An Open Letter to the MeckGOP
Some thoughts on the current state of the Mecklenburg County Republican Party (“MeckGOP”) from a volunteer, registered Republican in Mecklenburg County, and former member of the executive board.
This letter was spurred by the recent rules change that took place during the March 29th MeckGOP county convention, which Mr. Hine previously blogged about here. But, I am writing this post in an effort to hopefully generate some productive dialogue about how the MeckGOP can avoid a similar controversy in the future, as well as just providing some constructive criticism in general.
I am aware that many within MeckGOP leadership circles view PunditHouse as a provocative site to be avoided rather than the resource it actually could be. And there is no doubt Mr. Hine’s writings have taken a decidedly biased turn since he openly declared his support for Greg Brannon. But instead of not even responding to Mr. Hine’s recent post on the convention rules change, nor providing any type of public response or explanation for the change, why didn’t the MeckGOP’s communications team issue a short press release or submit a short post to PunditHouse with its official position? I understand the convention minutes have not been finalized yet and so maybe a response is forthcoming, but why allow a controversy like this to go on since March 29 without any formal response? Despite Mr. Hines not being a registered Republican in Mecklenburg County, many of this site’s readers are party members, and this site reaches members and non-members alike throughout Mecklenburg County.
Full disclosure, I did attend the county convention on the 29th as a delegate, but left prior to the actual rules change vote and debate. (Yes I know, this makes me a less dedicated Republican than those who stayed the duration. But it was a beautiful Spring day and I had other obligations.) Which brings me to my next criticism. Why does an off-year county convention need to last for over two hours? There were no party elections being held and no real party business on the agenda to speak of other than reports from the Rules and the Resolutions Committees. If the purpose of the county convention is to conduct the business of the party, why delay conducting any actual party business for at least an hour and a half after the convention convenes so that the delegates can instead be subjected to campaign speeches from myriad candidates, many of whom you can’t even vote for? I would submit the business of the party takes precedence over campaign speeches. If candidates want to attend our convention, they should be made to wait until all party business concludes before being allowed to speak. Maybe the convention planners anticipated a mass exodus of delegates if campaign speeches were left until the end of the convention, but this still doesn’t justify delaying party business in order to force delegates to sit through campaign speeches.
We live in an information age where almost every (legitimate) candidate has a webpage and some form of social media platform where voters can learn all about the candidate and their stance on the issues. What am I going to learn about a candidate in a routine stump speech, besides their public speaking ability, that I can’t learn about that candidate from their website? Further, I would submit if the MeckGOP wants to continue to prioritize candidates over party business, maybe the convention organizers can at least decide before the start of the convention to limit candidate speeches to, at the longest, one minute.
Regarding the rule change itself, why was it not promulgated beforehand? The Rules Committee was well aware of the proposed rule change and language prior to this item being brought before the delegates and yet no formal notification was provided. I went back and reviewed the reminder emails sent by the MeckGOP on March 25 and March 27 and neither included a copy of the agenda or notice of the rule change, nor did the formal Agenda provided to delegates at the convention include any notification of any rule changes to be proposed by the Rules Committee. If the MeckGOP was so confident in the necessity of this change to the resolution process, why not present it to the delegates prior to the convention for their consideration and to allow for open debate in the days before?
I disagree with the assertions being made that the new change to the resolution process is somehow a violation of anyone’s First Amendment rights, or that party activists will now be silenced at future conventions. But, I believe Mr. Hine is correct when he states, “… moves like this just further alienate Conservative activists from even participating in the Party to begin with. All this move does is continue to shrink the Party.” There were less than ninety (90) delegates in attendance at the convention. This is inexcusable for a party that describes itself as “North Carolina’s largest Republican county organization.” There are approximately 171,989 registered Republicans in Mecklenburg County (and 186,499 in Wake County, but who’s counting?) compared with 303,365 registered Democrats, and 185,020 Unaffiliated voters (per SBOE numbers as of April 2014).
We as Republicans are not in a position in Mecklenburg County to be excluding potential voters and/or volunteers if we want to remain an influential political party going forward. I respect those who volunteer (and I stress volunteer) their time and money to the MeckGOP. I’m not running for any party office and my point is not to criticize Mr. Overcash and his team and the job they’re doing. But, it’s healthy from time to time to reevaluate where we’ve been and where we’re going if the MeckGOP is ever going to live up to its full potential in Mecklenburg County.
And hey, at least the MeckGOP isn’t in a state of disarray like the Meck Dems…
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