This Weekend’s Undercard
Apparently there’s discontent beyond Chairman Alex Mooney, as National Committeeman Louis Pope has been the target of the the Maryland Liberty PAC. What follows is series of emails, first the Liberty PAC email, than a response from Louis Pope, and another response from a Kent County Central Committee member.
Red Maryland has no position on any of this, it’s just provided for information purposes.
* * * * * * * * *
The Maryland Republican Party National Committeeman Louis Pope sold the grassroots down the river during the Republican National Convention in Tampa this year.
Maybe you have seen some articles about the changes that the powerful leaders in the RNC pushed through during the convention in September.
All the conservatives were talking and writing about it–Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Morton Blackwell, Dudley Brown, and others.
They were writing about it because it was so destructive to our freedom and our chances at winning in the future.
The week before the convention started the Rules Committee met at the convention center to approve the rules that were sent to the convention by the RNC in the 4 years between this convention and last.
The Republican National Committee, in between conventions, is made up of all the state chairmen, the national committeemen, and the national committeewomen.
They convene, from time to time, as prescribed by the RNC Bylaws that govern the party– for carrying out the business of the party between conventions.
They are small in number and make up what can be called the “Establishment” of the Republican Party.
Since the 2008 election until the 2012 Tampa Republican National Convention, the conservatives at the RNC have been advocating for rule changes that would restore power to the grassroots.
They would make our own Republican primary elections more open, transparent, and free for those of us who want to see conservatives advance– rather than those who serve for solely political ends.
Morton Blackwell, founder of the Leadership Institute and long-time Republican activist, was one of those who were advocating the changes to bring the Party toward more openness.
In fact, the RNC voted unanimously to approve the rules changes proposed by Blackwell and the other conservatives.
Before the convention, it was clear that Romney was going to win the nomination of the Republican Party, as the primaries had all been held.
So, the week before the convention, the Rules Committee began to deliberate the rules changes to adopt on the floor.
To the surprise and disgust of the conservatives, Attorney Ben Ginsburg, the Romney Campaign representative on the Rules Committee, began to introduce amendments.
These amendments repealed all the positive grassroots advancing changes made in the off-campaign years by the RNC.
The Rules Committee members went along with these changes in order to please the Romney campaign.
Enter Louis Pope–sources on the Rules Committee reported that Louis Pope voted every single time possible to do the will of the Romney campaign against the best interests of the grassroots conservatives.
Pope was personally thanked for his work on the rules changes from the convention dais by none-other than John Sununu who served as chairman of that committee.
Please go here and watch Sununu and Boehner ram this through (the shouts from the floor have been muffled in the tape, but you can see the anger on delegates faces).
When you click on the link, scroll down on the timeline. At 2:27:54 you will see Sununu’s photo, click on it and the tape should load at the correct place.
Sununu thanks Louis Pope of Maryland and then a lip-licking-deer-in-the-
Here is the link again to this video:
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/
These rules changes were widely condemned by conservative leaders around the country.
See these links:
Morton Blackwell, President, Leadership Institute http://www.redstate.com/
Dudley Brown, National Association for Gun Rights Dudley Brown on 2012 RNC Change to Rules
Rush Limbaugh, National Conservative Talk Show Host http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/
Sarah Palin, Former Alaska Governor and Tea Party leader, and Mark Levin, National Conservative Talk Show Host http://www.breitbart.com/Big-
After the Rules Committee had voted on Monday at the Convention, there was a final meeting of the Rules Committee on Tuesday– where Morton Blackwell (and the rest of the Virginia Delegation) was kept from attending by a bus that seemed to get lost.
No floor fights have been allowed at the Republican national Convention since 1976, but we need to have conservative, independent, and committed national committeemen and women that have our interests in mind, not our “leaders” in the Party.
Bottom-up, not top-down.
Louis Pope acted as a hammer for the Republican Party Establishment– doing whatever they demanded.
He served as the Vice Chairman of the Rules Committee and voted for the bad rules amendments every time he had the opportunity.
Louis Pope added his name to a “minority report“ that would have let the RNC delegates vote on the alternative “Grassroots-focused” rules– simply so that he could later remove his name and stop the vote from being held.
It remains to be seen what Louis Pope will do now that he has no leader to direct his actions– he is, in the words of Morton Blackwell, an “Establishment Hack” and currently “unattached sycophant”.
