Ron Paul supporters successfully overthrow Idaho's RINO-Republican Leadership!
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Idaho Statesman - Popkey: Paul's stealth campaign makes Idaho GOP nervous Idaho Values Alliance - "VIVA LA REVOLUCION" IN IDAHO GOP?
Idaho Press Tribune - Beck, Ron Paul supporter join in bid to oust ID's GOP head
Idaho Values Alliance - SEMANKO'S VICTORY: GOOD NEWS FOR FISCAL, SOCIAL CONSERVATIVES
May 11, 2008
Popkey: Paul's stealth campaign makes Idaho GOP nervous
A stealth strategy by supporters of Ron Paul to win delegates at the Idaho Republican Convention leaves mainstream party leaders anxious and a bit secretive themselves.
The Texas congressman and former Libertarian presidential nominee has targeted Idaho as part of his quixotic challenge to John McCain. Paul loyalists seek to yank the Idaho GOP organization up from the grass roots by fielding candidates for precinct committeeman in the May 27 primary. But they refuse to identify their slate.
An unusually large number of candidates, many unfamiliar to party regulars, seek to fill the county and state central committees, especially in Ada, Twin Falls and Kootenai counties.
"We've built a strong Republican Party in Idaho and these Ron Paul people want to come in the back door and take advantage of that," said Kootenai County GOP Chairman Brad Corkill. "We're not going to let it happen."
[They might make Republicans follow their platfrom and the Constitution! How rude! - RinoHunter]
"The Democrats are having their battle out in the open," said Region 4 Chairman Brad Hoaglun of Ada County. "Ours is more behind the scenes. There is heightened anxiety."
Hoaglun fears Paul delegates may try to embarrass McCain at state and national conventions. A rules change forced by Paul delegates prompted the Nevada GOP to abruptly adjourn its convention last month. Paul delegates stormed the Spokane County, Wash., convention and passed an anti-war platform plank. Paul forces have skirmished with mainstream Republicans in Georgia, Oklahoma, Minnesota and Missouri.
Idaho GOP Chairman Kirk Sullivan [RINO] said Paul's tactics were a hot topic at a recent National Committee meeting.
"They are working hard to have an impact on the national convention," Sullivan said. "But they don't talk to anybody. I have never been approached by a single Ron Paul person about what the party's doing, how they get involved, how the platform will be rewritten, how the rules will be established."
Though Paul's Web site lists Idaho among his top five targets, his national office did not return my calls. I did find one Paul candidate in Ada County's Precinct 26 willing to talk.
Challis McAffee, 32, has been attending Central Committee meetings, where he declines to sign in. He is a self-employed Capital High grad who is converting a travel trailer to a food service rig in the driveway of his parents' Boise home, the address he lists for his candidacy.
McAffee leads a group at Meetup.org, where Paul supporters congregate online. "I guess I'm the official organizer, but I've never wanted to take credit for what the group does," he said. "Somebody needs to step up and do it, but there are a lot of other key people around here. It's not just me."
McAffee offered to put me in touch with some others, but later said he couldn't find anyone willing to talk. He acknowledged that surprise is key to the Paul strategy. He declined to say how many Paul candidates are seeking about 900 seats statewide, but said the campaign is active in all 44 counties.
Paul is supported by a handful of prominent Idaho Republicans. Rep. Phil Hart of Athol introduced Paul at a rally in Caldwell last month and ex-legislator and District 16 candidate Elizabeth Allan Hodge has used Paul's online meetups to campaign.
McAffee chuckled at the notion the Republican Party, which dominates Idaho politics, is nervous about Paul's guerrilla tactics. "They oughtta be," he said in a stage whisper. "We're taking the party back."
McAffee holds out hope Paul can overtake McCain at the national convention. He will not support McCain and said there's little difference between Republicans and Democrats. "I happen to think they get together and laugh about the way they've divided the people."
Paul would restore adherence to the Constitution, repeal the income tax and end the war, McAffee said. "The Republican Party is nervous about us, but they should be delighted there's young blood. Ron Paul's made it cool to be a Republican."
