I Have No Idea How This Will Be Resolved

I have previously reported on the meeting held in Raleigh, North Carolina, on April 30, where a bunch of sore losers illegally deposed Hasan Harnett, the duly elected head of the North Carolina Republican Party. If you missed the report, you can read it here. Chairman Harnett attended the North Carolina State Republican Convention in Raleigh this weekend. He has shown the character and courage to stand up to the illegal actions of the group that decided to unelect him last weekend.

Yesterday The Raleigh News & Observer reported that Hasan Harnett has stated that he is still the Chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party. I agree with him, but I wonder what will happen next. I suspect a nasty lawsuit will follow Mr. Harnett’s declaration.

The article reports:

After months of infighting among party leaders, the Republican Party Executive Committee voted April 30 to remove Harnett and replace him with former U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes of Concord.

Hayes led Saturday’s convention from the stage, while Harnett sat with the delegation from Cabarrus County, where he lives. But in one of the first interviews he’s given since being ousted, Harnett said the removal vote wasn’t legitimate because it didn’t follow party rules.

“I’m still the chairman, duly elected,” he told reporters outside the convention hall. “Regardless of all the brouhaha and the shenanigans that are taking place, my job is to make sure that there is openness, fairness and transparency within the party.”

…Harnett said some of his supporters attended the convention, while others were discouraged by his removal and stayed home.

Hayes’ speech Saturday didn’t mention Harnett, but he said the party is improving. “We are regaining our mojo, our credibility, but more importantly, as a company, people are becoming more willing to invest with us,” he said, holding up a donation check. Harnett had been criticized for failing to raise money – something he disputes. “We need to bring all our forces to bear so we can get rid of Hillary.”

The Republican establishment in North Carolina has not behaved well.  As I have previously reported (here), this is about delegates to the Republican Convention in Cleveland in June. Donald Trump won the North Carolina primary election and is entitled to a certain percentage of the votes. The establishment is still looking for ways to take votes away from Donald Trump. As I have frequently stated, I am not a Trump supporter although I will vote for him rather than vote for Hillary. However, the choice of the voters who voted in the primary election needs to be respected, and somehow the establishment Republicans have forgotten that.

I believe that Hasan Harnett is the legitimate Chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party. I suspect the courts will agree with that statement because of the party rules broken in ousting Hasan Harnett. I hope this gets resolved soon.

Why The Average American Hates Politics

There was a gross miscarriage of justice today in Raleigh, North Carolina. I don’t know how much of the media will carry it or how they will spin it, but it was a gross miscarriage of justice. This miscarriage of justice occurred in the upper echelons of the North Carolina Republican party. Yesterday I posted an article explaining what the meeting in Raleigh today was about and the forces behind it. The meeting occurred and unfortunately the establishment again beat up the grass roots. The meeting was an illegal meeting to begin with for a number of reasons, but the establishment managed to gather enough votes to oust Hasan Harnett as Chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party. They should be ashamed of themselves.

The Daily Haymaker posted the story this afternoon. Here are a few quotes from their article:

He’s out. That’s the word I am getting from inside that meeting room in Raleigh — by a margin of 200 to 79. (If it’s any consolation, my sources are telling me Jim Womack has done a bang-up job as Harnett’s chief advocate.) 

The next step is to find a replacement.  Prior to the meeting, my sources told me there were 120 votes FOR keeping Hasan.  There MUST have been some kind of deal struck on the replacement in order to get this kind of sea change. 

So, a bunch of people — representing congressional districts that no longer exist — overthrew a man while THEY themselves could likely not survive a vote of confidence by their own local parties.  

I can’t explain how disappointed I am at the results of this meeting. This was a witch hunt. Unfortunately it was successful–they didn’t find a witch, but they found a good person to hang just the same. I am a registered Republican at the moment. I am not sure how long that will last. I have heard for a long time that the problem with our elections system is the money in politics. This was not about money–it was a pure power grab. I believe that the problem with our political system is not the money–it’s the dishonest people who will do anything to gain or keep power. This whole sage was totally unnecessary and does not reflect well on the Republican Party.

