PDA

View Full Version : My take on the TX convention




dirknb@hotmail.com
06-15-2008, 10:58 PM
If every one of us who participated as delegates return in 2010 in the more lightly attended convention in a non-presidential year with just one more person each, we'll own the TX GOP.

Out of about 5,800 delegates & alternates we had about 1/3 of the crowd. Not enough to get much accomplished, but enough to have a very noticeable presence. The RP rally on Thursday night had a crowd of around 2,000.

The other 2/3 of the crowd were sheep for the most part, having multiple orgasms as one psycho speaker after another on the main stage spoonfed them a bunch of empty rhetoric and canned issues that they bought hook, line & sinker. However, we were able to at least get some of the sheep to think for themselves a little on some issues here and there and there were little victories scattered throughout.

From what I've heard we had 1 of us elected as a national delegate and 30 of us elected as alternates although I can't vouch for the accuracy of those numbers.

Bottom line, in 2010 if we show up in force, we rule.

NBTxn4RP
06-15-2008, 11:05 PM
I agree. The problem is that I know of more than a few people who said that what happened at the convention turned them off to the party for good...and these people had been with the party for a long time as regular delegates/alternates.

I am certainly going to do my best to get everyone I know of to return, so we can rule...("The GOP Rules...let's follow them!" nod).

dirknb@hotmail.com
06-15-2008, 11:09 PM
I agree. The problem is that I know of more than a few people who said that what happened at the convention turned them off to the party for good...and these people had been with the party for a long time as regular delegates/alternates.

I am certainly going to do my best to get everyone I know of to return, so we can rule...("The GOP Rules...let's follow them!" nod).

I hear you, but two years is a long way off. I think we have all had it up to our eyeballs with the GOP at this point. Hell, I wanted to bail early but my wife and I decided to stick it out to the bitter end. After a break people will become energized again. We've got to educate the public and create more of us.

NBTxn4RP
06-15-2008, 11:10 PM
Maybe this is a dumb question, but I'm new to all this...Do the same people who were elected as delegate/alternates return? Or are there new county elections?

The problem in my county is that it is one of the most active in Texas...those delegates elected show up and stay to the end! And, the number of our delegates decreased this year, by about 1/2...apparently the number of delegates a county was awarded depended on how many people within the county voted for Perry in the last gubernatorial election! At least we don't appear to like some neocons!

dirknb@hotmail.com
06-15-2008, 11:11 PM
Maybe this is a dumb question, but I'm new to all this...Do the same people who were elected as delegate/alternates return? Or are there new county elections?

The problem in my county is that it is one of the most active in Texas...those delegates elected show up and stay to the end! And, the number of our delegates decreased this year, by about 1/2...apparently the number of delegates a county was awarded depended on how many people within the county voted for Perry in the last gubernatorial election! At least we don't appear to like some neocons!

There will be a primary for the gubernatorial election and the process will be about the same. And yes, the number of delegates is determined by the number of votes for the Republican candidate in the previous election. Don't know if it will be based on votes for Perry in '06 or votes for McCain in '08. Anyone know?

acroso
06-15-2008, 11:25 PM
The Paul coalition caught a lot of people when they were young and in college like Goldwater did.

These people will live for a long time yet.

dirknb@hotmail.com
06-15-2008, 11:29 PM
The Paul coalition caught a lot of people when they were young and in college like Goldwater did.

These people will live for a long time yet.

Our 1/3 of the crowd was way younger on average than the other 2/3 of the crowd.

NBTxn4RP
06-15-2008, 11:29 PM
That's what I was telling someone at the convention...I saw a lot of OLD people there, and eventually we will take their places...and we will reclaim the party!

NBTxn4RP
06-15-2008, 11:31 PM
However, we must be on guard to keep from becoming soft like those OLD people, who were most likely around for Goldwater...

acroso
06-15-2008, 11:48 PM
However, we must be on guard to keep from becoming soft like those OLD people, who were most likely around for Goldwater...


There is a George Will quote about how Goldwater really won in 1964, but he did so in 1980 with the Reagan Revolution.

Lightyears better than the Bush's and Clinton's no doubt although not perfect.

