Well folks, I think with this recent hatchet job post against Michael Davidson and other comments emanating from the burgeoning CRNC blogosphere it is time for a bit of a reality check of facts agreed upon by, I believe, ALL sides.

1. This election is important because Paul Gourley and Michael Davidson have substancially different views on how the CRNC should be run.
2. Response Dynamics Inc, the CRNCs old fundraising firm used unethical techniques to raise money
3. Paul Gourley signed the RDI letters knowingly (Gourley camp says this is a virtue)
4. This is a media issue that could severely hurt College Republicans across the country (Thus Chairman Hoplin’s condemnation of people “blowing the whistle” on the CRNC behavior)

From these facts alone one can deduce that Paul Gourley’s ascension to CRNC Chairman would lead to a likely two-year paralysis of the organization under the weight of the scandal. Whether or not it is Paul’s “fault” or not, he is now inexorably tied to those letters and one can little doubt that those questions will be brought up in any media interview he does.

For me this election is about one thing and really one thing only: ethics. I think that the CRNC has bungled badly a lot of different aspects of their operation just take a peek at their finance statements and the fact they FAILED to file a statement for the second half of 2003, and their statement for the first half of the year was filed months late on 7 Feb 2005. Yet, in the end, someone has to be held to account and it would seem to me the treasurer whose job it is to oversee the finances, Paul Gourley, would be the logical person.

Will it be the end of the world if Paul is elected? No. But it will signal that the CRs are not serious about true reform and the forces of careerism have won out over principle.

Well I attended the panel discussion put on by the Advisory Committee to the Internet Caucus. It confirmed all my fears, and assauged none of my doubts.

The panelists were Chairman Scott Thomas of the FEC, Mike Krempasky of Red State, and John Morris of the Center for Democracy and Technology. The moderator was Michael Cornfield of the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

The one major concern that this whole panel raised for me is that no one, not even the FEC Chairman really had a grasp on what exactly the proposed rules will do. The rule proposal is set to come out in the Federal Register around April 4th, and then there will be a 60 day window for comment on them. Chairman Thomas seemed to be generally interested and concerned in the process, and I believe he has good intentions in this, but if he doesn’t even know what effect these rules will have then we must all be very concerned.

Mike Krempasky did a good job pointing out a lot of the murky areas that are likely to pop up due to the implications of the law. I think in the end the only real solution to the problem is the repeal of McCain-Feingold (a terribly unconstitutional bill that should have never been signed… but I digress), but that is unlikely to happen. As such, Chairman Thomas repeatedly stated that begining on the 4th the FEC would be looking for written comment from as many qualified peopel as possible. I would encourage all bloggers to participate. More details as they come in.

I will be attending a panel discussion by the Internet Advisory Caucus on the FEC & The Internet. Mike Krempasky of Red State will be on the panelists along with the Chairman of the FEC. I will post about it once I get back. Should be interesting.

A must see… here.

Here is an excellent response by Deroy Murdock to Peggy Noonan’s article that Gary posted regarding Terri Schiavo. There are plenty of people who believe in transcendent truths that don’t go to religious services or believe in an after life. Would anyone claim that Aristotle or Plato could not know that starving someone to death was wrong because they lived before Jesus walked on the earth? I think that the pro-life community needs to heed Murdock’s advice.

Not a surprise, but at least it is being talked about. Now we just need to do something about it.

College Faculties A Most Liberal Lot, Study Finds

By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 29, 2005;

College faculties, long assumed to be a liberal bastion, lean further to the left than even the most conspiratorial conservatives might have imagined, a new study says.

