CFL Member Running for Florida GOP Chairman

[Matt Collins]

http://campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=6294


Here's one of the latest press releases from Interim State Coordinator (and Ron Paul 2008 Florida Coordinator) Mark Cross.
Contact: Mark Cross

www.CrossForFlorida.com (http://www.CrossForFlorida.com)

Office: 407-944-4242

Fax: 407-933-4242

Cell: 407-908-2749

For Immediate Release

December 1, 2008

MARK CROSS ANNOUNCES RUN FOR REPUBLICAN PARTY OF FLORIDA CHAIRMAN

Kissimmee---Osceola County State Committeeman Mark Cross announced his candidacy today for the position of Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida. During the coming weeks Cross will be traveling across Florida to visit with members of the State Committee about the future direction of the Republican Party. Cross is a traditional conservative from the Ronald Reagan wing of the party in sharp contrast to the current party leadership.

In announcing his candidacy, Cross called for a return to "principled party leadership". "We have to get back to the principles that made this Republican Party grand...less taxation, less government spending, fewer government regulations, and more personal responsibility. We have to offer the voters more than just lip service. We have to deliver."

Cross has promised to re-open the party to all Republicans. He pledged to end the blatant discrimination and infighting that has recently characterized the party. He recommended more financial assistance to smaller counties, recommended giving the RECs and the grassroots more local autonomy, and promised increased infrastructure for local elections. He pledged greater funding of the party's federal account with better coordination and seamless integration for federal candidates.

He then challenged the other candidates to debate the issues. "Anyone can talk about Republican Party successes and ignore the losses," Cross said, "but it takes "principled party leadership" to talk about specific setbacks and make the necessary course corrections. Debate denotes openness and self confidence and is a sign of health for the party. When people are afraid of openness, we lose."

Cross has an extensive Republican activist background. In Florida, he served as a delegate to Presidency 3 under the Chairmanship of Tom Slade. He served as Chairman of his local REC under RPOF Chairman Al Cardenas and served on Chairman Carole Jean Jordan's transition team. During his last term as County Chair, he led his REC to 100% Republican victory in a blue county. Cross is currently an enrolled agent, licensed by the US Treasury Dept. He is also a real estate broker.



Mark Cross

State Committeeman
As a 501(c)4, Campaign for Liberty cannot endorse candidates. This post is provided as an informational service to our supporters.

[Melissa]

That is wonderful news hope all Florida residents come out to support him

[tonesforjonesbones]

I will do all I can to support him here in Florida. Our chairman now, Jim Greer, is a centrist fabian..and one of the "party leaders" who is pulling the GOP to the left along with that RINO governner Charlie Crist. TONES

[Primbs]

This can have implications for the national RNC chairman race as well.

[MarkCrossEA]

http://campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=6294


Here's one of the latest press releases from Interim State Coordinator (and Ron Paul 2008 Florida Coordinator) Mark Cross.

www.CrossForFlorida.com (http://www.CrossForFlorida.com)

http://www.crossforflorida.com/05contribute.html

Office: 407-944-4242

Fax: 407-933-4242

Cell: 407-908-2749



Thanks for the post, Matt. The election is about 10 days from now. Everything is progressing smoothly, however we need a few more bucks to help with the campaign. If anyone can donate, it would be very much appreciated. Here is a letter Dr. Paul released on my behalf that contains links to the donation page of the website. Thanks in advance for all your help.

Mark Cross
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is Ron's letter:


What a year this has been!

And what achievements we have had. This Revolution is permanent. It didn't end at the Republican convention. It didn't end on November 5. It will not end until we have won the great battle on which we have embarked. Not because of me, but because of you. Millions of Americans have dedicated themselves to the principles of liberty: Freedom, Peace, and Prosperity.

An important next step toward fighting for our ideas within the Republican Party is the establishment of principled party leadership. In Florida there will be an election for a new state chairman on January 10, 2009. Only the State Committee will vote and only members of the State Committee can run. The elected State Committeeman from Osceola County is Mark Cross.

Mark Cross served as my Florida Coordinator for the Presidential campaign and was at my side for every debate and event scheduled in the Sunshine State. Mark helped establish an informal network of support across the state and I know that he has the integrity, leadership, and resources that would ensure a successful term as Chairman.

