In my last post I noted that the incoming head of the Maryland Republican Party was one Jim Pelura. Whether through reading monoblogue or the article in the Baltimore Sun, already several people have the opinion that Dr. Pelura may not have been the best choice, particularly Cato at Delmarva Dealings.
As I noted, I took the time to speak with both Pelura and opponent John White on Friday night as I was making my rounds. I actually enjoyed speaking to both of them and figured either would make a good chairman; however, in the end I thought White would’ve been the better choice and voted accordingly. But I was in a relatively sparse minority as almost 2/3 of the eligible voters at the convention selected Pelura. To me though, it was clear from the start that Pelura was the “establishment” candidate. Several of the e-mails I received in the last couple days before the convention were pro-Pelura and there was one that openly advocated not voting for John White. Nothing wrong with that, obviously some people wanted Pelura to win and stuck their neck out for him. No hard feelings whatsoever.
The most bizarre thing about this chairman election was there were some counties that strongly supported White. He won 8 counties and Baltimore City by a combined 50-11, which was over 70% of his total. Three of our four local counties went into the White column (including Wicomico – Somerset was the lone exception.) The tally in our area was 14-8 White with 7 Pelura votes being Somerset’s. But Pelura pitched shutouts in seven counties and had just one dissenter in three others, which racked up an insurmountable 76-3 margin for the chair.
However, just like the November election that I was on the losing end of for the most part, I’m going to choose to look forward. Here are the items attributed to Pelura that Cato questioned in his post, which actually comes from an Anne Arundel County blog called The Conservative Refuge. I’ll give my thoughts on each afterward.
1) The majority of Marylanders are basically conservative.
To one degree or another, I think Pelura is correct in saying this. Obviously, a place like Takoma Park has the people farthest from this ideal, but in areas like the Eastern Shore and Western Maryland Pelura is spot on, even if there’s more registered Democrats in some counties.
2) The Republican Party of Maryland must reach out to the actual voter and make them feel proud to be Republican.
This comment is pretty much a platitude, on this I have to agree with Cato. Its sentiment is better said in point number 5.
3) The Republican Party should simply promote Republican ideals which will benefit all candidates on the ticket.
I sort of like this “keep it simple stupid” approach because the GOP does have several issues that would appeal to most IF they choose to govern accordingly. Unfortunately, they didn’t do so in Washington over the last 4 to 6 years and that’s why they’re in the minority.
4) There should be active and open cooperation between the Republicans in the House and Senate and the State Party.
Nothing wrong with that. The elected officials should help us out when they can.
5) Most voters want to vote for something or someone and not against something or someone.
On this I agree wholeheartedly. Because disappointed conservatives had no one to vote FOR, the 2006 election was one that was won by a party that simply benefitted by not being in power, as happened in the 1974 post-Watergate election. Did the Democrats really have a lot of bright ideas? Not particularly – at least nothing that rivaled the Reagan “morning in America” or “city on a shining hill” or the Gingrich “Contract With America.” Come to think of it, all the Democrats had in their last big victory (1992) was Bill Clinton’s aw-shucks charm and a country pissed off because of “read my lips” and the Clinton claim of the worst economy in the last 50 years. Times weren’t great in 1991-92 but they weren’t the Great Depression either.
But in talking to Jim Pelura Friday night, I got the impression that he wanted to get a lot more input from the grassroots, which would be folks like me. I think he had a goal of meeting with all 24 local parties in his first year, and I know we here on the Lower Shore can make his life easier because I believe we do tri-county meetings (Worcester, Somerset, Wicomico) three times a year…save him a couple trips. If he wants the party to get away from conservative ideals, he’ll get an earful from us folks down here, particularly me.
I look forward to working with the new Chairman, and hopefully John White will send out a press release of some sort indicating he’ll be happy to support the incoming chair. As I stated at the outset, we had two good candidates running so we were bound to have someone worthy in the role of Chairman. Now it’s time to get cracking on 2008 and 2010, and I have some e-mails to write.
Is John White the fellow who ran unsuccessfully against Prince Sarbanes in the 3rd?
One and the same. He only got 33% in the general but I don’t know if that’s good for a Republican there or not.
My biggest issue with John White was his donation to Delegate Vallario. I think Vallario is a coniving sob. That said, I think White was right with grassroots outreach.
Pelura did well in 2004 with the Bush effort (remember there was a point where Maryland was well into the single digits for Kerry and in MD, that’s an accomplishment) and seems amicable enough.
The question is how will he mend the bridges? Maryland’s GOP establishment seems pretty shattered. The House is dueling between O’Donnell and Kach and in the senate between Harris and Brinkley. The state gop seems splintered as well. The one bright note may be that the grassroots organizations seem to be growing and without the splintering that seemed more evident in them in years past.
We’re all in this together and it is time to start acting like it. Martin O’Malley is going to spend like a drunken sailor and the General Assembly is going to advocate things that the communists would’ve called liberal. A splintered Republican party will destroy itself. If, and only IF, the Republicans in the House and the Senate and in the GOP can come together (aka, set aside their minimal differences) and start hititng hard now, then they’ll have a great shot in 2008, 2010 and beyond.
Folks,
I enjoyed the comments. To those that support me, thanks. To those skeptics, please continue to send your comments.
To all, please feel free to contact me at any time, I welcome all comments.
Thanks.
Pelura has accomplished one thing. Driven away the few minorities the MDGOP had. He even stated that they dont need to have non-whites for the purpose of having non-whites.
What a very provincial mentality. Maybe this is why an Ehrlich-Steele type team only comes around every 40 years and wins. Pelura is very much the Old White Guard and will do what it takes to maintain his White Bread GOP. We are going to lose for the next 40 years with this mentality, and rightfully so.
The Maryland GOP is not welcoming to minorities under Pelura. John Kane was a great leader in that regard. Pelura is a clf.
In response to PartyPlayer-I know Jim Pelura and he is nothing like the “Old White Guard.” He is very much for all people to be equal. Please read what he said in context. I think it’s more people like yourself who are closed minded. Why would any person want to be part of something simply because of their race. To be truly equal, everyone should win/lose based on merit. This is Pelura’s point. I doubt any minority group really wants to get anywhere solely based on skin color-talk about racist. This is the first time someone actually treated everyone equally-merits, not race should be the deciding factor.