Mutiny - State Central Wrap Up
Posted by Andy on June 11th, 2005
Wow what a day at the Republican State Central Convention. At which I live blogged before.
You know a week ago, I couldn’t have been happier with the outcome of the day. Eibensteiner is gone, Hoplin is in. But that was a week ago.
In that time I saw a nasty side of my party. Mudslinging doesn’t begin to describe it. I threw my share over this blogs short life span, but it never got personal. I saw more daggers in the last week than I cared to. Its one thing for individuals to harp on a candidate’s policy stance, its another for a whole party to.
Going in, I thought Ron had it. I really did. Heck I was campaigning for him, with out being asked. I truly felt that it was not right to make a change at this time considering the options. Pulkrabek showed the fact that he was not strong enough to be a party leader. His speech was all over the place, and he came across well, bent. He had an axe to grind and he did it. His message was not fully developed. He just wasn’t happy with the Eibensteiner. Obviously the message of the day, but not enough alone. He got emotional during his speech and lost his cool.
Carey seemed unpolished. This was my first time seeing him, and I really don’t like him yet. He reminds me of a used car sales man. In his speech he bashed our elected officials for not toeing the party line on some issues, and then turned around and praised them later. I didn’t fall for it, but the masses did. I think he was more in the right place at the right time, than the right guy. In other words, he got lucky. He promises to talk to the BPOUs and get them what they need, but how will he have time for everything else a chair is responsible for?
I’m so worried on what this means. The DFL are all probably dancing jigs right now. Like it or not Eibensteiner did give them trouble. Yes there were problems in 2004, but they were all on the table now, they were plain to see, and changes were being made to correct them. Now we have an chair who has admittedly not agreed with Eibensteiner in the past, running the party. The party staffed with people used to Eibensteiner’s way. So we’re starting from scratch.
OK, that’s correctable, but the message sent to the candidates isn’t. That message is, listen to the few hundred people in this room or else. These people don’t care if that means loosing a seat, or two, or ten, as long as the party line is followed by the others. I got news for each and every member of the mutiny, no one can follow every plank of the platform. Its impossible! I bet no one can, and if they did, they are probably unelectable.
A chair who had been extremely successful before was tossed out like some bum. Yes he screwed up, but so did all of us. We all could have worked harder. Why was Eibenmsteiner to blame? Oh, he’s the chair.
What do we have now? Ron Carey. He now has to learn how to schmooze. Yes, now that Eibensteiner is gone, we need a new top dog fundraiser. So over the next few months as Carey gets used to it, and the big money donors to him, the money may come back. Maybe. But in the mean time, there will be a lull in funds coming in.
Carey also has some serious butt kissing to do. He and his supporters were enraged by the gambling proposal. Its worth repeating, Pawlenty and Eibensteiner did not invent gambling, and there is already gambling with in the state. Fact! During his acceptance speech, Carey flat out dissed Mark Kennedy’s senate Campaign, by saying that he would work to support a candidate for teh Senate seat vacated by Dayton. (I also heard a rumor that Vin Webber would now enter that race due to Eibensteiner’s exit.)
My impression of Carey can be summed up with the fact that once he won, he sat down at that table in the front of the room, a few steps above us all and whispered in ears. He did not come out to the crowd. He did not come around and shake hands and thank the delegates. Nope, he sat up there and became the ‘elite’ that Eibensteiner was. Further proof that its the position that makes a man that way. But also proof that he was blowing smoke up our arses. For a grassroots guy, he sure hid after winning. He visited with the rest of the elites, but not us commoners. Not a good start if you ask me.
As for Deputy Chair, Hoplin won. He is great. I know some people hate him, and think he is the devil or unethical, but they don’t know him. They’ve heard stories, and found their proof for them. His energy is amazing. His only real competition was Mary Igo. She actually endorsed his energy and abilities in her speech. Not good to do that! She was either very unprepared or does not have the mental ability to whew a crowd. Her speech was all over the place and incomrehendable at times. Not good when you’re asking to be in a leadership role in an election.
What do we do now? We have 2 grassroots guys as leaders. One of them has to be the bigwig. But who? What if they disagree about how to organize the grassroots effort? We will have more turmoil! So we didn’t solve anything.
