The One
05-03-2008, 06:26 AM
I got this email this morning......
In light of recent news from Washington, Missouri, and especially
Nevada, many of you are asking what's going on in Texas. Some of you
have seen the youtube of the Nueces County Convention
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-fARjv3tFk) and are asking for some
kind of response or action, and many are asking how we keep ourselves
from being shut out at the Texas State Convention. This mail is
intended to respond to some of these questions, though neither I nor
anyone else has all the answers.
We have certainly not been idle since the county/SD conventions, and
we aren't ignoring the violations in Nueces. Ensuring fairness at the
State Convention is in fact the main thing we've been working on, and
will continue to be one of the primary focuses of our efforts both
practically and as we advocate our concerns and goals to other
delegates.
First, we have been dealing with the problems already encountered.
The last mail sent asked for any rule violations observed at
conventions, and there has been quite a response. Nueces was the most
extreme report we've heard, but there were irregularities and rule
violations in quite a few conventions around the state. We have been
tracking those down and getting certified challenges prepared and
filed as provided for in the State Party Rules. The deadline for
those to be postmarked was Monday, and quite a few went out. Nueces
is the most obvious one, but we also have challenges being filed
against individuals in Galveston, Parker, Tarrant, Dallas, Hays,
Midland, Brazoria, Nacogdoches, and other counties. The State Party
Chair is being challenged by multiple counties on the claim she
conspired with and directed County Chairs to block public access to
convention information that is public under Party Rule. The current
and immediate previous State Party Vice Chairs are both being
challenged as part of challenges against their entire county
delegations. We did not go looking for high-profile challenges, but
found that several of the issues reported to us occured under the eye
of people that should definitely have known better.
Next, we are making sure the State Convention itself will be handled
fairly. Whatever goals individuals or groups have, none of them will
be possible without a fair convention. We need a fair convention
chair, a fair hearing on the credentials challenges, and a fair agenda
that promotes deliberation, debate, and the exercise of a free
assembly. To that end an attorney has been engaged and the Party will
be receiving a demand letter soon requiring that the order of the
agenda at the State Convention comply with the Texas Election Code so
that the Convention Chair is elected as the first order of business
and so that these challenges get a fair hearing. We are still
pursuing this via a diplomatic course and first asking the Party
Leadership to acknowledge the problems in the county conventions and
make sure they are resolved, but we are making it clear that if
diplomacy fails we will not accept violations of the law and Party
Rules.
So for the concerned -- no, no one is taking these things lying down,
and nothing is over with yet. We are actually encountering a lot of
support from established Texas Republicans who may not support Ron
Paul as their first Presidential nominee choice, but support cheaters
even less. They are joining with us in the effort to assure a fair
convention chair and agenda.
Which brings us to the next major point -- what is the strategy for
the State Convention overall? Some are suggesting strategies of
subterfuge, or of circling our wagons vs. theirs and trying to brute
force our way through. Typically these strategies focus on getting
national delegates elected, to the exclusion of everything else.
It is highly likely at this point that while these strategies might
have some success, pursuing them would mean losing greater
opportunities that probably exist. We know that Ron Paul has not made
a secret of his positions in Congress the last 30 years, and if he had
he would not have had the impact he has had on all of us. In the same
way, we can likely do more for this Party and this Country by
continuing to speak Truth to Power and bringing more like-minded
people in where we can find consensus than we can by hiding or seeking
only takeover. The conventions nationwide that have shown the most
success so far are the ones that have found friends and won hearts and
minds, not just delegate slots. Texas presents an opportunity to do
this like no other.
We are therefore anticipating a communication strategy aimed at
delegates which will focus on taking the anti-Ron Paul scare off and
focusing on the need to all fight for a fair convention. We will
provide information on the challenges and the remedies we are seeking,
and our proposal for a fair convention chair, agenda, and credentials
votes. We do not need everyone to necessarily agree to vote with us
on the issues or the delegates or the other national elections, but if
they will agree to vote with us on questions of fair play we will
actually have the forum to discuss those other issues with healthy
debate and free deliberation. That should be our first goal, because
without it we will get nothing else. "We" don't have the final
answers on everything any more than "they" do. We all know this
country has problems to discuss, and right now we should make sure
we can have the conversation.