By their own description, 72 percent of those teaching at American universities and colleges are liberal and 15 percent are conservative, says the study being published this week. The imbalance is almost as striking in partisan terms, with 50 percent of the faculty members surveyed identifying themselves as Democrats and 11 percent as Republicans.
Click to continue »

A liberal blog, crackersquire.blogspot.com run by former Georgia US Senate candidate Sid Cottingham, gives a democrat’s view of Republican RINOs and their effect on the political scene. He gives his analysis of the 06 Lt. Gov race in Georgia which former Christian Coalition chairman Ralph Reed is running for against State Sen. Casey Cagle in the GOP primary. What is interesting is that he uses the last US senate GOP primary between Johnny Isakson and Herman Cain to compare to the upcoming 06 Primary. This liberal Democrat explains better than I could that Johnny Isakson is NOT a conservative like he would like the voters in Georgia to believe.

Bring ‘em on, GOP candidates for Lt. Gov. that is. The more the merrier, and for sure, the more GOP candidates the better for the Dems in Nov. ‘06.
In a 9-4-04 post I wrote:

“When I started this blog, my heading included the following: ‘Conventional wisdom is that in order to win, a Republican must veer right for the primary, and then veer back left toward the center for the general election. Is the reverse now true for the Democratic Party?’”

We witnessed this with Isakson. As noted by Bill Shipp in his article about Sen. Isakson entitled “Ardent Moderate” that is in my 1/5/05 post:

“Isakson’s almost-fatal political mistake occurred in 1996 when he announced he was a pro-choice candidate for the Senate. Many pro-life Republicans never forgave him, and his stance cost him the Republican nomination. Since then, and especially during the 2004 campaign, Isakson has drifted increasingly to the right. He is now anti-abortion (with some exceptions), anti-gay marriage and pro-gun rights.

“He captured the Republican nomination without a runoff against an established middle-Georgia congressman, Mac Collins, and an eloquent business executive, Herman Cain. His opponents tried to label Isakson an ardent ‘moderate’ — which most Georgians apparently like.”
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The Washington Times reports on the likelihood of attacks on anti-illegal immigration volunteers by Central American Gangs at the Arizona-Mexico border. Gotta love this quote:

“We’re not worried because half of our recruits are retired trained combat soldiers,” Mr. Gilchrist said. “And those guys are just a bunch of punks.”
More than 1,000 volunteers are expected to take part in the Minuteman vigil, which will include civilian patrols along a 20-mile section of the San Pedro River Valley, which has become a frequent entry point to the United States for foreigner headed north.
About 40 percent of the 1.15 million foreign nationals caught last year by the U.S. Border Patrol trying to gain illegal entry to the United States were apprehended along a 260-mile stretch of the Arizona border here known as the Tucson sector.
Many of the Minuteman volunteers are expected to be armed, although organizers of the border vigil have prohibited them from carrying rifles. Only those people with a license to carry a handgun will be allowed to do so, Mr. Gilchrist said.

Click Here to read the whole article.

This CRNC election has seen a lot of people claim them mantle of truth… TruthCaucus, CR Vets for Truth, etc. Some have asked what place SaveTheGOP serves in this fray. We are not a blog dedicated solely to the CR issue, rather we started to help restore the GOPs conscience on conservative issues, and this is just part of that attempt.

We do not claim to be objective like CRVetsForTruth does or others, b/c we think that when given the choice between Paul Gourley and Michael Davidson it would be an ethical mistake on our part to say they are equally qualified. Paul Gourley’s signature on those letters in the end rendered him incapable of serving as a succesful CRNC Chairman and I’m sure more people realize our point of view when they read our posts.

What I hope though is that we are fair, and I think with our condemnation of the removal of Cassin in Michigan that has come out. We are not in this to cover, spin, etc rather to provide our readers with facts into the case. We don’t say we’re “fair and balanced” every 5 minutes, because we hope from reading our stuff you realize we’re thoughtful and fair folks without us shoving it down your throat. In the end we’re out to help the conservative cause, and that’s why we support Davidson and are not about to apologize for it, but we will show you both sides of the coin.

Good news for all involved it looks like the Amy Paul (HSP Direct) - RDI connection is less that it originally seemed to be, let’s hope it stays that way. Check out CRVetsForTruth take on it and email with Ms. Paul.

