As Jason Shepherd points out here, State GOP rules don’t allow an elected official to hold an elected position (such as chairman) on the Georgia GOP Executive Committee. Thus, as a City Councilman in Sandy Springs, Rusty Paul is not currently eligible to serve as GOP Chairman.
Obviously, the rule could be changed or Rusty could resign his seat. Would he be willing to resign? Perhaps the phone calls seeking support are an attempt to gauge how much discontent there is out there. Why resign your seat to make a run for Chairman if there is only a slim chance of victory?
My anecdotal evidence suggests there’s not much anger at Sue Everhart outside of the usual malcontents who are perpetually upset at everything(that’s not directed at Erick, though he may indeed by a malcontent 
). I also doubt seriously a rule change would sit well with the GOP’s State Committee.
I suspect Rusty Paul will stay right where he is. He’s already been State Party Chairman and doesn’t need it to enhance his resume.
One other comment to my Republican friends: Peach Pundit and sites like it are here to stay. The GOP establishment needs to embrace the blogging world instead of expecting that criticism will never exist. Sure, we Republicans tend to have our fights in public but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. We claim to have the best ideas so we shouldn’t be afraid of defending those ideas to all questioners. Erick has expressed an opinion that Sue Everhart should not be reelected as State GOP Chairman. Some agree while I and others disagree. We all want a strong, vibrant, conservative Georgia Republican Party. It’s OK to have a public debate about how best to bring that about.
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Buzz, Erick, I’m no insider but all you did is basically say someone (Rusty Paul) asked some people their thoughts on a challenge to Sue. Can you tell us who was asked? The whoe Rusty Paul thing is backed up by nothing at this point.
I like Sue and the Georgia GOP was a rock compared to other states. As for Rusty, he did a very poor job working with the YR’s when he was chairman. Sue on the other hand is willing to work with the various GOP clubs.
Jane, ditto for the CRs. I was state treasurer when Rusty was chairman. Erick was state CR chairman during that period as well.
Sue has a tremendous following among the younger folks in the party. She is constantly surrounded by the 35 and younger crowd and has pulled the younger leaders, like me, up through the ranks. We cant go back to our party’s past.
I can’t jump on the Sue Everhart bandwagon fast enough! She has been a stellar GOP State chair and done so with a boundless energy and significant knowledge of the base. When all is said and done, it’s the faceless base of volunteers, the county organizations, the women’s clubs that get out the vote, stuff the envelopes and lick the stamps. And Sue knows these people.
Those are the volunteers to whom Sue Everhart has connected with.
She has done all this while also courting the high end donors and elected officials
Speaking for myself, I’ve enjoyed more “face time” with Sue during her tenure than all three of her predecessors. Sue is no tenderfoot when it comes to Georgia politics and knows more about what really goes on in Republican circles than most. She is in touch with grassroots movers and shakers and has her finger on the pulse of the GOP
I for one hope that Sue continues on in her role and I’ll do anything to support her re-election.
PegM
Chairman Everhart is probably the most ‘hands-on’ chairman we’ve had in the past 30 years.
Jane makes an important point, Everhart doesn’t hide from the grassroots, she goes out and meets with them, especially county parties and auxilliary organizations.
What really bugs me about this idea that a state GOP chairman is responsible for organizing the ‘grass roots’ is how unrealistic it is. A state party can provide some resources, training, and help with speakers or help in organizing an unorganized county or district. But grassroots organization falls to the county chairman and the county party.
Since when did we look UP to state or national organizations to do organizing work at the local level? I thought we were all about ‘local control’, which also means ‘local responsibility’.
Chairman Everhart walked the walk on that one when the RNC and McCain campaigns abandoned Georgia (a lot of good Alec did us there – being directly tied to both of those federal campaigns). She got the job done anyway.
We have a State Chairman who goes all over the state visting county party and other organizations, delivers Georgia for the national party TWICE, helps keep our house and senate under GOP control, and wins a PSC seat. All during a year when the GOP took a pounding all across the country.
If someone does run, I would hope our delegates to the convention would be smart enough to stick with a proven winner.
As for a mis-speak or two, it happens to the best of them. If you look at the amount of public speaking she’s engaged in during her term, she probably comes out as one of the most active speakers on the part of our state party in decades.
State party has to provide a framework and resources, set goals and provide back-up all for the county leadership. Ralph Reed did an exceptional job at that and basically gave the county leaders zero excuse to fail (though some still did).
