Election day is here! Every cycle I am surprised how many people don’t know they can legally vote twice on election day.

3 Steps to Become a Voting Ninja

Step #1 – Vote in the Primary Election

Democrat or Republican. You can vote early or on Election Day. But you must vote in the primary to be eligible to attend your precinct convention. This is your opportunity to support pro-life candidates!

Step #2 – Attend your Precinct Convention

Your precinct convention is usually at your neighborhood polling place. You can pass pro-life resolutions and get yourself elected as a delegate to your party’s county/district convention.

Step #3 – Vote on resolutions and delegates.

It’s fun!

Wait… What?

What is a Precinct Convention?

It’s a small meeting of voters from your neighborhood. If you voted in either party’s Primary, you can attend.

Voters at the convention will do two things:

1. Choose delegates to go to your party’s county/district convention on Saturday, March 20. This is extremely important; that’s where county platforms are passed and delegates are elected to the state conventions in June.
2. Pass “resolutions” stating what your party (Democrat or Republican) should stand for.

When & Where is it held?

The Precinct Convention will be held on March 2 at 8:00 p.m. (usually) at your neighborhood polling location. For the precise place and time, look for a sign when you vote or ask the election judge.

Who comes to precinct conventions?

Regular people just like you who want to make a difference. You don’t have to be experienced to attend.

Why attend a precinct convention?

It is the only way we keep the Republican Party pro-life.

Every two years the parties re-decide where they stand on the issues. If you ever want to see change it starts in your life and in your neighborhood.

Precinct Convention resources:

• Texas Alliance for Life Precinct Convention Guide (resourced for this post)
• Texas Home School Coalition Precinct Convention Guide
• Overview of the process from the Dallas Morning News
• Video of a sample precinct convention.

Recommended Resolutions

These are good resolutions to present if you are just getting started. You can also modify them for an issue you are passionate about. Make sure to bring 5 copies.

• Parental Rights Act (Pro-Homeschooling)
• Daytime Curfew (Pro-Homeschooling)
• Cut tax funding from Planned Parenthood (Pro-Life)
• Texas Sovereignty (Pro-Liberty)
• Ending Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying (Pro-Liberty)

If you don’t know who to vote for feel free to check out my voter’s guide.

Related posts:

1. March 2010 Voter’s Guide For those of you who live outside Texas please forgive...
2. Why vote for Debra Medina? For those of you who follow this blog you know...
3. The Problem with the Constitution Party From the archive… The Problem with the Constitution Party I...

For those of you who live outside Texas please forgive this post. We are having an important election and I feel it is important we vote in the right folks.

Five Voting Tips

Here are some general principles use:

1. Don’t vote because you recognize the name. If you recognize their name, they were probably a hooligan caught in some scandal. Or they are the richest candidate. Or the press likes them the most. All bad reasons.
   • If you don’t know anything about either candidate don’t vote for either one.
   • Don’t water down the votes of the informed voters.
2. Print out a sample ballot before you go to the polls. You don’t want to be surprised by a race you don’t recognize. To find your sample ballot just google “YourCountyName County Sample Ballot.” Here are two you may find helpful:
   • Travis County Sample Ballot
   • Williamson County Sample Ballot
3. Vote early. Chances are something will happen on election day and you won’t get around to voting. Make sure you vote by voting early.
4. The challenger is generally safer than the incumbent. Elected officials tend to compromise the longer they stay in office. The challenger who has yet to compromise and is often the safer bet.
5. Bring someone with you to the polls. Most Christians only vote once every two years for president. They don’t realize that was the least important election of the year. Your friends probably don’t know about the election. Bring a friend and double your vote.

My Voting Philosophy

I vote pro-life first, if the race effects life and most do.

Then, I tend to pick:

• Candidates with integrity (when I can tell which is hard).
• Candidates who want to promote liberty and personal responsibility.
• Challengers over incumbents.
• Tea Party folks over Old Guard Republicans.
• Candidates who see the Church as the answer instead of the government.

Statewide Races

Here are my picks:

• Governor: Rick Perry & Debra Medina (I will be personally voting for Debra Medina)
• Supreme Court Place 3: Rick Green
• Supreme Court Place 9: Eva Guzman
• Railroad Commissioner: Victor Carrillo
• Full Voters Guide

Full Voter’s Guide

I put together a one page voters guide you can take with you into the voting booth. It has local races as well as state wide races. If it doesn’t have all your candidates see the resources below.

