Bradley Byrne by a two-to-one margin in the polls.
I could go on and on. Bottom line… as I travel around the country I can feel that there is a wave washing across the country. It is not just a Republican wave but a conservative Republican wave. Possibly even an electoral Tsunami.
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December 9th, 2009 by Richard Norman
This past weekend, I had the occasion to sponsor and attend a meeting of Virginia Republicans held in Williamsburg. This meeting was the 26th annual Don Huffman Republican Party of Virginia Advance. As the story goes, Virginia Republicans don’t “retreat” we “advance”, thus the name.
The meeting is named after the greatest RPV Chairman of my lifetime, Donald Huffman who served as party Chairman in the 1983 until 1992. During that time, the GOP became the dominant political party in Virginia with two US Senators, the Governor, Lt. Governor, and Attorney General, as well as 8 of 10 Members of Congress. I know Don Huffman and worked closely with him when he was Chairman as the primary direct mail fundraising vendor to the RPV during those years. Don was a great Chairman because he stood solidly by his conservative principles and yet he was inclusive of those who disagreed with him. He was truly the model GOP party chairman, much as Haley Barbour was as RNC Chairman.
This particular RPV Advance occurred one month after a second “clean sweep” where GOP candidates were elected to the Governor’s Mansion, the Lt. Governorship and as Attorney General. I know all three of these candidates who will be sworn in this January in Richmond, and I expect great things from them. Bob McDonnell, our Governor-elect, was once a Delegate from Virginia Beach and represented my parent’s district in the General Assembly. Although he had a vote or two that some Second Amendment advocates (such as myself) question, all in all, Bob has a strong conservative record as a legislator and as Attorney General for four years. Bill Bolling was once seen as the conservative’s top choice for governor in 2009 until he decided to run for re-election thus clearing the way for McDonnell to run unopposed for the primary. His reelection to the Lt. Governor position was a key ingredient for the clean sweep in November. Finally, Ken Cuccinelli is a hero of all conservatives. He has been a tireless supporter of conservative values in the Senate of Virginia and we expect great things from him as AG.
The Republican Party of Virginia also picked up a net of six seats in the Virginia House of Delegates. One of these, Tag Greason of Ashburn, represents the legislative district of my company in Lansdowne. Tag is part of a great crop of new faces in the General Assembly that should be much more conservative than the past group.
The Republican Party of Virginia is certainly stronger today than it has been in recent years. The gains will continue in the 2010 elections if candidates learn the lessons of the past and stick to their conservative principles and not waiver with every criticism of the liberal media. It is entirely possible that the GOP may regain seats lost in the Fifth Congressional District and others next November. If so, maybe Virginia Republicans will name future meetings after the current RPV Chairman, Pat Mullins.
July 29th, 2009 by Richard Norman
The RedState Gathering will take place this weekend in Atlanta, Georgia. It is the first ever “convening” of folks who are followers of the website, RedState.com. Among those expected to attend are Senate Conservatives Fund Chairman Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina and former Rep. Pat Toomey who is running against Arlen Specter for the Senate seat in Pennsylvania. (Both Sen. DeMint and Rep. Toomey are clients of The Richard Norman Company.) Also expected is House Republican Leader Marco Rubio of Florida who is running for the US Senate seat from Florida.
The RedState Gathering is an important event because it marks one of the first conservative meetings devoted solely to the spreading of the conservative agenda through “new media”… the Internet, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and the like. With each week that passes, we go farther and farther along the path to becoming more and more dependent upon receiving information from our iPhones, Blackberries, and our PCs than we do newspapers and TV. This makes it all the more important that we, as lovers of freedom, are in the forefront of this new technology.
The Richard Norman Company launched a “new media” or “digital communications” company several months ago to assist our clients with their technology needs. The Senate Conservatives Fund was one of our first clients and we are now working with the House Conservatives Fund as well as several campaigns. We are dedicated to staying on the cutting edge as every day presents us with new challenges and opportunities for communicating our pro-freedom message.
