My Thoughts On Saturday #rpm11 #gopscc #mngop
I’m only posting this because I don’t want to have a bunch of people calling me asking what the heck.
Look, before the race, I thought Jeff Johnson was one of those special guys in politics. Nice guy, building bridges, uniting factions, and doing so in a way that didn’t leave a bad taste in anyone’s mouth. After the election, I don’t see him the same way anymore.
And its not entirely his fault or the fault of his long time supporters, to a point. In the end, the means had no limits so long as it worked out in the end. Johnson engaged in a campaign to tear down a fellow Republican for a job that didn’t even come with a pay check. Well, for him I suspect anyways.
Johnson capitalized on the hatred towards Tom Emmer from the Marty Seifert holdovers. I’m sorry, but I think the people who think Emmer was the worst candidate the MNGOP has ever endorsed are delusional and should have to have to pass a drug test before the next convention. Tom Emmer had more money spent against him than any other candidate for Governor has. Those tens of millions perpetuated lies. Lies started by the Seifert campaign team who just so happened to be in Johnson’s corner on Saturday.
That Seifert campaign team became Jeff Johnson’s. And folks, that’s a problem to me. I know I am in a small minority in this party. But I think you have to be held accountable for your actions, answer for your mistakes, but unfortunately if you have the right friends, you can do and say whatever you want.
Only a few of us walked out of the meeting Saturday scratching out heads saying what the hell just happened?
On one hand we told a past candidate to go pound sand, but on the other, we had just elected a 3 time state wide candidate who’s 1 for 3 and has not proven their fundraising prowess or managerial skills.
On one hand we told a candidate to go keep your self busy, while on the other hand we elected a sitting politician who has a pretty busy job being the lone voice of sanity in a bastion of liberal utopian feeling, but that politician promised to spend time getting to know the paper pushers in the RNC because big names don’t matter.
On the one hand we elected a guy who we have no clue who he really works for, and by work for, I mean who is paying his hefty salaries thus controlling his loyalty, on the other hand we threw a lady who has worked tirelessly the last 2 years for peanuts (if that) who is full of good ideas and determination, out to pasture.
The day stunk to high heaven, and I don’t just mean the stuffy dorm room atmospheric conditions of the mid-twentieth century accommodations of the Thunderbird Hotel. There was no intellectual consistency to the results of the day. Arguments for one candidate worked against others, but the results didn’t follow suit.
And those arguments, oh those arguments. In the end, it was Marty Seifert’s revenge. The same people who were fuel on the Emmer hating fire into and out of the 2010 MNGOP Governor endorsement were freely participating on behalf of Johnson. Whether fully included like a general consultant, or just given a free pass for the fun and sport of perpetuating lies and helping promote DFL attacks from special interests.
Sidenote: Oh, another thing I can’t grasp yet is how the RNC money thing was so powerful for the RNC races, but not barely a whisper in the others or even a general topic. These races were fought on talking points not solutions or even reality. They were waged on what would work to win that specific race, not improve the party. In other words, they were a massive waste of time, energy, resources, and unity.
Mind you, in leadership elections of past, I was torn to shreds because one time I linked to a DFL blog that had posted an unedited email from Ron Carey. I was attacked for aiding and promoting the enemy. I just wanted people who didn’t get the letter (oh yes, they used to purge opponents from their distribution lists) to see it.
My past opposition to leadership and tactics of openness and the occasional daily emotional outburst, turned me into the plague, I could part crowds like Moses, and I was run out of the party figuratively. I’m just to Polish and German (dumb and stubborn) to understand I have no place here. Many of the same people who had a role in Johnson’s win are the same people who tarred and feathered me in the past. Oh, the fake email accounts, fake comments under my name. The file of stuff that is handed off to people who they get drunk to then unleash against me when its convenient.
Maybe this outcome Saturday stings so much because it was so personal. Yeah, I don’t fit into the cocktail and social gatherings on any side. I could care less. I didn’t get into politics to make friends. I got into it because of the issues. Frankly, after getting to know some of the people, I wouldn’t let them walk my dogs. Others don’t see that and are good friends with them, but they’ve never seen ‘that side of them’ as I have. Hence, I’m just crazy.
Watching to speeches for RNC Committeeman, I noticed more people standing for Emmer. There were, it appeared, more people standing in the seated Delegate sections, than when Johnson took the stage. And after Johnson’s nomination and own speech, where he went negative, even less people were standing. I was stunned when the results were read that he had won on the first ballot.