Bryan
06-16-2008, 12:16 AM
There will be a primary for the gubernatorial election and the process will be about the same. And yes, the number of delegates is determined by the number of votes for the Republican candidate in the previous election. Don't know if it will be based on votes for Perry in '06 or votes for McCain in '08. Anyone know?
It will still be for Perry in '06-- but there was a rules change that I think passed to increase the number of delegates and keep it closer to 8000 then the 5000+ it was this year. We got a good report of this in our SD 7 caucus and it was mentioned in the second general assembly.

TastyWheat
06-16-2008, 01:27 AM
Our 1/3 of the crowd was way younger on average than the other 2/3 of the crowd.
Yeah, and that 2/3 is used to doing things their way by letting the officials and the bureaucrats do all the work and they bob their heads like chickens in blind approval. Most of them really don't want to do any work aside from upholding the status quo.

The one constant is that things can and do change.

dirknb@hotmail.com
06-16-2008, 07:10 AM
Yeah, and that 2/3 is used to doing things their way by letting the officials and the bureaucrats do all the work and they bob their heads like chickens in blind approval. Most of them really don't want to do any work aside from upholding the status quo.

The one constant is that things can and do change.

We spoke with someone who has been involved in the state party since the 60's and told him how we found it irritating that each day started with several hours worth of speakers and that by the time it got down to business everyone was just ready to get it over with and get out of there. He said there used to be a lot more heated debate on the floor of the general assembly and the party started scheduling all of the speakers to wear people down to make things "nicer". It totally went over his head how the party was doing this to just steamroll their agenda over the delegation with little resistance or understanding of what they were voting on. He actually thought it was a good thing.

JS4Pat
06-16-2008, 07:21 AM
The other 2/3 of the crowd were sheep for the most part, having multiple orgasms as one psycho speaker after another on the main stage spoonfed them a bunch of empty rhetoric and canned issues that they bought hook, line & sinker.

It's so reassuring to know there are people out there who see things the same way I do. I am not alone... :D

Elwar
06-16-2008, 08:26 AM
I kinda befriended one of the old folks...told him right up front that I was from the Libertarian Party...he asked me if I'd ever been to a convention before. I said...well, not a Republican one :)

He was very welcoming and told me that when he first started working with the party (I assume it was during the Reagan days) he was part of a small group of outsiders like myself (or maybe he was part of the religious right...who knows). He just suggested I work with the party...volunteer for some minor position next time like secretary or whatever.

TastyWheat
06-16-2008, 08:32 AM
He just suggested I work with the party...volunteer for some minor position next time like secretary or whatever.
A very good idea for all of us. If you want to win the approval of the establishment you'll have to do a little leg work. It doesn't have to be campaigning for a certain candidate, especially since most of them suck, but volunteering in some form or another wins major brownie points.

jblosser
06-16-2008, 08:46 AM
"We" were only actually around 20% of the delegation directly; at least 1/3 of ours did not show up. We made back another 10-15% that were not Ron Paul people, but sympathetic to what we were asking for. And a lot of that 10-15% crowd was older.

dirknb@hotmail.com
06-16-2008, 08:48 AM
I kinda befriended one of the old folks...told him right up front that I was from the Libertarian Party...he asked me if I'd ever been to a convention before. I said...well, not a Republican one :)

He was very welcoming and told me that when he first started working with the party (I assume it was during the Reagan days) he was part of a small group of outsiders like myself (or maybe he was part of the religious right...who knows). He just suggested I work with the party...volunteer for some minor position next time like secretary or whatever.

The way we have the most chance for success is to become involved with the party at our local level. That's going to mean having to hold our nose a little to do it, but building your party resume will be extremely beneficial down the road. If you are familiar with G. Edward Griffin's Freedom Force International (http://www.freedom-force.org) that is exactly the strategy contained in the FFI Creed. To take back the power centers of the nation by becoming the people who run them. In addition to becoming involved in RP's new CFL (http://www.campaignforliberty.com) I highly recommend FFI and the Republican Liberty Caucus (http://www.rlc.org) alongside it. We can own the GOP in a few years by taking it over from the inside. In the meantime, 3rd parties will still just get a fraction of the vote because the MSM will still shut them out.

