#ncgop: Gettin’ all stupid up in here!
”Yo, you don’t even know what stupid is. It’s about to get all stupid up in here!
”
— Michael Scott, Dunder-Mifflin Paper Co.
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All of the spin about unity and harmony coming out of Raleigh doesn’t appear to be reaching the grassroots folks out in the real world. Here’s a little love note from Hal and Raynor James of the Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association:
Dear Fellow Citizens,
Hold on to your hats. This is ugly, and your help is needed.
A new chapter in the HB 373, SB 119 (shadow parties in the NC House and Senate, plus additional shadow parties in the Council of State for the Governor) fiasco has been revealed today.
Like many of you, we got an email purporting to come from NC GOP Chairman, Hasan Harnett today speaking of party unity and explaining that the affiliated party committees would not be activated.
We replied countering the arguments that everything is all right, and stating in no uncertain terms what we believe the real situation is and why. (We’ll send you a copy of that email if you’d like it.)
We got a reply, not from Hasan, but from Dallas Woodhouse who said, “Thanks for your comments. We are working to keep all the republican elements together making the law changes moot.”
A proper translation of that email might read, “The RINO establishment has succeeded in usurping control of the NC GOP, so it will be unnecessary to activate the affiliated party committees unless the grassroots gets control back.”
We talked to a friend who had gotten exactly the same reply from Dallas Woodhouse when he tried to reply to Hasan Harnett and smelled a rat, so we wrote to Hasan on his personal email. That led to a long phone conversation.
Hasan Harnett and Michele Nix have been “played” by the RINO establishment.
In most state parties, the party chairman selects his or her staff. They select an Executive Director and pull together an office staff, and the team thus formed works effectively together.
North Carolina is odd in that regard. The Central Committee hires the Executive Director and he/she hires the staff. Games were played in the Central Committee. The top 5 candidates for Executive Director were to be interviewed, but somehow the 6th candidate on the list was interviewed as if he had been one of the top 5, and (are you ready for this?), he was hired. He is the aforementioned Dallas Woodhouse.
The rest of the staff is left over from the prior team.
Guess what? The new Executive Director, Dallas Woodhouse, and the rest of the “team” have frozen Hasan out. They have changed the passwords and user names on the email accounts, and Hasan cannot sign checks. How’s that for a helpful staff?
The RINO establishment types have been prodding Hasan to raise funds, and at the same time they’ve been asking the usual big donors to hold back on donations, so they can chastise Hasan for “failure to be a good fund raiser.” The truth is that the GOP is in about the usual situation with respect to funds raised at this time in the campaign cycle. This is an artificially created situation. The establishment is trying to manufacture a crisis and use it to do what they’ve been planning to do ever since Hasan and Michele were elected.
Hasan has never received a salary as Chairman, and to put the icing on the cake, the Central Committee has refused to continue paying his travel expenses. So here’s their message to Hasan, “Don’t travel. Don’t have control of your office and email. Do raise money. Why haven’t you raised it yet?” If you were faced with that situation, would you find the job doable?
So what are we going to do about it? Let’s email (hasan.harnett@gmail.com) and call (704-526-9432) Hasan and ask him to set up a new bank account to work with. Let’s send him $5, $10, or whatever we can afford regularly. Let’s ask Hasan what else we can volunteer to do that will help.
Let’s also get this information to as many people as we can and urge them to do the same. Let’s form our own network of support to help Hasan help Constitutional conservative candidates get elected, and let’s shine bright sunlight on the evil deeds of the schemers. It’s time their divisive tactics are exposed.
Yours in freedom,
Hal and Raynor James
You hear a lot of talk about RINOs and GOPe. We got our hands on an email that clearly illustrates just who those people are. The writer is Garry Terry, chairman of the First Congressional District GOP. (You know the First District? That GOP hotbed? Butterfield-Land?) He appears to be responding to Hal and Raynor’s email above:
I received the email below from a friend of mine. Please read it before you read any further. Until the email that the Chairman sent Saturday morning publically attacking the Central Committee, I was hoping that there was a way forward with his leadership.
At this point, I don’t see it. My reason for wanting to hire an ED on Saturday was to reassure investors in our party, our elected leaders and the public at large that we are able to lead the way to victory in next year’s election.
