Again with the 'do what we say' from the GOP

Obviously I have been frustrated with the MN GOP's leadership, as well as the circling of the wagons around bad leaders...for what reasons still unclear except for the whole "can't trust someone new" line.

So on another blog that endorses Eibensteiner I made some comments similar to the previous posting I made here last night. A response came from "Dave":

Tony:

A few corrections for you….please put down your yoyo and other toys and pay close attention.

If you are gonna whine, at least get the names right. Amanda HutchinGs ran against Kahn in SD 59B in 2004. Next...the GOP candidate (HutchinGs) came in SECOND. Not THIRD. Go check the Sec of State’s website.

Next, can you possibly comprehend why GOP candidates in downtown Minneapolis have NO chance? Kahn has been there for over 3 decades, because the district is a socialist enclave. Why the hell should the state party spend a DIME in that area, when there are FAR more winable seats? Its called strategy, Spanky.

Lastly, grow up! If you wanna be a baby…if you want to take all your marbles and go home…GO! The Independence Party awaits you. There are PLENTY of things about the GOP that bug me. But, instead of bitching and whining and placing blame...I’ve gotten involved and tried to make changes from INSIDE the party. If you wanna be a whining crybaby...just leave. Thanks.

Well, Dave, I find it interesting that your leading critique is a misspelling of an irrelevant person's name.

As for Amanda finishing 2nd...I did not say SHE finished otherwise. Yes, she finished 2nd. She was a do-nothing candidate, which should be unacceptable in a party that supposedly is trying to win the state. Candidates like her are too common and get rewarded by moving up in the party. Instead the GOP should understand that while victory may not be expected hard-working candidates are necessary in those districts. Since Amanda was virtually absent Kahn was able to use her time & resources in other districts. Again, a competent leadership would understand that.

As a result the GOP must fight for nearly every race while we just give over 2 Congressional seats without a fight, 2 with a small scruffle and over 2 dozen House races. Incomptent leadership is the only explanation in a supposed battleground state.

Check out how bad the GOP effort actually is. (Source: MPR...but only because it had a listing on one page unlike the SOS where you had to load each race.)
Races won by 50% or more: DFL 14, GOP 0. That includes 2 won by the DFL by 60%-69% and 2 won by 70%+.
Races won by 35%-50%: DFL 14, GOP 1. That one by the way had no DFL opponent.
Races won by 25%-35%: DFL 8, GOP 11.
This shows that the DFL actually fights in the "safe GOP" races while the GOP just rolls over. That is incompetent leadership.

And Dave, 59A had the following results:
DFL..61.4%
GRN..20.9%
GOP..17.5%

That is inexcusable for a major party like the GOP to finish nearly 3.5 points behind a (for all practical purposes) 3rd party. In a 2-party system neither of those parties should come in third place.

Pure ineptitude by the MN GOP leadership.

Dave has re-opened my eyes to something about the MN GOP. Rather than fix the problems they rally around whom they are told. In this case Eibensteiner/Hoplin. So much for all the (vacuous) discourse about Clinton’s transgressions, the MN GOP is actually considering re-electing an incompetent shady character and promoting a sleazy thug. So much for grass roots…the MN GOP is actually rewarding top-down leaders dictators.

I guess wanting a party of principle is too much to ask, instead it is “do as I say, believe as I say or you get nothing…and can you send us more money.”

It is about principle (which I’m realizing the MN GOP has less and less of) and about wanting a party of Right vs Wrong.

Dave, I guess I would have expected more than baseless attacks on me (”please put down your yoyo and other toys and pay close attention”, “Spanky”, etc) and expected a more reasonable dialogue about the re-election of a incompetent (arguably, obviously) and a crook (not really debatable). I realize more an more that since Ron became party chair tolerance of opposing views within the party is diminishing quickly. That is the accelerator on the road to minority status! Why do you think the GOP has lost so many seats in the last election. Not because they have gone to the right in general but because the party hacks within kick out the intellectually consistant people that thusly diverge from the platform and they kick out the moderates (like Jim Rhodes or Martha Robertson) or they shun those who don’t believe that the abortion issue is the end all-be all issue.

I’d rather not sail on the Titanic, Captain Smith…which I though was the DFL. It looks like it is both the GOP and the DFL.

I refuse to be “led” again by incompetence (Eibensteiner). I refuse to acknowledge a leader that is a border-line criminal (Hoplin). Yes, Hoplin is a smooth-talker, but his actions are not supported at all by his words. Hoplin says that one of his biggest assets is his fundraising, using the CRNC as his record, but look at how sleazy that was done. I won’t be a part of that.

Imagine, if Eibensteiner had not run the RINOs out of the party how many of those suburban races would have been won...in both the House and the Senate in 2002 and the House in 2004. And before you make an ass of yourself by calling me a RINO I will save you the trouble. I'm far from a RINO. But I at least am smart enough to understand that the GOP should be getting GOP members elected regardless of being a RINO or not...the most important vote in every session is the first one: the one for Speaker. Then the party members and electorate can push the RINOs to the right. That is the job of the members of the party NOT the leadership (like Eibensteiner did to Martha Robertson for example). While I disagree with Dick Day on many issues I think he has a better concept of how the party leadership should work.

And for the record, I have been working within the party. The God Damn leadership and the mindless hacks that rally around them keep cutting off the hard workers at the local level. How long would you put in labor, money and effort for an organization that shits upon you for disagreement (which is one of the reasons I have been poking back so hard on this topic), pushes you out for not believing correctly on all of the platform issues (yes, the GOP constantly has a strong support to change the party platform to mandate candidates sign on to support "100% of the party platform" or not be endorsed with full benefits thereof), and treats dissenters as Dave is doing, as Eric Hoplin does...how long would you do it, Dave?

Truth is Eibensteiner is the MN GOP version of Jimmy Carter and Hoplin is the MN GOP version of Bill Clinton. Their supporters have lost the intellectual credibility by lambasting Jim and Will while rallying behind Ron and Eric.

End of story.