Elwar
06-16-2008, 09:12 AM
From my congressional caucus we had one county (Comal) that voted consistently against us unanimously. They had 45 people. It just made me realize that you can't just bring a few of your neighbors. We'll need to go out to other counties and organize.

Austin had probably the largest contingent of Ron Paul supporters in the state if not the country but their votes were countered by the small neighbor county to the south.

We need at least one ally from every precinct. More if those precincts have active party members. This should be our goal for 2006.

dirknb@hotmail.com
06-16-2008, 09:14 AM
From my congressional caucus we had one county (Comal) that voted consistently against us unanimously. They had 45 people. It just made me realize that you can't just bring a few of your neighbors. We'll need to go out to other counties and organize.

Austin had probably the largest contingent of Ron Paul supporters in the state if not the country but their votes were countered by the small neighbor county to the south.

We need at least one ally from every precinct. More if those precincts have active party members. This should be our goal for 2006.

Agreed. My SD & CD are both very Democratic and very big, reaching nearly all the way to El Paso. In our CD, out of about 24 counties that it includes (most of which are bigger than Rhode Island), almost half of those counties had no one show up at all. They are ripe for the picking.

DeadtoSin
06-16-2008, 09:15 AM
Well, I couldn't make it to the convention this year, but I'll be down for the upcoming convention. In fact, I'm going to plan around it instead of just hoping.

+1 RP supporter at the off-year convention. :D

Dustancostine
06-16-2008, 09:15 AM
From my congressional caucus we had one county (Comal) that voted consistently against us unanimously. They had 45 people. It just made me realize that you can't just bring a few of your neighbors. We'll need to go out to other counties and organize.

Austin had probably the largest contingent of Ron Paul supporters in the state if not the country but their votes were countered by the small neighbor county to the south.

We need at least one ally from every precinct. More if those precincts have active party members. This should be our goal for 2006.

Exactly. You cannot just organize your county but you must organize your SD and your CD. Not only will you set your self up to do well at future conventions, but you will set yourself up to win future State Senate and US Congressional seats.

DeadtoSin
06-16-2008, 09:21 AM
Our county GOP is really getting a bit fed up with Bush Co. They still hold onto some of the rhetoric, but the delegates at our county convention really voted with us on some resolutions.

At our county convention a little bit less than 1/2 of the delegates were RP supporters, and on some things we got around 3/4s of a vote. They followed election rules to the letter even though it cost the leadership a vote on a resolution. With some parliamentary action going on we nearly passed a resolution calling for the return of the gold standard.

They had a great attitude about it as well. They said that they did not support certain resolutions, but we were the elected delegates so it was up to us.

I'm so proud of Fannin County right now. They're still mostly asleep, but at least they listen. :D

dirknb@hotmail.com
06-16-2008, 09:29 AM
Our county GOP is really getting a bit fed up with Bush Co. They still hold onto some of the rhetoric, but the delegates at our county convention really voted with us on some resolutions.

At our county convention a little bit less than 1/2 of the delegates were RP supporters, and on some things we got around 3/4s of a vote. They followed election rules to the letter even though it cost the leadership a vote on a resolution. With some parliamentary action going on we nearly passed a resolution calling for the return of the gold standard.

They had a great attitude about it as well. They said that they did not support certain resolutions, but we were the elected delegates so it was up to us.

I'm so proud of Fannin County right now. They're still mostly asleep, but at least they listen. :D

At our SD convention back in March, and at both our SD & CD caucuses at the state convention they were very fair and professional. For the most part, although not all, the people here at the local level are good people who are just being blinded. There are a number of them we have identified who seem to be more open minded than the others that we are going to work on. There are definitely a few that have been hostile, but overall they have been welcoming. Now that the RP '08 thing is pretty much over in the conventional sense, there are a few local candidates who aren't too bad that my wife and I feel we can back. Working side by side with those same people here and there will do wonders to our credibility in the local party. I'm no fan of the Republican Party, but we have a golden opportunity to remake it in our image with a little persistence. I'm just going to have to find a way to do it and get past this November without making it too obvious how much I loathe McPain!

jblosser
06-16-2008, 09:35 AM
Austin had probably the largest contingent of Ron Paul supporters in the state if not the country but their votes were countered by the small neighbor county to the south.