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June 11th, 2009 by Richard Norman
My wife and I depart in a few hours for Copenhagen, Denmark to board “The Freedom Cruise”, a conference cruise co-sponsored by the National Rifle Association and our long-time client, Freedom Alliance. We will be sailing with Freedom Alliance founder Lt. Col. Oliver L. North, FA’s president, Tom Kilgannon, The NRA’s Executive Vice President, Wayne LaPierre, former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, former Reagan Administration Attorney General Edwin Meese, Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele. former Congressman Duncan Hunter, and many others.
Please follow me here on the Richard Norman Company website for my video blog of The Freedom Cruise or on Twitter (@richardnorman.com) or on my Facebook.
Next stop, Copenhagen!
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June 5th, 2009 by Richard Norman
Today I will be attending a seminar led by Jennifer Abernethy of “The Sales Lounge”, at Tysons Corner. My first contact with Jennifer was a luncheon sponsored by The Tower Club where we had an introduction to the use of social networking tools for marketing our businesses. If that session was “101″ today is probably the “102″ course.
On my way to Tysons I will stop off at Target to purchase a “Flip” digital video camera. I plan to use this to post video of my upcoming (next week) trip to Europe and Russia. These video clips will then be posted on YouTube and distributed here on my website and also on Facebook and Twitter.
The future, I am told, is all about video. The written word will be replaced by it. We will see. Regardless, we here at The Richard Norman Company are determined to keep up with the times or even be ahead of the curve of technology so our clients will be able to benefit from our knowledge and expertise.
Stay tuned for video from Russia next week and for exciting things to come in the future from TRNC and our sister company, Active Engagement.
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May 28th, 2009 by Richard Norman
Yesterday I was privileged to be invited to a briefing by Bradley S. O’Leary, Founder and President of PM Consulting, and one of the sponsors of a recent John Zogby/PM poll on the first One Hundred Days of the Obama Administration. One of the interesting pieces of information that was discovered is that already, twenty percent of those who voted to elect Barack Obama President last November now say that they would not have voted for him if they had known that he was going to raise their taxes.
Uh-hum. Excuse me? Were these people actually alive and well during the election campaign leading up to Election Day 2008? Barack Obama consistently supported the scandalous “cap and trade” scheme that the Democrats, in cahoots with the wild-eyed environmentalists, are pushing through Congress. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, (not exactly a hot-bed of the radical right) has done independent research establishing that this scam will cost the average America family $3,100 per year in additional heating and utilities costs. This is a tax on every household in America. And it will hurt those most who can afford it least, the elderly, low income and and those on fixed incomes.
It is too late to do anything about their vote for Obama. He is, for better or for worse, the President of the United States for the next four years. But these same people who now realize that capping production of energy simply to drive up costs– for no apparent benefit– better wake up before it is too late and stop this catastrophic policy from becoming law or else they are really going to be suffering from buyer’s remorse.
May 7th, 2009 by Richard Norman
For the past week, since Arlen Specter ditched the GOP and went over to the place where his heart has always been, the Democrat Party, the press has been buzzing with rumors about Tom Ridge running for the Senate. Ridge appears to have seriously considered the possibility but today announced that he was not planing on running.
That is probably the best for Tom Ridge and Pat Toomey. In the end, had Ridge run, I believe Toomey would have beaten him. GOP Primary voters are always a more conservative group than the GOP as a whole. They almost took their nomination away from a four-term incumbent and gave it to challenger Toomey in 2004. Toomey missed by less than one vote per precinct. This, in spite of the fact that he was outspent three to one and he was a relative newcomer to most of the state.
Toomey has proven that he has voter appeal. With Ridge out of the way, the only possible primary opponent is the Congressman from the sixth district but he would not be as big a threat as Ridge.
Now is the time for conservatives across America to rally around Pat Toomey and let the people of Pennsylvania know they are pulling for Toomey. Now is the time for Republicans in Pennsylvania to get serious about beating Arlen Specter in the fall and get behind Toomey so he can focus on that victory.
Specter can be beaten and Pat Toomey is the man to do it.
