I just got home from the GOP Fest fundraiser here in Polk County.  I was a bit disappointed.

Don’t get me wrong.  I thought the speakers were great, the food was good.  The governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty, gave an encouraging stump speech for McCain and Palin.

It’s just that the event was so lightly attended.

I walked in expecting to see a couple of hundred people or more.  I don’t think we broke seventy-five.  And probably half or more of the attendees were either candidates, current office holders, or party workers.  Both my wife and a co-worker of mine were there, which I appreciated.

On the positive side, I got to spend a few minutes with former Polk County GOP Chairman Ted …

Tonight I attended my first Polk County (Iowa) Republican Central Committee meeting. I have never been at this level of politics (okay, 2008 continues to be a year of firsts for me in local politics), and it was more interesting than I expected.

I won’t get into a lot of details about the meeting, except that it was half speeches (which was good, actually) and half business. Fund-raising is definitely a high priority for the party, along with voter turnout.

I was impressed with the variety of people there, various ages, ethnicities, and walks of life. We definitely have a party with a cross-section of the community that takes the time to participate.

Just to clarify, the Central Committee is made up of as many …