I was trying to decide what paradigm best fit the impending Linn County Republican Central Committee Caucuses.
The charge of the Light Brigade?
Lemmings diving off a cliff?
Then I realized that a meme that illustrates what our Chair and Executive Committee desire was the most fitting:
A massive Media Event down at the Doubletree.
At its finest, the Iowa Caucuses are neighbors meeting with neighbors in their neighborhood to decide the structure of their local political party for the following two years.
They choose their Central Committee representation, and cast their ballots for the Presidential Poll.
It has been to duty of the party to facilitate this process and act to aid the wishes of the local members of the Republican Party,
Or, that is how it has been in the past...
But in Linn County, this time things will be different.
The Caucuses, rather than being in the maximum number of precincts to optimize attendance and make things easier for the party members,
Will instead be in a few sites and will need to consist of massive numbers.
This will require a very large number of volunteers...
...who do not seem to exist.
Whispers on the Wind have relayed to us that the Caucus Team Leader was berated by the County Chair because they felt the Team Leader was responsible for a lack of enthusiasm to volunteer.
I do not feel this is the case. In fact, in my opinion, this does the Caucus Team Leader an injustice.
I do not feel that the present Chair and Executive Committee need any help in discouraging volunteers. They seem to have done very well with their own efforts.
There are reasons for this.
They have, as I have pointed out, purged the membership of a large number they did not desire.
There has been some dispute between the figures relayed to me by a Committee person long involved in membership attendance and our present Secretary.
So for the sake of discourse, I will not use discrete numbers.
I will say that I have known five different County Chairs, and during the term of three of them, the Committee filled two rooms at the Longbranch often to over capacity.
Now, were it not for guests and candidate reps, our meeting would rattle in one single room.
The number of potential volunteers has declined by a large amount.
Part of this has been the result of how people have been treated.
In the past, when volunteers could not attend their own Precinct Caucus due to working elsewhere, it was the practice to present those doing so in their precincts as nominees for the position of Committeeperson.
It has been relayed to me that this was not done last time in the usual manner.
They were presented, but only as Assistant Commiteepersons, and at the very end of the seniority lists.
That is what has been told to me. Forms from the 2014 Caucus will verify these claims.
Now, whether that was due to negligence, or due an attempt to ensure that people not approved of by the Executives would not be likely to vote?
That, I cannot say.
I can say the person who relayed this information to me will not be anywhere or do anything during the upcoming Caucus away from their precinct, and for that very reason.
Then, there was the treatment of volunteers after the last election.
For the Inauguration in Des Moines, each County Chair is given tickets.
Not a SINGLE one of the top volunteers was given the opportunity to go to Governor Branstad's most recent inauguration in January.
At the Officers Election this spring, I heard more than once from a volunteer hearing the speech of some of our present Executives.
"They are taking credit for what I did," said the volunteer.
I don't have to take the volunteer's word about what they said.
I heard it myself.
So, we have people who have been our hardest working volunteers in the past treated so shabbily,
And NOW?
They are being approached by the people who ignored them and exhorted that we must "all work together."
So, NO, I don't think that volunteer avoidance is the fault of the Caucus Team Leader.
He had no part in what I have relayed above.
Therefore, I give the claim by our Chair that he is in some way responsible:
THREE PINNOCHIOS.
Updated: Sunday, 15 November 2015 2:24 PM CST
Post Comment | Permalink | Share This Post