• Download the Thomas Umstattd Voters Guide (PDF)
• You are welcome to share this guide with your friends.
• It is legal to take this Voters Guide into the voting booth with you.

Helpful Voting Resources

These are some of the resources I used to put together my voting guide.

• Texas Early Voting Locations (March 2010)
• Texas Alliance for Life Voter’s Guide (March 2010)
• Free Market Foundation Voter’s Guide (March 2010)
• Texas Right to Life Voter’s Guide (March 2010)
• Texas Homeschool Coalition Endorsements (March 2010)
• Christian Voter’s Guide

What Do You Think?

• Do you agree with my picks?
• Why?
• Have you voted yet?

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For those of you who follow this blog you know that I endorsed Rick Perry back in September. So why would I now vote for Medina?

Enough people have asked me this question that I have decided to answer it here.

The strategic reason to back Medina.

In the political world there are two types of people: pragmatists and idealists.

Idealists are true believers.

Idealists have a political philosophy and their first loyalty is to that philosophy. They don’t compromise often and you can find them on the far ends of the isle. Public opinion does not sway them. Writing them does little good for their minds are made up.

Pragmatists want to get things done.

Pragmatists are drawn to power like a fat man to a Chinese buffet. They generally pick whatever party has the majority. If the party in power switches look for them to change parties as well.

You can get a pragmatist to make good policy but you generally have to pressure him first. He has to know enacting good policy will increase his power.

Right now Kay Bailey Hutchinson is one of the last of the Pro-Roe v Wade Republicans. Her existence makes pragmatic republicans feel safe waffling on abortion just like Kay does. The dance is always the same: Talk pro-life in the primary… avoid the issue after that.

If Medina gets more votes than Hutchinson it marks the end of Pro-Roe republicans in Texas. Kay Bailey Hutchinson is one of the best known Texas politicians ever. Medina is a no name from a small Texas town no one has heard of. A big reason Kay is falling behind is because she is Pro-Roe.

This has happened before.

When William Wilberforce’s bill to abolish the slave trade finally passed, it was by a 283 to 16 landslide. Why after 20 years of failure would the bill pass by so much? Wilberforce, the idealists finally got enough weight on his side. The pragmatist politicians realized they would get more power by voting for abolition. They all flopped over to his side all at once.

What will happen if Medina makes the run off? The pragmatists will see they can get more power when they are pro-life. They will flop over to the life side of the teeter totter. This may give us the weight we need to see real change.

We are talking state and nation wide implications here.

What I like about Medina.

I like how:

• Medina is a true believer in life, liberty & property.
• Medina has breathed new life into the Republican Party.
• Medina answered the questions in the debates.
• Medina is well studied. People criticize her lack of experience but never her lack of knowledge. She knows her stuff.
• Medina is an idealist.

I still like Perry.

While the cronyism and forcing STD vaccinations on 12 year old girls makes me squeamish, I generally like Rick Perry.

Every year however cold or empty he always speaks at the Texas Rally for Life. Perry is a true believer in life, regardless of his other shortcomings. Rick is also a family friend and a great guy. I fully intend to vote for him in November, assuming he wins the primary which I expect he will.

What do you think?

• Who do you plan to vote for?
• Why?
• Do you think a Medina/Perry run off will tip the balance of power pro-life?

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If there is one thing we learn from History it is that there is nothing new under the sun.

Lets break with tradition shall we? Lets look back through history and see what we can learn about what is about to happen in the future.

As King Solomon said,

“History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new. We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now.”

The Whig Party

America has always been a two party country. The system favors two parties so this may persist. However, the two parties we started with are not the two parties we have now. Back in the day the two major parties where the Federalist Party (Whig Party) and the Anti Federalist Party.

The Whig Party failed when it started compromising on fundamental issues. Those issues revolved around slavery specifically Kansas-Nebraska Act and the Missouri Compromise. The Whigs were over confident about their power and alienated their base.

Compromise led to division. Division led to greater compromise.

The Whigs were an anti slavery party or at least they talked like they were. But thier records failed to match their rhetoric. Northern Whigs got more and more disenchanted until finally they broke off and started their own party. They called themselves Republicans.

Within 15 years of supporting the Kansas-Nabraska Act, the Whigs were nothing but a memory. The Republicans completely replaced them. That moment for the Republicans may have been when they passed the Prescription Drug Benefit Program in 2006. History will tell us if that was the beginning of the end for the GOP.