The hiring of an ED with experience could certainly help an inexperienced Chairman at a crucial time when he needs it most.
Right now, Roy Cooper and those running against the Lt Gov need to be receiving attacks on an almost daily basis.
Instead, I now believe that divisions in the Party largely caused by the election of an inexperienced chairman are going to cause us to lose the Governor’s office and much more because we can’t get our act together.
I’m tired of seeing this crap going on. If he can’t get up to speed, he should step down. The disrespect of David Lewis on Saturday could have and should have been addressed by the Chairman of our Party.
But he fueled it with the email he sent out attacking the General Assembly. And now someone thinks anyone is going to come to our Hall of Fame Banquet?
Again, I say – that is not his job. If he was an effective leader, he could have lobbied behind closed doors and possibly have kept it from happening at all.
David Lewis deserves the respect of those who were mad at him. I know what he has done. The Chairman obviously doesn’t.
The big question that everyone should be asking is WHY the General Assembly did what they did. The answer to that question should be more important than anything else.
And I believe that answer points directly to the leadership of our Party. Furthermore, I believe the Chairman used the whole ugly thing as a way to gain admiration and attention among the grassroots of the Party.
And that’s my beef with him. If you reread the email he sent out Saturday morning, it seems more about him than the Party. The Chairman had the opportunity to be one of the very best state party chairmen in the nation.
But instead of keeping experienced staff, including an outstanding ED, he has chosen the path of division. The tactic of trying to turn the grassroots of the Party against the Central Committee is absolutely despicable and he owes the Committee a public apology. Obviously that isn’t going to happen.
So, why not? Those of us who sit on this committee have invested a lot of time and money to gain the trust of those who elected us. When you compare that to a Chairman who’s only claim to fame is that he SAID that he was a TEA Party conservative, something doesn’t add up.
If he is, my question is who, what, when and where? Prior to his election, I couldn’t find it.
Those of us who have been involved with Party politics and structure want to maintain control of this State. Instead, the Chairman has embarked on a statewide love tour. Admiration by followers gives everyone a warm and fuzzy feeling, but that doesn’t elect Republicans.
Decisions we made Saturday are being turned against us……again, the reason is more about the Chairman than the Party.
Many of us have worked very hard to make the NC GOP look like America. Sadly, the race card is also coming in this. But, I have no regrets for the decisions we made Saturday.
Do you think it’s easy or enjoyable going against the Chairman of this Party? No, it’s not. Although I did not vote for him, I saw a world of possibilities with his election and had hoped that he would succeed and would be able to lead us to victory.
I have a loving heart, but also foresight and a very determined interest that we maintain the Party’s control of the State. Leadership is knowing when you’ve failed.
Garry Terry
First, COMPETENCE – or the lack thereof — in the governor’s office — is going to have a bigger impact on the 2016 statewide elections. Second, his “Hall of Fame” banquet is item #88777777799 on the list of top priorities for North Carolina and America right now. And “control of the state”? What about the enacting the planks of the party platform? How about rolling back the power of the state and increasing individual freedom?
Boy have we gone off course from the days of Ronald Reagan. The GOP appears to have completely forgotten what brought them back from the wilderness in 1980.
I had thought GT to be one of the very few real conservatives on the Central Committee, maybe the only one among the District Chairs, but his wrath is poorly directed here. I believe that I am one of many who voted for Harnett for Chairman because the alternative was simply unthinkable, not because I particularly wanted to elect Harnett. Quite honestly, if the Governor and other leaders hadn’t been so ham-handed about trying to cram their chosen candidate down our throats, I doubt Harnett would ever have been elected. Lost in his diatribe is any mention of HB 373 which started this mess, and Harnett is not to blame for that, the House and Senate leadership are.
I wonder if the NCGOP1 District Chair doesn’t understand that the Executive Committee has some very good reasons to “disrespect” the National Committeeman, reasons supplied by that individual himself. And as he wears multiple hats, including a County Chairmanship, he should understand better than his Central Committee colleagues who don’t have to work with and among the grass-roots, how much damage the corrupt GOP House caucus has done to the Party’s brand
As for assigning blame about possibly losing the Governorship? One could start with the Governor. He and the leadership of the House and Senate simply couldn’t conceal their contempt for the rank-and-file of the Party, their choice of leadership, and the Party’s platform and now, as Terry says albeit for the different reasons, we’re all going to pay for it.