If the Republican Party is going to once again flourish, it is imperative that we restore honesty, integrity, and commitment to Liberty in our party. We need principled leadership, and I believe Mark Cross is the candidate to provide that leadership.

That is why I am endorsing Mark Cross for Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida. Please join with me in helping Mark become the next Florida Republican Party Chairman by giving a generous donation to his campaign. I have personally made a donation and urge you to do the same. We need principled party leadership in Florida and Mark will make that happen. Thank you.
In liberty,


Ron Paul

http://www.crossforflorida.com/05contribute.html

[Matt Collins]

Writes Eric Wall:

Mark Cross is a personal friend of mine and in my opinion would make a fine RPOF Chairman if elected by the Republican State Committee. We serve together on the Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida board. I am currently an At-large member and Mark is the Treasurer. Mark is an accountant by trade and served as the Florida coordinator for Ron Paul 2008, doing an outstanding job under the circumstances. He is also currently the State Committeeman for Osceola County, south of Orlando, where Disney World is located. He joins Eric Miller in opposing current Chairman Jim Greer for the post.


It is unclear whether his ties to the Ron Paul 2008 campaign will help or hurt his campaign. Despite being a 10-term Republican Congressman, Rep. Paul was constantly referred to as a Libertarian in the media. Eric Miller supported longshot candidate Rep. Duncan Hunter and Jim Greer supported primary winner Sen. John McCain. As a former regional field coordinator for Ron Paul 2008 myself, I was terribly disappointed at the total lack of support shown by the national campaign which led to a low vote total for Rep. Paul in the Florida primary. Since the primary was moved ahead of Super Tuesday, there was a refusal to send any money to Florida from the national campaign. Any money raised was from the grassroots and on the internet. There was no TV advertising whatsoever. Mark did whatever he could to remedy this situation, but it was out of his control. He helped to insure a large turnout of Ron Paul supporters at the debates held in Florida.


There have been isolated incidents of Ron Paul supporters in Orlando and Jacksonville causing problems with local leadership, but that is unlikely to hurt Mr. Cross, since he has opposed such behavior at county Republican Exec. Comm. meetings. He has encouraged libertarian-leaning Republicans to get involved on a local level and to treat all Republican party members with respect.



Here is the text of Rep. Paul’s endorsement:





Friends,
What a year this has been!


And what achievements we have had. This Revolution is permanent. It didn’t end at the Republican convention. It didn’t end on November 5. It will not end until we have won the great battle on which we have embarked. Not because of me, but because of you. Millions of Americans have dedicated themselves to the principles of liberty: Freedom, Peace, and Prosperity.


An important next step toward fighting for our ideas within the Republican Party is the establishment of principled party leadership. In Florida there will be an election for a new state chairman on January 10, 2009. Only the State Committee will vote and only members of the State Committee can run. The elected State Committeeman from Osceola County is Mark Cross.


Mark Cross served as my Florida Coordinator for the Presidential campaign and was at my side for every debate and event scheduled in the Sunshine State. Mark helped establish an informal network of support across the state and I know that he has the integrity, leadership, and resources that would ensure a successful term as Chairman.


If the Republican Party is going to once again flourish, it is imperative that we restore honesty, integrity, and commitment to Liberty in our party. We need principled leadership, and I believe Mark Cross is the candidate to provide that leadership.


That is why I am endorsing Mark Cross for Chairman of the Republican Party of Florida. Please join with me in helping Mark become the next Florida Republican Party Chairman by giving a generous donation to his campaign. I have personally made a donation and urge you to do the same. We need principled party leadership in Florida and Mark will make that happen. Thank you.


In Liberty,
Ron Paul

SOURCE:
http://www.stateofsunshine.com/2008/12/18/ron-paul-endorses-mark-cross-for-rpof-chairman/












.

[MarkCrossEA]

Writes Eric Wall:

Mark Cross is a personal friend of mine and in my opinion would make a fine RPOF Chairman if elected by the Republican State Committee. We serve together on the Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida board. I am currently an At-large member and Mark is the Treasurer. Mark is an accountant by trade and served as the Florida coordinator for Ron Paul 2008, doing an outstanding job under the circumstances. He is also currently the State Committeeman for Osceola County, south of Orlando, where Disney World is located. He joins Eric Miller in opposing current Chairman Jim Greer for the post.