Conclusion: The Republicans started as a Pro-Abolition coalition of Whigs.

Popular & Inexperienced Candidates

One former Whig gained favor with the people despite coming from an empty state on the frontier. He lacked experience and had generally failed at politics. But he had one thing for him: he was uncompromising Pro-Abolition. The people flocked to him and voted him into office.

His name was Abraham Lincoln and though a lifelong Whig he was elected as the first Republican president.

The transition from Whig to Republican was not overnight. It took between 10 and 15 years. All that is needed for history to repeat itself is for a handful of popular elected officials to switch from the old party to the new party.

The Tea Party is not going anywhere.

In just two years Ron Paul’s 4% has turned into Debora Medina‘s 24%. Win or loose in March the Tea Party is not through. If Scott Brown showed us anything, it is that you can’t take anything for granted.

Most of the passionate political activists right now are Tea Baggers. Other movements have passion but not like the Tea Party. Passion tends to spread and if it does it is only a matter of time before something will have to budge.

We will either see a change in GOP leadership or some new party.

Abortion is the kicker

The Republican Party was founded on one issue: Ending slavery. It slowly developed a more complete platform.

The Tea Party has one primary issue right now: less government.

We may see this shift. If pro-lifers like Debora Medina, Sarah Palin and Ron Paul keep leading we may see a big shift towards a more complete life affirming platform.

If the Republican Party keeps putting forth pro-choice candidates like Kay Baily Hutchinson and dead weights like John McCain then the shift may be faster than anyone expects.

The correct GOP response:

If the Republican Party wants to avoid the path of the Whig Party then it must do the following things:

• Share information and funding with TP activists. Keep them in the tent.
• Stop protecting compromised incumbents
• Be patient with folks new to the process
• Support term limits

Predicted GOP Response

• Withhold info and funding from TP activists. Exclude them from the tent.
• Protect compromised incumbents.
• Be mean to folks new to the system (treat them like they treated the Ron Paul People)
• Resist term limits

The democratic party has proved itself to be good at absorbing new movements. We will see if the republicans are able to do the same.

What do you think?

• Am I off my rocker?
• Do you think Tea Party candidates like Deborah Medina have a chance in the cycle?
• What do you think about the Tea Party?
• Is the tea party bad for America?

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Someone recently asked me what the point was to all these pro-life marches. We have marched a lot in recent weeks so the question is valid. I would like to submit the following 5 reasons why we should march and rumble for life.

Marching Encourages our Leaders

One of the challenges of leadership is that the higher you rise the more out of touch you become. Leaders rely on the media to clue them in on what the people think. The media makes it look like no one cares about life but a handful of cooks.

When we march we remind our leaders we stand behind them when they stand for life. We give them the courage to push for change.

Marching Changes Hearts

You should have seen the faces of those who watch pro-life marches and rumbles. 40 Days for Life has seen hearts changed and lives saved all over the world through marches and vigils.

Marching Inspires Prayer

There is something powerful that happens to your heart when you put life tape on. Somehow it makes prayer easier and it breaks your heart. I am a big advocate for praying out loud but sometimes silent prayer is powerful too.

The more we march, the more we will pray.

Marching Inspires Action

Inviting friends to a march is a great way to move them from apathy to action. From doing nothing to to doing something. Without a march it would be harder to get people to care enough about life to do something other than harden their hearts.

Marching Earns Attention

The media loves to cover events like marches and rumbles. The more we focus the attention of the nation on this atrocity the more they will be forced to take action. Martin Luther King Jr. knew this.

We must march if we want to see a change. You can’t change the world from your couch.

What do you think?

• Do you come to Pro-life marches? Why or why not?
• What would need to happen to get you to show up?
• Are you afraid to take a stand for life?
• What have the pro-life events that you have attended been like? Would they encourage you to come again?

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There are some issues that define a generation. For our grandfathers that issue was the Nazi slaughter of the Jews. For their grandfathers the issue was slavery. Our generation faces a similar defining issue. Will you be remembered as those who stood up or vegged out?

Please watch this 2 minute video:

Because of abortion there are 100,000 fewer black Americans each year than the year before. This must stop. Their blood cries out from the ground for justice. God’s wrath will not wait forever. If we do not stand in the gap and intercede for our nation who will?

This morning I heard Lue Engle speak here in Austin for the first time. I wept.