Your assessment is spot on; every point well made.
I do know Garry Terry to be a good guy. I just hope he will review your points and give them some thought.
any ill will towards our national committee man was well earned. he said that this was in the works for years and then said they did this because the ncgop did not have a finance chair. I sat next to legislators that were worried our current chairman would win and they were talking about how they could take back their caucus money while sitting in their seats on the convention floor. This was a planned move with all the parties in question how could it not be. 2+2=4 it is clear in front of everyone’s face even though people fail to see it truthful they do not want to see it or they avoid seeing it because they put their own personal interests above the interests of the whole party
if they chairman is getting pushed out he should call a executive committee meeting to deal with these issues
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2. Powers and Duties of Committee
the State Executive Committee …………….and have supreme
management of all affairs of the Party within the State. It may delegate such duties as it deems proper
to the State Central Committee.
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the central committee works for the executive committee with the powers granted to it so forth. if the executive committee chooses it can take all the duties way from the central committee and start over
we seem to need a major reboot but it has been coming for a long time and it started with the control-alt-delete with the peoples vote at this years convention now the chairman, vice chair and executive committee need to finish what the delegates started at convention
Amen!
thanks for the Amen! but I am not sure if I should take it with or without sarcasm based on your username .
Sounds like a good idea to me.
This whole movement to make these alternative parties was pushed by Paul Shumaker and Dee Stewart. The money they have made in the past through the NCGOP via the House Caucus would fund a small nation. They don’t fear the Chairman, but they are scared to death of the new Treasurer, who is watching every dime.
If you want to see what it’s really about, just make a motion at the next meeting that Shumaker and Stewart never be allowed to do business with the NCGOP again. Their actions with the Liberal Left would warrant that and there are plenty of others that can do the work. You’d see Tim Moore blow a gasket. It’s always about the money folks.
In fact, I say we do some research of campaign finance records and see which Republicans use these two snakes. Send them a message that if they continue using them in the next election cycle, they won’t get the grassroots support.
HB 373 is about money. Money in the pockets of consultants and money being kicked back to legislators and God knows who else.
The establishment can make all sorts of arguments to support their reasoning. But how would they argue steadfastly supporting two consultants that have a proven track record of being in bed with the Liberal Left? If they even tried, it would reveal them for what they are.
Here is the key: Target Shumaker and Stewart. If every Republican candidate knew that doing business with them came with a huge price in the form of a boycott from the grassroots, you’d see some change.
I know my senator has ties to Dee Stewart. This whole thing reminds me of 2008 when State Auditor Les Merritt was investigating Sen. Martin Nesbitt and the General Assembly responded by taking away the auditors power to investigate state legislators. HB 373 is the same kind of “protect the establishment” way of thinking. Interestingly the man that introduced that bill to protect Sen. Nesbitt is now running for re-election as mayor of Charlotte. Here is the bill from 2008 for those of you who want a walk down memory lane:
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/BillLookUp/BillLookUp.pl?Session=2007&BillID=S1874
“Send them a message that if they continue using them in the next election cycle, they won’t get the grassroots support.”
Grassroots support is undependable. They sat out the 2008 and 2012 elections. That’s why we’re where we are today.
Grass roots support is sick of being lied to and having the GOP consistently snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. They lie, conspire, betray, subvert, and consistently vote for bigger government, more spending, and higher taxes – all while telling us they are cutting taxes and shrinking government. I’m sick of the GOP whether on a state level or on a national level. So do we sit out or go ahead and get back in the barn and vote for more of the same. I’ve just about burned out on voting for the lesser of two evils. They change nominating rules to avoid popular candidates in favor of candidates like Toll Road Thom and others. While I have nothing but disdain for the democrats, I’m to the point that I wouldn’t urinate on the GOP is their guts were on fire!
Well stated.
How has the NCGOP changed the nominating rules to favor candidates like Thom Tillis? How has the RNC changed the rules to favor popular candidates?
You can start with Article VII, Section G of the POO. Conservative County leaders who were well aware that Tillis was bad news, should be free to publicly oppose his nomination, but they’re bound from acting by this deceptive, seemingly well-intentioned rule.
