You Gotta Fight For Your Right To Run The Party
For a great analysis of yesterday's Minnesota GOP State Central meeting, and the motivations of the delegates to throw over party chair Ron Eibensteiner in favor of Ron Carey, check out this post at The First Ring titled Nose, Face; Meet Spite?:
The sentiment of many party activists against Eibensteiner was as plain as the noses many delegates lopped off today to spite the GOP's face. A devilish brew of poor decisions, misunderstandings, bad luck and consequences beyond control became the magic elixir that elected the GOP's Treasurer, Ron Carey, to the post of chairman. The loss of 13 House seats, and in practicality, the Republican majority in the House, was a major---and legitimate---rallying cry for those dissatisfied with Eibensteiner's performance since 1999. How fickle the political fates can be when one considers that two years ago, Eibensteiner ran unopposed for his third term and buoyed with the mammoth year of 2002, appeared all but untouchable within the Republican Party.
At this point, it's difficult to determine who will emerge as the real winners in this little intercine struggle. But, as First Ringer notes, it is quite apparent who the real loser is:
Who truly lost today was Tim Pawlenty. And if the Governor lost, no one really won. Democrats and the media will be encouraged to press him harder for a bigger tax increase because if Carey follows through on his campaign themes, the state GOP will officially place Pawlenty between a rock and a hard place. For some conservative activists, that suites them just fine, believing the current situation is entirely due to Pawlenty's lack of resolve. That the House is 68-66 and only nominally in Republican hands is apparently of little consequence.
Read the whole thing.
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