Of course, John McCain still does not have a bound delegate lock, and
we are still working for the nomination of Ron Paul. But if we first
fight for and achieve a fair convention, we will likely find that when
the time comes to vote on the issues and the delegates, much of the
Ron Paul scare is gone and we are in fact welcome. We have seen this
pattern play out in some local areas around the state already, and
have every reason to believe it can be repeated in June in Houston.
So if you aren't already engaged with your local GOP, now is the time.
Go join the clubs, talk to them, get to know them. They will probably
find they agree with you on quite a lot, but don't expect them to love
you at first; we are being maligned and accussed of all manner of
illicit goals and ideas. But as Dr. Paul reminds us, diplomacy and
friendship works. Pursue peace now, but never give up and be prepared
to demand your rights to speak and that the law be followed.
Finally, in more concrete terms we are also working on getting some
training videos put together so that people can know what to expect.
We are also still seeking delegate strength counts, so please mail
those to <tx@ronpaul2008.com> if you haven't yet. Please make sure
you are getting your housing taken care of before options become too
limited; if you need help with housing options -- especially if money
is a concern -- contact Michelle Pineda, the Houston area housing
coordinator, at <michelle.s.pineda@gmail.com>. Delegate call packets
have begun arriving and will hopefully be in everyone's hands shortly.
And by all means plan to be there, whether you are a delegate or not.
Alternates are almost always seated, and even if you aren't an
alternate there will be ways to help. Plan to be there as much as you
can, too. Do not just show up on Saturday and expect it to be a great
help. Committee meetings will start on Monday, and this is where
things like the challenges will begin their real trial by fire. The
Convention Chair vote should take place on Thursday morning and is by
far the most important event of the week if we want a fair convention
and the State Party doesn't agree to cooperate ahead of time.
Plus, if you're there by Thursday, you can come to the Ron Paul's Old
Fashioned Ice Cream Social Thursday night at 9pm in the Ballroom at
the Hilton. More details on this will be coming, but this will be THE
social event of the convention -- don't miss it. This is Ron Paul's
home state convention, and we are dedicated to making it the best one
yet.
Jean McIver
Debra Medina
Jeremy Blosser
In light of recent news from Washington, Missouri, and especially
Nevada, many of you are asking what's going on in Texas. Some of you
have seen the youtube of the Nueces County Convention
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-fARjv3tFk) and are asking for some
kind of response or action, and many are asking how we keep ourselves
from being shut out at the Texas State Convention. This mail is
intended to respond to some of these questions, though neither I nor
anyone else has all the answers.
We have certainly not been idle since the county/SD conventions, and
we aren't ignoring the violations in Nueces. Ensuring fairness at the
State Convention is in fact the main thing we've been working on, and
will continue to be one of the primary focuses of our efforts both
practically and as we advocate our concerns and goals to other
delegates.
First, we have been dealing with the problems already encountered.
The last mail sent asked for any rule violations observed at
conventions, and there has been quite a response. Nueces was the most
extreme report we've heard, but there were irregularities and rule
violations in quite a few conventions around the state. We have been
tracking those down and getting certified challenges prepared and
filed as provided for in the State Party Rules. The deadline for
those to be postmarked was Monday, and quite a few went out. Nueces
is the most obvious one, but we also have challenges being filed
against individuals in Galveston, Parker, Tarrant, Dallas, Hays,
Midland, Brazoria, Nacogdoches, and other counties. The State Party
Chair is being challenged by multiple counties on the claim she
conspired with and directed County Chairs to block public access to
convention information that is public under Party Rule. The current
and immediate previous State Party Vice Chairs are both being
challenged as part of challenges against their entire county
delegations. We did not go looking for high-profile challenges, but
found that several of the issues reported to us occured under the eye
of people that should definitely have known better.
Next, we are making sure the State Convention itself will be handled
fairly. Whatever goals individuals or groups have, none of them will
be possible without a fair convention. We need a fair convention
chair, a fair hearing on the credentials challenges, and a fair agenda
that promotes deliberation, debate, and the exercise of a free
assembly. To that end an attorney has been engaged and the Party will
be receiving a demand letter soon requiring that the order of the
agenda at the State Convention comply with the Texas Election Code so
that the Convention Chair is elected as the first order of business
and so that these challenges get a fair hearing. We are still
pursuing this via a diplomatic course and first asking the Party
Leadership to acknowledge the problems in the county conventions and
make sure they are resolved, but we are making it clear that if
diplomacy fails we will not accept violations of the law and Party
Rules.
