Will Lutz got it right recently in a blog post when he said,

“For the past ten years or so, the GOP leadership has succumbed to the natural human temptation to crush one’s opponents because one can. That approach may be legal, but it’s not always wise. Eventually, being too heavy-handed can backfire.

“A perfect example of the party’s heavy-handedness occurred at several of the convention’s committee hearings, most notably the rules committee. The committee passed a rule banning any audio or video recordings of the meetings. This rule accomplished absolutely nothing positive for the party and made the leadership look like it had something to hide.”

Some of my friends have suggested that we should not focus on the “divisive” issues raised at the RPT state convention because it will discourage people from working for Republican candidates. This has always been the manner in which party leaders have called for “unity,” asking that we simply disregard past violations. In the 1980s it was the divisive issue of abortion that party leaders did not want us to discuss.

In 1998, I carried a resolution on the RNC that called for the Republican Party at the national level to refuse funding to any Republican candidate or nominee who opposed efforts to end partial birth abortion. While this was very unpopular with party officers, it was strongly supported by the rank and file.

That same year the chairman of the RPT appointed an attorney and elected official to chair the RPT Platform Committee. When the committee tried to add language to the platform supporting the non-funding of Republican candidates who opposed efforts to end partial birth abortion, the chairman ruled it out of order and refused to allow the committee to vote on the measure. I declined to challenge this effort on the floor of the convention “for the sake of unity” since the chairman was “one of us.” In retrospect I believe that was a mistake, as we have again seen the same tactic used in the rules committee in 2002 and now the credentials committee in 2008.

To simply ignore the issues for the sake of electing Republicans, as we have seen, will only lead to more of the same. Gary Polland also comments on the RPT Convention and the lawsuit filed against the party which will be refiled in Harris County.

So where do we go from here? First of all we should work diligently to elect Republicans this fall. Regardless of the problems with party leadership, Republican candidates in general are far superior on the issues of limited government, lower taxes and family values. (Dr. James Dobson today talked about Barak Obama, and it was not positive.) That is not to say that we should not seek to change some Republicans in the primary.

We must also follow the activities of the RPT and educate ourselves as to what is happening and how and why. (We will make information available here as it becomes available.) Communicate with your member of the SREC. Read the RPT rules, learn from past mistakes, and be prepared not to make the same mistakes – or let others – next time. Finally, bring more of your like-minded friends with you in two years as you go to your precinct convention, county/senatorial convention and the state convention and be prepared to participate.

The postmortem for the Republican Party of Texas (RPT) State Convention continues to be written and analyzed. One thing that appears to be different this year is that people are not just going home and writing off the experience but seem to be saying that we are not going to take it anymore.

Twenty years ago the disagreements in our conventions centered around our platform and what the party would stand for. The arguments between the moderate and conservative elements of our party were over the social issues – primarily abortion – and whether or not the party should even take a position on such issues. That struggle is over. I noted with interest that reporter Will Lutz referred to the RPT platform adopted on a voice vote as “…probably the most socially conservative in a long time, which is saying a lot for the GOP.”

Lutz also, however, comments on the supplemental rules adopted by the rules committee prohibiting the recording of the meetings. Interestingly, there were no comments in his article regarding the platform and 15 comments regarding the gag rule, which was also used in the credentials committee.

In the ongoing saga from Nueces County, Vanessa Cayhill (vanessafratila@gmail.com), who headed the rump delegation that was not allowed to make their case at the state convention, has just completed a review of the voting records of the the County Chairman’s delegation (the one that was seated at the RPT State Convention). Her research shows that one delegate and one alternate in that delegation voted in the Democratic Primary and one alternate was not even registered to vote. In addition to that, of the delegates seated by the County Chairman at the Nueces County Convention (those not elected at precinct conventions but added to the delegate list at the county convention), seven had voted in the Democratic Primary and six were not registered to vote. I guess it is worse than we thought!

In an e-mail, a former state convention delegate who now resides in Tarrant County shared her story of local abuse of power which has some familiar strains:

“I have recently moved to Tarrant County from Dallas County and now I am part of SD10. One of the biggest Senatorial Districts. I showed up on Convention day, and found out that my credentials were challenged. I was shocked! I have attended 5 State Conventions in a row as either a delegate or alternate, and here I was not able to attend my Senatorial Convention. I was told however, that they did not need to go before the credentials committee and that once the credentials committee has their report, I could be seated. I however, wanted to go before the state delegation committee. I was denied. Denied because my credentials were not confirmed, and therefore they saw me as not part of the convention. I asked if I could come after I was seated, and was told no since their meeting would be over. I found this to be very odd and I was very disappointed. I hated knowing I was going to miss out on being a delegate, when I have been such a faithful supporter for the last 10 years. (since I was 21 years old).”
“I was seated at my convention and found out that my whole precinct was challenged. My precinct chairman told me that she had called a few weeks before to make sure our packet was received and that everything was correct. She was told that our packet was “lost”. She then contacted a Jeremy (i do not remember his last name) , who called the temp chairman of the senatorial convention, and asked under the open records law, to see all precinct packets. Low and behold, ours was found among them with notes next to each of our names as ‘Ron Paul’. I was told this was probably because we were all new first time voters in our precinct. I was shocked and hurt when I read this.

“For them to assume that was wrong. They don’t know who I am or who I voted for. (I voted for Huckabee). And who cares. That is not what the convention should have been about. This was going to be my first state convention that I was not a delegate. I got shafted and there was nothing I could about it. It was too late and they were not going to give the delegates who were challenged a chance to be seated at the State Convention.
I was angry, hurt and disappointed in my district and its leaders. I still am.“

This would appear to be evidence of a coordinated effort across the state of Texas to systematically exclude new participants in the RPT convention process.