The quote that says it all comes from yesterday’s article on this site:

“[Dallas] (Woodhouse) has said that even if Harnett survives the vote on Saturday, they are still not going to let him back in the office or give him his email back or any of that stuff. The pettiness is going to continue.”

It’s time to put grown-ups in charge of the North Carolina Republican Party. This whole escapade was childish and will cost the party in November.

 

Letting Your True Colors Show

The Republican establishment is having a hard time nationally. They have decided on numerous candidates for President, and none of them have gotten much traction. John Kasich is the latest incarnation of that effort and does not seem to be resonating, so they may actually be warming to Donald Trump. As I have said, I am not a Trump supporter, but would vote for him before I would vote for Hillary.

North Carolina is also having a fight between the establishment and the grass roots. However, in this case, a group calling itself the grass roots actually represents the establishment. Last year at the GOP Convention, the attendees elected Hasan Harnett as the party chairman. He was not the choice of the NCGOP establishment, and they have attempted to make his life miserable at every opportunity since–to the point of locking him out of his email and office and then complaining that he is not doing his job. Well, tomorrow it comes to a head. There is a meeting in Raleigh to determine the fate of Hasan Harnett. The meeting was called by the North Carolina GOP Central Committee, a group that according to the Plan of Operation is supposed to be subservient to the GOP Executive Committee (evidently the Central Committee never read that part of the plan). Incidentally, the meeting was called on a day that it was known that Hasan Harnett would be out of the country and not able to defend himself. His schedule was made known to the Central Committee in January.

The Senate and House Republicans met recently in Raleigh to discuss the issue. The Daily Haymaker posted the story yesterday.

The article reports:

Sources tell me Woodhouse encouraged all members to show up and vote on Saturday.  Said one source:

“He reminded us to do it this weekend while we still had a vote.  He said we won’t have one under the new plan of organization.”

The reaction from the audience?  Said another source:

”Not a whole lot was said in response to what Woodhouse spoke about.  When this meeting was winding down, Woodhouse offered to stay a little longer to give people additional information and answer questions.  Out of the whole group — House and Senate — I’d say twenty to twenty-five hung around to hear more from him. Most people I’ve talked to said they are going nowhere near that meeting on Saturday. ”

I am told that Woodhouse has made a certain pledge to people about the aftermath of Saturday’s vote.  Said one source who has conversed directly with Woodhouse:

“[Dallas] has said that even if Harnett survives the vote on Saturday, they are still not going to let him back in the office or give him his email back or any of that stuff. The pettiness is going to continue.”

I hate to be difficult, but it doesn’t sound as if Hasan Harnett is the problem or is the one that needs to be removed. If the Republicans at Saturday’s meeting have any sense of decency at all, they will remove Dallas Woodhouse and anyone else who has been working with him in this effort. This is a kangaroo court that needs to be shut down immediately so the party can get on with the business of electing Republicans!

The Battle For The Soul Of The North Carolina Republican Party

North Carolina is currently reflecting the battle going on in America for the soul of the Republican party. The establishment is pushing their agenda, and the grass roots are screaming to be heard. There is a reason that the two leading candidates are not the choice of the people regarded as Republican leaders. The grass roots are angry. They have been sending Republicans to Washington for a number of years now only to be brokenhearted about what the people they send do. There is very little difference between the Republican and Democratic parties right now, and Americans are looking for an alternative to both.

In North Carolina the battle is reflected in the treatment of the Republican State Chairman. Hasan Harnett who was elected last year at the state convention. He was not the choice of the establishment Republicans in the party. Hasan is a conservative, as is his vice-chairman, Michele Nix. Lately he has been locked out of his email and evidently his office. The Central Committee of the North Carolina Republican Party has not treated him well.

The Daily Haymaker has posted a number of articles on the events.

One article reports:

Leaders of two of the largest, most active Tea Party organizations have issued releases announcing their intention to protest at the NCGOP 2nd congressional district meeting in Sanford on Saturday, April 9.