If you know me you know I don’t often cry. But, my heart broke this morning. If you have a few minutes it would bless me  if you would take the time to listen to the message he gave this morning. You can download it here. To copy the mp3 to your computer or iPod download the zip here.

The following information is from an email Jana sent me about the march next week. I will be there. I hope you will come too.

The Crisis

The Second largest abortion clinic in the world is being built at this present moment in Houston, Texas. This six-story Planned Parenthood abortion “super center” is right in the middle of four (4) “super neighborhoods.” Three average to 85% Latino in population and the other is 85% African American.

Planned Parenthood is targeting these minority pro-family communities, both for their finances and the restriction of their populations. But, there is a voice rising out of Houston and out of Texas, declaring, “We don’t want this death camp specializing in late-term abortions in our neighborhoods!”

On Martin Luther King Jr.’s holiday, January 18th, 2010, thousands are gathering to march against this Goliath to pray, fast, and peacefully siege this massive injustice in the spirit of that great liberator Martin Luther King Jr. Key African American, Latino, and political leaders are coming to speak and hold a nationwide press conference challenging this “super center.”

This is a great hour for the Hispanic pro-LIFE people, Catholic and Evangelical, to raise their voices against abortion and for adoption. Public opinion over abortion is shifting radically in America to pro-LIFE at the same time this facility is exalting itself above the humble and oppressed.

We are entering into the 37th anniversary of the “Roe V. Wade” abortion decree of 1973 on January 22, 2010. We are in a ’73/’37 window to reverse that decree. It started in Texas, now let it begin to reverse there.

The Call

We are calling for the pro-LIFE people of Houston, Texas, and America to gather Sunday night, January 17th, 2010 for four hours of prayer for spiritual awakening and justice, from 6:00pm to 10:00pm at Grace Community Church.

On this evening, 1/17, we will be unifying with one voice before God to pray for the Luke 1:17 answer to the killing of our babies and the wounding of our women – “And he will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the rebellious to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

The Call Info:

• When: Sunday, January 17th Location @ 6:00PM:
• Where: Grace Community Church South Campus
  • 14505 Gulf Freeway
  • Houston, TX 77034 (map)

Parking on Sunday is limited. Please carpool.

The Siege

On January 18th, at 9:00am on Martin Luther King Jr.’s holiday, we will gather by the thousands to launch a silent prayer march through the streets to the abortion “super center” for the nationwide press conference and prayer stand.

As Martin Luther King Jr. would proclaim it – It is time to “subpoena the conscience” of the nation from the flashpoint of Houston, Texas. Maybe Houston could become the Birmingham of our day to let the unborn go free and spare the pregnant mother the agony of guilt. Maybe out of Houston a great demonstration of compassion could be launched through pregnant mother care with a mass movement of adoption.

Martin Luther King Jr. cried, “I have a dream”. Alveda King, the niece of Martin Luther King Jr., has eloquently stated, “How can the dream live as long as we kill our children?” God has a dream. He has a dream for America and He has a dream for every mother and every child and a six-story massive abortion facility has never been a part of that dream. Lets end the nightmare and let the dream live.

March on Planned Parenthood

• When: Monday, January 18th Location @ 9:30 AM:
• Where: Catholic Charismatic Center
  • 1949 Cullen Blvd.
  • Houston, TX 77023 (Map)

Parking on Monday is limited. Please carpool.

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On December 10th 2009 the Texas Health District Board had a hearing on whether to approve funding to pay for abortions for poor Austin Women. Austin is the only town in Texas to use tax dollars to pay for abortions. About 1000 per year.

My Sister and friends praying after the vote. Photo by Austin American Statesman.

We felt and still feel that this was a battle we could win. Harris County recently stopped funding abortions and we are sure Travis County will follow suit.

What Happened

About a dozen folks from ARC and half a dozen from my Monday Night Prayer group came to speak and pray for life. Of the 18 of us who registered to speak only Minda got the chance.  Of the 49 who registered to speak they council only let 12 speak.

Of the people who testified many of the Pro-Lifers shared stories of how abortion had devastated their lives. Minda shared how Abortion is very much like slavery because of the depersonification of human persons that is used to justify it.

Most of the Pro-Choice speakers were middle aged women many of whom would receive a cut of the $450,000 that the counsel was about to dull out. Generation Y, my generation, is fed up with getting killed off by greedy, self centered Baby Boomers.

In the end the vote was unanimous to approve the abortion funding for one more year.