I guess I learned that this party isn’t really my home, and I’m not even a member of a faction or coalition with in it. Emmer had another campaign filled with the death of a thousand cuts and I couldn’t do anything about it, extremely frustrating. Why no one understands I have been through these races enough and know a thing or two and could be extremely useful, is beyond me. But then again, they have seen that file and I’m too risky to have on the team.
Another major peeve of mine is that before this race, I really liked Jeff Johnson. After Marty Seifert’s General campaign consultant (Ben Golnik) dropped out, I made a conscious decision to stay positive. I thought, hey, we have to great guys running, may the best guy win. What could go wrong? Only I had that mindset.
Saturday hurt for me more than my 2007 loss for CD6 State Exec Vice Chair. It hurt even more than the crushing blow the Ron Paul folks gave me in 2009 when I was blindsided for the same position. I took Saturday very personally for a number of reasons. I felt like it was me who was on the ballot.
I don’t understand how we can begin to build a majority in this state by not just winning swing voters for a single election, but gaining their trust that we are better at governing so we get a generation of votes, when we divide and conquer our own. We have internal races where you can’t tell if the people talking to you are telling the truth. Where anonymous smears and lies actually work.
I see the MNGOP as weaker after Saturday. We reelected a Chair who has at the least questions to answer, simply saying they are all lies, is not enough for my trust. A Deputy Chair with 3 full time jobs that are in conflict from time to time. Bitterness from some of us in the RNC Committee man and woman’s races. And mind you we lost every statewide race last year. We’re (reportedly) $800,000 in debt. We have no serious candidate who is willing to take on Senator Klobuchar (who is sitting on $2.5 million already). Presidential candidates taking piles of money and volunteers our of Minnesota on their missions to win the talent contest. Cravaack is likely to face a Primary and is also at the top of the Democrat red to blue list. Bachmann may or may not be around to run for her seat. Walz is still holding a conservative district. Oh and the entire Legislature is up again, House & Senate, in new Districts with all new BPOU leaderships and organizations.
The equalizer for all that would be the actual party being unified. But we’re not. We have our Legislators taking rhetorical swings at each other. We have conservative groups lashing out (and occasionally ignoring the truth) about our own Legislators. The general Republican activists’ mood toward Legislative leadership is an eyebrow raised as to why we came in spending all revenue while still taking the same amount of flak and media spin as if we’d actually cut spending from last budget. Now I think they may end up winning the staring contest with Governor Dayton, but only because I’ve had the chance to spend an hour talking directly to some House leaders.
What the MNGOP needs to do to hold the Najorities and win races statewide in 2012, is be ready to pivot out of redistricting with out missing a step. We need to all be on the same page so when all the CD & BPOU lines are redrawn, people fall into place and we all put our shoulders down and start throwing blocks for our candidates and politicians. But if local activists and leaders are to take a page out of the statewide leadership campaign playbooks, we’ll have countless food fights and turf wars across the state. We’ll be fighting with ourselves in 12 months, rather than leave the DFL in the dust.
I’m confused where we really stand as a party. Who is really pulling the strings. Who really wants to see the base united. It’s a leadership problem.
The ends don’t justify the means. Divide and conquer is a bad internal strategy. Scorched earth burns down your own house.
Most importantly, one of the things that has sunk in with me the most from my past Don Quixote crusades, is something a certain someone said to me once. “You shit where you eat”. Crass, I know, but true. Someone else put it as “you have sharp elbows, you’re going to get some back”. It has sunk in and I have tried to change my tactics. Unfortunately, I think I am all alone in that.
Despite majorities in both State Houses, The US House, and 2 Minnesota politicians being in the mix for the Presidential sweepstakes, I can’t help but feel all alone right now. I shouldn’t. This should be a time when we are standing shoulder to shoulder like an army waiting for battle. But we seem to be more inclined to who gets credit, who is in General, field commander, what weapons we use, and sadly, who gets paid.
Maybe I should have taken the door slamming in my nose of 2009 more seriously, and taken my own advice to get the heck out of party politics and just help the candidates I like.(Or better yet, go enjoy my new house, marry my fiancé, and spend all my free time at the cabin) I think getting back involved might have been a mistake. I’m quite likely to get even more crazy from all the banging my head on the wall.
