#ncgop (Hasan, like Ringo Starr, needs a little help from his friends)
Hasan Harnett c
ertainly shocked the political world this weekend. It’s also become clear that the establishment is not going to play nice with the new NCGOP chairman. (Lt. Governor Dan Forest and Senate President Phil Berger — who both endorsed Craig Collins for chairman — were the first party VIPs to congratulate Harnett. The silence from the governor’s office and the US senate offices, among others, is deafening.)
In his first official act as chairman, Harnett presided over an NCGOP executive committee meeting today. Folks in the room for that event told me they saw and heard WAY TOO MUCH from state Rep. David Lewis (R-Harnett). Said one source:
”Granted, the best thing to do when you are inserted into a new role, is to do more listening than talking. You learn a lot more that way. However, from what I saw today, the potential is there for Lewis and his crew to co-opt and basically run over our new chairman. Harnett seems like a really nice, well-intentioned fellow. He really needs to make sure that he gets some people into his inner circle that have his — an
d the party’s — best interests as a top priority. Some people who are sympathetic to the Tea Party and the grassroots who are also quite savvy when it comes to the inside baseball stuff here at the party. David Lewis is all about himself and his cronies. He’s not Harnett’s friend.”
Other sources in the room tell me that Ada Fisher — Lewis’s fellow RNC rep for North Carolina — was very vocal as well in support of Lewis.
Some sources expressed frustration to me about how the meeting progressed. Said one in particular:
“It was like some folks were intent on running out the clock so we couldn’t get to resolutions. We got hung up on absolute nonsense and minutiae like the assistant treasurer. There were some resolutions that had been approved by the various districts. These resolutions, if passed at the executive committee level, could have helped put pressure on our legislators to stay on the conservative path as they finalize the state budget. I can see an effort in the works to push consideration of these resolutions back to a date where they stay below radar and have no influence on the budget action.”
Wasn’t at this convention… but I’ll never forget seeing Thom Tillis encourage state Exec members to leave and break quorum before a resolution on HOT lanes could complete. There certainly are parliamentary tricks and run the clock out strategies when the base level Exec members get too uppity.
Running the clock out is one of the main strategies at these events, and Ada Fisher is a master at it. She is NOT a friend of conservatives, I really hope she is retired soon. David Lewis is also not to be trusted.
Hasaan should totally ignore any asinine advice from co-opted David Lewis another hand wringing big government cheerleader and any others like him. He should not trust any of the outgoing cabal whatsoever or believe anything they say. What’s the rush there’s a lot of auditing of accounts the new leadership may want to do first of House and Senate and other accounts so that the new Chair / Vice Chair knows what they’re inheiriting. There is no rush, the conservative grassroots in the field know what their doing to help get honest conservatives elected.
Ada Fisher needs to be lumped in with the cronies as well. I personally observed her with Tim Johnson and she was not his friend.
As far as advice from past chairmen, Hasan should ignore the ”Cobey dynasty” establishment which was just overthrown. Advice from past grassroots chairmen, pre-Cobey, would not be a bad thing. We need to keep a grassroots party and not go back to the little inbred elite.
This was the best executive committee meeting this party has had in years. No one should be bad mouthing the party at this time you should be telling you friends that have been frustrated in years past and gave up that this is the time to come running back because this is the new NC GOP that is about our VALUES TRUST and INTEGRITY and not about one person or personalities
The behavior at this meeting was atrocious and should be an embarrassment to the NCGOP. Let’s start with the room was only booked from 1030 until 12. The absolute latest we could be there was 2. The meeting didn’t even start until well after 11. At that point, ridiculous time wasting tactics were used. Claude Pope took forever to basically belittle grassroots and let Harnett know that the people he should be listening to were his peers(former party chairs) and NOT those beneath him…because they, especially precinct chairs, could be of no help to him (Harnett) in his role as chair. Then Pope spent time talking about how the chair should get a salary. He also spent some time making sure us peons knew that we were well beneath the elite… and there was some other rambling as well from Pope. Finally, after what felt like an eternity and used up a lot of time he sat down. Carolyn Justice then made a few brief, but well thought out comments. I was impressed and gained a new respect for her. Fisher and Lewis used up some more time as well. With so much time gone, I was amazed at how oblivious folks seemed. Let’s see maybe 20 minutes or so was wasted arguing…yes arguing over whether to allow the voting process by standing vote instead of secret ballot. Now, this argument in an old hat to me…quite honestly, it is probably the one argument that makes me the maddest in the GOP. The Republican Party in North Carolina is a representative organization. Our counties have precincts which elect precinct committee to represent them at the county level…the county goes to district and elects representative to represent them at the state level and then those other members of the State Executive Committee….the process is at every level there’s a representative to represent registered Republican. As a registered Republican, you are