Getting Ready for A Grassroots Get-Together…

You know what I love? An underdog story. I’m a total sucker. This is why my favorite movie is Shawshank Redemption. I mean, there’s nothing better than seeing a human being pushed down, only to watch them get back up again, and like a phoenix, rise from the ashes to become better, stronger, and more alive.

Cue the National Council for a New America.

This “Council” is the first in a series of many, I assume, local townhall meetings and small forums that will educate and reenergize people on the message of the conservative party. And, yesterday, it was held in a Virginia suburb at a pizza parlor. With Jeb Bush, Mit Romney, and Eric Cantor (House Minority Whip). Love.

The three “headliners” for the meeting focused on “the economy, education, energy, health care and national security,” in addition to attempting to personally reach out to people in a way that reengages them. We all know that the party needs some re-branding and reenergizing. But the proof is in the pudding. In a recent poll, 22 percent of Americans said they were Republican, while 35 percent identified themselves as Democrats. That’s the widest span in many years – and so the grassroots effort begins…

God, I love grassroots efforts.

Mit Romney described the effort most eloquently when he said,

…the GOP fight to regain power is a continuation of the U.S. war of independence, casting the Democrats as the loyalists and Republicans as the patriots.

He continued with, “We are the party of the revolutionaries. They’re the party of the monarchists,” he said. “They are the party that believes government knows best and that government is the sovereign.

“And we are the party that believes the people and free people and people pursuing their own dreams are what make America the strongest nation and most powerful nation on earth…and we are going to continue to be revolutionaries,” he said.

Jeb Bush went on to say,

“…part of the GOP’s problem is that the party has been too focused on its past victories instead of developing innovative ideas for the future.

“It’s time for us to listen first, to learn a little bit, to upgrade our message a little bit, to not be nostalgic about our past because things do ebb and flow,” he said, arguing for the need for the GOP to develop alternative approaches on education, health care and energy.”

Nothing to mock here, really. Instead, I’m excited about the prospect of a new and improved conservative face. The effort has started to take the empty-suit “rockstar” out of the race by replacing it with some good, old fashioned elbow grease and education. FOR the people. Not more power-hungry government.

Revolutionary? Hell yes. Bring it on. THAT’S the America I know and love…

Bite it, Napolitano.