What The Hell Do We Do About The MNGOP Now?

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Last week was a big one for the Republican Party of Minnesota.

On the eve of the winter Central Committee meeting, chairman Tony Sutton resigned.  As I noted last week, Sutton – and his deputy until last October, Michael Brodkorb – were transitional figures for the MNGOP.  Speaking as a D-list pundit rather than an insider, they did a great job of making the party more available, and giving access to the party and its people to the only media they have on their side, the conservative alternative one.

Of course, there was the matter of the budget.

On the one hand, Sutton spent some money.  The party is at least a half million in debt.

On the other hand, the MNGOP had a big challenge; in the middle of a terrible economy, to try to beat the DFL…

…well, no.  The DFL isn’t really a party anymore.  It’s a holding company that manages a brand and farms out the actual work, and fundraising, and spending, to outside groups like Take Action MN and Alliance For A Better MN and Alida Messinger (whose idea of fundraising is reaching into her purse for a checkbook) and Minnesota’s unions (whose idea of fundraising is taking dues from their membership, 46% of whom vote Republican, and giving 92% of it to Democrats).  Anyway – Sutton and the MNGOP had to fight against an avalanche of outside and union money.  It takes money to fight money.

On yet another hand, at the party level, the spending doesn’t seem to have worked; the GOP lost all of the races for which it was primarily responsible – the State Auditor, Attorney General and Secretary of State races.

On another of those hands, it was sitll a great cycle for the MNGOP brand.  Perhaps you recall – we won quite a few races.  Flipped the House and Senate. Came within 8,000 votes of winning the governor’s race; I’m convinced there’d be at least 8,001 do-overs for Emmer if we held the election today). It was a good cycle.

Then again, those races were mainly the job of the Legislative GOP caucuses – which did a great job of raising and distributing money effectively, and helping with the campaigns that made such a huge, crucial difference last election and (more importantly) last session.

And on the final hand, if you look at the budget today, it’s hard to tell where the money went, or who we even owe money to.  And it’s causing quite a bit of dissent within the party; at last weekend’s Central Committee meeting, the budget – which normally gets rubber-stamped without a lot of thought by a room full of delegates that just want to get out of there – was tabled until a meeting in the near future.  And that is going to be a donnybrook, as new Deputy and Acting Chair Kelly Fenton and the remains of Sutton’s Executive Committee face a Central Committee that is laced with dissenters who are looking for solid answers.

And the media just loves it; as the Party airs three years of dirty laundry in public and monday-morning-quarterbacks the 2010 election cycle.  (Anyone seeing the wisdom of the DFL’s approach – not really being a party at all – yet?  All of this happens in private, in the offices of non-profits that answer only to themselves and their hand-picked boards, with not an iota of elected scrutiny).

The media – which is, now and always, in the bag for the DFL – is going to love this.

And yet the GOP – which, for all its faults, is the only actual transparent political party in this state (if only because nobody, but nobody, cares about the Independence Party) – is going to have to get through some of this BS to go forward.

So – what the hell do we do about the MNGOP, at this fraught and unprecedented fork in the road?

That’s the subject this week.

46 thoughts on “What The Hell Do We Do About The MNGOP Now?”

  3. One correction — it appears that the MNGOP owes more than the 500,000 stated in the article.

    “The party is about $500,000 in debt from the 2010 elections and Republicans also owe about $500,000 in a special recount fund, started up to fight Emmer’s 9,000-vote loss to Democrat Mark Dayton.”

    http://www.startribune.com/politics/blogs/134961723.html

    Instead of criticizing the DFL for their fundraising structure, perhaps it would be useful to instead emulate a successful model. The present state GOP organization could also be branded as a “holding company” with fundraising branches and support organizations (Taxpayers League, Freedom PAC and assorted other PACs, etc), so it’s not really much different from the DFL. Certainly the MNGOP has it’s share of “Alida Messenger” donors, no? Instead of whining about it, they should leverage their assets better, as apparently the DFL is doing (which is surprising, as the Republican party always has more people with business acumen to tap).

    Massive funding of the Emmer recount effort was a mistake . . . the vote difference in the Coleman-Franken race was MUCH tighter (300 votes), and that one went to the Democrats. So, why did MNGOP think they could prevail in the Emmer-Dayton scenario (another statewide race) when the vote different was over 9,000?

    I’m hoping that Minnesota Republicans can field better candidates in the coming cycles . . . more moderates who can come up with better solutions than putting our state shortfall onto a credit card.

