As he sat in the Nashville airport waiting for his flight home to Oregon for the holidays and I sat in my car waiting to join my parents for a celebration lunch, Stan Pulliam and I chatted by cell phone.
Who is Stan Pulliam? He is the campaign manager for Billy Harper. As young as 13, Stan was reading about successful political campaigns during family vacations while the other kids where playing on the beach. I suppose he's been headed for a career in politics for quite some time. He says he enjoys getting to see a lot of this country and meet new people while doing what he loves. Native Oregonian and a solid Conservative, Stan is a political transplant to Kentucky. He's been here two weeks so far and seems to be enjoying it.
I'm sure Stan is a lot of things to a lot of people but, at this point in time, he is a man to be reckoned with here in Kentucky. He will be a very important person to Kentuckians who want to see Republicans retain the governorship. It's my opinion that those Kentuckians will be very glad he's here!
Recently, Stan was the campaign manager for Conrad Burns in Montana. You may recall that Burns lost to Jon Tester by a very narrow margin. One percentage point separated winner from loser in that race. So, I wondered if Stan would have done anything differently.
"A campaign manager's job is to put his candidate in the best possible position to win; after that, it's up to the candidate to push through to the finish line," Stan told me.
I didn't need any more explanation than that because, unfortunately, Burns made a number of gaffes during the summer that probably cost him that one percentage point. The campaign manager cannot be a ventriloquist; he simply hopes that he's backing the man who represents all the right things in word and deed that are important to his constituents. In this case, that simply didn't happen. Stan was very diplomatic about being put in a very tough position a number of times by his candidate. I admire that.
Stan sees the losses taken by the GOP this year as a good reminder to all Republicans: "Return to what you got you there in the first place," is his summation. I couldn't agree more. It seems to me that, when we buried Ronald Reagan in 2004, the Republican leadership in this country buried Reagan's principles. Republican leadership forgot what matters to American Conservatives; they forgot what put them in office.
Stan Pulliam's intelligence and enthusiasm come through the phone so vividly that it is immediately contagious. I was ready to jump out of the car and dance in the rain over the possibility that we may be able to put a Reagan Republican in the Governor's mansion next year. No kidding. It wasn't just Stan's enthusiasm either, folks, it was also the understanding I gained about the type of man Billy Harper is and what he brings to the table in his run for Governor.
Stan describes Billy Harper as a Reagan Republican. As a campaign manager, he even sees Billy Harper as a "dream candidate." Why? Well, because the man is, in word and deed, what many Conservatives admire and expect from a Republican. When Billy is in front of people, he is exactly who he is -- there's no pretense about what he believes and what he sees as good for this state and this country.
Stan describes Billy as "Reaganesque" in his attitude toward fiscal Conservatism and strength. Billy is a man who doesn't stomach pork and believes it needs to be cut from legislation. In a state that is always so far behind others in education and commerce, that's a relief to hear. We should eliminate pork from the menu and put those dollars back in the pockets of citizens or set a place at the table for real, meaningful improvements in this state, or both!
While I had Stan on the phone, I simply had to ask about the early run of TV ads. When I first saw Billy Harper campaigning for governor before the end of the mid-term elections, I was flabbergasted. Not only was he campaigning VERY early on but he was starting his run with an issue ad! That isn't the way a typical campaign is run.
I expected the answer to be that they were building name recognition for Harper. And to some degree, that was part of it; however, there was something more:
"Billy believes in taking the lead on issues. He wants to get things done. He's not one to wait for issues to come to him," Stan told me.
It does seem that the traditional politician waits for the issues to come to him. It's my opinion that true leadership demands that define the vision, set the course, and take the lead on bringing it all together successfully. I haven't seen much of that lately from Republicans on the Hill and from Republicans in Frankfort. It's refreshing to think that someone wants to break that mold.
It's easy to see that a man who is a leader in the private sector could bring the same leadership to politics. That seems like a no-brainer, right? If Billy Harper can effectively lead nine businesses, he should certainly be able to lead a state. However, Frankfort is run more like a barroom brawl these days and nothing at all like a successful business. So, the question in my mind is this: Can an avowed political neophyte lead this state toward positive change while dealing with the in-fighting that has become synonymous with Frankfort?
It is time that someone, whether Republican or Democrat, provide the leadership that will enable concrete steps to be taken toward improving the future of Kentucky. If Billy Harper can do that, then he's my dream candidate too!
