Where the pols are: Joey Gerdin

I ran into Joey Gerdin last week at the Caribou on Snelling. Many Republicans know Gerdin for her latest political job as finance director for the House Republican Caucus. [Republican caucus donors sure do know her!]

Turns out Joey has left that job and is organizing a new PAC, somewhat in response to how poorly Republicans have fared in the last few election cycles. It’s called the Patriot PAC, and its purpose is to support candidates who count American military power as a primary issue. The PAC articulates a number of ways in which electing "pro-American combat veterans" creates positive effects at the local and national levels. The idea is to advocate a reorganization of state funding to better support veterans, an agenda that echoes what GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty has recently proposed.

The PAC has big ambitions for its mission, but will smartly focus on state races, with the long-term strategy of moving pro-military elected officials through state government and, it hopes, to national significance. Worth noting is that most of our congressional delegation plus potential future presidential candidate Pawlenty all came through the state Legislature. The PAC might face an uphill battle for fundraising amongMinnesotans wracked with the budget deficit and who voted heavily for a presidential candidate who perhaps doesn’t share their views on the global war on terrorism. But veterans’ issues are always an issue close to Minnesota hearts, and with the governor’s office marking military and veterans’ affairs as a top priority in the budget, the Patriot PAC could gain a foothold and begin to develop some influence in supporting candidates in the next election cycle.