No Section

Westover, sometimes a GOP Party critic, becomes GOP Party spokesman

Craig Westover hopes to bring substance and credibility to his new gig

May 2, 2011 at 5:06PM

Craig Westover, a Republican with a libertarian bent, is the new spokesman for the Minnesota Republican Party.

Westover, who has a business background and used to write opinion pieces for the Pioneer Press newspaper, may be bringing along with him relationships with the Republican crowd that has supported Ron Paul for president, who are often critics of party.

"The Republican party is really trying to make an effort to be open and transparent and they are borrowing my credibility and I agreed to give it to them," Westover said.

He said, unlike many in the party, he supports sex-same marriage, although he also supports the GOP move to get a constitutional amendment to ban the practice get to the ballot. He has also criticized the party for lacking substance in its communications but said he'll work to change that.

"The way that I see my job right now is that I have to put the Republican Party position in the best possible light but that doesn't mean that you spin it, it doesn't mean that you fool people," Westover said. "When the party comes out with a policy, that's the policy."

"It's going to be a fine line to walk but to be honest with you it's one of the things I like about the Republican Party because Republicans do debate among themselves," he said.

He worked for former auditor Pat Anderson when she ran for governor last year and volunteered in her campaign to become auditor again.

Anderson, who was recently elected a party National Committeewoman, and Michael Brodkorb, deputy chair of the party and a Minnesota Senate staffer, are feuding over her decision to become a lobbyist for pro-gambling interests.

Brodkorb has said she should resign from the committeewoman spot because expanded gambling runs counter to the state GOP platform. (Over the weekend, Anderson tweeted - and then apparently deleted - this quote from conservative talk show host Sue Jeffers: " who the x@#% does @mbrodkorb think he is?")

The feud has also spilled out into a controversy over the party's position on gambling and its platform.

Westover said his hiring was in progress well before that controversy arose and noted that he did not support Anderson in her election last month for committeewoman.

From the Party release on Westover's hiring:

"As an op-ed writer and a think tank analyst, Craig has a solid reputation as a strong, principled voice for conservatism," said (GOP Party chairman Tony) Sutton. "His writing incisively exposes the fallacies and failures of liberal and progressive policies, and he hasn't been shy about taking on the Republican Party when he's felt it wandering away from its core values. Craig brings to the communications director position more than just messaging expertise; he personifies the credibility of a Republican Party that is serious about accurately communicating its positions on issues to Minnesotans."

During his eclectic career, Westover has been a freelance magazine writer, ghostwriter and advertising copywriter and consultant. He worked for NCR in corporate communications, quality process management and marketing and in strategic marketing for AT&T. After leaving AT&T, he set up integrating marketing communications organizations at several small companies and start-up businesses before working his way into op-ed writing and politics. He was a policy fellow with the Minnesota Free Market Institute.

"Tony (Sutton) has described politics as a 'brawl,'" noted Westover. "But even in a brawl, the fighter with knowledge of martial arts has the upper hand over brute force. An integrated approach to communications gives the MNGOP the upper hand in winning elections. I am a strong believer in the small 'r' republican principles of limited, constitutional government that are the reason for being of the Republican Party of Minnesota. Tony offered me the opportunity to help propagate those principles in the messaging of the party – externally to the general public and internally by integrating communications into the strategic planning of the party. That is an offer I can't refuse."