The section of the Plan of Organization you cite has been around for many years and prevents party leaders who support the GOPe from being able to publicly endorse candidates as well. This is not something aimed at the grassroots. It levels the playing field for everyone.
Tox – you have got that right. With so much monkeying in local nominations from Raleigh, the local parties should not have their hands tied behind their backs. That is especially true when a Big Government Republican thug like Karl Rove is dumping big money in the state to buy the nomination for someone. Or when the Boehner crowd went after Walter Jones last year and spent a million dollars to try to take that seat away from conservatives.
Very well stated. I absolutely agree and what they fail to open there eyes to see is that grassroots are abandoning the GOP /RNC in droves. Perhaps it will totally open there eyes when McCrory in his re election attempt fails to have the support of voter across the state because all talk is exactly about that very thing. Perhaps then the financiers of the RNC will truly see yes they need actual voters in this state. Unfortunately for some of the smaller GOP locals they will be hit the hardest .
Lose grassroots support ??? They’ve already done that! DONE with ’em.
Agreed
Dee Stewart and Paul Shumaker???? They are our buddies. The hard core environmental movement paid them big bucks in the last legislature to help push President Obama’s green energy program. Too bad those stinkers at Civitas dug that up and publicized it. They delivered on saving the renewable energy mandate but did not get the job done on corporate welfare subisidies for our wind and solar energy friends.
Shumaker and Stewart have no concerns about going against the GOP platform, or supporting President Obama’s signature programs, as long as there is some green in it for them.
These affiliated party committees are great. They give us another way to buy the vote. Our green energy friend Faison in Charlotte can drop a million or so on Tim Moore’s affiliated committee and buy the support of the House for the president’s green energy agenda. It is not as if Moore hasn’t been taking lots of green energy money already. HB 373 will give you the best government that money can buy. People like our hard core environmental movement can avoid the middle men like Shumaker and Stewart, and deal direct.
All Conservatives in NC need to see and know this!
I absolutely agree and what they fail to open there eyes to see is that grassroots are abandoning the GOP /RNC in droves. Perhaps it will totally open there eyes when McCrory in his re election attempt fails to have the support of voter across the state because all talk is exactly about that very thing. Perhaps then the financiers of the RNC will truly see yes they need actual voters in this state. Unfortunately for some of the smaller GOP locals they will be hit the hardest .
The idea of compiling a list of Stewart and Shumaker clients, and then getting conservatives to not contribute to them, support them, or vote for them is a good one. You can start with Richard ”Tricky Dick” Burr, who now votes more like Teddy Kennedy than like Jesse Helms.
This list needs to be compiled and put in a prominent place on some conservative website.
A quick reply, 1) appreciate the article! Where would NC be without “The Daily Haymaker”? ( too frightening to imagine. ). 2) Everyone’s replies are most helpful; NC Grassroots has work ahead to ban together and expose this “dirty” Republican Club. Let’s remember, it is only a Club. Thank you, Daily Haymaker for giving us a focus on who to call out and expose for “who & what they stand for”. 3) Grassroots is a special movement for less government and lower taxes. To misuse the word “Grassroots” and blend it with the word “Republican” or ever attach the word “Republican” with it is in error. 4) The North Carolina Republican Club has drawn “their” line in the sand. They are nothing to Libert First ( a group of Conservative Activists) But as voters they affect who is elected into office. 5) The Grassroots movement infiltrated the Republican CLUB with hopes and dreams to bring Conservative Candidiates to NC ballots. 6) the replies to this article are excellent and offer ideas on what to do next. For starters: Excutive Boards, Chairs, District Leaders- Liberty First is asking you to step up and protect the Grassroots Movement- THEY ARE THE VOTER. The Establishment squelched all possibilities for Chairman Hasan Harnett to do his job properly, What would the Establishment be without money? Nothing! I am all for setting up a Conservative Fundraiser directly to Hasan Harnett. It is time for Grassroots Nationwide to erase the line in the sand!
What is “Liberty First ( a group of Conservative Activists)”? A Google search did not immediately reveal any information on this group.
Yes! Get the word out too. I do what I can.
