GOP State Convention: Déjà vu All Over Again

The 2008 Republican State Convention has come and gone, but the concerns of many long-time grassroots activists have only been confirmed once again. With a little over 4,000 delegates and 2,000 alternates in attendance, this convention was very poorly attended. Along with the dismal attendance at last fall’s straw poll, this is not a good omen in a presidential election year in which Texas Democrats are energized by Barack Obama. And with the heavy-handed manner in which RPT leadership brushed aside any and all questions regarding rules violations, the prevailing sentiment of many delegates is one of frustration. That is not an attitude conducive to victory in November.
The same leadership which has basically been in charge of the Republican Party of Texas since 1997 was reelected, along with their choice for national committeewoman. Backstage at the convention, David Barton, former vice chairman of the party, and Jeff Fisher, former executive director, continued to call the shots. Their friends and family members continue to be employed by the party. And their brand of top-down leadership continued to stifle all debate.
On the credentials committee, a minority report was not recognized as valid because it was turned in after the committee had adjourned. A permanent chair of the convention was not elected until late into the second day of the convention after much of the convention business had been conducted. And the permanent chair continued to run roughshod over any delegates who questioned procedure.
Challengers for the state chairman and vice chairman positions were labeled as Ron Paul supporters, although both of them have been long-time party activists. Considering that Paul Perry’s campaign for state chair was a last-minute effort, he garnered a surprising number of votes. But many delegates did not understand enough about the rules violations, or did not think it was important enough, to support Perry.
In my opinion, the problems with the Republican Party of Texas have gotten worse with each of the last five state conventions. When Tina Benkiser chaired the Rules Committee in 2002 and basically ignored parliamentary procedure, we got our first clue as to what type of leader she might be. At that time she was following the direction of then Chairman Susan Weddington and Vice Chairman David Barton. Now that Benkiser is Chairman, it seems that she is still following the direction of David Barton. And until we can elect a new slate and rid the party of the Barton, Benkiser, Fisher clique, we shouldn’t expect things to get better. Unfortunately, Benkiser is still not term limited. She can run one more time in 2010. Unless the delegates are educated regarding the abuse of power and the incompetence of the party, she could be reelected yet again. Under the current leadership, the convention has become a slick production that is designed more for entertainment than for delegate participation. Those delegates who want to actually debate and vote on issues from the floor are labeled as troublemakers. I know of at least one delegate who was ejected from the convention for attempting to enforce fair discussion.
Unfortunately, most of our elected officials and candidates ignore the state party and our platform. The RPT has become almost irrelevant. While the RPT touts the increased number of elected Republicans statewide, the last couple of elections have seen losses of Republican-held seats both in Congress (DeLay and Bonilla) and in the state legislature. There have been four Executive Directors in the state party in the last four years. And fundraising for the party has become more difficult, with most donors preferring to give contributions directly to candidates.
Fortunately, former Secretary of State Roger Williams is heading up the Victory 2008 effort, which is an organization that is independent from the state party, and he is doing a great job of registering new voters and organizing precinct walks. Let’s hope that the Victory organization will energize our voters. Because after this convention, it is evident that many Republicans either stayed home and did not participate, or were treated so unfairly that they may stay home in November. And that would be a disaster for the party. Let’s hope it doesn’t take an election massacre to finally get new leadership. And let’s hope that one day soon we will have state party leaders who will welcome all delegates and treat them with respect. That is the only way to build the party and to field a winning team. And that will not happen unless we elect new leadership for the Republican Party of Texas.