A Letter to Nebraska Ron Paul Supporters

Dear Friends,

When I started this blog several months ago, it was with the idea that I, as a lifetime Republican, would help to integrate my fellow Ron Paul supporters--many of them "new Republicans"--into the GOP.  I believed that I, as a "Goldwater Toddler", who had served as Teen Age Republican Chair of Nebraska back in the late 70's, and who cast my first vote for Ronald Reagan in 1980, had an intuitive understanding of Republicans in Nebraska.  My PhD in political science may have bolstered that view--perhaps inappropriately.

I believe that Ron Paul and his supporters represent a strain of Republican thought that hasn't truly been seen in many years.  The libertarianism and fidelity to the Constitution that Ron Paul exemplifies--while not a perfect analog--is not unlike the ideals promoted by conservatives like Robert Taft, Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan.

I believed--perhaps, it seems, erroneously--that the Republican Party in Nebraska could be different than we have seen in other states (like Nevada, where the State Convention came to an abrupt halt when it appeared that Paul's people would win a lot of delegates), and that our views of small government, fiscal responsibility and self-reliant independence could still be met with respect in our state.  I had no illusions that we'd take over the Republican Party in Nebraska; I did think, however, that we could help rejuvenate the GOP in Nebraska--start "leading it home" if you will, by showing the "old guard" that enthusiastic Ron Paul activists had a lot in common with them, and could be brought into the fold.

I have been working with Ron Paul supporters spread throughout the 3rd District of Nebraska--a part of the state which I have--for as long as I can remember--thought of as the heart and soul of the Republican Party in Nebraska.  In my Teen Age Republican days, this was where the REAL Reagan Republicans were at; this has been a largely safe Republican district, which has--it seemed to me--prided itself on it's independence and its libertarian-conservative leaning philosophy.

I still believe that's the case, although it seems increasingly clear to me that the Republican Party in Nebraska does not care about nurturing the party in the 3rd District.  In my role as a volunteer coordinator for the Paul effort in the 3rd, I encouraged Paul supporters who were registered as Republicans to file as delegates to their county conventions.  60-some folks in the 3rd District--most of whom had never attended a County Convention, made the trip to their County Clerk's office to file, so that they could become involved in their County party, as well as to seek a position as a State Convention delegate.

As our folks were filing in various counties in the 3rd District, I occasionally received reports back from folks in rural counties that went along these lines: "the county clerk didn't know what to do, they say they haven't had anyone file for at least 20 years, they don't think there's a County party--I got filed, but what should I do now?"  These were discussions we had in early March and into early April (the filing deadline was March 3).

After consultation with some folks who have been around rural party politics more than I have, the general sense--and the recommendation I gave--was this: if you can ascertain that there is no party organization in place, check with the state party and see if they have anyone on record as being the County Chair--if not, send them a letter, tell them that you have filed as a delegate to the county convention of your county, and that since there is no one seemingly available for calling a convention, that you will assume the role of "Acting Party Chair" in your county pending the formal election of officers and central committee by convention.  Let them know that you will issue the formal convention call and arrange for proper notice, and that you would like to have any necessary information with respect to the state convention sent to you.

This was not, mind you, an effort at a hostile takeover of a County Party--this was an effort to CREATE a county party and to breathe life into the Party in parts of the state that used to be the backbone of the Nebraska Republican Party. 

There are more details to this story, but the most significant is this: it appears that the Nebraska Republican Party is so set on denying Ron Paul supporters any voice that they are willing to throw away a chance to establish a party organization where there hasn't been one in years.  At least 2 of the "Acting Chairs" have received letters in the last week or so from State Chair Mark Quandahl suggesting that since they weren't legally elected by the County Central Committee or by their County Convention, the position of County Chair was considered "vacant", and hence no county convention called by them would be recognized by the state party.

Of course this seems to me to be a circular way of preventing there from ever being a party in that county--you can't elect officers and/or central committee folks without having a convention, but you can't have a convention without a county chair to call it.