It needs to be a balance. The state party has full time staff, while the counties, except for the biggest of the big, can’t afford.
It needs to be a partnership with the state giving the marching oders for a coordinated attack while the county chairs, as platoon leaders, execute that plan.
You can’t totally divorce the state party. Sue is a great hands-on leader. Like Patton, she’s the type who wants to be in the lead tank going into battle. However, she needs a good Omar Bradley to focus on those tactics and lead a field staff to give those platoon leaders the directions and tools to fight.
Realizing I have butchered the actual organization of the army in the metaphor, you all get the idea, it needs to flow up and down the chain. What Sue and the very young staff at the state party have learned this election cycle will help make the our organization efforts nearly unstopable in 2010 if those lessons are applied.
Okay, I’m going to speak up now as having been the staff person for the McCain Palin campaign responsible for Georgia. I had the role of Georgia State Director and Deputy Regional Campaign Manager for the Southeast.
First off, there are a lot of things, some negative and some positive, that I could say in regards to the efforts of our campaign in Georgia (and for that matter the SE and country as a whole), but they are not productive in this venue.
Let me make it clear – Alec Poitevint is one of the best people in Georgia politics. He is never afraid to roll up his sleeves and get the work done. He is a leader and as a leader, has what it takes to make the tough calls that are necessary in politics. There aren’t many people who are as committed and mission focused as Alec in politics and his example has encouraged more than a few staffers to work that much harder when times were tough.
I will say that in no way did we abandon Georgia, instead, we invested countless hours of staff time building an organization in Georgia. The McCain Palin organization was the single largest and most expansive organization built in this state. Those who were involved were part of an incredible effort and they all have much to be proud of in their accomplishments, especially given the massive investment that the Obama campaign was able to make in Georgia.
We recruited over 175,000 participants, 36,000 active volunteers, and close to 19,000 coalition members. We did this through old fashioned hard work. Those who were part of our campaign know exactly how hard we all worked to shore up our efforts in Georgia.
We also were mission focused – meaning we didn’t get distracted by worrying about who got credit for what. It’s amazing how much you can get done when you are not concerned with who gets credit.
The state party played its role too. It purchased collateral materials. That is the role and responsibility of a state party in a Presidential election. Unfortunately, due to a lack of funds, the state party couldn’t do more. The reasons for that are a discussion for another day.
I will say that in this election I worked with a lot of state parties. Each state has a different way of conducting its business. As opposed to this continual put down upon Sue as an individual, I think it would be wise to spend our time looking at how some of the other states were able to raise money and have a fully functional organization capable of carrying the heavy load.
I would hope that someone would organize a “lessons learned” meeting of those involved this year in Georgia and have a real and substantive discussion of what worked and what didn’t so that we improve as a party as we continue in our successes. Speaking for myself and others who were intimately involved in this election cycle in Georgia, we stand ready and willing to have that honest discussion.
So if the Counties are responsible for grass-roots lets go to them. Of the big counties which failed and which had a GOTV program? Maybe their heads should roll
In my opinion we should just start fresh.
Let’s put a local party leader who has some fresh ideas in there. someone that elected officials trust and respect. someone with a track record. I think Scott Johnson over in Cobb County would be a great choice.
Another option would be to find a really aggressive fundraiser. Lord knows we need that now more than ever. The person that comes to my mind is Steve Croy who was the top fundraiser for McCain, Fred Thompson, Casey Cagle and others.
Since we won, let’s throw out the leadership. Great idea.
Clint (Bull Moose) is right. The leadership needs to do a post-mortum on this cycle, take notes, see where we can improve and start setting goals for 2010.
Scott Johnson and I have started discussing how we’re going to try to slow down the Democrat trend in Cobb County. In 2004, there were 173,000 Republican votes for President in Cobb and 104, 000 Democrat votes.
In 2008, there were 170,000 Republican votes and 140,000 Democrat votes. It will require hard work, innovation and probably some trial and error, but if we do nothing, Cobb will be a solid Democrat county within 12 years.
WAKE UP SHEPPIE!!!!!
You need C BISCUIT!!!!!!!
She can stem the tide.
For starters I would like to hold off on the Rusty Paul speculations until someone can actually prove that he is calling people. I know he and Sue very well and Rusty was one of Sue’s biggest supporters during her run for state Chairman and he still is. For Rusty to run against her would take a falling out that I am not sure has happened.
