Repya - Back to Boot Camp
Posted by Andy on March 29th, 2007
The PiPress did a story on Joe Repya and sought the excuses talking points input of Ron Carey as well.
GI Joe wants to become GOP Joe.
Joe Repya, of Eagan, a former U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who came out of retirement in 2004 to volunteer for duty in Iraq, said Wednesday he will run for chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party this spring.
“I came back from two years of military service in early October to a Republican Party in Minnesota that is probably the most demoralized and factionalized that I’ve seen in the years I’ve lived here,” Repya said. “It is in dire need of dynamic, exciting new leadership, and I can provide that.”
Repya will challenge state GOP Chairman Ron Carey, a Shoreview businessman and 35-year Republican activist, for the leadership post at a June 9 state party central committee meeting.
Carey, first elected in 2005, said he will seek a second term and has lined up support from a “who’s who” of local party officers and local, state and national elected officials.
They neglected to add he had been an elected state-wide Republican leader for 8 full years before he became Chair. He was term limited out of the Secretary/Treasurer’s position, and was a late entry into the 2005 race. He was pulled in by a few people who were very upset with Pawlenty, who realized Bill Pulkrabek’s coup was working, but they needed someone a bit more polished to take over from Eibensteiner.
Asked why he’s running against Carey, Repya replied: “I come from a military background where you’re responsible for everything your unit does or does not do in combat. Last fall, Ron Carey lost 20 seats in the (Minnesota) House and six in the Senate. If he were in the military, he would be reassigned to a new position.”
Carey said it’s silly to blame him for the Iraq war and other national trends that contributed to Republican losses in the fall. He said he is building the party at the grass roots and has it moving in the right direction.
So as you can see, once Carey is challenged, he falls right back into blame shifting mode. I know Carey’s friends, just can’t stand the thought of Carey actually being a failure, but come on folks, do you really believe that Carey had absolutely nothing to do with the results? If HE didn’t how can HE save the world?
Do Carey and his supporters really believe that great conservatives like Brian LeClair and Phil Krinkie lost because of Iraq and Foley? If you think that was the problem, I have this bridge in Brooklyn you may be interested in.
It is that attitude that the MNGOP can’t live with. I don’t understand how a party who threw the last chair out the window because of losing House seats and allowing the Governor to stray on a few core conservative issues that upset the grassroots base, can overlook the same problems this time. Hello! Repeat!
If we can’t even admit that we have SERIOUS morale issues, and openly admit as to why, the MNGOP will not get its groove back for years. The demoralized grassroots last year is what people like me identify as the real reason it was as bad as it was. Iraq and Foley played into that, but there were so many local issues that kept our volunteers and voters at home. Just under 4000 votes could have kept control of the Minnesota House could have kept it in GOP hands. The eye was off the prize, and the priorities were askew.
Things didn’t have to be as bad as it was. Believe me, I know that the results couldn’t have been completely reversed, but did it really have to be as bad as it was? I firmly believe it didn’t.
When I started this little crusade of mine, people said well who’s the alternative? Well, here’s one. Are we about to see the attacks on Repya begin? Or will we just see more excuses and blame shifting?
Anyways, go read the rest of the PiPress story.
I also encourage EVERYONE to revisit the 2005 Campaign for Chair. Especially Ron Carey’s portion of the Chairman speeches. (click to listen) Seriously ask yourself if Carey came close to doing what he said he would. You can find more about the 2005 race in the RF archives. (Scroll back to mid June.
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March 29th, 2007 at 8:38 am
I was one who supported change two years ago not because of loses because of not listening to the people. A higher than mighty attitude. You can’t say that about Carey. I was turned off by your methods in addressing your issues with Carey, but i have listened to what you are saying. I agree to some degree. But before I support someone else let a lone Joe I want to hear what they are going to do differently. Truth of the matter the base is split. Carey has been trying to deal with that and in my eyes trying to keep it together. A mistake in my eyes but not in many others. Like I sais before I want the big gov spenders out of my party. If that means that issues like gay marriage and abortion get taken off the priority list so be it. If I vote for a change I want someone to tell what there plans are for that. It might not be my plan, I can except that. However that is going to shape my level of support and involvement with the “party” I also want to know about staffing at the party. Over the last number of years it has been about returning favors or listening to NRP. Or the hiring of recent college grads and running them to death. I would like to see a professional staff who will spend more time managing volunteers. College grads work for free with the Dem’s. Those are ?’s I need answered from Joe or any other candidate. I also have some ?’s as to Joes motives I would like answered. This is the same guy that has talked about running for congress in a least three different districts. Clearly he is a dedicated and wants to lead but I want to make sure he really wants to lead this org.
March 29th, 2007 at 9:27 am
[...] better than the party gave him after the ‘04 election. Current chair Ron Carey excites strong emotions in some, but also has eloquent defenders. I think fate dealt Carey lemons, to an extent - it was [...]
March 29th, 2007 at 11:03 pm
[...] Residual Forces [...]
March 31st, 2007 at 9:19 am
MTruth,
You said “If that means that issues like gay marriage and abortion get taken off the priority list so be it.”
Clever. You make it sound like to take those things off the priority list would be a good thing. The truth is you like most republicans are afraid to deal in any public way with the pro-abortion and same sex marriage people in the party.
The marriage constitutional ammendment gives the party focus and the pro-life position has been in the platform for years. It is our brand. What we don’t need are closed door deals with legislators and judges on behalf of doing nothing. But republicans never admitted to that, a democrat did (pat on back to Dean Johnson). So in conclusion let’s make no change to the platform and put emphasis on fiscal responsibility and the constitutional marriage ammendment as we did in the past. I think Col. Joe Repya will do that for us and Carey may not. My .02
March 31st, 2007 at 4:08 pm
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March 31st, 2007 at 4:08 pm
[...] Original post by EckerNet.Com » Blog Archive » Ron Carey vs Lt. Col. Joe Repya, June 9th, G… [...]
March 31st, 2007 at 7:13 pm
[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt[…] Original post by EckerNet.Com » Blog Archive » Ron Carey vs Lt. Col. Joe Repya, June 9th, G… […] [...]
April 2nd, 2007 at 1:17 am
The party platform is a fine piece of literature. I wouldn’t advocate for scrapping any of it. That’s for the delegates to decide at any rate. It should be noted that small government is the first issue in the platform, though, and I don’t believe that’s happenstance.
We have a contested seat, so let the debate begin. I’ve heard from Ron Carey (received a campaign letter a couple days ago). Now I’m looking forward to hearing from from Joe Repya. I hope it’s a spirited and open debate. That’s how we’ll see what these men are made of.