representing me. On every vote, you should be accountable to those you are representing. If you can not be proud of the way you are voting publicly you should not be the voting. Let me ask this….would it be ok if our officials in Raleigh or DC voted by secret ballot? I’ll move on from there… Then elections for the secretary finally are over and the teller committee goes out to count. While they were out, they started going over resolutions. Things were progressing relatively quickly until Resolution 4. I read it through and knew that it was out of order. It specifically specified that it must be debated and voted on by the deligates at the convention which had adjourned. So, I don’t know why some thought it was so important to waste so much time arguing and questioning the chair on this issue. Very little happened beyond this point because after they came in and announced the secretary the tellers asked that no business be done while they were doing their duty and counting votes. Harnett finally presented the rest of his slate and it was accepted. after the offices were filled, the meeting went back to resolutions but at that point we pretty much had to vacate the room. Now, here is my question….are these members here to make this party better or cause division and waste time? Be productive! when you have a limited time, don’t waste it with inefficiency! I must admit but I like a good debate… But there must be a point to be made…not nonsense…had the election yesterday been different, today would have been so different…I am disgusted by the games…my children depend on this state party to stop these childish, silly, petty games and focus on business. If you cant, resign amd give your aeat to someone who cares. What I found interesting is that less than half of the members of the State excom were in attendance…and many from my district were absent…sure glad yall voted for them to represent us. As for, about not saying anything bad, until bad behavior is called out it doesn’t stop. The point I want to make is…sweeping issues under the rug weaken us. Let’s face them and become stronger together.
Two things
1. As someone that has served on the board under about 7 different chairman I would differ with your thoughts of peoples bad behavior. I think peoples behavior was just people that wanted to do what was best but made had a lack of understanding of the perpose of the body. Lots of new people and it was their first meeting around me that were trying to figure things out
2. As for attendance i am just glad we had quorum cause at the meeting after last years convention we did not even have that.. But yes if someone does not want to show up or sit in that room all day they should step aside for someone that does
Ok 3 things
3. I Still thing it was a good meeting and good convention but we the people of this party have to keep control of this party and this is the first opportunty to do this in many many many years
Ok 4 things
4. I look forward to getting to getting to know you at or between future meeting. I am the one the that tried to get the minutes amended at the start of the meeting and the one that made the propsed admentment on the floor friday that led the past chairman to explain about the salary issue in the meeting. And if you do not like what someone does at the meeting go up and talk to them and maybe you will find out you do agree with them and then you both can find a better way to make something positive happen
I will say I was impressed by you making that attempt. However, I found it interesting. One thing I’ve heard over and over is that people don’t come to those meetings is BECAUSE of crazy tactics such as the time wasting ploy. People that are serious about the actual work of the party are too busy to play games.
Thank you for any positive thoughts of me. Thanks you for that.
I will say every time i stand up and say anything i will promise you i am doing it out of motivations for the good of the party and not in anyway for my own intentions… Anytime you see me attempting to do our stop something it hopefully should be a wakeup call that some thing is wrong because i would rather be sitting in my seat and not addressing a group of people
I look forward to our next meeting together
Same here, Patrick. Thank you for what you do!!!!
attendance records to meetings should be reported to district and county and pointed out at each election. Actually put the list on state web site. Either we are open and honest are like the democrats that follow Alinsky’s rule very seldom is the right thing done for the right reason.
I reread my comment and need to clarify. I found the meeting interesting…I stand behind your motion 1000%.
One thing conservatives ought to start doing, after we are certain there will be no financial hanky-panky from the losers, is to start contributing to the state party again. I have given to my local party regularly, but quit giving to the state party back when Cobey got this establishment cram down process rolling and a secret elite handpicking successor chairmen. It is now time to start giving to the state party again.
David Lewis definitely needs to be replaced when he comes up again at the presidential election year convention next summer. He has long been a liberal influence in the party, and should have been shown the door in 2012. Acting like a jerk at ExCom meetings just increases the reasons to get rid of him. Lewis is probably the biggest sore loser in the pack. This session of the NC House, Lewis has proved himself one of the biggest Obama Republicans in the legislature as well, as being a key vote and supporter of both the Obama green energy crusade, making him a Solyndra Republican, and of the Obama crusade for illegal aliens by supporting drivers licenses for illegal aliens, making him a La Raza Republican. This guy should NOT be sitting as our representative on RNC after he has gone over to the enemy on key issues.