With all that said, I hope I am wrong. I hope the similarities I see to past divisions are merely coincidental. I hope that the new blood can help rebuild those bridges. Look, unlike some critics from with in, I don’t want to see failure. I got involved in the nuts and bolts of party politics because it’s that bus that can win majorities and major races. I want Sutton, Brodkorb, Sturrock, P. Anderson, & Jeff Johnson to be successful. They have to be. Its not about them, the people who got them there. Its not even about the people who showed up Saturday, or will next Summer at our State Convention. Its about the hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans that we need to agree with us enough to pull the lever for Republican candidates next November.
I hope they understand that.
You are absolutely right. Tom Emmer has fought for the right for these assholes to flap their liver lips. People sure are stupid and will get what they deserve when they realize that they don’t have Tom Emmer on the RNC. Tom Emmer has Mitt Romney’s cell phone number, does Jeff Johnson have that? I doubt it.
It was obvious that Marty Seifert has been doing nothing but running an anti-Emmer for RNC operation since Day 1.
I don’t know why we even waste our time trying to straighten things out when asshats do nothing but get in our way.
I hope Emmer runs for Senate or for Governor again. He’s the only one I can think of that has broad-based appeal for all Minnesotans.
I completely agree with what Charlie M said! There is no way that Johnson can fill a room with his persona like Emmer can! Minnesota picked Dayton over Tom and now state central picks Jeff over him too? What on earth is going on?
I have been around a long time and don’t like the direction the RPM is taking. I think we need a motion at the next state central with principles clearly articulated as to who IS and who is NOT a true blue conservative republican. If delegates can’t sign or endorse them, then get out. We can only win in Minnesota by going to the right and staying there. Tom Emmer is the man to lead us!
Great post Andy! Just don’t take it personally. Lots of us were crushed when Tom was laid low by those squishy moderates. Hopefully we’ll have another fight at the next state central meeting to avenge him!
I don’t think its fair to judge Jeff Johnson a squishy moderate. Throwing names around is not going to help.
The question this party needs to answer is: Who runs it? Activists *OR* campaign-Legislative staff/ politicians/ paid types?
The RNC Committeeman position itself is not one of needing that guy who can connect to the people/face of the party. It just so happened that since others on the State leadership who were running unopposed didn’t have that authentic guy credential, Tom was a great fit. I believe Tom would have filled a good shortcoming we have.
Who knows what will happen. Jeff Johnson has reached out to get together to talk with me. I’ll take him up on it, listen, and tell him how I feel as well.
Again, I posted this because I didn’t want to spend countless hours on the phone but also because I’m not alone. I don’t believe you can solve the major problems our party still has behind closed doors.
You can’t be inclusive by being exclusive.
I think you are letting Jeff Johnson off too easily. He got elected with the assistance of rabid anti-Emmer animals. He should have realized this when it was happening and conceded the race to Emmer before the votes.
I just hope that we will have a Governor Emmer some day. Next time he will win, once we get rid of vote fraud with picture ID and we spend some serious money explaining to the people in the Twin Cities how awesome Tom Emmer is. This was really the issue last time. People didn’t know enough about Emmer and what a great guy he is. Also, negative campaign tactics by Seifert before the convention hurt Emmer later on. There is no way anyone, including Democrats, would have found out (or cared) about Emmer’s old DWIs if the Seifert attack beasts wouldn’t have brought them up before the Convention. If he could have just been a team player, no one would have ever found out about these and I think we would have a Governor Emmer.
Good post Andy, but I do think you are getting a little soft on these squishy moderates.
Important distinction, and something I’ve seen too much lately. Just because someone doesn’t side with you on something like this, doesn’t mean they are not conservative, or “squishy”. That’s not what being a good conservative means. Its issues, votes, records, and policy statements.
Who he associates with is a completely different thing. Its a trust thing, a judgement thing, but not something that would take away from his conservatism. It cheapens the meaning of conservatism and how we view people, to rate them on things not truly related to the issues.
Clarification: The DWIs were out in the public the previous year if not 2 before Seifert/Golnik brought them up. Strib had an article when Emmer drafted that law change.
Good points, Andy. “Squishy” came out in the heat of the moment. Still can’t believe that Tom lost but you are right: issues, votes, records & policy statements are the touchstones for us. Good to keep that in mind.
To give credit where it is due, good on Johnson for reaching out to you. Let us know via a blog post [if you can; if it's appropriate] how that discussion/meeting with Jeff goes.
And keep up the good work on this blog. You speak for so many of us!
Two things: First of all, you say, “The equalizer for all that would be the actual party being unified. But we’re not.” My question, whose fault is that? is it high treason for “us” to unite with “them” or is the only path to unity for them to unite with us?
