bobbyw24
07-31-2009, 09:17 AM
http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_politics/2009/07/ron-paul-invite-to-orlando-is-a-peace-offering-orange-gop-chief-says-.html
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Orange County is scheduled to host U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, the Libertarian presidential hopeful whose surge in popularity attracted new members to local Republican Party chapters, but in many cases sparked divisive fights for power.
That certainly played out in Orange, where county GOP chief Lew Oliver barely beat back a challenge by Paul supporters who teamed up last year with other dissidents and almost unseated the long-time leader. Oliver won his post by a slim 122-121 vote.
Since then, Oliver has continued to fend off internal challenges, many of them fueled by Paul supporters.
But Oliver said he wants to make nice, and it was his idea to invite Paul to speak to the county's Republican Party Executive Committee on Thursday. On Friday, Paul is scheduled to speak at the Florida Liberty Summit event, also in Orlando.
Oliver said bringing Paul to the party's executive committee to speak was meant to make a point, that the party is open to all viewpoints, he said. "This was not their idea, it was mine," Oliver said.
Nick Egoroff, a Paul supporter who has butted heads often with Oliver, said this was indeed an "olive branch" extended to disaffected party members.
"It was a nice gesture," Egoroff said. "Unfortunately, it was followed up with expulsions of myself and Doug Guetzloe" from the party executive committee.
Oliver filed grievances with the state party against both men, and a panel of party leaders heard the complaints in a closed hearing last week. No ruling has been made, yet, Egoroff said, but he doesn't have a lot of confidence in the outcome.
"We received a rather hostile hearing," Egoroff said. "So I don't have any hope we will be allowed to stay on" the executive committee.
Discuss This: Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Linking Blogs | Add to del.icio.us | Digg it
Orange County is scheduled to host U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, the Libertarian presidential hopeful whose surge in popularity attracted new members to local Republican Party chapters, but in many cases sparked divisive fights for power.
That certainly played out in Orange, where county GOP chief Lew Oliver barely beat back a challenge by Paul supporters who teamed up last year with other dissidents and almost unseated the long-time leader. Oliver won his post by a slim 122-121 vote.
Since then, Oliver has continued to fend off internal challenges, many of them fueled by Paul supporters.
But Oliver said he wants to make nice, and it was his idea to invite Paul to speak to the county's Republican Party Executive Committee on Thursday. On Friday, Paul is scheduled to speak at the Florida Liberty Summit event, also in Orlando.
Oliver said bringing Paul to the party's executive committee to speak was meant to make a point, that the party is open to all viewpoints, he said. "This was not their idea, it was mine," Oliver said.
Nick Egoroff, a Paul supporter who has butted heads often with Oliver, said this was indeed an "olive branch" extended to disaffected party members.
"It was a nice gesture," Egoroff said. "Unfortunately, it was followed up with expulsions of myself and Doug Guetzloe" from the party executive committee.
Oliver filed grievances with the state party against both men, and a panel of party leaders heard the complaints in a closed hearing last week. No ruling has been made, yet, Egoroff said, but he doesn't have a lot of confidence in the outcome.
"We received a rather hostile hearing," Egoroff said. "So I don't have any hope we will be allowed to stay on" the executive committee.