Who is Stan Pulliam? He is the campaign manager for Billy Harper. As young as 13, Stan was reading about successful political campaigns during family vacations while the other kids where playing on the beach. I suppose he's been headed for a career in politics for quite some time. He says he enjoys getting to see a lot of this country and meet new people while doing what he loves. Native Oregonian and a solid Conservative, Stan is a political transplant to Kentucky. He's been here two weeks so far and seems to be enjoying it.
I'm sure Stan is a lot of things to a lot of people but, at this point in time, he is a man to be reckoned with here in Kentucky. He will be a very important person to Kentuckians who want to see Republicans retain the governorship. It's my opinion that those Kentuckians will be very glad he's here!
Recently, Stan was the campaign manager for Conrad Burns in Montana. You may recall that Burns lost to Jon Tester by a very narrow margin. One percentage point separated winner from loser in that race. So, I wondered if Stan would have done anything differently.
"A campaign manager's job is to put his candidate in the best possible position to win; after that, it's up to the candidate to push through to the finish line," Stan told me.
I didn't need any more explanation than that because, unfortunately, Burns made a number of gaffes during the summer that probably cost him that one percentage point. The campaign manager cannot be a ventriloquist; he simply hopes that he's backing the man who represents all the right things in word and deed that are important to his constituents. In this case, that simply didn't happen. Stan was very diplomatic about being put in a very tough position a number of times by his candidate. I admire that.
Stan sees the losses taken by the GOP this year as a good reminder to all Republicans: "Return to what you got you there in the first place," is his summation. I couldn't agree more. It seems to me that, when we buried Ronald Reagan in 2004, the Republican leadership in this country buried Reagan's principles. Republican leadership forgot what matters to American Conservatives; they forgot what put them in office.
Stan Pulliam's intelligence and enthusiasm come through the phone so vividly that it is immediately contagious. I was ready to jump out of the car and dance in the rain over the possibility that we may be able to put a Reagan Republican in the Governor's mansion next year. No kidding. It wasn't just Stan's enthusiasm either, folks, it was also the understanding I gained about the type of man Billy Harper is and what he brings to the table in his run for Governor.
Stan describes Billy Harper as a Reagan Republican. As a campaign manager, he even sees Billy Harper as a "dream candidate." Why? Well, because the man is, in word and deed, what many Conservatives admire and expect from a Republican. When Billy is in front of people, he is exactly who he is -- there's no pretense about what he believes and what he sees as good for this state and this country.
Stan describes Billy as "Reaganesque" in his attitude toward fiscal Conservatism and strength. Billy is a man who doesn't stomach pork and believes it needs to be cut from legislation. In a state that is always so far behind others in education and commerce, that's a relief to hear. We should eliminate pork from the menu and put those dollars back in the pockets of citizens or set a place at the table for real, meaningful improvements in this state, or both!
While I had Stan on the phone, I simply had to ask about the early run of TV ads. When I first saw Billy Harper campaigning for governor before the end of the mid-term elections, I was flabbergasted. Not only was he campaigning VERY early on but he was starting his run with an issue ad! That isn't the way a typical campaign is run.
I expected the answer to be that they were building name recognition for Harper. And to some degree, that was part of it; however, there was something more:
"Billy believes in taking the lead on issues. He wants to get things done. He's not one to wait for issues to come to him," Stan told me.
It does seem that the traditional politician waits for the issues to come to him. It's my opinion that true leadership demands that define the vision, set the course, and take the lead on bringing it all together successfully. I haven't seen much of that lately from Republicans on the Hill and from Republicans in Frankfort. It's refreshing to think that someone wants to break that mold.
It's easy to see that a man who is a leader in the private sector could bring the same leadership to politics. That seems like a no-brainer, right? If Billy Harper can effectively lead nine businesses, he should certainly be able to lead a state. However, Frankfort is run more like a barroom brawl these days and nothing at all like a successful business. So, the question in my mind is this: Can an avowed political neophyte lead this state toward positive change while dealing with the in-fighting that has become synonymous with Frankfort?
It is time that someone, whether Republican or Democrat, provide the leadership that will enable concrete steps to be taken toward improving the future of Kentucky. If Billy Harper can do that, then he's my dream candidate too!
Comments
...you had me at Reagan.
I'm afraid that Fletcher's chances in the primary are looking grim too. Maybe rightly so. I expected much more from him in his term, the least of which was not to fall into a Dem scandal-type trap... Argh.