Pope is unencumbered by principles and we deserve better representation.
The Maryland Republican Party deserves better.
In order to remove Louis Pope and elect a National Committeeman who stands on principle instead of standing for nothing, we need to first remove him from office.
According to the most recent version of the Maryland Republican Party Constitution and bylaws, we must first give the Party membership 20 days written notice to remove him.
I propose that the Maryland Republican Central Committee deliberate over the role of the position of National Committeeman over the coming 6 months.
I propose that at the Spring Convention, we vote for removal and elect a National Committeeman with the grassroots at the top of his priorities, not his party bosses.
Per the latest version of our Party Bylaws, we must convince ⅔ of the Central Committee to remove an officer from office.
This is a high hurdle, but it can be done by spreading the word about Pope’s abuses.
Let’s talk over the coming months about the role of the National Committeeman in the Maryland Republican Party, and act at the Spring Convention.
For Liberty,
Patrick L. McGrady
Chairman
Maryland Liberty PAC
410-357-1234
Patrick@MarylandLiberty.org
P.S. In case you missed it, we are hosting a Maryland Liberty Caucus event at the MDGOP Convention.
The event will take place this Friday, November 30th at 6pm at the Turf Valley Hotel and Conference Center, 2700 Turf Valley Rd., Ellicott City, MD 21042.
Register here: http://marylandgoprevolution.
We look forward to seeing you at the MDGOP Fall Convention this weekend!
AUTHORITY: JOSEPH FLECKENSTEIN, TREASURER, MARYLAND LIBERTY PAC
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT MARYLANDLIBERTY.ORG
Maybe you have seen some articles about the changes that the powerful leaders in the RNC pushed through during the convention in September.
All the conservatives were talking and writing about it–Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Morton Blackwell, Dudley Brown, and others.
They were writing about it because it was so destructive to our freedom and our chances at winning in the future.
The week before the convention started the Rules Committee met at the convention center to approve the rules that were sent to the convention by the RNC in the 4 years between this convention and last.
The Republican National Committee, in between conventions, is made up of all the state chairmen, the national committeemen, and the national committeewomen.
They convene, from time to time, as prescribed by the RNC Bylaws that govern the party– for carrying out the business of the party between conventions.
They are small in number and make up what can be called the “Establishment” of the Republican Party.
Since the 2008 election until the 2012 Tampa Republican National Convention, the conservatives at the RNC have been advocating for rule changes that would restore power to the grassroots.
They would make our own Republican primary elections more open, transparent, and free for those of us who want to see conservatives advance– rather than those who serve for solely political ends.
Morton Blackwell, founder of the Leadership Institute and long-time Republican activist, was one of those who were advocating the changes to bring the Party toward more openness.
In fact, the RNC voted unanimously to approve the rules changes proposed by Blackwell and the other conservatives.
Before the convention, it was clear that Romney was going to win the nomination of the Republican Party, as the primaries had all been held.
So, the week before the convention, the Rules Committee began to deliberate the rules changes to adopt on the floor.
To the surprise and disgust of the conservatives, Attorney Ben Ginsburg, the Romney Campaign representative on the Rules Committee, began to introduce amendments.
These amendments repealed all the positive grassroots advancing changes made in the off-campaign years by the RNC.
The Rules Committee members went along with these changes in order to please the Romney campaign.
Enter Louis Pope–sources on the Rules Committee reported that Louis Pope voted every single time possible to do the will of the Romney campaign against the best interests of the grassroots conservatives.
Pope was personally thanked for his work on the rules changes from the convention dais by none-other than John Sununu who served as chairman of that committee.
Please go here and watch Sununu and Boehner ram this through (the shouts from the floor have been muffled in the tape, but you can see the anger on delegates faces).
When you click on the link, scroll down on the timeline. At 2:27:54 you will see Sununu’s photo, click on it and the tape should load at the correct place.
Sununu thanks Louis Pope of Maryland and then a lip-licking-deer-in-the-
Here is the link again to this video:
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/
These rules changes were widely condemned by conservative leaders around the country.