Moore Tea Citizens and the Asheville Tea Party issued the following statement:

[…] It has been very obvious from the moment of Mr. Harnett’s election at the 2015 State Convention, that the Central Committee has been highly displeased that their establishment insider candidate, endorsed by Governor McCrory, Senators Richard Burr and Thom Tillis, was not the choice of the GOP base.

Conversely, The GOP party members who elected Mr. Harnett are not at all pleased with the NCGOP Central Committee for their non-transparent, secretive tactics thwarting Chairman Harnett attempts to be successful. These tactics include: denying him access to NCGOP headquarters, his email account, and false accusations of hacking the website.

The grassroots support for Chairman Harnett is based in his Conservative credentials and relationship with his GOP constituents. The grassroots contend that neither has been embraced by the party establishment elites.

The NCGOP war on the grassroots has also gained much media attention in both state and national news outlets such as The Wall Street Journal. This ‘rift’ has even caught the attention of talk show host Rush Limbaugh. If this is not resolved, it has the potential of damaging the outcome of our general elections in November.

[…]Liberty loving citizens who refuse to sit down, and shut up, please join us to support NCGOP Chairman Hasan Harnett. Chairman Harnett is a fine man and Patriot. He does not deserve this treatment from NCGOP party elites whose only interest is to protect their power, not represent WE THE PEOPLE.

Come and join the many so together we make a difference.

Another article in The Daily Haymaker reports:

If you’re a regular reader of this site, you are pretty well caught up on the details of the NCGOP saga.  Well, beleaguered party chairman Hasan Harnett has emerged from his bunker to rally his supporters and fire off a few volleys at his Central Committee foes: 

I understand the concerns about having a conflict with district conventions, but my main premise for pushing forward was to put the divisive infighting behind us so we can move forward in beating Democrats in the fall. Consequently, I am canceling the Executive Committee meeting on April 9th and am asking that you not sign the petitions to call for a special meeting on April 30th.

Likewise, I am a volunteer Chairman and must work for a living to provide for my family. The NCGOP staff was already notified on January 27th of my schedule. I am traveling out of the country on business starting April 23rd thru May 1st (see the date and time stamp below). The only Saturdays in April I am available are 4/2, 4/9, and 4/16 of which all of these dates have district conventions. Due to scheduling constraints, we should not have our next Executive Committee meeting until after the State Convention.

It is also apparent that the Central Committee is attempting to schedule an April 30th Executive Committee meeting. The sole premise of the Central Committee’s petition for the April 30th meeting is to remove your State Chairman during an election year. Who likes junk mail? The statements in the letter you received are nothing more than bald faced lies. Furthermore, the claims in that letter have no factual basis whatsoever and is why most of you have placed these petition letters in either your recycle bin or underneath your junk mail. If you already signed it, please email me requesting your signature be removed from the petition, and I will make sure it is eliminated. For anyone still contemplating, I urge you not to sign the petition for the April 30th Executive Committee meeting.

Instead, let us focus our energies on the ongoing District Conventions and upcoming State Convention. We are moving on because there really is no time to waste. We have an exciting year ahead of us and today is a new day. While there are a number of issues to address, I believe we can find the appropriate solutions together.

All of your feedback is greatly appreciated. Feel free to call, email or text me should you have additional thoughts.

Respectfully,

Hasan

This is a good move on Harnett’s part.  It frees up folks who were interested in giving the scheming Cotten gals an old-fashioned piece of their mind. 

And from a friend who attended a recent District Republican Committee Meeting:

I believe the National Convention outcome is behind the hoopla to remove Hasan. At the moment, Hasan gets to pick a slate of 30 Delegates and 30 Alternates. Presuming that we have a brokered convention in Cleveland, for whom those delegates vote could make a huge difference in the outcome. I suspect Hasan would pick people who support Cruz or Trump (I don’t know which), and the RNC has a huge problem with both of those people. Therefore, I believe it is the RNC and their state power brokers who originally backed Craig Collins for Chairman of the NC GOP who are behind all of this unrest.

A lot is at stake with the election of delegates to the National Convention. There is much behind the scenes jockeying to have delegates at the Convention who will support certain candidates, ESPECIALLY IF IT IS A “BROKERED” OR “CONTESTED ” ONE. The power players have their claws out.

