There is a fight going on in the Nevada Republican Party. It is certainly entertaining to watch although it seems rather a tempest in a teapot that doesn't really matter in the scheme of things.
As I described in my posting about the Nevada Republican Party Convention the April 26 state convention which was abruptly adjourned without selecting delegates to the National Republican Convention. Since the convention was adjourned, two different groups have announced different dates and places for the convention to reconvene. Both groups are claiming to have no agenda other than fairness and both groups are being disingenuous and are insulting our intelligence.
The official call to reconvene the convention comes from Sue Lowden, Chairman of the Nevada Republican Party. The convention scheduled by Lowden, representing the party elected officials, is scheduled for July 26. Nowhere in the letter announcing the new date does she acknowledge that others are also trying to reconvene the convention. I assume that the party insiders are figuring that there will will not be quorum on July 26 and that as a result the insiders i.e. the central committee will have to appoint the delegates. How else can you explain the delay from April to just a month before the convention to reconvene. To give the insiders credit, they do ask in their letter for us (the delegates) to indicate if we would prefer a mail in ballot instead of reconvening.
The other call to reconvene the convention is from a group of people who have sent an email to delegates asking us to attend a reconvened convention this Saturday June 28. They claim that "This is not about one candidate vs. another; this is about our rights as state delegates to
have our voices heard, and finish the process we started on April 26th." Give me a break. These people are Ron Paul supporters who are angry at the Republican establishment. Who can blame them. George Bush represents the party establishment and I am angry at him. If I am representative of Republicans then many of us are angry at the establishment. But I certainly don't support Ron Paul. Others just don't feel represented by McCain and want to make a statement. By claiming to not have an agenda the rogue group insult my intelligence just as much as the party establishment.
It seems to me that the party insiders have the rules on their side. Sue Lowden (chairman of the Nevada Republican Party) makes her case on her pseudo blog here. I call it a pseudo blog because she clearly doesn't seem to understand that a blog is supposed to be about conversation. Reading the comments on her blog makes it clear that polite dissenting opinions voiced in comments have been deleted. Lowden's argument for the alternative convention being illegal is well stated but she should have just posted it clearly on the web site. Don't start a blog if you want to dictate. Blogs are for discussion not laying down the law. Lots of companies and groups don't get this. Allowing people to be heard is how you build support for a position. I can get behind a position I don't agree with but first I need to feel that my opinion and dissenting position has been heard. That is basic leadership. Sun Microsystems where I started blogging understood this in spades but my last employer certainly didn't get it and I don't think the Nevada Republican Party understands it at all. Apparently they only understand laying down the law. I would love to blog for the party and apply the principals of change management that I learned in my corporate life.
Ah well….. the fight is entertaining to watch. I'm sure there will be a fight in the credentials committee at the national convention but who cares… really what does it matter?? McCain is the candidate.
I haven't decided if I will attend the Ron Paul convention on Saturday. It might be entertaining to watch but I don't want to help them reach a quorum. Unfortunately I will be out of town when the official convention meets at the end of July so I won't be helping them reach a quorum either.
I applied to be a delegate to the national convention but assume that I will not be elected. It is interesting to see how the National Republican Party is handling bloggers. I wish I had applied to be an independent blogger to the national convention but the applications closed May 15 long before I knew whether I would be a delegate. To be honest I never thought I would be a delegate I just didn't get my application in in time. I guess if I accuse others of being disingenuous I'd better be crystal clear myself about my motives.
This soap opera will be continued in a future blog!
Marion's Blog 
I hardly know where to start. It’s like watching a train wreck; exciting , but ultimately sad. I wish you were going to the National Convention too, and I hope you’ll go to the “Whatever Convention” on Saturday. The fact that you enjoy hiking more than politics speaks volumes about your normalcy. I’ll admit though, the disingenuousness of it all is getting tiresome.
My reason for going Saturday is mostly curiosity. I look at my involvement as a long term project. I need to know who’s who and what do they think. I need to separate the reasoned opinions from the loudmouths, the one’s who have done the research from the one’s who read a book once.
Along with the big split there seems to be splits in each group. Among the leadership, there are those who see all these new people getting involved and want to build a new coalition with them. A kind of Reaganism for the future. I know you don’t care for Mike Webber, but I think he is part of this group. Then there is the group who see the new people as a cash cow to be milked for greater influence on the national level. Historically, Nevada hasn’t had much influence.
Among the rebels, there are those (like me) who voted for RP out of a lack of alternatives, who are unconvinced about this neocon American empire thing, and those who think revolutions are fun. I think most of the Saturday crowd will be in the latter group. I remember when John Anderson (remember him?) went independent in 1980. Well, he got his 5% and promptly disappeared. Some revolution.
So, where does this leave us? Unrepresented and a bit dispirited. That’s politics. In situations like this there is nothing to do but keep your chin up and await future opportunities. I’m willing to bet that most of the RPer’s will go libertarian in November, leaving a more dedicated group within the party. Win, lose or draw, I’ll be in that group.
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I just ran across your blog trying to find out what happened with the Republican Convention since I was a delegate to the Democratic Convention in Reno myself.
Looks like both parties have their work cut out for them if they want to fix things here in Nevada. It’s kinda nice to see that it’s not just the Dems. out here having problems. ( And Yes, I was at BOTH of the Clark County Dem. Conventions…what a nightmare the first one was!)
Looks like both of our Parties need to stop trying to play politics as usual and wake up to what’s happening in the here and now in Nevada.
Sorry to see that you won’t make it to your “Do over” Convention in person but cross your fingers and maybe you’ll still get your chance to go to the National Convention. You never can tell.
Hope you don’t mind a Dem. posting a few thoughts here, you can always delete me if you do I guess.
You are more than welcome to come check out my own blog if you’d like to see some-one’s take from the other side of the aisle….
http://360.yahoo.com/polkastria
Great over all blog by the way. Thanks for giving me a chance to read it by keeping it “public”.
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Tracey,
You are more than welcome to continue reading and commenting. Dem comments are fine. I might even agree. In any case I enjoy civil debate 🙂
Marion
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I’ve recently joined and wanted to introduce myself 🙂
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I’ve recently joined and wanted to introduce myself 🙂
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