My thought of a challenger to Lewis would be someone who outranks him politically, like one of the two genuine conservative Congressmen from NC, Walter Jones or Mark Meadows, or a conservative State Senator.
Ada Fisher is a piece of work. She got herself elected by the grassroots and overcame an anointed establishment designee who was supposed to inherit the office. Then she started brownnosing the establishment and became one of them. She even let slip at the ExCom meeting after the last convention that she attends the secret establishment meetings to chose their anointed candidates.
The ammunition to bring Ada Fisher down is the stalled investigation by a committee of the Central Committee. The new leadership needs to make sure this goes forward. The district executive committees of three or four Congressional districts passed resolutions demanding this investigation. What happened is that the state executive committee passed a resolution instructing our National Committee reps to support efforts to change some anti-grassroots measures that the Romney people had rammed through at the national convention. Lewis, as seems to often happen, failed to attend that national committee meeting. Fisher attended and voted contrary to the state ExCom instruction. When she returned, she lied and said she had voted as instructed but videos of the meeting prove otherwise. Fisher needs to be hammered hard on that issue and taken down.
We need both a new National Committeeman and and new National Committeewoman elected next year.
Total agreement with you about your whole post. People with your type of thinking are the people i need to know in real life
Start with an audit of where we are which includes why we spent so much money out of state last election cycle. Also I want to know about this rumor that the RNC will withhold money from NC because their chosen one did not get elected.
Never ever give money of any significant amount to the state party and ZERO to the national party. Give to conservative candidates directly. Sure the state party they need a little help to pay for paperclips, some paper, and to pay the electric bill. Remember this new team are actual conservatives they know how to work with less.
Save your big checks for individual conservative candidates then there’s little question what your contribution is funding. This is the ultimate in grassroots control. Remember the next dollar that you write to the Party Could go to McCrory and others to further fund fighting against your religious liberties. Write your big checks directly to the candidates of your choice who are conservatives and place the check directly in their hand. This is the most powerful thing conservatives can do.
The focus of my contributions in 2016 will be conservatives in primaries, to help conservatives under attack like Walter Jones, and to get rid of liberals like Renee Ellmers. I hope we will have someone to contribute to in the primary against Richard Burr and against David Lewis, Tim Moore, Nelson Dollar, Jason Saine, Skip Stam, Harry Warren, and a few more in the NC House.
Reality check: The party will actually run itself with the grassroots soldiers in the field working to get conservatives elected. The whole idea of the party needing to raise large amounts of money is a ruse promoted by the consultants to put more cha-ching in their pockets.
Don’t believe the big lie. Do you want 75% or more of your campaign contribution going into Dee Stewart’s or Paul Shumaker’s pocket or others of their ilk. No you don’t, you want it to go to the primary objective that is electing more conservative office holders. Don’t believe the big lie. The grassroots know what their doing to get conservatives elected in their communities. The power to change is found not in a state party but the in the grassroot’s hard work across the state.
Don’t spend your hard earned money to help Paul Shumaker or Dee Stewart make another Lexus payment. Check out who is employing these two squirrels and refuse to give to any candidate and vow to work against any candidate who hires them. Spend wisely as we expect our electeds to do.
Dear old Frank Rouse once told me that consultants were good for elections but when elected get rid of them. This party has a history of being a scrapping party. We just have to learn to scrap hard internally and then turn the scrapping on full speed ahead for the elections. If i am not mistaken Frank resigned to support his candidate of choice. Hawk fought for letting UNA’s vote in primaries and that was how Republicans started winning.
Looks like our party can respond to the people and not to progressives only like the democrats.
A good hard fight internally prepares you for the general.
Frank Rouse was one of the greatest chairman the NCGOP ever had, and his wife Jane was great as Acting Chairman, too, a couple of decades later. Frank took a leave of absence to work for Jim Gardner in the 1972 runoff for Governor. When Holshouser won the runoff, he demanded that Frank resign, which Frank did, but the state executive committee overwhelmingly elected Rouse to fill the vacancy resulting from his own resignation. That set the stage for the greatest bloodbath in party history, when the Holshouser forces conducted a purge of all Rouse supporters and other assorted conservatives down to the precinct level, and used state jobs to buy off anyone not originally inclined to go their way. That caused State Rep. Gilbert Lee Boger (R-Davie) whose county was thoroughly purged to start calling the governor by the name ”Outhouser”.
wow that is very interesting…. information like this needs to be cataloged in some sort of archives that are easy to access for all republicans in this state or at least someplace easy to access so new state executive members can become educated on the past history of the party operations
Patrick, what a fine idea!