But the GOP has practical concerns. Precinct committeemen form the core of the GOP organization, pounding the pavement to turn out votes. They elect the party's county and state officers. They recommend names to the governor in the event of a GOP vacancy, a common event. Lt. Gov. Jim Risch, for example, was returned to the Idaho Senate in 1995 after winning the endorsement of District 18 committeemen. [Paul followers might recommend names who will follow the Republican platform. I guess that is a "practical concern" for Sullivan types! - RinoHunter]
Hoaglun, Risch's spokesman during his 2006 governorship, said Republicans can't tolerate precinct leaders disloyal to the presidential nominee. "It's going to be a tough election. We need to be united." [this means they can't tolerate precinct leaders loyal to the party platform or the Constitution
- RinoHunter]
Republican regulars are trying to identify the Paul slate and urging establishment candidates to work hard. In Ada County, 40 of 141 precincts are contested. In Kootenai County, Corkill figures about 30 Paul candidates seek 71 seats.
Chairman Sullivan declined to outline his strategy, except to say he's ready for fights over rules, resolutions and the platform at the convention in Sandpoint, June 12-14. Twenty-three delegates to the national convention will be apportioned based on the May 27 presidential vote. The convention will elect six more; three others are automatic delegates.
Paul won just 1.3 percent of the Idaho presidential vote as a Libertarian in 1988. Secretary of State Ben Ysursa, a Republican, predicts Paul will cross 5 percent and win at least one delegate, but he doubts Paul will pass 20 percent. [Paul won nearly 30%!]
That makes the obscure precinct races a ripe opportunity to embarrass McCain.
"We're all a little concerned and we need to raise the flag and show up," Ysursa said.
Dan Popkey : 377-6438
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Bryan Fischer, Executive Director
"VIVA LA REVOLUCION" IN IDAHO GOP?
Ada County conservatives took a major step last night in returning the county and state Republican Party to its conservative roots.
A packed house of Ada County Committeemen defeated efforts by the party establishment to get them to rubber-stamp an entire slate of pre-approved delegates to the state convention, and voted instead to take the delegate  selection process out of the hands of party elites and put it in the hands of the individual districts in Ada County. Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Eagle) proposed this significant change in the delegate selection process.
According to the Idaho Statesman, a number of attendees had no idea there was an advance list of pre-selected delegates until the IVA revealed its existence on Tuesday. (As the Statesman story, linked below, indicates, The IVA's role in exposing this proposed slate was the subject of a number of critical comments from the county chairman during last night's meeting.)
Each of the eight Ada County districts selected five delegates to the convention, with priority being given to precinct committeemen and party workers rather than to party elites. Embattled party chairman Kirk Sullivan will appoint the remaining 19.
Party headliners took the unusual and untoward step of taking sides in the party primary to prop up moderate candidates. Sen. John McGee made robo calls in an unsuccessful effort to defeat staunch conservative Judy Boyle in District 9, and Lori Otter, the governor's wife, made robo calls in a likewise unsuccessful effort to defeat staunch conservative Shirley McKague in District 20.
One newly elected committeeman saw last night's results as a victory in the battle to return the party to its fundamental principles. "People are upset with the party as a whole for straying from its roots. People want to see it get back to being conservative."
Blogger Adam Graham, selected by District 1 8 as a delegate to the state convention, recognized the historic significance of last night's upending of party elites by the grassroots by entitling his blog entry "Viva La Revolution."
A conservative, Redgie Bigham, nearly unseated the current chairman of the Ada County Republicans, and a principled pro-family conservative, Brad Bolicek, was elected to serve as 1st vice-chairman. Conservatives were also elected to the second and third vice-chairmanships.
Graham's overall assessment: "What came out of the results was a shake-up in Republican leadership the likes of which I've not seen at the county level in my lifetime," adding, "The new officers are young professional people who believe in key conservative principles."
Although a motion to hold a "no-confidence" vote on Party Chairman Kirk Sullivan failed - it wasn't on the agenda and therefore required a 2/3 vote for discussion - 48 committeemen, who according to Graham represented a majority of Ada County delegates, voted for the motion, a potential indication of trouble for the chairman at the state convention. Sullivan's declared opponent for the post, former state senator Rod Beck, was chosen by his district to serve as a delegate in Sandpoint.
Beck's challenge to Sullivan is based on more than just Sullivan's relentless and obstinate opposition to closing party primaries, but on the larger issue of whether the party is going to stand for truly conservative governing principles or not.
According to one source, Sullivan expressed unbridled confidence in his re-election chances last night. But Ada County has served as a "bulwark for  establishment Republicans" (Graham's phrase) and a lack of grassroots support from Sullivan's home base has potentially ominous implications for his hopes of retaining his position.