Second, “an idea (or candidate) is not responsible for the people who believe in it (or him).” Just because people who supported Marty Siefert worked to elect Jeff Johnson doesn’t make Jeff Johnson the wrong choice.
In summary, it seems like we are still fighting that battle that we all say that we would never fight, which is to vote against the better of two candidates simply because he wasn’t our first choice. If all of those people saying that Amber was a flawed candidate had held their nose and voted for him, he wouldn’t be running for the RNC. And if all of the people wanting to blame Emmer’s RNC defeat on the Siefert people had voted for Jeff Johnson, Emmer still would have been defeated. It seems like you’re making the argument both ways, when the far easier and more sanity-inducing thing to do is to simply believe that the RNC elections when exactly the way they should have, with every delegate making their own individual assessment of the candidates.
Common theme from all Pro-Johnson or Seifert worshipers: Andy Aplikowski is crazy. Way to think out side the box Jerry and say it with out saying it.
Once again the hate shows up. I was there Saturday. All candidates pointed out their strengths and many of us know their weaknesses. We had many great candidates. Jeff Johnson ran a great campaign.I never heard him say a bad word about anyone. He did give a vision of what he though the job is and how he felt he was qualified to do the job.It is indeed sad that so many want to blame Marty Seifert or others for the vote. The elected delegates voted. Elections have consequences. I don’t believe this was a vote against Tom as it was a vote for Jeff. As far as Tom and the DWI’s. This was public knowledge. It was used against Tom just as many of us knew it would be. It needed to be brought out in the endorsement process. I believe the DWI’s and the way the DFL used them was the reason he lost. He would have been a great governor. It was nothing any fault of Seifert or his supporters. Maybe this blog could go after the true culprits. Those RINO’s who supported the third party candidate last year. I vote for a candidate at the conventions and then wholeheartedly support whomever wins. Sometimes it is who I supported and sometimes not. Lets stop the back biting and support the winners and pray the ones that didn’t win will find another niche to serve the party and the country.
The party must find internal unity! Doc Severson made mention prior to the nomination speeches, how the internal fighting must end. Apparently Jeff Johnson missed that, as he wasted no time with a slew of remarks directed at Tom during his nomination speech. Based on the visual of people standing after Tom’s nomination speech, he should have been voted in, yet he was not. I left shaking my head . . .
Good job. You didn’t call me crazy. But you did imply I am not telling the truth and that things I saw and heard with my own eyes, that other people also saw and heard, didn’t really happen. Ah, yes, the liar part.
Its not hate, its trying to save this party from factions working behind the scenes to garner power, money, and control for their own uses.
Really? Conspiracy theories now? I’ve never thought you crazy and have not even tried to imply it. But, Andy, you’re creating some doubts. Why ISN’T it possible that everyone reached their own conclusions about the candidates and voted for the one they thought best? To suggest anything else is an insult. I mean, if the majority of us were smart enough to endorse Tom Emmer for Governor, why aren’t we smart enough to choose somebody else for a seat on the RNC?
Because when they have asshats and scumbags whispering lies into their ears, that isn’t the case. The hatred towards our own people surpasses that of the socialists, communists, aka Progressives who are the real enemies to the prosperity we as Republicans should all support.
Now THAT I will agree with. Of course, the “scumbags” are also calling themselves Republicans, so it seems reasonable to me that “we as Republicans” shouldn’t be hatin’ on ‘em so much, because they is us. And we all need to stick together. Internal Party politics ought to stop at the point we contact the real enemy.
Besides, when a scumbag whispers something scummy in my ear, I usually vote for the other guy. Most of us do, don’t we?
Having made a fair number of calls for Jeff, I heard from delegates who strongly supported Emmer for governor in 2010 and would strongly support him for governor, senator, whatever, in the future was that they did not think he was the best guy for this RNC job. That, meaning the good fit issue, probably accounted for the number of people who gave him a standing ovation on last Saturday.
Well, some scumbags are real good at making lies seem real or take things out of context. Unfortunately not all GOPers can figure it out. Even worse, they write the playbook for the DFL.
My problem is, there was no firewall keeping those people out of the inner circle of Johnson’s camp. I know these people are good friends of lots of people. But the ends justify the means tactics are not something I can over look.
Sadly, that makes for a lonely caucus meeting for me in this party.
Tomorrow’s meeting with Johnson will be interesting.