Here’s how it worked last year: Party officials picked their favorite candidates, hindered all other prospective candidates, shut announced candidates out of the conventions, provided the delegates no opportunity to nominate candidates, and gave the delegates NO options.

John Uldrich is a state central delegate, and last year, he was shut out of the competition in favor of Kennedy. Harold Shudlick was running a campaign for that same endorsement, working in the party for YEARS, but was shut out of several conventions, and denied access to the campaign-critical delegates list until the very last moment before the state convention. It wasn’t just Sue Jeffers. It was systematic and endemic.

The behind-closed-doors “good ol’ boys” politics in the MN GOP has to end. If the delegates perceive that they have lost their voice in the party, they will stop showing up. Just look at the dismal turn-out at the 2006 state convention. And look at the number of delegates that bailed out after the first day of shenanigans. If we had to reestablish a quorum, we would have come up short.

You people that think it’s a good thing to deny delegates access to information, and an opportunity to vote are a source of grave concern for me.

The delegates wanted to hear from Jeffers. Carey didn’t want them to. Bmetzler, do you want Carey to make all of our decisions for us? Then we can just stop having conventions. Think of all the time that would save us.

Do you want to know the real reason Jeffers was kept out of the endorsement race? Fear. Jeffers had a lot of support. She’s more conservative than Pawlenty, and the Governor was making some very unpopular moves right before the convention season. Carey ran cover for him so he could move left without getting embarrassed by a slap on the wrist from the delegates. They did not want to risk the possibility that Pawlenty wouldn’t win on the first round of balloting. It’s that simple. Sue did not expect to win the endorsement (though that was certainly our objective), but we knew that just by having Sue in the mix, the Governor would have had to move back to the right to placate the delegates. Going to a second round on the ballot would have moved T-Paw right real quick.

To his credit, the Guv’s been making good promises of veto veto veto, and I’m glad to hear it. I’ll feel even better once he does it. There are, at least, some encouraging signs that he’s hearing us.

Sue Jeffers did not follow the MNGOP endorsement process, and did not deserve to be allowed to seek endorsement at the state convention. The blame for that lies on herself and/or her campaign manager, no one else. She screwed her campaign up, it’s her own fault. In 2010 she’ll get a chance to try again. Hopefully next time she’ll get a campaign manager that knows the ropes for seeking endorsement. Otherwise, she’ll find herself inelgible again, and rightly so.

I hope not, because when I run for office I want to keep my options open and give every party a chance to endorse me and I wouldn’t want the Republican delegates to hold that against me.

Brent

So the Republican party is going to exclude Libertarians from membership?

You know, there’s a heck of a lot of people in the Republican party who agree with a lot of the Libertarian positions, in fact there’s a lot the Republican party (by platform) agrees with the Libertarian party on.

I could also swear that she linked to the Libertarian party on her website, and also posted a story about the Libertarian endorsement.

I could also swear that the pink postcard handed out at the tax rally today listed her as a speaker at the Libertarian Party of Minnesota 2007 convention.

Jeffers may have “declined” the Libertarian endorsement to be on the Republican ballot in the primary, but there is strong evidence that not only did she have strong ties to the Libertarian party, but that she still does.

Anyone who believes Sue Jeffers is NOT a conservative is blind/deaf/ignorant.

I’ll concede that Tim Pawlenty IS the most conservative Governor we’ve ever had…. but that’s not saying much.

If Sue had been endorsed by the Libertarian Party (as many are wont to say), and ran as a Libertarian in the General Election, Pawlenty would not be governor now.

And that’s the part everyone who dislikes jeffers refuses to acknowledge. Too many in this party are rubberstamps, and afraid of internal debates. Well folks, maybe that is our biggest problem.

Same lies over and over. Here’s the official filing with the Secretary of State: http://www.cfboard.state.mn.us/campfin/rpdetail/rp16384.html What does RPM stand for again? Oh, yes. Republican Party of Minnesota.

Before any moves were made at all in the gubernatorial race, Jeffers spoke with Carey directly, and was told in no uncertain terms that she would not be allowed to compete with Pawlenty for endorsement. She’d have been welcome to seek endorsement for another office, however.

“Some committee…” by that, you mean the nominating committee. I’ve been over this. Carey saw to it that convention rules were changed so NO ONE could challenge the anointed candidates.

The only endorsment Jeffers accepted was from a Republican organization. The state and local chapters of the Republican Liberty Caucus. The Libertarian Party OFFERED their endorsement. Jeffers DECLINED it.

I’ve heard all the lies Carey and his cohorts were spreading. I saw the illegal (anonymous) blue lit-hit-piece that was circulated at conventions. I heard about the phone calls Carey orchestrated to smear Jeffers. Don’t believe any of it. I was there, in the middle of it all.

I agree that Pawlenty is better than Hatch. Jeffers would have been even better, but she recognized that had she filed with another party, or petitioned for ballot access to run in the General, she would have taken votes from Pawlenty, and probably elected Hatch. She didn’t want to see that happen either. We tried to settle the whole matter at the GOP convention. Sue had told the nominating committe that she’d abide by the will of the delegates, and not run in the primary if allowed to address the convention. Since she was denied that avenue, she took her case directly to the voters in the primary. She lost, and in the process, left Pawlenty as the only conservative candidate on the ballot. Still, had Hatch’s campaign not self-destructed right at the end, he would have lost. No credit to Carey there. Credit to Judy Dutcher’s gross ignorance.

If Sue had been endorsed by the Libertarian Party (as many are wont to say), and ran as a Libertarian in the General Election, Pawlenty would not be governor now.

All I can really take from your attacks is that it is wrong to support candidates with which you believe in and agree with. If that is not allowed in Ron Carey’s Republican Party, I guess I don’t belong in it. I do have to wonder if it is Ron Carey’s official ‘new’ plan to only support the winning candidates, because in 2005, he said he would support all the endorsed candidates.

And you had really better call the State Party researchers and get the facts straight. I didn’t support Sue Jeffers. Seriously guys and gals, at least get the attack lines correct.

Sheesh, you sound like Brodkorb with the patriot thing. So and so is a great patriot BUT…..

At least you didn’t throw any compliments my way, and instead just went right for the jugular. that a boy, or girl.

11th Commandment be damned. Oh, and you may want to look over the others who supported Krinkie for Congress. You’ll find a few names on Carey’s ’steering committee’ supported him, and frequent the inside of party HQ. Are they too not credible with in the party?

And is this the type of arrogance to be expected if Carey is reelected? Where people who tried, and hold strong conservative beliefs are lambasted from with in the trusted power circle of the Party leadership?

Come on Lawson, you made it person, why don’t you have the courage to attack me with your real name so people can judge whether or not you are credible, or just another loyalist being fed attack lines about me. Because, every time I dare try to shed some light on leadership, and start making headway, the same exact attacks come out.