The theme of the day was blind rage turned into bitter revenge.
Bitter rage over the 2004 lose and the recent compromising or starying from the platform, by our state elected officials. This was more about issues than anything else. Party organizational performance was only an excuse. The conservatives who run the State Central Committee and had the power today; preach the platform, but not winning elections. Some times you have to know when to push and when not to. I believe that conservatism is contagous, but not if forced upon voters. These are the forceful ones. They will brow beat you for even trying to explain why you disagree with them. And after they get done ranting at you, you’d better watch your back they are likely to throw you out next.
Bitter revenge by not thinking clearly and instead voting to make some one responsible. We could have been a party today that owned up for a group failure in 2004. We all failed that one. Yeah, we all love to point fingers, but we all had a part in the results that night. Today, 192 people decided that any one but Eibensteiner was the solution. We showed that any one who dared disagree with these 192, would be voted out and replaced with some one who said they would agree. With the message sent today, I wouldn’t doubt if Webber joins the Senate race. Or if some one does come and challenge Pawlenty for the endorsement. The complete lack of tactical political thinking on display there today gives me little hope for this party.
The media is right, the Republican Party is controlled by the extreme right. This next election is so huge. The Senate, the goll darn MN Senate finally has to own up to their crap. And what do we do? We tear ourselves apart! The party is divided. I know some of you are applauding, but not me. We are now weak. We are now emotional in the eyes of the DFl. They got to our leader and took him down. No they didn’t we did. The Minnesota Republicans canabalized each other today.
Today a list of complaints was enough.
Poor form friends. Poor form.
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June 11th, 2005 at 8:19 pm
[...] mation war here at home to keep them safe over there.
« Mutiny - State Central Wrap Up
MN [...]
June 11th, 2005 at 9:50 pm
Is Vin Weber really thinking of entering the Senate race? I saw Eibensteiner push Weber on Almanac a while back - before he did his defacto endorsement of Eibensteiner.
David Strom told reporters people voted against Eibensteiner for 3 reasons:
The usual gripe for any party chair - calls not getting returned, not going to local party unit event.
Unhappyness with Eibensteiner’s involvement in the gambling issue
Delegates saw this as a way to send a message to Tim Pawlenty.
With Tim Pawlenty speaking on Eibensteiner’s behalf at the beginning of the convention, it’s hard to say anything but this is a way of showing unhappiness with Pawlenty.
Nice meeting you and putting a face to the name.
June 11th, 2005 at 11:39 pm
Ron had to go because his failures far outweighed even his agruable successes (like Coleman’s election.
Ron had to go because of his inability to understand that the party chair’s job is to get ALL endorsed GOP candidates elected.
Ron had to go because he has never supported the localities. From not providing assistance to candidates to giving personal coronations, I mean, endorsements prior to the primaries. THAT IS BAD FORM.
Eric is a crook, plain and simple. He is cut from the same slick-talking cloth as Bill Clinton. From now until he is no longer deputy chair I will refer to him on the air and on my blog as Eric The Crook…swindling seniors and then saying that the seniors are suffering dimensia is crooked. And THAT type of person gets no respect from me. Principled members of the party will also not give Eric the Crook any respect.
June 12th, 2005 at 1:26 am
Weber is a rumor, who knows, but I wouldn’t be surprised. Heck I’d be surprised if Pawlenty doesn’t get endorsed.
There are better ways to send a message to a governor, like emails and letters. I guess the rest of us that want to keep the majority are SOL.
Same, nice to meet you Eva.
I hate to break it to everyone, but elections are no longer 3 or 4 months long. When a Senate Campaign is going to cost upwards of $15 to 20 million, we can’t wait, and we can’t split/waste money in an endorsement battle.
Eric was vulnerable, hence the 3 ballots. But Igo was a poor candidate. You have to speak well and not tell inside family jokes during your brief podium time. Principled members of the party? Do we have any any more? He won, get over it. There’s another guy on radio who spends all his air time calling people names, but his ratings aren’t too good. Your decision.
It seems like we are now an agenda party. We don’t need to campaign, we just need to publish the platform. That was the message sent today. Stick to the agenda at all costs, or else.