I agree to most of what you are saying. Here is a very divisive issue. The National and State GOP determined a plot a plan a strategy to give itself a ” New Face Lift” now a new face lift is a wonderful thing. It removes wrinkles and fine lines. The problem with the National and our State GOP is they determined to do this by means of pretending to be inclusive and embracing our African American citizens but they did so only to increase there voter base. It’s all about the Benjamins and the need to erase the brand image of the old rich Republican guard..And of course more money in their pockets. The issue how ever..we see the RNC/GOP power play book has been exposed. The guarantee to Bush, and at first chance let’s kick the black man to curb?Hansan. You folks want to utterly believe in your minds that grassroots you can easily dismiss? Think again. In this state and on a national basis you will see exactly how much power grassroots actually have. We are sick, tired and passed fed up with your political games as usual. Pat McCrory will not be re elected. He will not be re elected on his own merits to follow the GOP game plan. He has the power of veto for this state. We do not want sanctuary status he did nothing. We do not want refugees he will do nothing. Contrary to Republican belief our schools suffer. He did not help them. Now this HB bill with the GOP adding the poison pill. He chose to not veto it. He is and will be a 1 term governor in the state . Tillis has a report card that reflects a liberal democrats. Not one promise has he lived up to. Elmer as well as Burr. They too will be replaced with constitutional conservatives. The GOP on a national and state level has made the word Republican a very dirty name. There will be a tremendous shaking felt in N.C. and in the nation. And to the commenter who stated the grassroots are why you lost 2012. Humm I guess you could say that’s partly right. It should tell the RNC/GOP something. We were fed up then and I can assure you there’s a massive amount beyond quad that amount who will not vote ” Republican” seems our lessor of two evils is just as bad as the evil thus it’s best to bypass it all together in the white house. You will see the same in the governor? Senate and congressional elections next. Hasan is not to blame for the RNC/Gop games you are simply using him as a fall guy. Trouble is you risk losing that new African American face lift in doing so. I’m not a fan of Hasan but he’s the under dog GT you and others want to blame YOU and the GOP dirty tricks and hands caught in your own mouse trap on. Grassroots regardless what any think will steer this car. We will take it slam off the curb and over the embankment rather than continue to allow the RNC/Gop to dare think you have power over our voice our votes. That’s exactly why our Senate and our Congress are they way they are today.
God bless America and save us from the real enemies in our very midst.
Garry Terry supported Collins, who was the candidate of the establishment and the Raleigh political consultants at the state convention. He seems to still be carrying water for them. Given that he rarely says anything at Central Committee meetings, I wonder if one of those consultants wrote that email for him.
Terry supports the establishment’s point man on the Central Committee, David Lewis, and opposes our conservative grassroots chairman. It is very clear which side he is on.
You’re putting me in the uncomfortable position of having to support Terry, at least on these two points. There are certain people whom only wish the Party well, who couldn’t support Harnett because of his inexperience, and I believe Terry is one of those. If he’s Establishment, he’s done a fine job of infiltrating FreedomWorks, with whom he’s affiliated, for the Establishment. Secondly, he may not say much at the CC meetings but then, there is no shortage of prima donnas in that body whom are ready to open their maws and fill that void. As a former Speaker of the House once said, “I never learned nothing by talking”.
Terry’s heart seems to be in the right place, if his head sometimes isn’t, as in this instance.
I don’t know who you are, but thanks for what you said about me. My loyalty is to freedom, liberty and constitutional governance. Many who attack me don’t know my background and involvement with the TEA Party movement. I was TEA when TEA wasn’t cool. Yes, I’ve been very active with FreedomWorks from day one. You see, they invested time in me and helped me see that the Constitution matters and corruption is in a lot of places.
Of more importance than me is winning the next election. If I see what I believe to be a problem and fail to point it out, am I not doing my duties, regardless of it being unpopular. Yes I voted for Collins. Did I twist arms of others to vote for who I wanted? No. You see, I really do believe in the grassroots. Until the Chairman publicly criticized the CC, my issues with his performance were behind closed doors. And that’s where they should have stayed. We’re all doing what we do so this nation will not have another tyrant in office.
If the anger directed at fellow Republicans was used to attack Democrats, it would be better spent. Everyone who wastes time doing that should be writing letters to the editor of your local paper, which I do profusely attacking Dems and Obama.
