There is much that needs to be done to rebuild the Republican Party, at the locaal, state and national levels. For the moment, though, I’d like to focus my thoughts on the misdirection provided by the SD-16 BPOU. Mark Olson’s ego wouldn’t let him simply retire. As a result, SD-16 will be misrepresented by a liberal whose decisionmaking is questionable at best. Based on Ms. Fobbe’s list of questionable decisions, it’s obvious that holding people accountable wasn’t a priority for her. Specifically, I’m referring to Ms. Fobbe not holding Mark Sleeper accountable.

What’s worse than Ms. Fobbe winning the election is the role that Mark Olson and Dave Wilson played in preventing Alison Krueger’s victory. These spoiled brats didn’t care that we lost that seat. This next part is part speculation, part verifiable fact on my behalf but here’s what I think was Olson’s and Wilson’s motivations:

1) Dave Wilson told our BPOU that he didn’t like the notion of outsiders, specifically the Senate Victory Fund, determining who their candidate would be. It was apparent that it mattered nothing that the Senate Victory Fund stayed within the restrictions placed on them by Minnesota state statute. Wilson and his SD-16 BPOU brethren cared only about maintaining absolute local control of the process.

I’m a huge proponent of local control. That’s the basis for many of my policy beliefs. I’m not an absolutist, though, because there are laws on the books that limit how absolutist I can be. The Senate Victory Fund was well within its rights to get involved in the primary and general election fights. PERIOD. The only thing that matters is that it’s their legal right.

We can’t call ourselves the party of law and order or the party of strict constructionists if we selectively ignore laws we don’t like. Wilson and Olson fought against a legally justified process. Their fight cost Alison Krueger the SD-16 Senate seat.

What’s most damning is the fact that the SD-16 BPOU’s own constitution should’ve prevented them from doing what they did. Here’s what I’m specifically referring to:

Article VIII-Vacancies and Removals
Section 4: It is the duty of all Executive Committee members to support Republican endorsed candidates. Should any member of this body actively and publicly campaign against a Republican endorsed candidate, that member may be removed from the Executive Committee in accordance with the provisions of Article VIII, Section 2.

Here’s the relevant portion of the Republican Party of Minnesota’s constitution says on the subject:

ARTICLE V
Conventions and Endorsements - General Provisions
SECTION 3: Endorsements.
3. Only one candidate may be endorsed per seat for a particular office.

Here’s what Minnesota law says about endorsed candidates:

204D.10 PRIMARY RESULTS; NOMINEES.
Subdivision 1. Partisan offices; nominees. The candidate for nomination of a major political party for a partisan office on the state partisan primary ballot who receives the highest number of votes shall be the nominee of that political party for that office, except as otherwise provided in subdivision 2.

Minnesota state law says that a political party’s endorsed candidate is the one that wins the primary. Furthermore, the RPM Constitution states clearly that “only one candidate may be endorsed per seat for a particular office.” The SD-16 BPOU’s constitution must, and does, comply with the state party’s constitution. The SD-16 BPOU is prohibited from changing their constitution because it then wouldn’t comply with the state party’s constitution, which means that it wouldn’t comply with Minnesota state law.

2) It’s my belief that Mr. Olson was determined to play the role of spoiler after Ms. Krueger defeated him in the primary. He’s been in enough campaigns to know that it would take 20,000+ votes to win the general election. (This year, Ms. Fobbe’s winning total was a little over 22,000 votes. Mark Olson’s write-in campaign fell a paltry 21,122 votes short of winning.)

That’s important because Dave Wilson is the SD-16 BPOU Executive Board chairman. From a legal standpoint, the only Republican on the SD-16 Special Election ballot was Alison Krueger. That’s the only thing that matters. As stated earlier, the SD-16 Constitution mandated that their executive board members support Republican-endorsed candidates.

By supporting Mark Olson, Mr. Wilson supported a man who ran as an independent. It’s that simple because that’s how the law reads.

3) Mr. Olson showed an egotistical attitude in defying the primary voters’ will. After they spoke, he didn’t listen. It was as if he believed that he was either the only candidate entitled to run or the only candidate capable of winning. If that’s what he thought, he’s wrong. Alison Krueger is extremely qualified. As I’ve said before, she’s dealt with environmental regulations, taxes, health care and energy issues.

My friend Andy Aplikowski summarizes things in a couple thousand fewer words here. I wholeheartedly agree with Andy’s appraisal. It’s time the GOP started pulling in the same direction and working as a team. If we don’t, we’ll continue getting drubbed in midterm and presidential elections.

It’s a time for new leadership at the local, state and national levels. Those new leadership teams must have good communications skills. They also must set aside personal preferences. Ronald Reagan once said something that’s worth noting here:

“It’s amazing what we can get done when we don’t care who gets credit for doing what.”

TRANSLATION: Leadership and accomplishment are welcome. Egos aren’t. We can’t afford to ignore the Reaganite model for success.

Technorati: Mark Olson, Dave Wilson, Lisa Fobbe, Constitution, Election Law, Alison Krueger, Election 2008