A fundamental belief we hold as Republicans is that individuals, not a centralized government, make the best decisions about how most effectively to manage their lives and local affairs. Isn’t it ironic then that the Minnesota Republican Party has become a highly centralized, hierarchical, command and control organization in which all important decisions are handed down by an executive committee? Isn’t it ironic that local BPOUs are expected to serve the interests of the state party rather than the more republican (small “r”) notion of the state party empowering local BPOU’s to manage their own local organizations and campaigns without interference?
Two conflicting views exist in the Minnesota Republican Party today, which incidentally mirror the sharpening political divide in Minnesota and the nation at large. On the one hand there are those in the party who would have the Minnesota GOP be a top-down, command and control organization, an organization where unity based on exclusion is the rule. On the other hand, there is a growing segment of the party who believe that individuals acting at the local level are in the best position to make decisions effecting action. They believe in an open party in which debate is healthy and diverse values are respected but principle is never compromised.
Wither are we drifting?
Let’s be frank: The Minnesota GOP has gone the command and control route. Despite pleas for unity and promises of inclusion from the podium, the rules at last year’s State Convention were intentionally written to exclude any view that differed from that of the established party line. Enthusiastic new Republicans and even long-time party activists were systematically prohibited from expressing their concerns about a Minnesota GOP that was drifting from its traditional roots. Instead of a convention with a lively exchange of ideas, the state convention was dominated by acrimonious debate over parliamentary procedure.
It is a time to choose. It is time to reassert BPOU control of BPOU affairs. It is time to let the BPOUs be masters of their own fates and the building blocks of a Republican Party with broad-based support. It is time to build a dynamic Minnesota GOP that does not fear new ideas, but welcomes them. It is time for real unity forged in the fires of dynamic debate, not an artificial consensus shrink wrapped to protect it from challenge. Achieving those objectives requires effort on two levels.
What can be done to stop the drift?
First, the Minnesota GOP must organize itself consistent with the vision of strong local BPOUs. That is more than empty phrases about “empowerment” or the appearance of a “willingness” to listen to BPOU concerns. Remaking the Minnesota GOP requires guiding (not controlling) leadership with the courage to let the BPOUs operate as they think best. It requires actually turning over to the BPOUs specific responsibilities and the resources to meet those responsibilities – with no strings attached. It requires a party chair and executive committee as willing to take direction from local BPOUs as it has shown itself willing to do the bidding of the national party in Washington.
Second, the Minnesota GOP must nourish a message that resonates with a broad and diverse majority of Minnesotans. This does not mean the Republican Party should abandon its principles; rather, the Republican Party must define itself in terms of key fundamental principles. The party must get away from the idea of defining a “Republican” or a “conservative” based on a menu of mandatory positions on specific issues as defined by an excessively lengthy and often internally contradictory party platform. The platform should be superseded by a short set of fundamental principles that defines what the Republican Party believes, portends how Republicans govern and guides how the Republican Party manages its internal affairs.
The grassroots of the Minnesota GOP is withering away while GOP party leadership waters resources on the artificial “AstroTurf” of a top-down organization. Grassroots for an Open Republican Party proposes replacing that scene with a landscape of locally organized, locally driven, locally successful Republican organizations. The ideas here are intended to be discussed, not rubber-stamped. This site is the seed, not the plant. It is the dedicated local leadership of a revitalized Minnesota GOP who must nourish the seed and make it grow into a Republican Party that not only wins elections, but is respected for its integrity and honest governance. Let’s get started!
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