No competition for the top job, and no wonder

“BE CAREFUL what you wish for” would be good advice for Francis Slay, the mayor of St Louis. His re-election later this year is all but certain—but so are the problems he faces in running his city for four more turbulent years.

No Republicans have bothered to file for the race, so Mr Slay will face only token competition from the Green Party. This week he easily beat his two opponents in the Democratic primary. One of these was Irene Smith, a black alderwoman whose long career in public service was replaced in voters’ minds by an unfortunate scene during a filibuster in 2001 when she urinated into a waste bucket on the floor of the chamber where the Board of Aldermen was meeting.
Click to continue »

Rick Santorum just got a hail mary pass…

See the website Run Barbara Run

From Jeanne K.C. Clark’s Sunday Post-Gazette oped, “I’m Not Taking ‘No’ for an Answer this Time!”:

National women’s rights leaders are notifying their members about Rendell’s betrayal of women and urging them to protest directly and financially. The boycott of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has started among some of the party’s largest donors. Statewide lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender leaders are organizing for an open primary. There are rumbles of mutiny within the state committee. And folks are even talking about challenging Rendell himself in his re-election campaign.

I’m doing all that, and one more thing: I’m starting a campaign to draft Barbara Hafer (www.runbarbararun.com.)

Just as I would rescue a woman who was forced to make promises by her batterer, I am working to rescue Barbara Hafer from our bullying governor. Because I’m sick and tired of women candidates being treated as the battered wives of the Democratic Party.

Women have given the party our money, our time and our votes — and we absolutely refuse to have them repay us with Bob Casey and his likely vote to approve Antonin Scalia as Supreme Court chief justice. An 11-year old rape victim, whether in Somalia or Springdale, doesn’t care if it was a Republican or Democrat who voted to force her to have her rapist’s baby, and neither do I.

-GrassrootsPA

HSP Direct one of the new direct mail firms for the CRNC has connections to RDI as documented at the CRNC Chatter site. Well things get even worse when you look at HSP Direct’s website:

The Ideal HSP Direct Client:

Your chances for direct mail success increase dramatically if you are an organization that:

* Is passionate about your issue or candidate.
* Already has solid programs in place and needs funding to keep them going.
* Has access to recognizable politicians, celebrities or well-known national figures for signing fund raising letters.
* Has the patience and commitment to build a program.
* Understands that creative license is a MUST in order to give us the freedom we need to create emotional, compelling fund raising appeals that will spur the reader to immediate action.

“Creative license”… “emotional, compelling”… you connect the dots.

One thing few have hit on for this race is that leadership is essential beyond just the chairman. There must be an understanding that these people are not serving the Chairman but are serving the CRs and they must be fully engaged in the neccesary reform. Independence and willingness to question the Chair from time to time is a healthy part of an organization. I would urge all of the Chair candidates to pick tickets based on who is BEST for the job not who is politically BEST. The CRNC has suffered long enough from political patronage.

Man sells tool to block TVs from recieving Fox News…. Gee I always thought such a thing was called a remote control.

Another blog on the block, can’t tell what its angle is going to be, its trying to be funny but we’ll see. Here.

Last year Norm Coleman ran against Liddy Dole for Chairman of the NRSC, and again it looks like our original hope that Norm Coleman would win over Liddy Dole was right. Novak is reporting in his column that GOP insiders are increasingly worrying that Liddy Dole is turning out as an NRSC disaster. With the possibility of steep loses in the House already weighing down on the NRCC, there was hope that the Senate landscape for 06, which heavily favors the GOP would be better. Yet Dole has yet to recruit any high caliber candidates in the GOPs top target states of Florida, Nebraska, and Michigan. On the other hand, the Dems landed their dream candidate in Bob Casey Jr for Pennsylvania. Coleman lost the election by only a few votes, and one has to wonder if there aren’t some people up on the Hill regretting their votes.

Hat Tip: GrassrootsPA

A letter from the Michigan RSC, which in my estimation clears things up:
Hat Tip:Michigan CR Blog

Good morning,

First, let me thank all of those of you who have taken the time to speak with me over the last 48 hours. I know your phone has been ringing off the hook, as has mine, and through all of the communication, I appreciate the dedication you have shown to the future of the Michigan Federation of College Republicans.