I’m going to create my own archive from Daily Haymaker articles. Don’t know how much progress I’ll make between now and the election, but it’s certainly worthwhile, and I’m motivated.
The mention of Frank Rouse in Don’s post above gave me an idea of how the party could help undercut some of the corrupt consultant culture that currently exists in Raleigh.
If you look at some of the money paid out to consultants in recent races, one recurring item is for ”research” often to the tune of $5,000 or more per candidate. It would seem it is largely the same pieces of legislation they look at over and over race by race, so this seems really excessive.
When Rouse was chairman back in 1971-1973, the NCGOP had a Director of Research on the party staff down in the Hilton basement. His name was Charles Gilliam, and if I am not mistaken, he is now a judge somewhere in the state. It seems to me that having a director of research on the party staff is a heck of a lot better use of resources than paying consultants $5,000 per race. You could even flesh out the NCGOP research operation with college interns from the CR clubs in Raleigh.
Frank Rouse also brought other party services to legislators and candidates, such as buying a professional TV camera (expensive in those days) to set up a studio in party HQ for use by legislators and candidates, so they could send interview tapes to their home stations, create TV ads, etc. In this digital age, when you can do on a laptop with the right programas what used to take expensive studio equipment in a TV studio in terms of creating ads, it seems like this could be another area of party expertise added as a service to candidates.
Offer services like these as in-kind contributions availible to all GOP candidates, and you take the consultants’ pacifier away from them. Then wait for all the crybabying.
The only thing crazy about that meeting was folks like you all posting on here that basically don’t understand how Robert’s Rules work and how – yes – there is a way to conduct business and just because there is a new chairman doesn’t mean that you get to rewrite all the rules and do as you want. It is amazing to me that a group of folks that say the “Establishment” isn’t conservative enough sit around and want to be handed their way without having to work hard for it. Grow up people and realize that resolutions and these crazy arguments don’t win elections…hard work wins elections. Doesn’t seem to be something many are familiar with.
I am really trying to understand your point…. I will take full blame in not being smart enough to understand it so maybe you would be willing to try to explain it again to me
but my ideas to make things better
1. the executive committee needs to have time on the agenda to talk openly once gathered before Roberts rules kicks in. Seriously I think we need a 2 hour block of time to talk openly together then take a break and then come back to starts that days agenda under Roberts rules
2. the members needs to get to know each other as members of this body and not just from the 2 meetings normally a year. I would like to see a message forum that is run by the members of the board and only allows members of the board to be members so we can communicate better as a group together between meetings. If things can be hashed out over a period of time leading up the a meeting then everyone should feel better about what ends up happening at the meeting since we would all be more knowledgeable and have more faith and trust in each other
maybe others agree with me on this maybe they do not… I do not know how my fellow board members feel about things and that is my main point… and I want to know
I completely agree, Patrick. There was so much time wasted with unimportant stuff…like arguing over that resolution…that isn’t even going to matter at all. I don’t understand why this is a contest between those wearing the shirts and those wearing the suits… That is the problem! We are the same team… We have the same goal! By the way, I was wearing a suit and voted for Hasan (and so were many others)…so not sure what that pint is either. it blows my mind that you can make a comment like that and claimed to be a loyal Republican! you seriously are hoping the Republicans lose in 2016 just to prove a point? Wow! I hope that anyone that feels that way is nor in any leadership roles in this party…because that sounded a little like the threat of sabotage! that disgusts me. I have a family that is going to grow up and I don’t want this country in any bigger shambles than it already is..I want it to be better… And no matter who had won on Saturday there is no way that I would intentionally sit back and hope that we fail in 2016!
Yes, I don’t get the point, either. I understand Robert’s Rules…oh yes, I was only a guest… Robert’s Rules had nothing to do with Time stalling tactics and condescension. Roberts rules had everything to do with the out of order motion…yet few seemed to realize how out of order it was. as soon as I read it, I commented to a friend beside me that I couldn’t figure out how it could even be considered. yet, there was substantial time arguing with the chair and some even sort of questioning his integrity because he ruled it out of order.
“GOP Establishment Cronie,” is your post a joke? It drips with such elitist arrogance and contempt, that I’m having difficulty, taking it seriously. Maybe, you’re “Al Gore” or “Elected Official” in disguise.
Part of the hard work you mention includes writing those Resolutions, and they were important to many of those, attending this convention. When childish and intentional delay tactics are used against them in the Executive Committee meeting, it only further inspires them to purge the establishment types.
Since you self-identify as “GOP Establishment Cronie,” you might want to start packing your bags, too . . . if your post isn’t a joke.
By the way, you misspelled “crony.”