Perhaps the new chairman will succeed and I hope he does. He is on a learning curve.
But I am not going to sit back and watch him fail.
Garry Terry
So, Mr. Terry, you have put your neck on the proverbial chopping block in an effort to make things right. You have said what is not popular, yet you have said what is necessary. I respect that, but I am left with more questions than answers. Where do we go from here? Has Chairman Harnett lost the support of the central committee? Has he lost the support of the major donors? If the answers are yes, how do we move forward with victory in 2016?
“If the answers are yes, how do we move forward with victory in 2016?” Don’t get your hopes up too high. There’s a lot of repair work that needs to be done.
Mr. Terry conservitives have to RINO hunt cause we cannot go after the democrates when we have elected republican going against our platform and doing the same things we fuss at the democrats about
In regards to the CC if things are so bad with our current chairman the CC should have come out of the back room and addressed the issues to the whole EC at the meeting a week ago. The CC works for the EC and the chairmand works for the convention delegates which is the EC when not in convention
You hit the nail on the head right then
The problems not Harnett. It is the establishment. It’s always been the establishment it’s Why we lose. Now they will lose. I know massive corporate sponsors ceasing funding across the board state wide and that will continue through McCrory, Burr and Tillis re elections that they will remain ceased. The establishment and there candidates have sold us put for the last time.
The problem is Harnett. He has no idea what he is doing.
So let me make sure I understand what everyone here is saying, if the GOPe doesn’t support a grassroots candidate its the GOPe’s fault. If the grassroots doesn’t support a GOPe nominee its the GOPe’s fault for nominating a RINO. If the Republican nominee doesn’t win the general election, it is because the GOPe won’t nominate someone who is a true conservative. Oh, and its their fault. Seems to me that the Grassroots is starting to sound like Democrats.
Your post clearly demonstrates that you have no idea what grassroots support is all about.
Then try and explain it to me.
We elected a new Chairman and new Vice Chairman and got rid of the GOPe. Chairman Harnett ran as someone who could raise a lot of money. Like it or not, political parties need money to operate and win. Neither the Chairman nor the Vice Chairman have raised enough money to run a county commissioners race in a small county let alone a statewide operation.
Did they count on the grassroots to provide the needed money. If so, the grassroots has failed them, and failed to take advantage of the success from convention. If the hope was that they could raise the money from those loyal to the GOPe, they had a poor plan and failed the grassroots.
So, who failed who?
As to finances, the outgoing establishment Executive Director threw a spanner in the works by hiring an unqualified liberal lobbyist who had no fundraising background as Finance Director. That was done deliberated to cause controversy and to undermine the new leaership
From what I hear, she was run out long before she had the opportunity to do her job. Could she have raised money, we will never know.
Who did Chairman Harnett hire to replace her? No one. Perhaps he should have had a replacement in mind before causing a vacancy.
Harnett does not do that hiring. Dallas Woodhouse does. I suspect it will be some flunky of his consultant cronies.
Would it not have been a good idea to have a new finance director identified before running the current one out?
Wouldn’t it have been a good idea to hire a new finance director before hiring a new executive director?
Before you say that there was no executive director to hire a new finance director, there was an interim executive director in place. Although she resigned as well, it was not effective until just before the last executive board meeting.
Are these things the new Chair and Vice Chair did not think prudent, or did they just not think of it?
If the party had advertised for a new finance director while one was in place, then that would have run that one out.
A competent and qualified finance director should have been hired by Todd Poole, not a liberal lobbyist with no background in fundraising. Poole had an agenda in making that hire, and it was not for the benefit of either the party or its leadership.
