Lincoln Luncheon

me during my speech

    On March 8th,  the Maricopa County Republican Party held the annual Lincoln Luncheon at the El-Zaribah Shrine auditorium in the downtown Phoenix area. My attendance was made possible by Jean Mattox and Vera Anderson of the Deer Valley and Daisy Mountain Tea Parties, respectively.

    I was figuratively floating off the ground as I walked in because I was excited to other people who also have a keen interest in politics.  After my mother and I signed in, we perused the booths of prospective candidates, like gubernatorial candidate Senator Al Melvin, whom I sat with at the Western Conservative Conference, former Mesa Mayor and gubernatorial candidate Scott Smith, and candidate for Superintendent for Public Instruction Diane Douglas.  Also present were Attorney General Horne and the founder of the Center for Self Governance (C.S.G.), Mark Herr, who was the keynote speaker that afternoon.

   Mark Herr introduced the Center for Self Governance.  After showing the audience a short "I'm Mrs. Powel" video, he went on to discuss the success that the Center For Self Governance has had and how that could translate for Arizona's political environment.  Then another person who has also taken some Center for Self Governance classes and I were called up on stage to speak about our experiences with the Center for Self Governance classes to an audience of over 400 people.  Since I had forgotten the speech I was going to give, I just spoke about how the skills that the C.S.G. taught me allowed me to talk to my peers about politics in a way they would understand and get motivated to exercise their civil rights.

  When I made it back to my seat, my lunch had arrived.  As I ate, I spoke with my dining companions.  One gentleman owned his own business and was a military contractor.  He made parts for the F-16, F-18, and F-35 combat fighter planes.  During lunch, all Republican candidates for governor present walked onto the podium and gave a short speech to campaign.

   In conclusion, the Lincoln Day Luncheon is an event that I highly recommend, whether you are involved in the political system or want to be.  You can meet a bunch of different people at the local, county, state, and federal levels by just being there and mingling.