  4. I’m hoping that Minnesota Republicans can field better candidates in the coming cycles ..

    Emmer campaign notwithstanding – and barring a few campaign mistakes, it would have won – the conservative GOP brand carried the day last November. His campaign failure was not ideological. It was tactical.

  5. You have to understand that there are essential differences between the two major parties. The Democrats have is their sole objective to gain and hold lyrical power. Every group on the left coordinates resources for electoral success, well groups on the right refuse to cooperate, wishing to have their narrow agendas ratified BEFORE the election, and willing to walk away from a Republican candidate that does not toe that line. Not only that, but our organizations are small by comparison, and barely able to sustain themselves through their own revenue streams, while those on the left are swimming in cash from rich liberal guilt and forced union dues.

    The only thing the Republican Party has in abundance are people who think they could do it better and are therefore always sniping at and sabotaging the people actually trying to do it. Therefore, the only thing we lack and cannot seem to get is unity, and thereby the votes of those who seem to think that not voting for the Republican somehow prevents the Democrat from winning.

  6. J Ewing ays: “The Democrats have is their sole objective to gain and hold lyrical power. Every group on the left coordinates resources for electoral success”.

    Totally agree. As far as money, I give to various non-profits, my church, etc. Very little to political campaigns. I think the more liberal you are, the less likely you are to donate to anything other than a political cause.

    I think this also is what leads to the left politicizing so many non-political events and groups. Everything is about winning elections for them.

  7. Chuck: Like you, I give to my church and very little to my party. The Left worships a shrine of human deity they call liberalism. Their church is their politics. Their god is a human god and is whoever can embody their idea of charity of equity.

  8. ” the conservative GOP brand carried the day last November”

    I fear the state shutdown and weak solution (essentially it was to borrow more money, against future tobacco settlement money, to fill much of the gap, and shift more to local property taxes) to the budget shortfall has since tainted the brand. Add the current MNGOP budget mess, the power of grassroots movements like OWS, decline of TEA party (as shown in recent polls), inability of Republican party to grow and nurture one clear, strong presidential candidate frontrunner, and growing disenchantment of the middle class, and, well, the perfect storm is brewing for Democrats to sweep in 2012. At this point, it looks like Obama will win by default.

    Putting a marriage amendment on the ballot brings out the Christian right (good for Republican candidates on the ticket), but it also motivates the other side to spend more money (gays, with professional jobs and no kids, have a LOT of discretionary income), rally, show up, and vote . . . and the national trend is toward more tolerance of gay rights/gay marriage, not less, and of course big business promotes more tolerance (see diversity initiatives in corporate America and the todo over Target’s contribution in the previous cycle and their subsequent doubling down of commitment to gay employees) . . . not to mention most Minnesotans want the focus to be on jobs and economy, not social issues . . .

    It’s going to be a challenge. Will the candidates who won on a TEA party platform continue to use that “advantage”? It’s not working (TEA party association) for Bachmann at the national level.

  9. the power of grassroots movements like OWS

    Sure….

    decline of TEA party (as shown in recent polls)

    Let’s see how the polling looks in a few months.

    inability of Republican party to grow and nurture one clear, strong presidential candidate frontrunner

    Wasn’t aware this was the job of the Republican Party.

    and growing disenchantment of the middle class

    I suppose we can give you this one.

    and, well, the perfect storm is brewing for Democrats to sweep in 2012. At this point, it looks like Obama will win by default.

    Based on what? Great satisfaction with the work of the President and his economic team? Support for the compelling vision of Democratic candidates?

  10. Sanity said:

    “the power of grassroots movements like OWS”

    The power of Magical Thinking? No credit, “Sanity”.

    “motivates the other side to spend more money”

    Glad you said just that, because obviously it provides no motivation to come up with a cogent argument for encouraging biologically non-viable pairings. Beyond the ever popular “you’re a bigot”, that is. *shrug*

  11. “the power of grassroots movements like OWS

    Sure….”

    The movement can’t be dismissed. It is larger (in numbers) than TEA party . . .

    “decline of TEA party (as shown in recent polls)

    Let’s see how the polling looks in a few months.”

    I expect it will fade further. Palin is seemingly out of the picture, and she was the other most visible leader of the movement.

    “inability of Republican party to grow and nurture one clear, strong presidential candidate frontrunner

    Wasn’t aware this was the job of the Republican Party.”