Another great tragedy of this convention was the total lack of recognition of one of our most honorable and conservative party officers – National Committeewoman Denise McNamara. Denise has been a role model of grace and a staunch conservative representation of the grassroots of our party. Last year in the heat of the debate over the illegal immigration issue, Denise co-sponsored an RNC resolution with the National Committeeman from Arizona that reflected the viewpoint of the grassroots of our party. The National Committeeman for Texas, Bill Crocker, took a phone call from Karl Rove at the Whitehouse and offered a competing resolution that reflected the President’s view, instead of that of the grassroots. I guess it should come as no surprise that under the current RPT leadership Ms. McNamara would not be recognized and lauded for her 8 years of service to our party as the National Committeewoman for Texas. Nevertheless, she is a lady of grace, courage and character who deserved far, far better. She, too, has posted her comments on the RPT State Convention, and I hope you will read them and give her the words of praise and appreciation that she richly deserves.

After County Court-at-Law Judge Roberta Lloyd said Monday she had no jurisdiction to try the lawsuit, the group appealed to the all-Republican, Houston-based First Court of Appeals, which refused Wednesday to intervene on an emergency basis. That means the convention will kick off at 1 p.m. free of any court orders.

But the court — justices Tim Taft, Sam Nuchia and Jane Bland — asked lawyers in the case to send written arguments on the case by 5 p.m. today, leaving the possibility of further court action.

From the Houston Chronicle

Steve Hollern will be the focus of attention — for a little while at least — at the Republican State Convention starting tomorrow in Houston.

Hollern, former Tarrant County Republican Party chairman, is throwing his hat in the ring to be permanent convention chair.

He said he’s up for the post because he wants the rules to be followed and state election laws say the permanent chair should be elected at the beginning of the convention, rather than midway through as is traditionally done.

“It bothers me when I see injustice and things not being done right,” Hollern said. “We are concerned that party laws are being violated and there is a concern that this is the tip of the iceberg.”

Ron Paul supporters are among those echoing Hollern’s beliefs. But Hollern said he supports presumptive presidential nominee John McCain.

The battle for chair could come as soon as noon Thursday, when the convention begins.

– Anna M. Tinsley

Debra Medina, chairwoman of the Wharton County Republicans, has spearheaded a legal challenge to the party, contending that the convention leader must be elected before any other action, a claim rebuffed by the party.

Medina discounted speculation among party officials that the Paul faction might peel off from the state convention to hold a separate gathering like one in April in Nueces County. She said, though, that delegates want to make sure their voices are heard. See the full story.

A couple of incidents yesterday exposed the mentality of many in the RPT leadership. The former County Chairman of Nueces County talked to me and said he had been in the party for almost 60 years, had voted for 17 republican presidents and “how dare they challenge my credentials.” It doesn’t matter that he and his cronies violated the RPT rules, TEC and common decency he is entitled.

Dr. Robin Armstrong, current Vice Chair of the RPT appeared at the meeting of around 500 people at the Discovery Green where I and others explained our position on seeking fairness for all at this convention. He asked to speak and Debra Medina, now a candidate for Vice Chair allowed him to do so. He talked about how much we had in common regarding our conservative beliefs and urged us to come together and work for Republican candidates this fall. When he finished, Debra graciously asked him if he would be willing to stand up as a party leader when rules were being broken and people were being treated unfairly. His comment was that he was not responsible for what was happening. She replied, “What do you mean? You’re the Vice Chairman of the Party!” She also pointed out that Dr. Armstrong’s convention was held in violation of party rules by combining two Senatorial District’s into one convention. The practice has been going on for years, we have been told, because it is more convenient.

Former Judge Rene Diaz of San Antonio, appointed by RPT Chairman Tina Benkiser, presided over a bizarre Credentials Committee at the RPT State Convention yesterday. Diaz ran his meeting like a courtroom, beginning by asking the committee to adopt a supplemental rule allowing no recording devices and allowing no person who had a challenge before the committee to sit in the room until their “case” was called. In fact, Judge Diaz did not even take votes on most but simply rendered his “decision” after asking questions. He also threatened to have one delegate arrested who raised several points of order if he continued to do so.

I guess at this point it should come as no surprise that Judge Diaz “ruled” that the rump convention from Nueces County should not be seated. You will recall the egregious actions described earlier that resulted in a lawsuit. In these situations where the actions of convention officials violate the rules, delegates withdraw to hold their own convention and then make their case before the credentials committee that they are the rightful delegation. Normally the committee reviews the record from both groups, takes testimony, and decides which group should be seated based on rules violations. Not in Judge Diaz “court.” He told me that one of the reasons the rump convention was rejected was that they did not notify each delegate in the other convention of their challenge. This, of course, is required in individual challenges, but not in rump conventions. I guess if the state chairman is going to go to court to defend the illegal actions of a county chairman, it should be no surprise that her appointed Credentials Committee chairman would resort to creative rules to seat his delegation.

In addition to this travesty of justice, Diaz did not present this issue to the SREC since it was “resolved” and says the Convention delegates will not have an opportunity to address the issue. This is just another reason that we need a fair and impartial permanent convention chairman. I support Steve Hollern for that position.

In spite of Tina Benkiser’s comments to the SREC yesterday that the court had “thrown out the lawsuit as frivolous,” the First Court of Appeals has ordered briefings today on the challenge that the RPT is not following the Texas Election Code in relation to the organizing of the convention before doing business.