So for the concerned -- no, no one is taking these things lying down,
and nothing is over with yet. We are actually encountering a lot of
support from established Texas Republicans who may not support Ron
Paul as their first Presidential nominee choice, but support cheaters
even less. They are joining with us in the effort to assure a fair
convention chair and agenda.
Which brings us to the next major point -- what is the strategy for
the State Convention overall? Some are suggesting strategies of
subterfuge, or of circling our wagons vs. theirs and trying to brute
force our way through. Typically these strategies focus on getting
national delegates elected, to the exclusion of everything else.
It is highly likely at this point that while these strategies might
have some success, pursuing them would mean losing greater
opportunities that probably exist. We know that Ron Paul has not made
a secret of his positions in Congress the last 30 years, and if he had
he would not have had the impact he has had on all of us. In the same
way, we can likely do more for this Party and this Country by
continuing to speak Truth to Power and bringing more like-minded
people in where we can find consensus than we can by hiding or seeking
only takeover. The conventions nationwide that have shown the most
success so far are the ones that have found friends and won hearts and
minds, not just delegate slots. Texas presents an opportunity to do
this like no other.
We are therefore anticipating a communication strategy aimed at
delegates which will focus on taking the anti-Ron Paul scare off and
focusing on the need to all fight for a fair convention. We will
provide information on the challenges and the remedies we are seeking,
and our proposal for a fair convention chair, agenda, and credentials
votes. We do not need everyone to necessarily agree to vote with us
on the issues or the delegates or the other national elections, but if
they will agree to vote with us on questions of fair play we will
actually have the forum to discuss those other issues with healthy
debate and free deliberation. That should be our first goal, because
without it we will get nothing else. "We" don't have the final
answers on everything any more than "they" do. We all know this
country has problems to discuss, and right now we should make sure
we can have the conversation.
Of course, John McCain still does not have a bound delegate lock, and
we are still working for the nomination of Ron Paul. But if we first
fight for and achieve a fair convention, we will likely find that when
the time comes to vote on the issues and the delegates, much of the
Ron Paul scare is gone and we are in fact welcome. We have seen this
pattern play out in some local areas around the state already, and
have every reason to believe it can be repeated in June in Houston.
So if you aren't already engaged with your local GOP, now is the time.
Go join the clubs, talk to them, get to know them. They will probably
find they agree with you on quite a lot, but don't expect them to love
you at first; we are being maligned and accussed of all manner of
illicit goals and ideas. But as Dr. Paul reminds us, diplomacy and
friendship works. Pursue peace now, but never give up and be prepared
to demand your rights to speak and that the law be followed.
Finally, in more concrete terms we are also working on getting some
training videos put together so that people can know what to expect.
We are also still seeking delegate strength counts, so please mail
those to <tx@ronpaul2008.com> if you haven't yet. Please make sure
you are getting your housing taken care of before options become too
limited; if you need help with housing options -- especially if money
is a concern -- contact Michelle Pineda, the Houston area housing
coordinator, at <michelle.s.pineda@gmail.com>. Delegate call packets
have begun arriving and will hopefully be in everyone's hands shortly.
And by all means plan to be there, whether you are a delegate or not.
Alternates are almost always seated, and even if you aren't an
alternate there will be ways to help. Plan to be there as much as you
can, too. Do not just show up on Saturday and expect it to be a great
help. Committee meetings will start on Monday, and this is where
things like the challenges will begin their real trial by fire. The
Convention Chair vote should take place on Thursday morning and is by
far the most important event of the week if we want a fair convention
and the State Party doesn't agree to cooperate ahead of time.
Plus, if you're there by Thursday, you can come to the Ron Paul's Old
Fashioned Ice Cream Social Thursday night at 9pm in the Ballroom at
the Hilton. More details on this will be coming, but this will be THE
social event of the convention -- don't miss it. This is Ron Paul's
home state convention, and we are dedicated to making it the best one
yet.
Jean McIver
Debra Medina
Jeremy Blosser