Why I’m Encouraged

The people on the left are pro-choice. The people on the right are in line to speak for life.

We will be back. If the enemy thinks he can discourage us into inaction he has grossly underestimated the power of the Holy Spirit and the persistence of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

The left is used to us going away when we loose (or win for that matter). This trend is over. We are not going anywhere.  We are already starting to organize for next year and we will get so many more people involved that they can’t help but hear us.

Also, we are going to start engaging in the small local elections that impact this board. So few people vote for City Council and County Commissioners Court that it will not be hard to impact the vote.

We are going to find pro-life candidates, fund those candidates and elect those candidates.

10 Ways You Can Fight Tax Funded Abortions in Austin

There is a lot we can do to fight this.

1. Sign up for the Texas Alliance for Life newsletter.This will keep you up to date.
2. Get your friends registered to vote. I was able to get 10 people in my prayer group registered to vote. Just got by the library and get some voters registration cards and get your friends to register where they live.
3. Become a fan of TAL on Facebook. This will keep you in the loop.
4. Pray & Fast. The battle is a spiritual one as much as anything else.
5. Suggest the TAL page to your friends. Important! Texas Alliance for Life is the organization that helps get the word out. When you sign up you will get location specific instructions and updates.
6. Read the Strategy for the abolition of abortion. It will give you more details for how you can get involved.
7. Vote in Pro-Life county commissioners and city council members. These elections have tiny turnouts and it wont be hard for us to sway the numbers.
8. Move to Austin. One challenge is the pro-life people have moved out of the town to be around people like them. This has given the land to the pro-aborts. I live in Austin for a reason.
9. Donate to Texas Alliance for Life. They need money to fight for the unborn. The City gives Abortion Providers more $ than TALs entire budget. Where you money is your heart will be also. If each of my blog readers gave $50 we could raise $50,000.
10. Find pro-life videos on YouTube and share them on Facebook. Get the word out. Don’t let people ignore the problem.

We will be back!

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Every election cycle people ask me who I support for for various positions. I haven’t decidided on many of the offices yet but one Gov has one clear choice: Rick Perry. I have met him several times and while we don’t agree on everything one thing is for sure: he is Pro-Life and Pro Homeschooling and Pro Technology. Unlike the pretend republicans (cough Key Bailout Hutchison cough) running against him.

Perry is one of the few conservatives who “gets” Twitter. He doesn’t just outsource it to young staffers. He uses it well and other technologies too. If we want to continue to thrive as a state we need leaders who are forward thinking without compromising their principles. I am thankful to have a governor with such a rare and special mix.

Perry is not a perfect candidate but he is by far the best pick. The perfect candidate does not exist so if you hold off for perfection you will never accomplish anything.

Kay Bailout Hutchison

Kay Bailout is a Pro-Choice and Big Government Rino (Republican in Name Only).

• She talks like she’s fiscally conservative but she’s not.
• She talks like she’s pro life, but she’s not.
• She brings home as much bacon for Texas as she can. Which might seem nice for Texas but it is bad for America. Pork for us is still pork and pork is bad. I am glad she is running for Governor but only because it will bring her home from Washington.

Debra Medina is another conservative running but she lacks the experience to do a good job. You must be faithful in little before you can be given more and she has yet to serve even as a State Representative. Perry has the experience and is clearly the best person for the job.

I would like to ask you to support Perry. I’m not just asking for your vote. I’m asking you for $5. Below is a form where you can contribute to his campaign. If I raise the most money I get to have lunch with him which would be cool. But raising money for him is a win for Texas even if I don’t win this competition.

Most of you have probably never contributed to a campaign before. This is a great time to start. $5 is not a lot of money but it can add up when we all pitch in.

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Yesterday I tweeted “The only difference between creepy and charming is permission.”

Some explanation is in order. No, I did not go on a date last night. No, I did not have yet another awkward encounter with a woman. But there is a story here and an interesting conclusion.

The tweet was the result of three completely unrelated things blending in my mind.

Thing 1: Barrack Obama

There has been a lot of chatter online about this photo of Obama at the G8 summit.

In light of the chatter, I have been thinking about how men ought to look at women. And, how they ought not look at women. The base forces of nature seem to war with the moral law. The specific social rules seem to vary by community. What is appropriate?

Thing 2: Girl in Parking Garage

As I left the apple store yesterday, I walked to my car in the parking garage. A young woman drove past me and as we made eye contact she unconsciously whisked her hair behind her ear. I wondered why she would do that, at that moment.