You truly confuse no one other than yourself. It’s very clear very documented what the scope of the plans by the RNC and GOPE since 2012 loss and yes that loss was there on fault. I guess you fail to under that We The People are the ones to donate our money via self or our corporations or our business to the GOP. At this state every single election we have lost is because of the games played by the two power houses who want total control of candidates themselves exactly like the Obama White house , liberal and capitolist. Well it’s Past hight time the GOP gets its that John q public isn’t as dumbed down as they would like to think we are. They need to get out of the business of trying to Rigg finances or elections and the total Sim of America today have seen wirh clear vision there hands in every thing from Bush up Rubio To Carly. There I said it and I despise Trump btw as well but I can tell you grassroots are Us. We created thing and dismantle it just the same. It’s high time they get out of selecting our candidates and let the voice of the voters be counted. I for one have gotten the word out. I suggest every conservative who believes in our constitution get the word out to all of grass roots. Let the RNC and sit and figure out the power of grassroots is made of small, medium and large business owners as well as the average American citizen. It’s high time the State political lobbiest get there hands off elections in control of who will govern. When you attempt for as many years ad the GOP has to take away every bit if power over our state governments yet claim you are conservative well its not easy to sort it out who have become the ones stripping our constitutional rights away starting on the State level..
The original email contains factual errors. I served on the search committee to find a new Executive Director. I can not go into too much detail, but I can tell you that Dallas Woodhouse was ALWAYS in the top 5 candidates to be brought in for an interview. It is true that 3 of the top 5 withdrew, at which time Chairman Harnett decided on his own to bring in a 3rd person for an interview, but it was not Dallas Woodhouse.
Just curious, John. Did the search committee review this video tape?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StFwqGXQvEM
Is the the way Woodhouse normally handles the media, or is he on something? Does the party really need someone like this around the media?
Did the search committee even think about how Dallas Woodhouse would be received in the Senate? Only a few weeks ago, the PAC Woodhouse leads ran opposition polling against a number of leading GOP State Senators. That was a hostile act that would not appreciated in the Senate. Woodhouse was embroiled in the dispute between the House and Governor on one side and the Senate on the other, and he played hardball for the first group. Woodhouse is about as far as one could get from a unifying figure.
I’d sure like to see this email the the Chair supposedly sent out. I usually receive all emails from the NCGOP and from Chairman Harnett but I didn’t receive this one. Could someone who did receive it please copy it here?
I have been very disappointed with the way the new Chair has been treated. Believe me, it isn’t Harnett who will cost McCrory the governorship; he has done that all by himself. Allowing HB 373 and SB 119 to become law has been one of his major mistakes. I am tired of these “leaders” assuming they know so much better than the grassroots. I am a member of the Executive Committee so I saw that much of the committee wanted Lewis’s head on Saturday. All of this bad behavior and betrayal by legislators and the Central Committee is destroying the NCGOP. They are running off the people who usually keep them in office. In the future, this will be seen as a watershed moment which led to the destruction of the NCGOP.
Couldn’t agree with you more. Oh, so true. NCGOP committed suicide. Thanks for this.
Amen. It’s a set up by the Republican GOP.
As soon as I saw your comment, I emailed my cousin the County Chair ro see if he’d received it. To my surprise, the answer was “no”. Now I happen to know that his county supported Harnett by more than 75%, so there’s no reason why Harnett would regard my cousin as anything but a supporter, sooooo……I, too, am really beginning to wonder about this note that was supposedly authored by the State Chairman.
Maybe you can call Harnett and ask him.
Without commenting further, I think this being followed up on. Maybe we’ll know something soon.
Any chance of diffusing this series of explosions went down the tubes when Todd Poole said I’m outta here. Big mistake. He may not could have prevented this affiliated Party Nonsense but he wouldn’t have proceeded on a path of deception and strong arming.
Oh well. Now with the Charges on Lewis hanging out there with only 50 ex comm signatures required, continued escalation is almost a certainty.
It doesn’t help when district chairs shoot off reactive emails in full attack based on articles in Haymaker they claim ate “full of misinformation” on a regular basis. Maybe make some personal phone calls to make certain everything you’ve read is accurate.
What bothers me is This same person that is so perturbed with the Chair we get such righteous indignation, but when Dr. Ada Fisher pulled her own Gross Inefficiency as Natl Comm. Woman we got silence and even a personal request to not drag his name in this publicly. When Leaders demonstrate absolute contempt for truth and transparency, this same man remains in silent enabler mode. Tsk tsk. Your inconsistent behavior and selective righteous “judge and juror” mentality is a big part of how we have gotten where we are now. Chew on that.
Todd Bennett
Farmville
You are correct. Todd Poole COULD have been a positive force in uniting the party, if he has decided to work with the new leadership and sat down and put together a positive program with them. Unfortunately, he chose to do otherwise.