An article of the State Republican Constitution is cited, although doesn't appear to me to apply.  Apparently, no county party organization in the state of Nebraska will be able to spring up spontaneously from any rural county--those who might be interested in becoming part of the process will have to make application to the state chair, and wait until such time as he/she decides to appoint an "acting chair" to the position.  The irony, of course, is that our folks contacted the state party, and had there been a willingness to see the party grow in the 3rd District, the state chair and executive committee could certainly have appointed these folks to the position for purposes of calling a county convention.  Instead, they wait until after the May 6 deadline for notifying the County Clerks of the convention time and place has passed (which our Acting Chairs met), and send a letter dated May 9 saying that the call for convention has no authority, and that no delegates to the state convention will be recognized from their counties, since no duly elected chair called a convention prior to the May 6 deadline.  So, not only have their efforts as "temporary acting chairs" been thwarted, they have also--it would seem--wasted their time and effort in even following the rules and filing as a delegate to their county convention.

I am unbelievably disappointed in the Republican Party of Nebraska.  Members of my family have spent significant chunks of their lives carrying water fot the Elephant.  I have voted Republican in every national election since 1980, and on every ballot line where a Republican was a choice.  Although I'm not over enamoured with John McCain, if it looked like my vote might make a difference here in Nebraska, I probably would have voted for him over Barack Obama--just to keep government divided after November.

I am rapidly losing my commitment to the Republican Party, though.  At nearly 46, the party that I always believed represented a nobler cause; the party which my grandfather described the difference between them and Democrats this way: "Democrats fight for elections; Republicans fight for the future"--that party has let me down.

I will continue working through this year.  I'm working with a group of committed Ron Paul supporters who are seeking to change the Party from within through the Republican Liberty Caucus, and we're in the process of chartering a Nebraska Chapter.  Still, this is daunting. 

Had there been clear rules about what to do in places where no party organization existed, we would have followed them, but we could find none.  Had there not been a history in rural party organizations throughout the state of party chairs serving until they could convince someone else to do it, handing over the reigns of power because there was no longer any Central Committee to approve of the new chair, and having the state party accept that on face value--then we probably would have forgotten about the idea of creating a new party organization--but none of those were the situation where we found ourselves, and so we did the best we could.  We found "acting chairs" and we sought to get people involved in the Party.  I guess that's a crime.

And the bigger crime is this.  If this decision of the state party is left  unchallenged, there will be at least 4 or 5 counties in the 3rd District of Nebraska, entitled by Nebraska GOP rules to at least 1, and in some cases 2 or 3, delegates to the State Convention, who will get no representation whatsoever--counties which have voted sometimes 3:1 in favor of Republican candidates in recent years, but will have no voice in the platform of the Republican Party of Nebraska, in the election of State Central Committee members of the state party, or in the election of delegates to the national convention--in spite of the fact that one or two people in each of these counties FOLLOWED THE RULES and filed as delegates to their county conventions. 

I'm not ready to give up just yet--and I hope you won't either.  Some of us are in counties where we are unquestionably legitimate delegates to our county conventions.  Still, we need to work smart.  We need to be realistic--we will probably not get many (if any) delegates to the national convention.  But we should make every effort to see to it that the Nebraska Republican Party listens to us, that they understand that we would like to work with them, that we would like to see the party grow as the party of liberty.  I have hopes that there are still reasonable people in the Nebraska GOP.  I'm going to search for them, and I hope that you will, too.  It's not over yet, but any progress we make this year looks to be limited.  We need to look at this as a long term process, and we need to work accordingly, so that WE can put ourselves in the position to lead the Republican Party back home.

Until later,

Laura Ebke

Comments

[mark portaro]

Hang in there Laura. Inexorable should be the word to describe this cause.

[mark portaro]

Hang in there Laura. Inexorable should be the word to describe this cause.

[mark portaro]

Hang in there Laura. Inexorable should be the word to describe this cause.

[michelle gunderson]

the republican party will experienced shock and awe in nov. they have lost three special elections going into this year. I will no way vote for Mccain or any other republican in this state. They had a chance to welcome new and in alot of young republican voters into the fold and instead became a party I no longer will associate. I will ask for speaking time at the county counvention not as Mccain or ron paul supporter but as an american.