Smart Politics to Live Blog at MN GOP Forum

Smart Politics will be blogging live today at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs from 12:00 to 1:30 p.m. at a program on the state of the Republican Party in Minnesota and conservative movement.

From the Humphrey press release:

The State of Minnesota’s Republican Party and Conservative Movement

Tuesday, January 22
Noon—1:30pm
Cowles Auditorium
Humphrey Center
301 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Steve Sviggum, Commissioner, Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry
Bill Cooper, former Chair, Minnesota Republican Party
Mary Liz Holberg, member, Minnesota House of Representatives
Jeff Blodgett, Executive Director, Wellstone Action

Does Minnesota’s Republican Party remain a vehicle for the conservative movement? What is the defining character of conservatism? These questions are being debated among social conservatives, economic libertarians, and idealistic military hawks in Minnesota and nationally. For instance, Rudy Giuliani’s presidential campaign may make the GOP competitive in normally safe Democratic regions like the Northeast and the Northwest but it has sparked threats from social conservatives that they will bolt the Party for a third party candidate. Mike Huckabee is backed by social conservatives but faces stiff opposition from economic conservatives who criticize his tax and spending hikes as governor of Arkansas.

An accomplished and prominent panel including, Steve Sviggum, Commissioner, Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, Bill Cooper, former Chair, Minnesota Republican Party, Representative Mary Liz Holberg, Minnesota House of Representatives, and Jeff Blodgett, Executive Director, Wellstone Action will discuss the current state of Minnesota’s Republican Party and conservative movement. Professor Lawrence Jacobs will moderate.