By now you are aware that Ron Carey, Minnesota Republican Party Chair, has endorsed Mike Huckabee for president and announced he would serve as honorary chairman for his campaign in Minnesota. Read this report and this one.
On Thursday evening the Republican State Executive Committee met to discuss Carey’s choice. Here is a Strib report on the meeting.
Read a Democrat's analysis of Carey’s choice.
As a Republican, I have to agree with much of this Democrat response. Carey should not have taken this action for no other reason than to keep the Dems from gloating. He made an error in judgment.
Ron Carey is our paid leader, guide, keep-the-party-together-organizer, cheerleader and director to support PARTY goals. A leader cannot serve two masters. Even though a man may promise not to dilute his paid efforts by working on unpaid efforts, how can individual GOP members be confident this will not take place?
At this point, prior to the PARTY speaking, there is not a PARTY goal to support any individual candidate. The Republican Party has the historical belief in grassroots, bottom-up government, not top-down government. Before the grassroots have had an opportunity to speak in our Presidential Preferential Poll on February 5, Carey decided he will declare his preference, which is a clear effort to influence the grassroots.
Far too many of us are disturbed that our elected leaders do not govern according to the party platform–more liberal than the party platform. We do not like it that they substitute their thinking for our adopted platform. This is another case in which an elected leader thinks he knows better rather than listening to the thousands of those who put him in office.
At the very least, the Central Committee should meet to discuss the issues and hold the chair accountable. Just because the bylaws do not prohibit his action does not make it right. The bylaws may have omitted this issue simply because it has always been understood to be the right thing not to dilute loyalty to the party or knowingly irritate party members.
We Republicans are far too nice. We excuse people’s actions by intoning, "he’s a nice guy." We need to tolerate people, but we do not need to tolerate wrong ideas or wrong actions. When the Republican Chair is mocked by Democrats for this action and our cause is put in jeopardy (talk of withholding contributions), we, the people, must take charge. Republicans, do not make the same error in judgment that Ron Carey did.
2 comments:
Carey endorsed Huckabee? Eww.
At the very least he could have endorsed someone with a little more conservative street cred...like Hillary Clinton.
I deliberately avoided commenting about who Carey endorsed because that is irrelevant to this case.
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