As I have discussed with many of you, the actions that took place were not in any way an ideal situation. They were a result of grave concern by many of the unethical behavior that reflected poorly on both the Michigan Federation of College Republicans and the entire Republican Party.

I am disappointed and discouraged by those that have continued to spread lies regarding what has happened. As you know, both Sam and myself have done everything in our power to speak with as many of you as possible in the last few days to explain what happened, why it happened and most importantly where we, as an organization, go now. The lies that have continued to spread via phone and e-mail are truly disheartening, especially those that come from individuals who claim they have the best interests of the Republican Party at heart.

Claims that Michael Davidson, a candidate for College Republican National Committee Chairman, was involved in this decisions made here in Michigan are completely false. I can assure you that Mr. Davidson, nor were any members of his campaign staff involved in the actions that were taken in any way, shape or form. As a Vice-Chairman of the Michigan Republican State Committee, I am not only offended by accusations by some individuals that the Davidson campaign had any part of this, but I am truly discouraged by the lengths that these individuals are willing to go to prevent the unity that has already begun within the Michigan Federation of College Repu blicans.

I cannot express enough that these actions were not done in order to assert the power of the Michigan Republican Party into the College Republican level. They were not done at Michael Davidson’s request. And, they were not done because of any one person’s personal vendetta towards another. Anyone who claims that these were the reasons is lying and evidently seeks to demolish attempts at uniting College Republicans in Michigan. The decision to take action was made by Republican leaders and activists here in Michigan, without influence from any out-of state individuals or groups. What happened here in Michigan was about standing up for ethical behavior, and doing so when others refused to.

We must now all take a tough stand. We may be in uncharted waters, but let’s make sure that we are there together. Last night’s conference call was outstanding. It allowed for an even better open dialogue between members of our organization, and was done so as soon as possible to ensure that there was the proper opportunity for such dialogue. In the coming week, there are sure to be continued conversations. Sam, and the officers of the MFCR have worked to rearrange their schedule to ensure that a face-to-face meeting takes place as soon as possible, as this is also essential to continue to build unity and for future success! During the next week, we hope to have another conference call, as well as meeting on April 10th at Eastern Michigan University.

Thank you again to all of you who have taken the time to speak with myself, and others regarding recent events. Remember, we have lots to do for victory in 2006, and we can only accomplish victory by working together. We have a fine group of College Republicans here in Michigan, undoubtedly the best in the Nation. Let’s keep it that way! Please know that I am always available to answer any questions you may have. You can reach me at 989.621.2013 at your convenience.

Sicncerely,

Matthew Golden, Youth Chair

Michigan Republican State Committee

E: always_golden@yahoo.com

“Statesmen, my dear Sir, may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is religion and morality alone, which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand. The only foundation of a free constitution is pure virtue; and if this cannot be inspired into our people in a greater measure than they have it now, they may change their rulers and the forms of government, but they will not obtain a lasting liberty. They will only exchange tyrants for tyrannies” ~ John Adams
There is great wealth in the writings of our founders on the role of government, economics, the rights of man, and the pursuit of the American dream. One of those great writers was Adams who happens to be one of my favorite. I am not pushing a moralist agenda, but in light of the events taking place in Florida, I think it is appropriate to look at the role morality and virtue play in our society. Adams tied freedom and liberty directly to morality. I do not think it is an accident that the sanctity of Human life is respected and cherished in America as it is when compared to the rest of the world, but as Mark has pointed out, there are those even within the GOP who view the value of life differently. As Republicans, we must strive to make sure our party continues to be a defender of human life. It was striking to me to hear the difference between the two sides during the house floor speeches for the Terry Schiavo vote, our two party system really has turned into Pro-Life and Pro-Death.

Enemy #1 - WISH List College
Enemy #2 - Republican Youth “Majority”
Any questions?