We need to thwart this scheme, and hold to the will of the body!

NOW THAT I HAVE STATED WHAT I BELIEVE IS THE REAL PROBLEM, here are the concerns Constitutional Conservatives should have about how the District Convention was conducted. The folks who are constantly calling for party unity at all costs, the “Establishment Republicans,” are well versed in techniques to use in procedures to get their way. First, they know that Convention attendees are in many cases not committed enough to devote a great deal of time to do the Convention’s business. Many come to rally the party, hear speeches, meet candidates, have a good time, etc. Therefore, the first tactic is always to put off hearing the business they want to thwart until folks are getting anxious to go home, and then call for a count of attendance to check to see if the meeting still has a quorum. Thankfully, this tactic was not working last Saturday.

What did work was to keep moving for amendments to the motion to adopt the resolution requesting an investigation of the NCGOP Central Committee – to keep stirring in minutia – until people tired of the controversy and wanted to get this over so we could elect delegates and go home. When this point was reached, there were the usual calls for party unity, etc. (The irony is that the folks calling for unity tended to be firmly in the group that caused the dis-unity in the first place.)

I would like to restate that the people calling for unity are the people who have undercut Chairman Harnett since he was elected. It is difficult to respect their calls for unity when they are refusing to back their duly elected chairman. If the Republican party wants to be a viable party in the future, they need to do some serious housecleaning. If you want to be a Democrat, join the Democratic party. If you want to be a Republican, respect the grass roots–they are the ones who usually do the work.

 

The Republican Ability To Form A Circular Firing Squad Is Present At All Levels Of The Party

This article is based on an article posted at The Charlotte Observer yesterday and an article posted at The Daily Haymaker today. Both articles have to do with the power struggle currently going on within the North Carolina Republican Party. The power struggle began last year when Hasan Harnett was elected to chair the North Carolina Republican Party. He was the choice of the grass roots, but not of the establishment. Since his election, the establishment has attempted to strip him of power and now they are attempting to unseat him.

In September, I reported on the efforts of the establishment Republicans to set up a separate fundraising entity–essentially a shadow party. The grass roots effort to fight back were stopped by the Central Committee postponing any negative consequences until they could gather the legislators who supported them to cast votes in support of the shadow party.

The Charlotte Observer reports:

Harnett has been under fire since the state party’s Central Committee voted Sunday to censure him. Its resolution of no confidence included a litany of eight offenses “deemed harmful to the North Carolina Republican Party.”

Among other things, they included a dispute over the cost of attending the state convention.

Now, less than a year after Harnett was elected the state party’s first African-American chairman with support from grass-roots activists, some party leaders are trying to oust him before the convention.

But Harnett plans to stay.

The Daily Haymaker reports:

The content of the text screenshots we received indicate that executive director Dallas Woodhouse is much more than an innocent bystander in the whole effort to fire party chairman Hasan Harnett:

…The legislators are WHO saved the necks of David Lewis and Dallas the last go-around.  Will our electeds once AGAIN ride to the rescue of cronyism, pettiness, and corruption?  We’ll see. 

As you read this stuff, remember that this organization is completely controlled by the McCrory for Governor campaign organization.  The governor COULD step in and calm this down IF he wanted to.  His silence speaks volumes.

It is time for the Republican Party Central Committee to listen to the people who generally vote Republican. These are the people who elected Hasan Harnett. I am sorry that the Central Committee’s little noses are out of joint because they do not control the chairmanship, but it is time for them to work with the elected leader. If they choose not to work with Hasan Harnett, many North Carolina Republicans will leave the party, and ultimately, the Republicans may lose the general election in November. The childish moves on the part of the Central Committee benefit no one.

This Is No Way To Win An Election

I am a registered Republican. There are a few reasons for that. Last time I checked, there was no Conservative Party, and the Republican party was the closest I could come. The interesting thing about the Republican party is the independence of its members. If you look closely at the Democratic party, you find a conglomeration of various special interest groups and causes. These special interests tend to support each other and vote as a bloc. If you look closely at the Republican party right now, I am not sure what you find. There is an element of small government, fiscal conservatism, etc., but that is not the element that is in charge of the Republican party. Add to that the fact that Republicans tend not to march in lock step, and it gets truly interesting.