    You think the party has no role to play in candidate development? Seriously?

    “and, well, the perfect storm is brewing for Democrats to sweep in 2012. At this point, it looks like Obama will win by default.

    Based on what? Great satisfaction with the work of the President and his economic team? Support for the compelling vision of Democratic candidates?”

    If the Republican candidate isn’t strong enough, then yes, Obama wins by default as he becomes “the better of two bad candidates” for independent voters. The incumbent always has an advantage in these situations. If the Democrats have a unifying message, then Obama can win. Also, he’ll raise close to a billion dollars for the campaign . . . and that’s a big advantage. I don’t think the Republicans can be complacent/dismiss the power of his campaign style.

  12. It is larger (in numbers) than TEA party

    The only way to get to that conclusion is if you assume that 99% of the country actually is on board. I’ve seen no evidence of this.

    I expect it will fade further

    Not as fast as “Occupy” is going to decline.

    As to Palin – the Tea Party has never been about leaders. It gained its traction, really, without any.

  13. “the power of grassroots movements like OWS,”…

    …to rape… …deal drugs…

    … …. …..
    “to grow and nurture one clear, strong presidential candidate frontrunner”

    Hmmm, in ’08 it took the Democrats right up to the convention to get down to the ONE candidate.

    My Karma just ran over your Dogma.

  15. Demographic shifts mean that the electorate trends in their favor over the next several decades.

    You’d save a lot of bandwidth if you’d simply type “Surrender, Dorothy.”

  16. “their subsequent doubling down of commitment to gay employees”

    Where in hell did you get this one? Until you prove that statement, I suspect that, like the “facts” that most libs make, it came out of your back side!

  17. ““their subsequent doubling down of commitment to gay employees”

    Where in hell did you get this one? Until you prove that statement, I suspect that, like the “facts” that most libs make, it came out of your back side!”

    Well, first off Target apologized for contributing to the Emmer campaign:

    http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20012805-503544.html

    In that apology they reiterated their commitment to supporting the gay community:

    “Last month, Steinhafel told employees that Target’s support of the gay community is “unwavering.””

    Subsequently Target has committed to making $500,000 in donations to support projects helping the gay and lesbian community.

    http://politicallyillustrated.com/index.php?/news_page/features/2398/

    I guess I called that “doubling down” on commitment to their gay employees, but it really is doubling down on support of the broader gay community . . . so I should have been clearer about that.

    “We understand the importance of decisions like this one and we want to be more thoughtful. We said that we’re giving almost half a million dollars already in 2011 because we want to demonstrate our commitment to the LGBT community,” Vice President Dustee Tucker told Billboard Magazine.

    Target is also a major sponsor of Minneapolis Gay Pride.

    I’m shopping at Target again because I like the way they support the entire community.

  18. “Sanity” said:

    “he becomes “the better of two bad candidates””

    Let’s wait for that to magically occur then, shall we? Go ahead, hold your breath. An empty suit would at least apply less pressure to the “neck of business”, even in the eyes of independents.

  19. “Sanity” said:

    “Demographic shifts mean that the electorate trends in their favor over the next several decades.”

    Yes, and all the electorate has to do is never learn a thing from the trove of experience President Obama has given us. Some will never learn *looks at “Sanity”*, but some will, without regard to how many rah-rah posts appear at the CAP web site.

  20. Get a guy writing in favor of a pack of filthy lunatics callining himself “sanity”, and you know you’ve just been swooped by a moonbat.

    Sorry ‘bat, but even the LA times isn’t going for your BS…*this* is the image Mr. & Mrs. small town USA have of your pals:

    “”The city said it collected 30 tons of refuse, from vats of urine to old furniture to discarded food,” Assistant City Editor Steve Marble said. “Some of the items that were left behind looked like they were actually personal items that people probably would have taken with them — had there been time. But the city was concerned enough about what was left behind that refuse workers were ordered to wear hazmat suits.”

    I’m trying to remember which of the TEA party rallies required a HazMat cleanup crew…oh, that’s right; none of them.

    Carry on Mr. ‘bat…carry on.

  21. “”The city said it collected 30 tons of refuse, from vats of urine to old furniture to discarded food,” Assistant City Editor Steve Marble said. “Some of the items that were left behind looked like they were actually personal items that people probably would have taken with them — had there been time. But the city was concerned enough about what was left behind that refuse workers were ordered to wear hazmat suits.”