If the momentum of today, towards the activist wing continues, we’re officially the out of the mainstream party. If the people who made the mutiny today possible continue on the way they acted today, the party will loose more seats and elections. The far right message is not a winning one when delivered with an unltimatum.
June 12th, 2005 at 1:10 pm
[...] sed to be. It would be nice to see it rebuilt. If you can tell, I’m wiped out after yesterday, and it seems some think I overreacted. IR [...]
June 12th, 2005 at 6:42 pm
Ebensteiner represents the base of the Republican party. He’s the typical benefactor of the crony capitalism the party has lately preached. Sure he wants gambling, so his companies that sell the slot machines can make a bit of ka-ching.
The GOP is better off without him. It’d be better off without the the RINO Pawlenty too. It’s about time the party returned to it’s roots!
June 12th, 2005 at 7:18 pm
[...] . Go and read First Ringer’s post on the Convention. It is incredibly insightful. Here is mine. Plus my live blog of the event. There is [...]
June 12th, 2005 at 7:22 pm
Eva Young stated:
“With Tim Pawlenty speaking on Eibensteiner’s behalf at the beginning of the convention, it’s hard to say anything but this is a way of showing unhappiness with Pawlenty.”
I’m sorry but that is not an accurate reading at all. Every person in that room supports Tim Pawlenty for re-election and we all worked very hard for him in 2002 and are proud of the job he’s done as Governor.
What it can be read as is a rebuke for his meddling in party affairs. Kind of a “We won’t tell you how to be the Governor if you don’t tell us how to run the party” kind of thing.
It was basically a referendum on Eibensteiners top down approach to governing where politicians and party leaders call all the shuts, and grass roots activists are seen as nothing but grunts to do the hard work. When people don’t believe they have a voice in things, they don’t buy in, and then you won’t get 100% effort from them.
Trust me, the people that have been alienated by Eibensteiner over the last 6 years or so will be back and working even harder for the party now that they know the party values their opinions again. It’s all about inclusiveness instead of a party where you have to be a buddy with the party chair to get anywhere. That’s called croniism, and I’m honestly surprised so many Republicans are standing up for it.
This is not a revolt against Pawlenty himself. I guarantee you he will be very strongly supported next year and the grass roots will come out in full force because the know the party finally supports them.
Unfortunately for Tim, he did misread the tea leaves and went out on a limb to push Eibensteiner without even realizing how much that pissed of grass roots activists. I know many people at the meeting that were totally undecided between the two Rons, and what made them change their vote was Governor Pawlenty twisting arms telling people to vote for Eibensteiner. These people made up their minds then and there that this type of pressure was unacceptable, and switched their votes to Carey.
All will be forgiven as long as the Governor is willing to let it drop and work with Carey and the rest of the staff. Only if the Governor gets all bent out of shape and refuses to work with the party going forward will any of this reflect poorley on him.
June 12th, 2005 at 7:32 pm
Check the audio in the ping address above.
June 12th, 2005 at 7:47 pm
I’m sorry about being so long winded. Now that I re-read my post, the original idea kind of got lost in there.
Here’s what I was trying to say in a little more concise way.
People came there determined to oust Ron Eibensteiner from office for a whole host of very good reasons. People did not vote against Eibensteiner as some sort of protest against Governor Pawlenty.
The Governor should have had his ear to the ground and realized this was coming. People have been upset with Eibensteiner since 2002, but nobody opposed him until now. Once Carey threw his hat in the ring, the writing was on the wall.
It is improper for a Governor or any other elected official to interfere in the party’s business. By choosing to do that, Governor Pawlenty set himself up for embarassement. It wasn’t the delegates that set out to embarrass the Governor.
Lastly, I’d just like to say to all involved. It’s time to relax. The writer of this blog is obviously new to Minnesota Politics. By stating that “this is the first time I’ve seen Carey” you pretty much told us that. If you did a little research you’d find that Ron Carey has been around longer than Ron Eibensteiner. As a matter of fact, whether he chose to run for Chair or not, Ron Carey would have been forced to leave the Secretary/Treasurer position because he had reached his term limit. (He just ended his fourth term, where Eibensteiner was just running for his fourth term.)