North Carolina is currently in the midst of a struggle that is a microcosm of the battle between the establishment and the grass roots that is taking place in the Republican party primary elections. The establishment is tearing its hair out at the possibility of a Donald Trump or Ted Cruz nomination. Either one of these candidates has the potential to end the crony capitalism the establishment Republicans and Democrats have set up in Washington in recent years.

Now, the battle has spilled over to North Carolina. The News Observer is reporting today that the Chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party (who is not a favorite of the party establishment) has been shut out of his email account since Monday. There are a few other grass roots types that have also been shut out of their accounts.

The Daily Haymaker also posted an article about the emails. The Daily Haymaker article states:

State GOP chairman Hasan Harnett has fired the latest shot in an email to executive director Dallas Woodhouse, accountant Greg Fornshell, and to hundreds of GOP bigwigs across the state:

[…] Mr. Woodhouse/Fornshell, I am politely requesting you turn my NCGOP Google email immediately back on. I know you have disabled my Google Email account through Computer Plumber. I have called Greg Fornshell and sent text messages but he remains silent. I had also visited the NCGOP Headquarters in Raleigh and apparently Greg Fornshell slipped out of the office ahead of my arrival. I have contacted the Computer Plumber company who services our email account and they said I need to talk with Greg Fornshell. Pretty interesting. Who gave the command? From my perspective, it’s the same old playbook and routine. Dallas, since you run the staff I know you gave the command to Greg Fornshell to disable my account.

Greg Fornshell, you can hide behind the covering of Dallas Woodhouse because he told you to do it. Dallas, the question remains will you also hide behind Tom Starks, General Counsel of the NCGOP to attempt to usurp his authority again and again over me? Or was it the current Central Committee staying on their talking points to make another bogus decision against me? Evidently, having closed door meetings with you does not work because either you brush me off or you just don’t listen. Why are you playing these silly games? Is this a joke or something?

Why would you stoop so low as to disable the Chairman’s NCGOP Google Email account? Why are fighting me? I have brought sound ideas to the table and have bent over backwards to make great things happen for all of us at the NCGOP. It is apparent that my sincere help and service to the Republican Party is not appreciated or welcomed by you and the Central Committee. It is apparent that you and the Central Committee want to do your own thing by working around me as oppose to working with me.

Is the reason why my account is disabled because you and the Central Committee do not want me to succeed as Chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party? Or will you try to hide behind a some bogus email virus attack to explain why my account is disabled? As Chairman, I require full access to my email account in order to carry out my day to day duties which includes fundraising so we can get Republicans elected. Therefore, shutting me out of my official NCGOP Google Email is suppose to accomplish what again? I really question your purpose and motive. I mean seriously, is this some form of ritual or hazing you would put the first black Chairman of the NCGOP State Party through? Or is it because I am not white enough for you? You keep pushing the limits. I guess time will only tell what your real plot and schemes are all about against me. No, worries. Like chess, I await your next move. […] 

Hasan Harnett was duly elected at last year’s GOP Convention in Raleigh. Since his election, the old guard Republicans in North Carolina have worked tirelessly to undermine him. I would like to quietly remind the establishment Republicans that the worker bees in the party and the enthusiasm tend to come from the grass roots. To play these silly games now is to work against your supposed goal of winning the next election.

The Price Of Liberty Is Eternal Vigilance

Our Founding Fathers understood that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. Many of us have forgotten that. We live in a busy, complicated world, and it is hard to stay tuned to the nuances of the political world around us and how those nuances impact our lives. In recent years there has been a power struggle between the political class and ordinary citizens attempting to exercise their voice in America‘s government. We are a Representative Republic–not a Democracy, and unfortunately we have reached a point where we have a political class that does not always respond to the needs of the people they are supposed to represent. In fact, in many cases, the political class desires only to hold on to their power to the detriment of the people they are supposed to represent. We are seeing that situation unfold today in the North Carolina legislature.