See these links:
Morton Blackwell, President, Leadership Institute http://www.redstate.com/
Dudley Brown, National Association for Gun Rights Dudley Brown on 2012 RNC Change to Rules
Rush Limbaugh, National Conservative Talk Show Host http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/
Sarah Palin, Former Alaska Governor and Tea Party leader, and Mark Levin, National Conservative Talk Show Host http://www.breitbart.com/Big-
After the Rules Committee had voted on Monday at the Convention, there was a final meeting of the Rules Committee on Tuesday– where Morton Blackwell (and the rest of the Virginia Delegation) was kept from attending by a bus that seemed to get lost.
No floor fights have been allowed at the Republican national Convention since 1976, but we need to have conservative, independent, and committed national committeemen and women that have our interests in mind, not our “leaders” in the Party.
Bottom-up, not top-down.
Louis Pope acted as a hammer for the Republican Party Establishment– doing whatever they demanded.
He served as the Vice Chairman of the Rules Committee and voted for the bad rules amendments every time he had the opportunity.
Louis Pope added his name to a “minority report“ that would have let the RNC delegates vote on the alternative “Grassroots-focused” rules– simply so that he could later remove his name and stop the vote from being held.
It remains to be seen what Louis Pope will do now that he has no leader to direct his actions– he is, in the words of Morton Blackwell, an “Establishment Hack” and currently “unattached sycophant”.
Pope is unencumbered by principles and we deserve better representation.
The Maryland Republican Party deserves better.
In order to remove Louis Pope and elect a National Committeeman who stands on principle instead of standing for nothing, we need to first remove him from office.
According to the most recent version of the Maryland Republican Party Constitution and bylaws, we must first give the Party membership 20 days written notice to remove him.
I propose that the Maryland Republican Central Committee deliberate over the role of the position of National Committeeman over the coming 6 months.
I propose that at the Spring Convention, we vote for removal and elect a National Committeeman with the grassroots at the top of his priorities, not his party bosses.
Per the latest version of our Party Bylaws, we must convince ⅔ of the Central Committee to remove an officer from office.
This is a high hurdle, but it can be done by spreading the word about Pope’s abuses.
Let’s talk over the coming months about the role of the National Committeeman in the Maryland Republican Party, and act at the Spring Convention.
For Liberty,
Patrick L. McGrady
Chairman
Maryland Liberty PAC
410-357-1234
Patrick@MarylandLiberty.org
P.S. In case you missed it, we are hosting a Maryland Liberty Caucus event at the MDGOP Convention.
The event will take place this Friday, November 30th at 6pm at the Turf Valley Hotel and Conference Center, 2700 Turf Valley Rd., Ellicott City, MD 21042.
Register here: http://marylandgoprevolution.
We look forward to seeing you at the MDGOP Fall Convention this weekend!
AUTHORITY: JOSEPH FLECKENSTEIN, TREASURER, MARYLAND LIBERTY PAC
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT MARYLANDLIBERTY.ORG
* * * * * * * *
| from: | Louis Pope |
| date: | Fri, Nov 30, 2012 at 12:06 PM | ||
| subject: | Response to Attack by Liberty Pack |
Hi Everyone – Yesterday, most all of you received a very slanderous e-mail from Patrick McGrady of the Maryland Liberty Pack which is part of the Ron Paul for President Organization, condemning me for my role on the RNC Rules Committee in Tampa. This group and many similar Ron Paul organizations across the country, while calling themselves Republicans, pledged NOT to support the Republican Nominee unless that nominee was Ron Paul. They said they would sit out the election and since several million fewer Republicans voted in 2012 than in 2008 it looks like they did exactly that. It is obvious that they are still frustrated and want to bring down the mainstream conservatives in the GOP in and effort to install Ron Paul supporters. Their slash and burn tactics are also being used in a number of other states. Below is my response to the events regarding Rule 16 at the Rules Committee Meeting in Tampa. I look forward to seeing you all tonight and tomorrow in Ellicott City – All the Best, Louis
Response to the Questions raised by the Liberty Pack
Re: Republican National Convention, Rules Committee
The fight over the Rules Committee report was between the supporters of Ron Paul and the more mainstream Republicans at the Convention. If you recall the Ron Paul supporters made attempts to disrupt and in some cases totally dominate GOP State Conventions across the country last Spring. In several states police had to be called in to provide order to the proceedings.