    You miss the bigger picture, the bigger point. It’s not the trash these people leave behind — it’s the way they move the larger dialogue.

    A good example — the protestors in Madison, Wisconsin this past year. Same things were noted about them — stuff like how they left litter around or the capitol had to be cleaned, etc, etc. Yes, yes, all that is true — revolutions are inherently messy events. BUT, the outcome that was more significant: Recall elections (and Walker’s recall is underway), and a tectonic shift in politics in Wisconsin. Nothing like it has been seen since the McCarthy era in Wisconsin politics.

    You can try to shift the focus to a few outliers or some cleanup or whatever, but you are missing the bigger picture. These people have changed the national dialogue, in a big way, and when politicians can no longer ignore them they are having an impact. That’s the point, and whether you like their hygiene or not, they are moving the focus and dialogue.

  26. back to the MN GOP, we need to nuke the current leadership stucture and start from scratch, try and get as many TEA party types involved, run the GOP like a business not a political organization.

  27. One thing the MNGOP has in abundance, and that is people who seem to think they could run it way better than anybody else. Maybe we ought to just get all of them in a room and not let them out until they all agree on the one perfect Master Plan? And the candidates to carry it out?

  28. “and shift more to local property taxes”

    My property taxes are scheduled to skyrocket down 3% for 2012.
    The Strib recently noted that Minnesota’s state/local taxes are below the median for the country, which when you subtract the high State taxes means that local taxes need to increase just to get us up to the middle. Property taxes need to increase just to become average compared to the rest of the country.
    I prefer an increase in property taxes vs. income taxes as the money at least is spent locally. The best part is that those without property are not gouged, unlike the sales tax.

  29. A good example — the protestors in Madison, Wisconsin this past year. Same things were noted about them — stuff like how they left litter around or the capitol had to be cleaned, etc, etc. Yes, yes, all that is true — revolutions are inherently messy events. BUT, the outcome that was more significant: Recall elections (and Walker’s recall is underway), and a tectonic shift in politics in Wisconsin. Nothing like it has been seen since the McCarthy era in Wisconsin politics.

    I grew up in Wisconsin and this statement is ludicrous on a number of levels. What was (and is) happening is an entrenched group of public employees are doing whatever is necessary to keep monies and perks that the state is not able to provide them. The recall elections that happened earlier this year did not change the balance of power and the Supreme Court election that was supposed to change things was a failure for the Left as well. There’s no guarantee that Walker will be recalled, either. My sister is a state employee and her reaction is this: she understands that people are angry, but in her estimation it’s long since stopped being a useful exercise. And outside of Dane County, there’s not a lot of sympathy for what’s been happening in Madison.

    Politics in Wisconsin have gone back and forth several times since Joe McCarthy died in 1957; to say what is happening is a “tectonic shift” indicates a fundamental lack of understanding of Wisconsin politics.

  30. I also grew up in Wisconsin, and my parents and siblings still live over there. Some have worked for the public sector (one took early retirement during the Walker fiasco, along with about 4,000 other state employees who were eligible for retirement at the time).

    It’s like a civil war going on over there. I haven’t overstated it. The protests in Madison were the largest since the Civil War (in numbers) outside of DC.

    This isn’t just about state employee benefits . . . it was about power overreach by the governor and his cronies. Nothing angers the sense of fair play more in Wisconsin.

    “And outside of Dane County, there’s not a lot of sympathy for what’s been happening in Madison.”

    Yet, recalls occurred in other parts of the state . . . and the Walker recall will be a statewide effort . . .

  31. “My property taxes are scheduled to skyrocket down 3% for 2012.”

    Mine went up.

    “The best part is that those without property are not gouged, unlike the sales tax.”

    Increased prop taxes are passed on to renters as increases in their rent.

  32. ” try and get as many TEA party types involved”

    Yes, absolutely. This is the best idea.

  34. This isn’t just about state employee benefits . . . it was about power overreach by the governor and his cronies. Nothing angers the sense of fair play more in Wisconsin.

    Then why weren’t they able to flip the Senate after spending $30 million in union dues I mean money Sanity? Are you sure you aren’t AC in disguise? AC seems to be MIA lately.

  35. “Last month, Steinhafel told employees that Target’s support of the gay community is “unwavering.”

