In my last post, I covered how the RNC rules change changed the Republican National Convention from a volunteer-centric political process to an autocratic, candidate-focused pep rally. The Romney campaign team thought they had the general election in the bag and wanted to insure that a primary challenge, in 2016, would fail. Many convention delegates were so focused on unseating President Obama that they ignored the danger of changing the Republican Party Presidential nominating process forever. A large number of movement conservatives voted against this at the convention but were foiled by a scripted call on the voice vote.
This change doesn’t have to be a permanent one.
The RNC Rules Committee will be meeting, from April 10-13, 2013 in Los Angeles. 50 committee members, one from each state party organization, will meet to consider two proposals:
- The Maine Proposal, which simply repeals the Rules change and restores the rules to to the 2008 convention rules
- The Mort Blackwell (Virginia RNC Committeeman) proposal, which restores all but one adopted rule at to the 2008 convention rules .
While the proposals are technically different, the intent is basically the same; the delegates can’t be bound to vote according to the Presidential preference vote. In California, this means nothing today but a repeal of the controversial Rule 16 (a) 1-2 permits us to try to change our delegate selection from the the existing, candidate-centric approach, used by the CRP, to the volunteer-centric approach, used by many other state parties. If either proposal passes, the CRP can reform to the more grass roots-friendly approach and existing caucus delegate selection states can retain their format. If neither proposal passes, the RNC goes the way of the “California model”, thereby codifying power in the hands of the political consultants in DC.
My recommendation is to pass The Mort Blackwell proposal. I’ll explain the “inside baseball” behind my recommendation.
Mort Blackwell is a respected, long time GOP Committeeman and conservative activist. His credentials are recognized by all “movement conservatives”: social conservatives, tea partiers, value voters, and the liberty wing. The Maine proposal is being advanced by Mark Willis, the Maine RNC Committeeman who challenged Reince Preibus for the RNC Chairman’s spot this past January. He is regarded by some as a “Ron Paul insurgent” which is silly but that opinion could sway votes against the repeal. While I supported Willis’ bid for RNC Chairman, and know his intentions are pure, this delicate vote is too important to let prejudices get in the way. Both Blackwell and Willis’ repeal proposals give power back to the grass roots so I would ask all movement conservatives to contact their state party’s Rules delegate and ask him/her to support the Blackwell proposal.
In California, requesting support for the Blackwell repeal proposal is even more important. Our Rules delegate is long-time activist and former CRP Chairman Shawn Steel. While I dont think there is a more fair-minded committeman than Shawn Steel, he did call out Willis for his bid against Preibus. Steel thought he needed more political experience to run the RNC. :
“I understand the ambition of a new member wanting to run for a high RNC office,” Steel wrote, according to The Daily Caller report. “Moreover, debate is always valuable for the membership. But given the strange Maine ballot experience, Mark may want to find another time to consider a run for the party’s top position after he has more experience in national politics.”
While I think Steel will analyze both proposals with an eye towards doing what is best for the Republican Party, perception can sometimes become reality. Steel respects Blackwell and has publicly stated that he will be weighing the merits of the Blackwell proposal:
“I am going to talk to Morton [Blackwell] on this and learn as much as I can,” said Shawn Steel, California’s national committeeman who has been active since he was a Teenage Republican campaigning for Barry Goldwater in 1964. “On one hand, there is a case to be made against opening the door to keep changing the [presidential nomination] rules over four years. But on the other hand, three-fourths of the RNC is an awfully big threshold to reach before making changes and changing a particular rule would have to be something that has strong support for it to get that far.”
Moreover, I think Steel WANTS to do away with the “California model” if his proposal for the CRP convention is to be taken at face value:
What the California Republican Party needs to do is bring the power right down to the precinct level. That was the message of Shawn Steel, California’s Republican National Committeeman, Friday to the Southeast chapter of the Los Angeles County Lincoln Clubs.
Steel said California should become “a Texas-style Republican Party.” That state holds caucuses in each precinct where delegates are elected to a county convention and later to a state convention.
“They had 8,000 delegates,” Steel said at the meeting held at Geezer’s Restaurant in Santa Fe Springs. “That’s a political party. That’s a movement.”
This is a no-brainer for movement conservatives in California; Steel is considering the Blackwell proposal and that bodes well for our fight to win back the RNC from the consultants. Steel likes the caucus idea for the state convention; one would think he’d lean towards letting state committees decide theor fate in the RNC delegate selection process. Movement conservatives would do well to contact Steel and ask him to announce his support for the Blackwell proposal before the Rules meeting in Los Angeles.
I want to be clear about how conservatives should contact Shawn Steel. The man is a champion of grass roots advocacy. He was a welcoming speaker for Ron Paul, at the 2011 Fall CRP convention proclaiming “as long as I’m involved, there will be a place in this party for Ron Paul Republicans“. He backed up his words with action at the 2012 RNC in Tampa, too. If you are a movement conservative, who wants the RNC restored to the grass roots, you have a good ally in Shawn Steel. Contact him and ask him to support the Blackwell proposal but do so with the respect reserved for a statesman—Steel is one.