This suggestion that there will be chaos now because everyone on the staff is used to working with Eibensteiner and now they have to get used to Carey is just plain silly. Like I said, they’ve all worked with Carey longer than they had worked with Eibensteiner, and Carey did a lot more of the work than you realize.
I know Bill Walsh, Joel Cary, Corey Miltmore, Evie Axdahl, Brian Sullivan, and Tony Sutton. My purpose isn’t to name drop because I’m sure many people reading this know them also. The point is that although I won’t speak for anyone and use any specific names, I can tell you without doubt that not one of these people has a problem with Carey, and you might be surprised how many of them supported Carey over Eibensteiner.
You’ll also notice that they didn’t take sides at the meeting. They stayed neutral and let us make our own decision. That’s what party leadership is supposed to do, and that is why I have great hope for our party going forward.
June 12th, 2005 at 9:39 pm
I have been involved in grassroots, Real Grassroots, for 3 or so years. I’ve been at the very bottom of the ladder. The people in that hall on Saturday are not the same as the plain jane volunteers. I’m a little tired of the word grassroots, as in its used out of proportion.
As for staff chaos, unless the new staff hired by Eibensteiner to correct/address his flaws was a part of the mutiny, they will be out of sorts.
As for my ‘newness’, the party needs new people to come in and clean house. There’s too much regurgitating of people. From one position to another. The younglings there on behalf of Eibensteiner and Hoplin were plainly told to sit down and shut up Saturday. Those people and me, are the future of the party. We are the grassroots of the party. We are the energy of the party that gets people elected. If we will not be listened to as well, the party will literally die off.
June 12th, 2005 at 10:47 pm
You state disdainfully that 192 people made this decision. Well, um, isn’t that how it works? The party chair, in order to be elected, needs to win a majority of the votes at State Central. Do you propose a different system?
This is like the Democrats complaining that George W. Bush won despite the fact that is deeply hated by the Germans and the French. My answer is: so what?
You have such contempt for those 192 people! Your paragraphs begin with “I’m so worried” and “Bitter rage” and “Bitter revenge”. I suggest that all this rage and revenge is in your mind. The average Minnesotan couldn’t care less who our party chairman is.
If you want the real reasons why the party made the switch, I invite you to read David Strom’s piece at http://www.ourhouseblog.com.
In the mean time, calm down everybody. We have to come together in 2006. We simply have no choice.
June 12th, 2005 at 11:28 pm
I wasn’t trying to suggest that young people aren’t welcome, or that your newness in any way disqualified you from having an opinion. (Although I think it is ironic that you support Eibensteiner, because if you were on the other side of an issue from him he would snub you faster than anyone simply because you are young.)
What I was saying is that you are making a lot of snap judgements about the officers of the party without knowing any of the background history. Based on what I’ve read of your other beliefs, I have a hard time believing that you would support Eibensteiner if you had been around to see the difference between Eibensteiner and Carey over the past 5 or more years.
Lastly, even though you may disagree with the decisions they made. To disparage the people in that hall and suggest that they are not as hard a workers as the people you would consider “plain jane volunteers” is hardly fair. In most BPOUs you don’t get a chance to go to these things unless you have spent a lot of time in the trenches as a “plain jane volunteer”. I’ve done more than my share of door to door voter-ID stuff, and phone-bank stuff, and walked many many miles in parades, etc… And I’d guess the same could be said for mover 90% of the people in that room, so be carefull who you talk down to as if we don’t understand hard work.
No matter what we do, it is needed. Whether I’m chairing a committee for an upcoming convention, or whether I’m knocking on doors with my local candidate and making phone calls, my contribution and my opinion are equally valid.
June 13th, 2005 at 7:13 am
[...]
I’m not overreacting! It was a mutiny.
Everyone thinks I’m over reacting or plain wrong. They don’t think I [...]
June 15th, 2005 at 6:35 am
[...] nt to just sit around smoking cigars and drinking scotch.” These were some of the mutineers from Saturday, and they themselves were in gl [...]
June 15th, 2005 at 8:57 am
Do any of you know anything about Mary Igo? Obviously not, or you would realize what a tragedy it is that she was not elected. I’ve seen firsthand what Mary can accomplish. And believe me, it’s a heck of a lot more than the rest of the clowns she was up against.
