An open letter to candidates for state party chair - By Dudley Dudenhoefer Michigan Campaign for Liberty is a 501c4 and does not advocate for or against any candidate or political party. The below letter is written based on the personal opinion of the author. The role of the state party chairman is defined differently depending on the perspective of the individual member. Over that past several years, the state party chair has focused energies on two areas; Fundraising Supporting candidates for public office These two areas have been the primary focus based on conventional wisdom for decades, and the results have been disastrous! It may well be time for the role of state party chair to evolve, to rethink his/her duties. It is in that spirit that we pose this letter to the candidates for state party chair. As delegates, members, and donors, our primary goal has been to win public debate and ultimately, elections. If we simply stopped our mission at this point, it would be tantamount to an expecting mother adopting the attitude that a her only goal is to give birth. But we know that child rearing which includes discipline is also required, so too must the party include similar ideals. The Republican base that vote for the party do this for one reason, changing policy. Party base voters support their candidates because they believe their candidates will move policy in the direction they wish. The end result of their efforts and ours should be to win on public policy…but we are losing, badly. It seems we simply hang our hats on the idea that people will vote for us because the other team is worse. Relying on the lesser of two evils is not a plan or a strategy. It has resulted in unprecedented losses of liberty. The Republican party has devolved into more of a social club which claims to lobby government and is partially subsidized by the taxpayer for its private activities, such as its nomination process. The emphasis has been on money over members, winning elections over policy and personalities over issues. The inevitable result is a rise in independent and third party association which leaves us with little more than waiting until voters are sick enough with the Democrats to vote our way. This is not a long term vision or a vision that inspires support. Our challenge to future party chairpersons is to repair a damaged brand by evolving the political partys goals. Our goals should include constant engagement of those elected officials which were lent time, talent, and treasure for their election, which must include accountability. There is nothing more demoralizing to the backbone of any organization, its membership, by having their principles and platform ignored and being betrayed by those who promised to uphold those principles and platform. There are steps future party chairpersons can take to help facilitate restoring trust and enthusiastic participation, here are some of our suggestions; A commitment to the defense of individual liberty through adopting a state party platform. Adopting long range goals beyond elections to include policy and a measure of accountability. Promoting and working to end publically funded primaries in favor of a party funded nomination process to encourage increased delegate sign-up and participation. All county and district voting business during conventions should be conducted within the counties and districts, while state business should take place at a state convention. Unless donations to candidates includes a written agreement to abide by the platform, then donations should be strictly used for building the party. Amend Michigan state party bylaws to include provisions which allows the grassroots to bring their ideas and concerns through the county resolutions to the full body of state committee for an up or down vote. According to state law, the only requirement of a duly elected precinct delegate is to attend county conventions, so each role beyond that is subjective. However, since delegates are elected, they are duty-bound to those in their precincts to uphold a set a values and principles. When the political party, which includes precinct delegates, ignores the bad policy votes of public officials of whom the party supports, then in the eyes of the public, the party is complicit to those bad votes. The political party should strongly consider evolving its purpose beyond elections to include the adoption of activities to help facilitate our ultimate goal, which is to win public policy. Questions for the Candidates for MIGOP state party chair; What steps will you take to help restore the confidence of disaffected members who felt leadership abandoned them during the Obama-Care fight and the Gas tax proposal? Are you committed to defending the party platform even if it requires opposing a fellow republican whose idea or vote represented the antithesis of the platform? Are you committed to actively advocating for ending publicly funded primaries in Michigan? What message will be promoted for attracting the youth to an aging party? What is the end game for the MIGOP in your judgment, winning elections, or winning public policy? For Liberty, David A. Dudenhoefer Precinct Delegate, state committee member 13th district.
Posted on: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 21:37:51 +0000
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