It is unclear whether his ties to the Ron Paul 2008 campaign will help or hurt his campaign. Despite being a 10-term Republican Congressman, Rep. Paul was constantly referred to as a Libertarian in the media. Eric Miller supported longshot candidate Rep. Duncan Hunter and Jim Greer supported primary winner Sen. John McCain. As a former regional field coordinator for Ron Paul 2008 myself, I was terribly disappointed at the total lack of support shown by the national campaign which led to a low vote total for Rep. Paul in the Florida primary. Since the primary was moved ahead of Super Tuesday, there was a refusal to send any money to Florida from the national campaign. Any money raised was from the grassroots and on the internet. There was no TV advertising whatsoever. Mark did whatever he could to remedy this situation, but it was out of his control. He helped to insure a large turnout of Ron Paul supporters at the debates held in Florida.


There have been isolated incidents of Ron Paul supporters in Orlando and Jacksonville causing problems with local leadership, but that is unlikely to hurt Mr. Cross, since he has opposed such behavior at county Republican Exec. Comm. meetings. He has encouraged libertarian-leaning Republicans to get involved on a local level and to treat all Republican party members with respect.



Here is the text of Rep. Paul’s endorsement:



SOURCE:
http://www.stateofsunshine.com/2008/12/18/ron-paul-endorses-mark-cross-for-rpof-chairman/
.

Thanks for the heads up, Matt. The election is about a week away on January 10th and will be decided by about 225 members of the State Committee. Check out my contribute page at http://www.crossforflorida.com/05contribute.html You can see what Jim Greer raised and how he spent it when he ran the last time. Anyway, if anyone can spare a few bucks for a good cause, please donate. We need a few thousand dollars more in order to complete our campaign. Thanks.

http://www.crossforflorida.com/05contribute.html

[speciallyblend]

Good luck:) If i could just talk all the rp supporters to move to the colorado mtns:)

FREE STATE PROJECT would do so much better in the Co Mtns:) nobody could pay me to move east of denver or leave colorado!

nice to hear florida is fighting. I might have some news soon for colorado;) waiting on some info

[Matt Collins]

How does this work? Do you get to have a debate or give a speech in front of the group?

[MarkCrossEA]

How does this work? Do you get to have a debate or give a speech in front of the group?

Traditionally each candidate is usually allotted 15 or 20 minutes to speak. That time can be divided up anyway the candidate chooses. I have seen past elections where the time is taken up by prominent Republicans explaining why they would vote for a candidate. I have also seen candidates choose to take their own time and make a speech.

I have a call into the RPOF to see how it will be handled this year. So far I have not received a call back. We have one week to go.

As soon as I know what the procedure will be I will know what I need to do.

[Matt Collins]

Mark - I have see a great deal of talk within the GOP lately essentially echoing the Ron Paul viewpoints (without of course actually mentioning Ron's name). If you were to essentially regurgitate some of Ron's talking points in your own words, chances are, on an ideological level, you might be able to win. In other words, it's ok for Republicans to be conservatives again. Since Ron's ideas are the most conservative of pretty much anyone in the party, it seems logical that those talking points would be very very very well received.



However, my guess is that there are probably backroom deals and such that are going on. How many other candidates are running? Out of 225 voting members, how many do you need to win? How many are on your side already? What will it take to get the remaining members needed to win on your side?

[Matt Collins]

Mark - I have see a great deal of talk within the GOP lately essentially echoing the Ron Paul viewpoints (without of course actually mentioning Ron's name). If you were to essentially regurgitate some of Ron's talking points in your own words, chances are, on an ideological level, you might be able to win. In other words, it's ok for Republicans to be conservatives again. Since Ron's ideas are the most conservative of pretty much anyone in the party, it seems logical that those talking points would be very very very well received.



However, my guess is that there are probably backroom deals and such that are going on. How many other candidates are running? Out of 225 voting members, how many do you need to win? How many are on your side already? What will it take to get the remaining members needed to win on your side?

[Matt Collins]

http://www.jaxdaily.com/2009/01/04/an-interview-with-mark-cross-candidate-for-chairman-of-the-florida-gop/

Visit www.crossforflorida.com (http://www.crossforflorida.com/) and make a contribution for new Republican leadership.