JOIN THE CLUB???
July 22, 2008 14 Comments
The Republican State Convention certainly was an eye opener.
Before the convention was called to order, I had an instructive exchange with a lady who was registering delegates from my county. I’d heard that due to the convention’s rescheduling, many delegates had not shown up and that people who came as guests had the opportunity to become last minute delegates. I thought this might be a possibility for me, so a friend ( a delegate from another county) and I decided there would be no harm in politely inquiring.
It is unfortunate to have to report that the lady from my county was singularly unhelpful if not downright rude. She would barely look at us, answered our questions with a yes or no (mostly a no,) and would not give out any practical information. It was now past the hour and minute to which other would-be delegates had been told by their counties they must wait (in order to make certain the elected delegates were not showing up,) and yet this lady professed to know nothing about the odds of my becoming a delegate. Her manner and behavior were totally uncalled for. The last time I checked, I do not have two heads, and even if I do there was absolutely no excuse for her rudeness.
Feeling slapped in the face, I found myself a seat in the guest area, took a few minutes to recover, and then returned to the registration desk. This time our friend was checking in a delegate and was slightly more forthcoming to the extent she informed me only the County Chair could allow me to become a delegate (time was running out why hadn’t she told me this in the first place?) I went off to find him (I was unsuccessful) but not before I had been told, “I don’t even know your name” (I didn’t know hers: her name tag wasn’t visible to me.) And not before she whispered (something about my wanting to become a delegate) to the real delegate in front of her.
So what is going on? Does The Republican Party need more people to participate or not? If so, then this kind of behavior is scarcely the way to attract them.
The feeling I got from this experience at the convention is that, at least in my county, Republicans are a club and that you are either in or you are out. Moreover, that decision is not based on reasonable criteria but on the whim of a person (or people) intoxicated with some kind of weird power. Besides which, there are no reasonable criteria to shut anybody out of the election process or the delegate process. On the contrary, the rules that exist are set up to provide a pathway, and my county surrogate chose not to make that pathway available to me. I am a U.S. citizen and a registered Republican in my county: I can’t by rights be shut out, but in effect I was.
So who is the big loser here?
Well, of course I lost because I wasn’t able to be a delegate and so was unable to vote for a couple of candidates and more than a dozen platform amendments. And I was unable to learn the ropes of being a delegate which might stand me in good stead in the future.
But ultimately Lee County Republicans could turn out to be losers, too… Judging by the fliers they’ve sent, they would appreciate donations from me. However, for now I plan to donate money directly to the candidates of my choice so that “The Club” won’t be able to grab a handful on the way by.
I understand that politics is not for the faint of heart. But I also understand that civility and adhering to the rules count for a whole lot. I’m hoping what I experienced was simply an isolated incident caused by the proverbial bad apple. Time will tell….but in any event, I had hoped Republicans would have higher standards of behavior than some of what I observed at the state convention.
I’m sorry you experienced that. The Republican party does need to be sensitive to the “newbies”. It is how we will grow the party and reach out. Hey, I’m a newbie too!
Don’t give up! Find out when your county central committee meetings are and show up. If there is an opening for your precinct you can serve there. Or if there isn’t you can still serve on the various committees to conduct the business of your county party.
Next time you can caucus and volunteer for all sorts of things regarding the county convention, district convention, and State convention… be a delegate at all and serve on the committees for all. Chalk this time up to learning experience and get on board next time starting at the caucus!!
Good Luck and God Bless.
I don’t know if I could even try to attend meetings and events if the entire make up of the county Republican party was like the woman who was so rude.
My first thought was that you find some great big “bouncer” type men and take them as your body guards! Sounds like you need them- or how about some a few good men, as in actual Marines!
To me what you experienced was more than a learning experience. It shed some light on the mentality of the people in charge of the show. I don’t know if one person can do much when perhaps the entire group is made up of members who don’t want new people. While this may not be the case- then again, knowing people, it may be.
This kind of not wanting to be inclusive, welcoming, and happy to have new members reminds me of how children behave in grade school!
Please do keep us updated if you ever decide to crash the party. Hey, maybe some of us could join you – I could do my best to look like a bouncer!
There certainly seems room for better communications and welcoming as I’ve noted since the caucus, county, district and now at state. While it doesn’t seem to me that newbies would get to be state delegates at the last minute, the point is that if someone doesn’t know the answer they should help locate the one who does and have the correct, fair, and civil answers given. Sorry to say, but I can’t think showing up at the county to help in the future will be any better. You posted your situation very well and I’m glad you shared.
We’ll be ready 2012!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you Green Republican for your positive comments and helpful suggestions. I am personally going to attempt to get a Central Committee in my county. Currently there is no county committee, only a county chair. I will keep you posted on my progress.
I hesitated to tell my story because I did not want to come off as a complainer and whiner.
I wasn’t expecting somebody to take me by the hand to the milk and cookies but what happened was about as opposite to that experience as it could get. I can laugh about it now— it was a bit more difficult at the time….
I have not given up, though. I’ll try another another tack (thank you for the suggestions, Green Republican) and this time will fortify myself beforehand. I’ll at least be more prepared and I hope for smoother sailing.
understand your concerns but it would cause potential problems to allow unknown delegates to register at state- where were you at the grassroots level for you rcounty convention? you could easily been a delegate there and at District and learned the rope along the way
RPI does need all that wish to contribute and especially new blood at the county level- get involved and participate within the rules – as unfair as they may seem they do serve an important function-
see you in two years!
Akble, The problem is that some of the counties were letting other people become delegates that weren’t supposed to be. I know of at least three people at the convention that were allowed to become delegates that weren’t supposed to be.
So…………..abregar, are you going to expose these three people??????????
Nope, it doesn’t matter. I am just trying to illustrate that the process was not handled fairly across the board at the State convention. If some people were allowed to become delegates and some were not, it reeks of discrimination.
Akble, you are right: I could/should have been at my county and District conventions as a delegate but being so new to (and unsure of myself in) the process I was there as a guest only.
I would never have dreamed of asking about the possibility of being a delegate at the state convention if I hadn’t heard of some others in my same situation who were being considered for that position in other counties. I didn’t know what the rules are but l decided there would be no harm in asking.
I’m still not sure I understand what the rules are and I wouldn’t like to give the impression I think the rules themselves are unfair.Naturally there must and should be rules, but maybe they should be understood and enforced in a similar fashion across the board.
And again, courtesy is always the best policy in these situations. I was by no means out to give anybody a difficult time and I thought I was polite in the way I asked my questions.
Maybe one of us was simply having a bad day….
Trust me, there were a lot more than 3.
if some were allowed to become “last minute” delegates then that is wrong- period. It still does not make it right for others to do the same.
The rules leave no leeway nor path for this to happen and once again the rules must be followed to maintain needed order.
Once again your desire to be involved is good – and very much needed. There is no room for someone to be rude when you ask questions- but there is also no room for those that break the rules