Austin had a lot of very dedicated people; unfortunately their relative population and historic voting patterns meant not a lot of actual delegates were available there.

DFW had large delegate blocs and cross-county communication, which resulted in Jean McIver's win, several national del/alts, and wins and near-wins for Robert McDonald.

So yeah... it takes more than working your direct area.

NBTxn4RP
06-16-2008, 10:55 AM
For some reason I am unable to quote Elwar today at 10:12am...

I am from Comal County, and I agree that they tend to vote as a block. Several of us were alternates and supported Ron Paul, but we would never get seated because the stalwarts were there early, and stayed to the end. I did use this convention as an opportunity to get myself known within that group, and to try to change some of their ways of thinking.

However, I do believe that there were some people within that group that were open because toward the end, voting on delegates, I noticed that some of the votes became 43-2...But, I'm not going anywhere...like I said before, they're old, and someday I and my like-minded friends will be in positions of power in our county!

NBTxn4RP
06-16-2008, 10:57 AM
Oh yeah...kuddos to the Austin group, which I sat behind during the senatorial district meetings (because I never got seated)...ya'll looked very organized...and I'm proud to have you "keep Austin weird"! Now if I could just make New Braunfels a little weirder...

speciallyblend
06-16-2008, 11:02 AM
I sense a NEW PARTY coming Sept 2nd;) Called The Liberty Party, including lp/cp/dems and republicans and all voters on a NEW PLATFORM that crosses all party lines. I HAVE HOPE.

I feel it coming;)

Texan4RP
06-16-2008, 07:07 PM
I was in SD23 (state conv) which was one of the three districts that voted Paul Perry @ Debra Medina to have a shot at being voted for. This same SD23 was very snub towards us at the SD conv. (in Dallas) but seemed to ease up when they found that we were not as hostile as they thought we would be.
One of the Credentials ladies (state) that sat in on the Nueces County railroading event actually addressed our caucus before we voted for Debra Medina and said she was not a Ron Paul supporter but that she had never seen such corruption like she witnessed with the Nueces incident. She was down right mad when she started talking about Tina Benkiser. It was really refreshing to see the party regulars admit that there have been mistakes and to see some turn to our side. The lady that spoke for Medina said she could see why the Ron Paul people were so upset. She agreed it was bad manipulation going on. This has given me the bounce I need to be able to hold my nose and go through the hold my nose process for the end run to Liberty. Hey I think I can stomach it for my children's children.
I was encouraged by this action this lady took and guess what we put Medina on the ballot by 2 votes. Me and 2 other RP alternates that got seated at the caucus. We were the only RP people at this SD23.
That's what I call CHANGE!

dirknb@hotmail.com
06-16-2008, 09:01 PM
I was in SD23 (state conv) which was one of the three districts that voted Paul Perry @ Debra Medina to have a shot at being voted for. This same SD23 was very snub towards us at the SD conv. (in Dallas) but seemed to ease up when they found that we were not as hostile as they thought we would be.
One of the Credentials ladies (state) that sat in on the Nueces County railroading event actually addressed our caucus before we voted for Debra Medina and said she was not a Ron Paul supporter but that she had never seen such corruption like she witnessed with the Nueces incident. She was down right mad when she started talking about Tina Benkiser. It was really refreshing to see the party regulars admit that there have been mistakes and to see some turn to our side. The lady that spoke for Medina said she could see why the Ron Paul people were so upset. She agreed it was bad manipulation going on. This has given me the bounce I need to be able to hold my nose and go through the hold my nose process for the end run to Liberty. Hey I think I can stomach it for my children's children.
I was encouraged by this action this lady took and guess what we put Medina on the ballot by 2 votes. Me and 2 other RP alternates that got seated at the caucus. We were the only RP people at this SD23.
That's what I call CHANGE!

Cool, that's good to hear.

dirknb@hotmail.com
06-17-2008, 09:55 AM
Another thing I heard several times from the sheep is how screwed up the party is at the national level. Yet people like Huckabee, Romney, Gingrich, & Kay Bailey Hutchison got huge applause and standing ovations of course. If we can just get the locals to connect the dots.....