Thing 3: James Bond

Yesterday my family watched Quantum of Solice. So, as I walked through the parking garage, the movie swam through my mind.

In the movie, James Bond’s credit card gets denied at an airport. He looks deeply into the eyes of the lady at the counter who denied him the charge… and she melts. He asks “in a few moments you will get a call. Tell them I’m going to Cairo.” She smiles at him and he walks away.

Why would she melt? Why is this scene believable? Why can’t I do that?

I started adding up all the differences between me and James Bond. It was a depressing 30 minutes. Then I started eliminating the things James didn’t have to help him at the counter.

He had no gadgets, no money and no bad guys to beat up. But he still had one thing: His striking good looks and crystal blue eyes. If he had been ugly and peered into her eyes she would have looked away disgusted. I know. But James didn’t get disgust. He got permission. The woman gave him permission to look into her eyes because she wanted to look back into his.

The only difference between Bozo and Bond is permission.

So What?

You girls who are probably saying. “I could have told you that!” I know. Several of you already have on Twitter and Facebook. But to me this is a profound truth and I feel it applies to much more than just guy/girl relationships.

Gospel Permission

There is a Gospel application here. Before we can talk to someone about their soul we need their permission. Otherwise they won’t listen. Permission does not need to take long. Permission just takes tact. I find that tracts and humor can help break the ice.

But how did Jesus get permission? He healed people, raised the dead and offered hope. But, he had also something more. He could look into a man’s eyes, say “follow me” and the man would. Permission is power. Jesus’ power is supernatural. If we want permission that goes beyond gimmicks like tracts and treasure lists we need supernatural power too.

Business Permission

I have given Amazon permission to email me book recommendations. The emails are relevant because Amazon knows about the books I buy. If Barns & Noble were to send me an email recommending the same books I would spam it. Why? Because, Barns & Noble doesn’t have my permission to talk to me. They haven’t earned it.

If you want to grow your business you need to stop thinking of ways to spam people and start thinking of ways to earn their permission. Twitter is a good way to learn this skill. It doesn’t take much permission to send 140 characters once every other day.

Political Permission

The more I get around the more a realize that most people actually do care about politics. They just don’t care to hear about my politics. This is an important distinction. It is easy to write people off as complacent when I really just lack permission. Are people apathetic or do they just distrust both parties? A political party needs permission before it can have discourse. It must have discourse before it can sway opinion. It must sway opinion before it can win elections.

How do you get permission to influence someone’s political views?

I’m not sure. Striking good looks don’t hurt. Why else would Hollywood celebrates and Ann Coulter get such power? Humor seems to work too. I’m not sure what the answers are here. I know I often get into a political conversations on Facebook after sharing a link to a political YouTube video. What do you think?

Take Aways

• Permission is more valuable than money.
• Money can’t buy love, but permission is an ingredient to love.
• Money can buy spam, but spam can’t build a relationship between you and your customer.
• Money can’t buy votes, but permission can get attention and attention can change minds.

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The following video is by Lia who is only 12 years old. She gave this speech to her 7th grade class. Are the public figures emerging?

Generation Y, my generation, is much more pro life than Generation X and the Baby Boomer generation. I can’t wait for the male baby boomer pro-life establishment to be augmented and replaced by young women.

From a public speaking standpoint I want to point out some observations.

• Lia has a great original introduction that grabs your attention and sets up the rest of the talk.
• Lia uses short stories to impact her argument.
• Lia doesn’t get bogged down in citing sources although she could briefly mention a few more particularly right before her statistical barrage towards the end.
• Lia kept her message short.  If this talk were 10 minutes long she may have only received a few thousand views. As it is it has already received over 500k views.
• Lia could have impacted the numbers a bit more. She shares a few statistics and the millions tend to get lost.What is the difference between 10 million and 45 million. Without impact they are both just big numbers.
• Lia is authentic. This video would not have been as powerful if delivered by a 12 year old boy.
• Lia is passionate without sounding extreme.
• Lia is cute. Her attractiveness fosters attention.  Conservatives often overlook the importance of physical appearance in the arena of ideas. We prefer hard facts and cold reason. We get defeated by good looking actors who tell stories. Is it stupid? Sure. But its how the world works.
• Lia stays focused on the main point and does not get distracted on side issues.

Those are my thoughts on the video. What do you think?

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