The rules adopted at the RNC Convention provided a compromise solution to the issue that basically said the Delegates from each state would be apportioned and subsequently voted at the RNC Convention in relation how the actual voters voted in a Primary Election rather than at separate state conventions that could be dominate by a specific group like the Ron Paul supporters.
In a number of states Paul supporters bussed in hundreds and hundreds of supporters and were able to overwhelm the local delegates and proceedings and elect Delegates to the RNC Convention favorable to Ron Paul rather than selecting Delegates in proportion to how the actual Voters had voted for Presidential nominees at the Polls in that state. Needless to say, when the Rules were adopted at the RNC Convention to prevent such cases in the future that circumvented the will of the actual voting public, the Paul supporters became very angry, belligerent and said they would do everything possible to bring down those on the Rules Committee who supported the compromise on Rule 16.
The final vote on the Rules Committee for adoption was overwhelming in favor of supporting the will of the voters rather than allowing Paul supporters to later dominate a state convention by sheer numbers of people attending that convention meeting. I do not remember the exact vote total for the Compromise Resolution at the Rules Committee but it was something like 82-17. I guess as a member of the RNC and as Vice Chairman of that Rules Committee I make a suitable target for their anger. I did support the compromise as well as the overwhelming majority of Delegates from 50 states plus the Territories but believe the action was correct to respect the Will of the actual voters at the polls, which is the most broad based consensus of Republicans in determining the ultimate party nominee.
I am happy to provide more information to anyone interested or even transcripts of what happened at the Rules Committee meetings in Tampa. The RNC Rules Committee was democratically elected with two members from each state and territory and met on three days in Tampa in accordance with the rules like any other legislative or deliberative body. Ideas or amendments are proposed, debated and voted on and it is majority rule, however, in this case the vote was not even close. The final vote on the compromise was overwhelming 4 to 1 in favor of supporting the broad based Compromise Resolution. The Rules as amended were later adopted by the full RNC Convention
Louis M. Pope
Republican National
Committeeman for Maryland
RNC Vice Chairman
Republican National
Committeeman for Maryland
RNC Vice Chairman
* * * * * * * * *
| from: | Hank Piasecki |
| date: | Fri, Nov 30, 2012 at 1:43 PM | ||
| subject: | Re: Response to Attack by Liberty Pack |
Dear Louis,
As a member of the Kent County Republican Central Committee and an activist in the Republican Party I was very disappointed by the actions of some in our ranks at the Tampa convention with regards to Rule 16. And with all due respect I am subsequently equally disappointed in your characterization of the matter as a whole. The fight over Rule 16 in Tampa was by no means simply a fight between “supporters of Ron Paul” and “more mainstream Republicans”.
As I’m certain you are aware, the rule sought to change the GOP presidential electoral process at a fundamental level; removing power from state conventions and GOP primary voters to elect delegates to the national convention. And further granting power to national-level party members at the RNC to remove and replace delegates at their discretion.
This rule was not just opposed by “supporters of Ron Paul”, but by long-time Republican activist, Reagan official, and Rules Committee member Morton Blackwell as well as other “mainstream Republicans” such as Sarah Palin, Mark Levin, Michelle Malkin and the grassroots organization FreedomWorks run by former House leader Dick Armey. Blackwell summed it up with these words: “What happened regarding the party rules in Tampa was a totally unnecessary – but largely successful – attempt to concentrate and centralize more power at the top of the party and restrict or shut off opportunities for power in the party to flow from the bottom up.”
I implore you to please read your colleague Morton Blackwell’s entire letter to fellow delegates of the 2012 Tampa convention: http://www.redstate.com/
I certainly hope that you, as our national committeeman, will do all in your power to join with Mr. Blackwell and others who wish to protect the integrity of the GOP presidential process in future disputes over this matter. We must protect our ability as members of state party’s and as GOP primary voters to send the delegates to these conventions that represent our wishes, not the wishes of party bosses at the RNC.
I should note that I am a mainstream conservative Republican and was a delegate candidate for Senator Rick Santorum, not Congressman Paul. My opposition to Rule 16 and your characterization of it stems from my growing concern over the future of our party and its ability to function in a way beholden to its conservative (not Libertarian) base and in keeping with the principles that built it. Please keep this in mind as you represent us on the national level.
Best regards,
Hank Piasecki
Kent County Republican Central Committee
