Posted: 05/05/09 14:59, Edited: 05/05/09 15:52
by Dave Mindeman
Normally, when a party suffers heavy defeats in 2 election cycles, you would assume that leadership within that party would be looking to broaden their message....to expand their reach.
But that is not happening with Republicans.
They firmly believe that defeat was not because their message wasn't broad enough, but, on the contrary, was not narrow enough.
Some of that reasoning can be traced to the reluctant acceptance of the McCain candidacy. He was not the conservative choice and his campaign was a disaster. And, in addition, some of that train of thought is a hangover of the Bush administration. As the former President's approval ratings sank, the hard core conservatives pointed to his defections from them, on basic policy, as the reason the Party was losing its clout.
To the true believers, the party needed to change....but that change was more about going back than moving forward.
In Minnesota, it will be worth paying attention to a trend that is rippling through the state GOP. The Paulites are back. During the 2008 State GOP Convention in Rochester, Ron Paul was denied a speaking slot at the convention....which led to an outside the convention rally attended by several hundred people.
The Ron Paul followers didn't get mad...they got busy.
They have spent the last two years advocating for their libertarian principles and immersing themselves in Republican grass roots politics. Some of the fruits of their labors are emerging.
In Congressional District 4 (according to the Campaign for Liberty blog site), they have their supporters in all the leadership positions.
In Congressional District 6, the newly elected Chair is a hard core Paulite and former state Constitution Party official, David Fitzsimmons.
In addition, Congressman Michele Bachmann seems to have drunk the Paulite Kool-Aid and is now attending the weekly meetings that Ron Paul organizes.
Congressman Kline, with a little persuasion from Paul supporters, has signed onto HR 1207 -- a federal audit of the Federal Reserve. The bill is a compromise one that Ron Paul has been pushing that is a step down from a couple years ago when he introduced a bill that abolished the Fed. This bill is promoted as a means of "transparency" at the Federal Reserve.
How this is all going to affect the race for State Party chair is anybody's guess. Tony Sutton is the "old guard" Ron Carey successor. I can't imagine the Paulites are going to be enthusiastic about supporting him. Dave Thompson, the radio guy, has minimal experience in the political trenches, which would seem to be a Paulite pre-requisite, but he does talk the talk (although his recent Bachmann "dressing down" was interesting). The other candidate is Carrie Ruud, a former legislator. It is hard to find any references to her from the Paulite crowd.
So, going forward, the Ron Paul crowd seems to be in a position to have a strong hand at the GOP table. As their influence grows, I would guess the demise of the GOP moderates will be hastened.
Will that marginalize the state GOP with the electorate? Their talk says they will unite the true conservatives with the libertarians and the Constitution Party and bring in those independents. Yet, it is hard to see independents embracing the radical policies of Ron Paul.
Libertarians, Constitution Party backers, and the hard core conservatives can all unite and still won't make a state wide winning coalition.
If that is the message they wish to send for upcoming elections, then there is a strong possibility that the GOP tent will continue to shrink.