Yes, apparently she faltered on her brief podium time. That doesn’t mean squat in my book. The president for crying out loud has appeared in more “stupidest things ever said” quotes than any other president in history. Does that mean he cannot stand up to the job he was elected for?
June 15th, 2005 at 9:45 am
I know some people that know her well. They were very concerned about her getting the spot.
Sorry but when you have previous notice and have asked for podium time, BE PREPARED!
As for your slam on Bush. I like using the word evil doers, does that mean I can be President?
This is the State Party we/re talking about, not a GOP woman’s bridge club. We need compitant public speakers who will be able to go toe to toe with the DFL. They will be in the spotlight and under scrutiny. I was glad I listened to the people I know, especially since Igo cracked up in a room of supposed allies.
June 16th, 2005 at 11:14 am
[...] 5 @ 11:13 am
Craig Westover joins the growing chorus saying KvM, First Ring and RF were all incorrect in our assessment of the GOP Cent [...]
June 22nd, 2005 at 5:34 pm
I was there at the convention and I am glad that Ebeneezer (Eibenstiener) is gone! He is the typical poster boy of the “Elite” part of the Republican party. Everyone says that we are a big-tent party but guys like him shun everyone else out. How about Harold Shudlick? Personally he’s got my vote! I’m sick of the same old good old boys! We need some people in office who aren’t polluted by the political waters of today. We need leaders who are going to get things done for once. Kennedy is a good guy and I voted for him in the last election, but he’s fine where he is. He will not win the general election because people are sick of the “butt-kissing” republicans. It’s time for some people to take our party back to the day’s of Reagan. I want a Zell Miller in our party, not another John McCain! I think Carey is reminisicent of a used cars salesman, but he’s better than Eibensteiner. I think Polkrabeck would of been the better choice, but a lot of people are like sheep, they are told who to vote for, if the party tells them to jump they say “How High?”
June 22nd, 2005 at 7:49 pm
Big tent means welcoming people of divisive issues, or we don’t have a litmus test for membership.
As for some one new, Carey has been Sec Treas longer than Eibensteiner has been chair. How is that new?
Easy on Kennedy.
You do realize that Zell only agreed with Bush on the war on terror. He is relatively “liberal” if you will, on the social or domestic issues. He was asked to join the GOP, but declined because he had disagreements on other issues.
I agree McCain is a RINO, and I think he did more damage to Bush in the 04 election than any one will ever admit.
I don’t think Bill would have been a good fit. He was a guy with grievences, not a leader. He led the mutiny, but could not get the helm in return.
Time will tell with Carey, but from what I’ve heard he is not all that different from Eibensteiner.
June 23rd, 2005 at 11:34 am
My statement about Zel Miller was I wanted someone who is going to stand up to the issues, and tell what’s on their mind, like during the whole “Abu Gharib Scandal” when all these Demorats were saying what an outrage it was to have prisoners photographed with underwear on thier heads, Miller said “I am more outraged by the outrage over this, were sitting here arguing about this when they are taking our hostages and cutting their heads off when they scream for thier lives”, thats the kind of leader I want in the senate. Not someone who is going to only say so much as to not ooofeeeennndddd somone who might vote for them. We have a lot of issues in this country, that’s what this next election is about. The current leadership of the Republican party is letting us down.
June 23rd, 2005 at 11:43 am
Well, with that in mind we agree.
July 27th, 2005 at 11:18 pm
triple_a: you have your head so far up your tail, it’s pathetic. I seriously doubt that you truly know someone who knows Mary Igo well who didn’t want her to win. It’s impossible.
If you had any knowledge of her, and what she has accomplished in her life, you’d realize just how big an ass you really are.
Take your GOP women’s bridge club line and shove it. When you decide to enter the 21st century, let me know. Sexist s.o.b.
July 28th, 2005 at 12:44 am
[...] This from my comments on a post from way back when durning the State Central Mutiny Convention. triple_a: you have your head so far up your tail, it’s pathetic. I seriously doubt that you truly know someone who knows Mary Igo well who didn’t want her to win. It’s impossible. [...]
October 30th, 2005 at 10:41 am
[...] Told ya! It is, said Carey, a wonderful program. His child — and the children of many others — have made huge strides through the work of the people at the center. Children of all economic backgrounds are welcome. [...]