Issues win elections, something the establishment wing of the party seems to have forgotten, as they cave in repeatedly to the Democrats. Heck, George Stephanopolous even refers to Mitch McConnell as ”President Obama’s point man in the Senate”. As Governor Rick Perry says, ”a Congressional majority is a terrible thing to waste”.
The biggest issue outrage in North Carolina is the cave in to the Obama green energy agenda by so many of our establishment Republicans. These Solyndra Republicans have joined Obama’s War on Affordable Energy for the American and North Carolina consumer. Those special interest handouts that Dee Stewart, Paul Shumaker, Tim Moore, Nelson Dollar, David Lewis, Bob Steinburg, and other establishment Solyndra Republicans are so fond of with cost real voters real money out of their household budgets as their electric bills, to quote Obama ”necessarily skyrocket”. These Solyndra Republicans should not act surprised when conservatives come after them with sharp pitchforks come primary time.
Similarly, the La Raza Republicans who want to give NC drivers licenses to illegal aliens should not act surprised when there is a bullseye on their backs in the next primary. People like Harry Warren, Skip Stam, Bill Brawley, and Brian Brown make better representatives of the Republic of Mexico than they do of the people of North Carolina.
Issues matter. The grassroots is looking for real Republicans, not the sort of phonies we have been running lately.
I’ve never seen such smarmy armchair quarterbacking. Anyway, the t-shirt crowd might wish they hand’t given the finger to the suit crowd around November 9th, 2016.
what happened at this convention is something that needed to happen 5 conventions ago at least and probably further back.
This election was about taking this party back to a party of transparency and about putting our platform first and ahead of a person or personality elected… This party should never rely of it success by one single person winning a race. If their are not 100 other people on that convention floor that could be state chairman then we as a party have serious issues. This party is not about a elected leader it is about our conservative issues that our leader is empowered with as he or she sets take our message of HOPE to the public in this state
I have seen the damage the suit crowd has had on the inner party workings so while risky to try something different I was very willing to proudly wear a t shirt and tell others that the power in the party is the group gathered on the convention floor and it needs to stay that way
Amen, Patrick…although I had a suit on and voted for Hasan…haha I will say that I hope Jon boy is not in a position of leadership in the party…and I really hope he’s not a Republican… Because his tone suggest but he’s hoping the party fails in 2016 and that disgusts me.
That sounds like a threat. All this time you’ve been falsely accusing us grassroots of disloyalty, when all along it’s really your lot who take your ball and go home the first sign of trouble. A post like this, Jon Boy, and it makes me wonder if you are “Ready for Hillary.” It’s pretty clear from your post here that it was NEVER the grassroots, but the establishment who we should be looking at for Party disloyalty.
Loyalty is a two way street, not a one way street. You don’t get to wiz and moan all these years about how we’ve got to be loyal to the Party and then the minute things don’t go your way you start working to elect the Dems! Forget you! The NCGOP is better without your kind.
Somebody needs to ask Hasan Harnett while he was chair of The Vince Coakley campaign for congress why he refused to pay a campaign worker who was the only worker that was white. He changed his mind the very next day after getting a phone call from an attorney who also happened to be a NCGOP district chairman.
In recent years, holding state executive committee meetings immediately after the convention has led to not enough time to consider business, stalling tactics, and quorum calls. In the past these meetings were held some weeks after the convention, when people were not ready to go home and could devote some real time to party business. I think the last time that was done was in Cobey’s first term.
Also, this is the first executive committee meeting of the new chairman, and should be called by that chairman, not the outgoing chairman. Also, the new chairman, not the outgoing chairman should set the agenda. Part of the problem this time was the outgoing chairman placing a lot of unnecessary junk on the agenda that wasted time.
I never have understood why we the executive committee cannot take more control of the adjenda ourselves and why trying to put new business on the agenda is looked down so much from the floor
I agree with both those points… the new chair should have received respect due his position.
I live in Durham. I’m politically active. And I have a better-than-average understanding of how politics works on the right side of the aisle in North Carolina. Beyond this, I have an unusually large network of fairly close political acquaintances and connections. I can tell you this: quite literally, everybody that I know is excited about Harnett taking the helm. Everybody understands that his election signals a big change here.
I think that the genuine enthusiasm for Harnett among the conservative base signals several things. First and foremost, it strongly suggests that the base wants a state party that will agressively articulate the “message of conservatism.” In fact, a large part of our most recent electoral victories can be attributed to some very successful “minority outreach” programs. Most of the folks at the grass roots level are very excited by this success– and I think that most of them want to the party to continue to put a major effort into minting “new conservatives,” so to speak.