Poole looked for and found a new job shortly after the convention. Then he made two hires of very controv3resial people who he knew would send conservatives into orbit – one closely connected to despised liberal consultant Dee Stewart, and the other a liberal lobbyist who had ties to both Stewart and fellow liberal consultant Paul Shumaker. Those acts were deliberately devisive. He followed that up by ignoring the chairman’s directive not to publicize them until after the Central Committee meeting, and then compiling a dossier to challenge the chairman at that meeting. He then resigned. Everything Poole did after the convention was intended to sabotage the new leadership.
This bill started being a reality the minute Harnett was elected. That is a fact.
It’s time the grassroots speak out against the establishment that lost the leadership election for chair and vice chair. They resented the choices that were made by the people at the State Convention and are now bullying us by pushing an establishment candidate into the executive Director position—(his goal is to discredit and or destroy the duly elected chair and vice chair and it seems to be w/ a majority of the elected committee members.)
We the grassroots are looking for change and will be necessary to do so outside of the power structure. Please keep in touch with me and let’s bring the party back to the people of N .C. and not the lobbyists and special interests that are now more so than ever controlling what goes on in State Govt.
I do not have any problem with sharing my email address–lorron@webtv.net
Ron Margiotta-=-Wake County
Ron, do you have any insight as to why the Wake (and for that matter, Mecklenberg) delegations were not won by Harnett? I’m just curious because so many rural counties overwhelmingly went for Harnett, that I’m thinking that the big split in the NCGOP is also along rural-urban lines.
I’m pretty sure Wake went to Harrnet, that was the death blow at the convention, at least enough of Wake went his way.
The Woodhouse operation was a McCrory operation from start to finish. McCrory sought to dominate the party by imposing his choice of chairman. When that failed, the fall back was to impose his guy as Executive Director and marginalize the chairman. McCrory moved the head of his PAC over into the position of NCGOP ED.
Think about where Woodhouse came from. He was director of McCrory’s PAC, Carolina Rising (a name remarkably similar to a national moderate GOP PAC, America Rising or Jeb Bush’s PAC, Right to Rise). He would not have applied for the ED position if he had not received the green light from the McCrory group. That PAC recently played factional hardball within the GOP, targeting the leadership of the Senate, which is more conservative than either the House leadership or the Governor, with attack polling.
The idea that Woodhouse is ”qualified” is ludicrous. He was politically convenient for the governor, the House leadership, and the Raleigh consultants, and that is why he is sitting as ED.
It is much easier for a governor to control the vote in a small group like the Central Committee than in a large group like the convention. He undoubtedly started with hard core establishment moderates like David Lewis who were looking for one of their kind plus one or two who had known Woodhouse when he was at AFP and would be inclined toward him due to that background who would support Woodhouse without the need of any further encouragement.. Governors have lots of favors they can bestow in return for votes, and it is always worthwhile to have a governor owe one a favor. Swaying the votes needed on the Central Committee could easily be done behind the scenes, leaving deniability on both sides.
On top of that were the progressive consultants, Stewart and Shumaker, who wanted an ally at NCGOP to feed them business. They spread the rumor that RNC was thinking about cutting off money to NCGOP unless they got the right ED, and even had that rumor published in a national publication. It would be interesting to see how much of Carolina Rising’s money was spent through Stewart and Shumaker.
Woodhouse seems to be a political chameleon who will push whatever agenda his backers want. When it was the Kochs at AFP, he pushed a conservative agenda, but then quickly shifted gears to a moderate establishment agenda when he went to Carolina Rising. He is undoubtedly still in the latter mode now.
McCrory has stubbed his toe on this one. If he still had Jack Hawke giving him good advice, he would have moved quickly to build a relationship with the new leadership, which would have made the party grassroots more enthusiastic about his reelection. Instead, he has taken a grassroots already miffed at both policy and appointment issues with the administration and pushed them farther away. That is stupid politics but seems par for the course with the general bad political advice the governor has been getting since Hawke died. Whatever benefit he thinks he gets from imposing Woodhouse does not make up for the heightened malaise between the establishment and the conservatives that this power play generates. The only ones who really benefit from this fiasco will likely be consultants Shumaker and Stewart.