T Minus 11 Days – MNGOP Leadership Elections
I’ve been in a writing funk and very busy lately, but we’re coming down to the wire in the Republican Party leadership election, so here goes.
I attended last week’s debate between the Chair and Deputy Chair candidates. Now I was running late and ended up getting lost on the way there, so I missed the Deputy Chair portion. You can find links to the video here.
In the Deputy Chair field we have a new entrant. Bob Swinehart. There are lots of rumors out there about why he entered, but I am willing to bet he has no intentions on winning. Yeah, blunt, but the guy does not have my trust and I haven’t heard anything that makes me believe he even understands what a Deputy Chair would or should do and his supporter who tried twisting my arms is even less aware of how this party really works. Swinehart comes from the new wav of people brought in by Ron Paul, but a different faction that seems determined to “take over” the party, not work from with in to reform it. He was also nice enough to leak the State Central email list last week. Something you can read about here here and here.
There is something right out of bizzaro world happening, some Ron Paul people have gotten into bed with an enemy of theirs. Team Sutton/Brodkorb were part of the anti-Ron Paul leadership in 2008, but some Ron Paulers are starting to support and endorse them. This proves to me that some of the RPs are nuts and simply more of the same. It isn’t about reforming the party (as many of the new people are determined to do) or getting it back on track, nope it is about maintaining the status quo and abusing their power and new local leader positions in order to dictate to the grassroots.
IE: They have become what they used to rally against. With power comes great responsibility, but like Obama, some people are in over their heads. It is easy to be a critic, it is very difficult to actually lead and run an organization. I fear the MNGOP is entering its final few election cycles as it is going to be torn apart and many local units will become defunk as some people are unaware of what they are supposed to e doing.
So with that said, I believe Swinehart’s participation is going to lead to a Brodkorb victory and I think it is by design. He will split the anti-Establishment vote with Fleming and it will allow Brodkorb to win after a few rounds of balloting. In other words, the new guys ( who came for a revolution) are likely going to end up reelecting the status quo and top down dictators that people like me have been trying to get rid of for years.
If Brodkorb wins, the grassroots lose. Plain and simple. He is a puppet of the establishment. He has a record of waging war against the grassroots of the party. Ugh, if he wins….. Well maybe this party is going to just jump past the endangered species list and go straight to extinction.
I pray I am wrong about how this race is going down, but I have been getting a bad feeling about things lately. And as in my CD6 race, i could have beat either candidate, but not both. And guess who was the snake in the grass who got a 3rd guy in the race, yep Swinehart. As I said, I just don’t trust the guy nor those who support him.
In the Chair’s race I am proud to announce that I am supporting Dave Thompson wholeheartedly. He has something the other candidates don’t, the ability to talk to the average Minnesotan. Don’t get me wrong, Sutton is great at talking in front of GOP conventions, heck he has been doing that for the better part of his life, but that is a whole different audience then “real” voters. And by “real” I mean people outside the GOP base who attend GOP events. A trained monkey could woo a GOP convention crowd, all you need to do is say the right things and use terms like Grassroots and platform. It ain’t rocket science, and frankly Ron Carey was always good at getting applause at them. this is not meant to insult the base, it is just that I fear too many people base their leadership votes on crafted speeches, letters, and not at all on the real people and their track records. You can say anything you want in front of a crowd, and in internal races like this, it is easy to get away with revisionist history.
This race really comes dow to one simple thing, do you want more of the same?
Oh sure, Sutton says he isn’t like Carey. He talks about all the things he used to do, but then skips the last 4 years. The 4 years where he sat next to Ron Carey who was captaining the party to the verge of extinction. He was in a position to fight against Carey and we saw nothing. And now we have the case of Carey trying to hand off control to Sutton and Brodkorb as seemlessly as possible. And Sutton, who his supporters say wasn’t always supportive of Carey’s top down approach, is taking the cronyism support and running with it. Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic comes to mind.
The fact is that – Sutton is far closer to Carey’s style then he is not. Fact. The transition from Carey to a Sutton Chairmanship would be like repainting a house and getting some new furniture, but it would be the same family who won’t let you set foot on the lawn or get your ball out of the backyard.
This race is coming down to a battle of the two men. Senator Ruud will take a distant 3rd. Her answer at the forum last week about ignoring the Twin Cities and just focusing on the rural BPOUs was about the dumbest thing I have ever heard. She is a non factor.
Thompson on the other hand would bring a style that is sorely needed and been MIA in the MNGOP for years, the ability to communicate. It is what he has been doing for a living. We have had a laughing stock for a face of our party for the last 4 years. Whether it was his childish press conferences or lame and tardy press releases, we’ve suffered from a lack of communication skills.
Thompson also comes into this race not knowing he is the smartest guy in the room and that he has all the answers, one of Sutton’s major faults. When you hear Sutton talk about his record and GOP resume you clearly get the picture that he is another “me man”. As in “I” did this, “I” did that, and it was because of “me” that such and such happened.
Sutton is not a man of humility or shared credit. And frankly that is the worst characteristic for a leader of a grassroots organization. We do not need another egomaniac. We need a genuine people’s person to lead this party right now. And by lead, I mean someone who will be a good face of the party but will listen and take advice from the grassroots and BPOUs.
The choice is clear, you can have another guy who has spent decades in the party who is switching from Secretary/Treasurer to run for Chair (gee, sounds a heck of a lot like Carey back in 05) or you can have a guy who can communicate to the people and has the ability to build a great team of people around him to reform the party. One man, no matter how many restaurants he operates, can do everything by themselves. With Sutton his resume is based on all the stuff he did. Yet, for the last 4 years he was an accomplice to the party’s massive fall.