    This is not a doubling down! They have always supported the GLBT in this community. I fail to see why people like you think that it is OK for corporations to fund things like parades, when the money could go to much more worthwhile endeavors, like, I don’t know, getting the homeless off of the streets?

    “I also grew up in Wisconsin, and my parents and siblings still live over there.”

    Oh, wait! That explains it! I’ll bet that you went to UW Moscow, I mean Madison, too.

    Why don’t you face some reality, moonbat. Take a look at what Walker’s actions have done for several school districts and the City of Milwaukee. They didn’t have to lay anyone off. In fact, one school district ADDED teachers and a performance bonus system. Also, the temper tantrums those partiers, I mean protesters and the Fleabaggers are throwing, have cost millions in unbudgeted costs to taxpayers. Again, money that could have been used elsewhere.

    Finally, if you support the Fleabaggers and work for one of the evil corporations that they are villifying, you are a typical libidiot hypocrite!

  37. I didn’t attend Madison. My degree is not from any public university or state run college. I went to private school, and I left Wisconsin in early adulthood. I do know what goes on there, because many family members (including parents and siblings) still live in Wis. We talk often, and as I said, some of them had careers in public sector (including employment by state of Wisconsin).

    “This is not a doubling down! They have always supported the GLBT in this community”

    That’s true, but their recent commitment to give $500,000 to GLBT groups is more than doubling down (triple or quadruple or something more like that). They have agreed to funding. I don’t want to get into a pissing match over semantics. Let’s just say that Target has reiterated their commitment to gay rights and the gay community.

    One interesting point that Mitch made was about how Democrats manage to fund political initiatives through outside nonprofits . . . I think you could categorize Target’s donation of $500,000 to GLBT groups as, perhaps, a small part of that. Obviously a lot of the money will go to nonpolitical initiatives (anti-gay bullying efforts, for example), but indirectly it props up the gay marriage drive, because that’s $500,000 freed up from other funds to go to political organizing. So, in effect, Target just gave $500,000 to the pro-gay marriage campaign (but they’ll never call it that).

    What’s interesting is that big business (and this was the case in NY, where the rich and WS bankers backed gay marriage) wants gay marriage to be a reality, and they work behind the scenes to support it. Why is that? Is it possible that gay rights are good for business?

  38. “It’s like a civil war going on over there. I haven’t overstated it.”

    Gettysburg? Antietam? Insanity, you have NO credibility. You are a kool-aid drinking moonbat.

    … …. …..

    “Hastings, we have a problem:”

    Yes, it’s called the Obama Great Recession with double digit unemployment.

  40. (Incongriously named) Sanity; you say you have family in Wisconsin. Are they leftists?

    See, what I notice about most of them, is that leftists surround themselves with their ilk, and run screaming from anything that disturbes their sense of knowing it all. And when reality rubs sand in their eyes, they claim not to notice.

    Your drum circle corps managed to drum up just enough support for the last recalls so not to have been made complete and utter fools of; fine. But does that translate to a seismic change? Only in the ‘bat cave.

    I’ve heard leftists crowing that they’ve already collected 1/2 the required signatures, and that may be true, but what they fail to realize is that they’ve picked all the low hanging fruit bats…now they have to convince the 53% that pay the bills that emptying their wallets into the union coffers again is a great idea.

    Good luck with that.

    Oh, and the only thing about OWS that scares me is the scabies…friggin’ scabies, right?

  42. “(Incongriously named) Sanity; you say you have family in Wisconsin. Are they leftists?”

    Funny you should ask that. I grew up in a Republican household, which you might have guessed from my background. My parents are still Republicans (but they don’t have much time left to vote — they are white, Christian right, approaching age 90). Siblings were converted during the Walker overreach era (and one, surprisingly so, as I hadn’t been able to talk to him about politics in 30 years!). They are now working on the Walker recall.

  43. “Hastings, we have a problem:”

    Yes, it’s called the Obama Great Recession with double digit unemployment.

    Short term memory problems? This all started under Bush II. Remember the housing and financial collapse? Lehman Bros ? Bueller? Anyone?

  44. “You have almost completely misrepresented the context of the linked piece.”

    How’s that?

  45. Short term memory problems? This all started under Bush II. Remember the housing and financial collapse? Lehman Bros ? Bueller? Anyone?

    I didn’t know the GOP was in charge of the House and Senate, you know the people that wrote the damn stuff?

  46. Pingback: What The Hell Are We Supposed To Think About The MNGOP? | Shot in the Dark

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