This is just to refresh people’s minds on what Carey said last Monday.

St. Paul, Minn. — State Republican Party Chairman Ron Carey says he will lead the new Minnesota presidential campaign team for former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee.Carey announced his support Monday at Capitol news conference, four days after Huckabee’s convincing win in the Iowa caucuses.State party leaders have traditionally remained neutral until a clear favorite for the nomination is decided. But Carey says there is too much at stake to be silent. He says his early support of a presidential candidate is allowed by the bylaws of the Republican Party of Minnesota. “Something that I think we need more of in politics is that we don’t just put that finger in the wind and see what the direction is,” says Carey. “Because I’m going to take some hits for this. But I truly believe in the long hall that this is the best thing for the Republican party to have a viable campaign for Mike Huckabee, and I think he’s the candidate that has the best chance to lead us to success in November.”Carey says he doesn’t know if Huckabee will visit Minnesota before the February 5th precinct caucuses.A spokeswoman for the Minnesota DFL Party says state chairman Brian Melendez is staying neutral in the presidential race until a Democratic nominee is decided. (Source: MPR)

Carey wanted Huckabee to have a “viable campaign” where none existed before.All I am saying is that it sure sounded to me like it was a whole lot more than just an honorary Chairmanship last Monday, and don’t forget, I did try to contact the Chairman personally for a statement  before it was confirmed that he was going to bat for Huckabee. It has been more than a week, and I still have yet to have my call returned by the Chairman. So I did hold my opinions close to heart and I believe I have been acting as responsible as possible, ‘Statesman-like’  was what a few people have said.Look: I am glad that last Thursday night that there was discussion and a clarification that Carey was going to be simply an “honorary” Chair for Huckabee at the Executive Committee meeting. I wish it had been handled better by Carey, or at the least discussed with the Party leaders BEFORE it was announced.But we can’t change the past, so let’s look to the future.

• I do look forward to this discussion on potential changes to our Constitution and By Laws regarding this sort of thing.

• I would ask that people remember this episode in 18 months when and if Chairman Carey seeks reelection. 

February 5th, Precinct Caucus.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 14th, 2008 at 11:07 am and is filed under 2008, MNGOP Reform, Minnesota, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.