On July 26, I posted an article about the date of the North Carolina Presidential Primary. If the Primary Election took place in February, North Carolina would lose most of its delegates. If the Primary Election took place before March 15th, the delegates would be awarded proportionally, giving more weight to the delegates of the liberal states that hold later primary elections. Having the Primary Election before March 15th allowed the more liberal establishment Republicans to control the outcome–the desired outcome of the establishment being the nomination of Jeb Bush. The North Carolina legislature has written a bill to change the date to March 15th, which would solve the problem. Unfortunately, the establishment Republicans have decided to add a poison pill to the bill. If the bill is passed with the “Affiliated Party Organization” Amendment, it will strip the existing state Republican Party of its power. Why would they want to do that? Because at the North Carolina GOP Convention this summer, two political outsiders were chosen to head the party.

The Daily Haymaker posted the details of the story yesterday.

The article explains:

Since that happened (the election of political outsiders to lead the party) at the NCGOP’s June convention, party establishment insiders have been scheming about how to wrest control of the funds from these *filthy tea partiers.*

There have been attempts to go around the two new elected party chieftains by inserting highly loyal (to the establishment) senior staffers inside the party HQ.  Several attempts at that have failed, and it appears another one is on the way to doing so.  

House insiders are hot under the collar about these last minute changes.  One quipped to me that the bill should be renamed “The Shumaker-Stewart-Leis-Dollar Retirement Guarantee Fund.”

Basically, these changes allow for Jones Street “honorables” to create FOUR new party organizations THEY FULLY CONTROL and thereby weaken / neuter their existing party apparatus.  It’s establishment weasels thumbing their noses at the worker bees outside the beltline.  

It is time for the American people to take back their government. This begins at the local and state level. The “Affiliated Party Organization” Amendment is an effort by the political class to prevent the average citizen from having a voice in the government. The Amendment was introduced by State Rep. David Lewis (R-Harnett), chairman of the House Rules Committee. The Primary Election needs to be moved to March 15th, but not in a bill that includes this amendment. The establishment Republicans in North Carolina should be ashamed of themselves. The people of North Carolina need to stand up and take back their state. They began with the election of Hasan Harnett and Michele Nix to lead the party. Now we need to fight to make sure what we have done stays in place.

The New Head Of The Republican Party In North Carolina

At the recent North Carolina Republican Convention, Hasan Harnett was elected Chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party. This was not the choice of the establishment Republicans, but it was a really good choice. My husband and I met Mr. Harnett at the Convention and were very impressed. Aside from being a man of many accomplishments, he is a man who knows how to think outside the box. His entrance into the Convention to make his campaign speech was an indication of that–he was proceeded by a group of drummers that energized the Convention.

The Charlotte Observer posted a story about Mr. Harnett on Friday.

The story included the following:

Harnett gravitated to politics after meeting the late Tim Johnson, a GOP activist who founded the Frederick Douglass Foundation, which bills itself as “the largest Christ-Centered, Multi-Ethnic and Republican ministry in America.”

“Harnett was always a conservative, but he kind of got woken up to the fact that the Republican Party (was) closest to his values by Tim Johnson,” said Daniel Rufty, the GOP’s 12th District chairman.

Harnett was a Democrat when he voted in the 2008 presidential primary. He said he bypassed Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and wrote in Ron Paul, a libertarian Republican.

He switched parties in 2010, according to election records. That’s when he helped the campaign of Christopher Hailey, a black Republican running for Mecklenburg sheriff.

“Whenever I needed help, he was there,” recalled Hailey.

After that campaign, Harnett began working on the state party’s efforts to recruit more minorities. At the same time, he was learning more about politics. In 2011, he was chosen as a fellow in the N.C. Institute of Political Leadership, which has groomed state political leaders for nearly 30 years.

As a former Democrat, I can totally relate to his journey to the Republican Party. The Democrat Party abandoned its conservatives a long time ago, and the Republican Party was to only place for them to go. Mr. Harnett represents the leadership we need in order to be the Republican Party we were founded to be–smaller government, more economic growth, and policies that enable people to prosper–not just enable them. I am looking forward to the next year with him in charge of the North Carolina Republicans.