Sources tell me that although party headliners might have some control over Ada, Canyon and Kootenai county committees, they have little or no influence in most of the rural counties, who are likely to vote against Sullivan, for closed primaries, and for a conservative state central committee.
According to KIVI, the local ABC affiliate, one Republican at last night's meeting said, "The list idea was manifestly unfair and I think everybody recognized that, that we need to open up and take nominations from the floor and not just have the party elites and powerful people and lobbyists go to the convention."
Kootenai County Republicans are so unhappy with the way in which a pre-approved slate of delegates was ramrodded through its organizing meeting last week that they have filed three formal protests with the state chairman. They complain, convincingly, that the state law, Republican Party rules, and parliamentary procedures were all trampled in an effort to get the pre-approved slate adopted by the county's central committee.
Since Mr. Sullivan was present for the Kootenai County meeting, and therefore gave tacit consent to these procedural irregularities, it is unlikely their appeals for a new organizing meeting will be successful, which may leave litigation as the option of last resort.
In related notes, Washington County elected a strong conservative as its new party chairman. And Payette County conservatives ousted a moderate county chairman - who had served at the post for two decades - at its organizing meeting this week, further signs that the move to return the party to conservatism is gaining momentum. The former Payette County chairman opposed conservative icon Helen Chenoweth each time she ran for office.
Ada GOP changes process for picking delegates | Idaho Statesman
KIVITV.COM | Ada County Republicans Fight For Delegate Spots
Viva La Revolution
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Beck, Ron Paul supporter join in bid to oust ID's GOP head
The Associated Press
Updated 8 hours 47 minutes ago
BOISE — The bid to oust Idaho Republican Chairman Kirk Sullivan has taken another twist, as libertarian-leaning backers of presidential hopeful Ron Paul said Friday they’re aligning with the chief proponent of closing Idaho’s Republican primary elections.
[Ron] Paul supporters will be among 59
delegates from Ada County at next weekend’s GOP state convention in Sandpoint.
They’ve pledged to back the efforts of closed-primary advocate Rod Beck, who is challenging Sullivan for leadership of the party.
Beck hopes to use support from the Paul bloc to topple Sullivan, whom he accuses of blocking efforts by members of the state GOP Central Committee to restrict Idaho’s 36-year-old open primary to registered Republican voters.
“There is some dissatisfaction with the chairman,” Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Eagle, who supports deposing Sullivan, said of the Paul backers’ alliance with Beck. “And I think the dissatisfaction breeds some weird marriages.”
Labrador favors an alternative to Beck or Sullivan, should one emerge.
In all, there will be about 485 delegates in Sandpoint next Thursday through Saturday, from Idaho’s 44 counties.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Bryan Fischer, Executive Director
SEMANKO'S VICTORY: GOOD NEWS FOR FISCAL, SOCIAL CONSERVATIVES
As you will have read by now, former congressional candidate Norm Semanko decisively won the election for post of chairman of the Idaho Republican Party.
The announcement of Semanko's victory was enthusiastically received by delegates, and his gracious acceptance speech struck all the right notes, containing an appeal for the party to unite and move forward together to  advance conservative principles on both fiscal and social policy.
The elevation of Semanko to the chairman's post means that the GOP platform, every part of it, will mean something for the first time in years.
The elements of the platform which emphasize faith in God as central to our prosperity as a nation and which contain a ringing endorsement of the family as the cornerstone of American society will now get the same support from the chairman that the rest of the platform does.
Social conservatives will have the place at the table the party's platform gives them, and will no longer be regarded as unwelcome annoyances by party leadership. Moderates in the party will have to accept that the GOP's much-vaunted "big tent" has plenty of space under its canopy for social conservatives for whom the party platform is not just a collection of words but an expression of core governing principles.
The Democrat Party has no hesitation about flying its social agenda colors proudly. Urged on by Boise's mayor David Bieter, the Democrats officially added a plank to their platform over the weekend calling for "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" legislation.
Under Bieter's leadership, Boise has already added a similar provision to its employment policy, meaning the city is virtually obligated to hire the next man who applies for a job with the city but wants to wear a dress, high heels, and lipstick to work. The city also will have no way to deny a man who thinks he's a woman from using the women's restrooms at city hall. Any female city employee who objects to such an intrusion would be in imminent and immediate danger of being fired by the city for discriminating against the transgendered. |
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