You cannot be serious about reforming the party and getting it back on track – and then vote for Sutton. Now sure, he is better then Carey, but that is an awfully low bar.
Aside from the fundamental reforms in the mechanics and list development our party needs, the most important thing is for us to have a competent and skillful spokester or face of the party. In a state like Minnesota (not to mention that the statewide GOP candidates listen to the RINO advisers who say a conservative cannot win in MN) we need a party chair who can present our principles, beliefs, and message to the voters. In a sense, the GOP chair needs to be on the ballot in the minds of voters so that when people get to the downticket races, they know what the heck that Legislative candidate who sent them a postcard is all about. Folks, it ain’t like Pawlenty and Coleman did a lot of GOP team building and providing help for local candidates. Their campaigns were all about them, and the downticket races got left in the wake. And the party, under Carey’s “followship’ (with Sutton at his side) didn’t do anything to help provide our message to the local candidates, the very people who had to go door to door to explain why the upticket Republicans voted for this or that…….
If seated at the State Central meeting next Saturday, I will be casting my vote for Thompson & Fleming. I am just an alternate and will be helping with credentials for he 6th. We will see what happens, I just hope people make the right decisions, because frankly I am seeing proof that some people are completely full of…….. well, based in who they have decided to support, everything they said before is meaningless.
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Senator Ruud will take a distant 3rd. Her answer at the forum last week about ignoring the Twin Cities and just focusing on the rural BPOUs was about the dumbest thing I have ever heard. She is a non factor.
Could you tell me where in the debate this is – I never heard Senator Ruud say this.
It looks to me like you may have a prejudice against women leaders of our party like Senator Ruud, you are willing to have them in secondary positions but not as Chair of our party. In my opinoin Senator Ruud has the experience to turn the party around and all Dave Thompson will be is a talking head which is NOT what we need at this time. Once again tell me where you find in the debate where Senator Ruud said any such thing about the Twin Cities. If not better get to the FACTS. Thank You.
Not that Andy can’t stand up for himself . . . but he has been plenty supportive of Senator Ruud. Granted, that statement was a little harsh, even for him, but I suspect that he’s worried that a three person race will mean Sutton wins. Andy is about the farthest thing from prejudiced again women that you can find.
Sverre, I didn’t attend the debate so I can’t verify what was or wasn’t said. What I can do is say that Andy “has a prejudice against women leaders.” Those of us who know Andy know better.
I publicly endorsed Dave Thompson ages ago because Mr. Thompson is capable of inspiring people to join a movement, something that Mr. Sutton and Sen. Ruud seem unable to accomplish.
This isn’t to belittle the contributions that Mr. Sutton & Sen. Ruud have made. It’s just my observation as to which person has the best skillset to take the Minnesota Republican Party the farthest.
I agree with Andy that that person is Dave Thompson.
2/3rds of the way through the debate.
Question from Meeks was about “Exec Comm exerting control …. prevents a certain amount of autonomy and local growth …. how will you reinvigerate the BPOUs & CDs”
Sverre, I was there and I heard it too. I even commented on it to the person next to me that ignoring the metro area doesn’t seem like a good way to unite the party.
And Sverre, I’d say you owe Andy an apology. That’s an awfully big accusation to make based upon absolutely no evidence, especially since you seem so intent on sticking with the FACTS.
If you have an issue with what Andy said, I suggest you take it up with Carrie Ruud, because he’s just responding to something she said.
It is a sad (but true fact) that if something is not seen in the harsh light of day, that many will say it never happened.
Just because Tony Sutton has been a “team player” … and not aired his disagreements openly … does not mean that he has gone blindly along with RPM Leadership. Quite frankly, he cleared up a true mess as Secretary/Treasurer and did raise serious concerns in his position on the Executive Committee.
Kevin : I highly doubt that I’ll be receiving any such thing. Considering I’ve been a vocal critic of people running for leadership and high office, I am used to this sort of BS tactic. I’ve gone head to head with Brodkorb and dealt with all the smears he was trying to hang on my neck, I survived. I’m a big boy. Some people just can’t take criticism and hate it when you point out their shortcomings. Thin skin, and a lack of leadership skills.
George : That’s like the mechanic of the Titanic pointing out the iceberg as he was abandoning ship.
>> So with that said, I believe Swinehart’s participation is going to lead to a Brodkorb victory and I think it is by design.
>> He will split the anti-Establishment vote with Fleming and it will allow Brodkorb to win after a few rounds of balloting.
Andy,
Your ideas about Bob’s participation in this race is pure fantasy speculation. I was there for several of the discussions where Scott and Kris worked to convince him to run. He entered late because it took a while for him to come around to the idea. He didn’t enter the race to hand it to Brodkorb. That’s just nonsense talk.
Grant
“Senator Ruud will take a distant 3rd. Her answer at the forum last week about ignoring the Twin Cities and just focusing on the rural BPOUs was about the dumbest thing I have ever heard. She is a non factor.”
Andy,
I think you may have misunderstood Ruud’s comment. Having watched the May 28th debate, I took her comment to be saying we should devote more resources to northern Minnesota. That we have lost so much ground there should be a concern to all in the party.
Regardless, I do agree with your prognosis on how the race will turn out. The party needs leadership that supports an open endorsement process and will not turn away new people. We need a chair who can articulate the principles of the Republican Party, who can energize volunteers and who can build a winning team. Dave Thompson in the man in the race who can do this.
Bill