Up North Progressive

It’s thrilling being on the email list for State Rep Cindy Gamrat. Already my inbox has received two lengthy pieces of literature. One is the “Contract For Liberty,” and the second, a response to the Nerd’s State of the State Address given on January 20. Both gave the distinct feeling of reading a white paper more than a statement. The way certain turns of phrases are used and ideas are repeated over and over again so they stick in the reader’s head, it feels like someone is trying to sell something.

The ‘Contract’ contains sub headings and bullet points to make it easier for the reader to skim over the document and get main ideas. The paper isn’t discussing facts so much as they want the reader to be persuaded to a certain point of view. That’s the purpose of a white paper. What’s particularly grating about this bit of grey literature are the glaring misrepresentations of American history and the intent of the founding fathers. The United States is not a Christian nation, no matter how much Cindy Gamrat and Todd Courser want you to believe it.

When anyone makes a hard sales pitch like this, it’s always a good idea to take a look into the background of the seller. How does one know if they are dealing with a reputable business offering a quality product? Cindy Gamrat’s history paints a glowing picture of a wife, mom, nurse, devout religious church-going woman and zealous tea party politician. A quick mention of working for Vector Marketing while attending college at the University of Michigan however brings back memories of fliers stapled to kiosks all over campus with the URL workforstudents.com and promises of lots of easy cash made part-time.

Before Cindy Gamrat was a state representative, before she led River City Patriots, before she led the Huntington Tea Party in Indiana or worked as a nurse, she sold Cutco knives as a college student. If you’ve ever walked out of class and found a piece of paper under the wiper of your car promising a part time job that pays $15.00 an hour with no telemarketing or door-to-door sales, you’ve had your first encounter with Vector Marketing. This company likes to hire college students en-masse, invite them to an “interview” and give a slick promotional presentation to entice them into walking into strangers’ homes carrying a bag of knives, and talk those strangers into buying them. Since Vector Marketing was sued for $13 million they’ve had to change a lot of their policies toward the people who sell Cutco knives for them, but back in the day when Cindy Gamrat sold knives, she bought the demo knife kit with her own money and had to pay her own expenses to sell those knives, including attending the mandatory unpaid training sessions.

According to her own testimonial, she really enjoyed selling knives to people. She also claims that selling knives taught her the skills she needed to take on the task of home schooling her children. This quote in particular stands out:

“Today, when I decide to do something, I go back to my Vector experience and think about how to break it down to reach my goal,”

That’s when it became obvious why her contract on for liberty and her recent response to the Nerd’s State of the State address has the feeling of a sales pitch. That’s how Cindy Gamrat works. Her experience from Vector Marketing permeates everything she does, including her own kids. Cindy Gamrat is not a principled conservative Christian woman, she’s a hustler selling Dominion Christian theology couched with tea party rhetoric. This is going to be a very interesting two years.