MNGOP Leadership - Who I Want
Posted by Andy on March 28th, 2007
Remember that guy with the signs? The 50-some year old veteran who organized a grassroots troop support and sign campaign? Sure, I’m sure you saw those Liberate Iraq signs. I’m sure you also know that shortly after that statewide movement, that he re-enlisted and asked to go back to war. The man just can’t sit on the sidelines.
Well, Col. Joe Repya is considering entering another battle. One to save the Republican party of Minnesota. I had a chance to talk with him yesterday, and as he didn’t go so far as to announce, he’s up to something. He would say “people have been asking me to run and I’m close to making a final decision“.
Over the last few months, I have gotten to know Repya, and I can tell you he shares the passion that things can be much better.
Stay tuned….
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March 28th, 2007 at 11:08 am
[...] morning Andy brings word of a credible candidate to challenge Carey’s [...]
March 28th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
I love Joe Repya, but I have the obvious concern that he is accustomed to a command organization. The GOP is anything but, to the extent that herding cats is child’s play. And I doubt the good Colonel’s fundraising ability, more important now than ever before. Who else is running?
March 28th, 2007 at 11:42 pm
I think you’ve just pointed out some good reasons to keep Carey in place, and I think Col. Repya would be a much better vice-chair (an opening we already need to fill) than chair, based merely on my assumptions about their various strengths at this point in time. My first reaction to your posting was that you were so anxious to “punish” Ron Carey that you would accept “anybody but,” without regard for their ability to do any better. We’ve had enough of that attitude, with people asking “could the DFL really screw things up any worse?” Not saying that’s your attitude, I’m just saying…
This Party has a lot of very heavy lifting to do in not very much time. I don’t care who has the title, I just want the job done, and that’s going to take more than one man’s effort, regardless of “rank.” As for “convenient timing,” this is the first I’ve heard of it. As for the MN House, I think BOTH sides are doing a heckuva job at convincing voters to give it back to the Republicans.
March 29th, 2007 at 6:35 am
Ah, so if we just give Ron Carey an 11th & 12th year in leadership he’ll finally figure it out.
March 29th, 2007 at 8:59 am
He can learn, just like anybody else, if he has somebody to teach him. After 12 years, he should be ready to turn in a good performance. Do you really want to start over with someone with no experience at all? I’m not saying it cannot be done, because the fact that it CAN tells me that the party chair simply cannot do it alone. If you do not have some ideas beyond replacing the chair, we may as well tell the RNC to go somewhere else. We’ll be too busy with our own squabbles to be good hosts.
And another thing: Our Republican legislature was no better than the Republican Congress at acting like Republicans. You are very correct about the “apathy” among GOP activists which, undoubtedly, contributed greatly to our loss. But blame for the apathy cannot be laid at the feet of the Party Chairman alone. All of our party leaders and all of our candidates and what few activists still care have to do better– at being Republicans, and getting others to vote with us. Solve THAT problem, and YOU can get elected Chair!
March 29th, 2007 at 9:21 am
Do you know what I think the base wants to hear?
That we care more about winning elections than throwing a grand party.
We want Coleman, Kline, Bachmann,
reelected, but we’re more concerned about helping our legislative candidates in the House so we can bring back some sensibility to the Legislature. I mean we’re 3 to 5 votes away from veto overrides. That’s just like pulling the goalie when you’re killing a powerplay. Besides, if we can build local support for conservative values, it will help get Coleman and the others up the ticket elected, because we’ll all be out there fighting for the same thing. If we can work as a team from bottom to top and top to bottom, we can move mountains.
& RamstadSimply bashing the Democrats for months before the election in the press and praying to gOD they actually lose their cool in public is a pretty risky strategy, especially with a comedian who will spin it back. Someone will have egg on their face in this one, and I highly doubt it will be Al Franken.
The grassroots doesn’t want to have to run a textbook RNC strategy that has been tried and tested in Montana or Texas. We know that we can’t run an effective team campaign if all we’re worried about is mitigating the defeat. In some areas of the state the top of the ticket is all that matters, but in others it is the death spiral for local candidates and activists.
Take Blaine for example. Our volunteer base was pretty disgusted over the proposed Vikings stadium and Pawlenty for pushing it and signing the referendum waiver for the Twins. No one was willing to show up and work, and it killed our local people. When I was making calls to Rs, it was oh, don’t you mention that Pawlenty. Well, the irony is, Pawlenty did great thanks to the statewide media blitz of the party, but our local candidates and BPOU got creamed.
So when we here the “yeah, but we have a goalie” crap, we kind of wonder why that’s all we were really concerned about.
You know when you call to get long time GOP loyaists to show up to help local candidates, and you spend 10 minutes trying to defend the top of the ticket people for one vote or another in St. Paul of DC because that’s all they care about, you got a hell of a problem so much bigger than a BPOU chair can solve.
Pawlenty had his strategy. Coleman will have his. The Party will faithfully carry that out. But what about the House races? Is the party going to push the issue on we need to take back our seats? Are they going to help define the Republican message so that every single candidate has to not only introduce themselves at the door, but try to convince people that we aren’t in fact hypocrites and big government nanny state DFL wannabes? Because there is not enough time for a House candidate to spend 10 minutes talking to every single voter in a district, especially if that entire time is spent defending someone else’s positions.
Karl Rove told me personally that you just need to change the subject, but what if the person you’re trying to talk to doesn’t give a rip, and is holding every single person accountable to that vote of someone else’s?
I know the common up ticket campaign strategy is to let the candidates define themselves and in turn what it means to be Republican, but that kills the local people sometimes.
March 29th, 2007 at 5:32 pm
Comment on MNGOP Leadership - Who I Want by Andy…
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March 29th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
I’m very pleased to hear there will be some competition for the chairman’s seat. I don’t know much about Joe Repya, but I intend to learn as much about him as possible.
J. Ewing: Are you serious? Well, surely after 12 years, he’ll have it right now! Really??? Wow.
March 29th, 2007 at 6:47 pm
I just can’t get that out of my head. Maybe we should have given Jimmy Carter another four years. Surely after the first four, he would have been ready to turn in a good performance…