Pom Poms and Procrastination
Posted by Andy on June 28th, 2007
The MNGOP has finally weighed in on the Immigration bill, now that its coffin is nailed shut.
St. Paul- Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman Ron Carey today issued the following statement regarding the defeat of the U.S. Senate’s immigration bill.
“Senator Norm Coleman is to be commended for his vote today against advancing this deeply flawed bill. We must redouble our efforts to strengthen our borders by addressing this critical national security issue in a responsible way.”
Now kudos for Senator Coleman for getting it right, but I’d have to give the MNGOP a failing grade for their silence on the issue. I haven’t seen one single action alert to grassroots party activists or nary a press release until now regarding the Amnesty bill.
It is quite odd that the bill died early this morning, and it wasn’t until 6:30 PM that the MNGOP finally got around to this one quote press release. Were they waiting for Coleman’s response before they acted? His did show up in my INBOX just an hour and a half ago.
Anyways, Conservatives won the day, no thanks to Carey, and frankly deserve the credit. if it wasn’t for us lowly bloggers and activists melting the phones and hammering out the posts, this bill would have passed. It was only under the same pressure as we saw regarding Harriet Meiers that the elected officials did the right thing. We changed their minds. Most Senators were ready to pass this abomination until we stepped in.
So once again, way to go Coleman, but Chairman Carey, exactly what did you do? maybe we should just get you some pom poms, because leading a movement doesn’t seem to be your thing. You seem to follow much better.
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June 28th, 2007 at 9:11 pm
You criticism of Carey is valid.
But arn’t you still a BPOU leader, what did you do?
I know I saw nothing from any BPOU where I am.
Did anyone send e-mails or make calls to there area of responsibility.
We can look to St. Paul and complain, but if any of us think the answer is coming from higher up in the party they are wrong.
Take some responsibility and some action locally.
(And before you ask - Yes I did make calls and emails to those within my sphere of direct influence, and quite a few of us made our .10 donation to the Senate Committee “e.g. Not one more dime”)
And I will hold off on chairing Coleman, he sort of did the right thing.
But he thought this bill could be “improved”.
June 28th, 2007 at 9:33 pm
Actually I know at least one BPOU leader that sent out emails encouraging action….
LL
June 29th, 2007 at 12:49 am
It actually seems to me that a BPOU leader would be overstepping his bounds if he told his BPOU members what to do in this instance. Since Coleman represents the entire state, really the action alerts should have come from that level. Now when a state senator needs to make a critical vote, then damn right the BPOU leader should be all over it.
June 29th, 2007 at 12:53 am
And yes, I’m secretary for my BPOU and while I didn’t tell my BPOU members what to do, I know that many (most?) read by blog and I was asking everyone to make the calls. I know quite a few were. I figured that was about the extent of my “authority” as a BPOU officer on this issue.
June 29th, 2007 at 7:32 am
So what you are saying Kevin is AAA is dammed if he does and dammed if he doesn’t?
The email I got just said if whether you are for or against the amnesty bill, you need to contact the Senators as there is a lot of interest in the issue.
LL
June 29th, 2007 at 9:38 am
Andy, I’m thankful that you’re on my side. Congratulating Sen. Coleman for doing the right thing was a nice touch.
June 29th, 2007 at 10:18 am
I sent out an email to the rest of my BPOU staff and a few regular volunteers. It didn’t direct them to take action but said “in case you are interested in calling here are some key office numbers to call…”