Some have mentioned this already but I want to put my spin on it. The state Chairman is not responsible for the actions on the County level. That is why we as local GOP activists hold conventions 3 out of every 4 years. It is our job to put people in office that will motivate the grassroots in order to produce the greatest gains in membership, activism, and support for our candidates. As state Chairman your role become less hands on and more about setting a plan of action that you think the state as a whole should embrace and give them the direction they need to help accomplish those goals so that we can attempt to work as a whole and not 159 different bodies all running in different directions.
There is enough blame to go around this year, from the state Party to the local level. I don’t think we were quite prepared to be challenged the way were this year. We did a good job considering but let this be our warning. We need to regroup, rethink our purpose, and reach out to those in areas we have previously ignored. Had we blown out the Dems or just squeeked by there is still a lot of work to be done. The Dems just opended the door to a completely new generation of leaders and supporters. We must do the same or else we are going to be losing the majority before we know it.
Sue has done a great job considering the circumstances this year. Lets stay focused on who the true enemy is, the Democrats and their liberal agenda, not our own leaders.
Saxby’s numbers strted going south when he voted for the bailout. That’s it. Case closed. If he wants a third term, he either listens to his constituents or prays every night that the Dems run more Jim Martins and less Jim Marshalls.
I have praised our grassroots leadership in the 11th Congressional District up and down the board. Those county party chairs, Saxby Chairs and McCain Chairs delivered big. We did it without the state party and with a lot of passing the hat and making things happen ourselves. I don’t need the state party to come and save me any more than I expect the government to come and save me.
I had Bull Moose and Justin T. at the top of the chain, took their orders, gave them feedback and we got it done in our district. If you don’t believe me, the hard numbers are in the report I submitted to our district leaders at our last committee meeting posted here: http://www.campaignsitebuilder.com/user/gagop11gmailcom/download/Nov4_Report.doc
Bull Moose,
I’m not sure what you’re smoking, but I’m sure it’s the finest grade of hallucinogen there is out there.
Alec Poitivent is nothing but a royal jackass who diligently worked hard to destroy the grassroots organization in Georgia for his tenure as state party chair. And, you can tell him I said so.
Sue gave the Georgia GOP back to the grassroots. I can not believe I am hearing all the negative comments about her. The “good ole boy” elitists really must not like the fact they can not control Sue and that the Georgia GOP and the grassroots have a partnership now.
She has done a great job reaching out to the grassroots and has supported the county parties.
This was not a good election year for Republicans. John McCain ran a terrible campaign nationwide and there was much anger directed at the GOP. Georgia survived the bloodbath quite well thanks in part to Sue.
In fact, I believe if Sue were a man this conversation would not even be taking place…
Just for the record, I am not referring to Erick when I speak of “good ole boys”. I think there is mis-information being put out and many believe it.
Sue actually cares what the grassroots think and they have input. The four years before Sue, the attitude was “give us your money, but keep your opinions to yourself”.
Icarus, I did have a “C-Biscuit” sign in my front yard. I passed out fliers in my neigborhood and she lost by more than 10 times the number of votes as she did 2 years ago. Maybe I was the problem
Debbie,
Sue actively discouraged any GOP opposition to Chambliss, who is not even a Republican by Y’all’s own official definition.
What kind of chairperson does that?
If this is your idea of how to mend the party, you are very sadly mistaken.
Her not being a man has absolutely nothing to do with it.
After shilling for Saxby, his people shunned her.
How appropriate and how telling.
Ms. Everhart got the same treatment as the thousands of Georgians imploring Saxby and Johnny to vote against a SOCIALIST takeover of private industry by the crooks of DC and Wall Street.
Indy,
His “people” who shunned her are the good ‘ole goober male chauvinists who HATE having to answer to women in charge.
Tom Perdue is a piece if sh*t. And, I’ll be happy to tell that to him right to his face.
There are good ole boy elitists that don’t mind a woman having power as long as the woman answers to them. That is one reason they have problems with Sue.
This past election cycle has seen sexism raise it’s ugly head many times….
Bill,
Saxby is in the same bowl with Perdue.
And the GOP is a well-used Depends.
Indy,
If you think the people who are “shunning” Sue are doing so because she supported Saxby, or because she discouraged a challenge to him, then you have Lost the last grip on reality you had left.
If your hatred for Saxby is going to cloud your judgment on all issues going forward, then save yourself the effort. We can just continue to cut and paste your old material ad nauseum.
I was on the State Committee when Rusty Paul and Ralph Reed were Chairman. Neither one of them was worth a damn and neither one of them would make a bump on on a good man’s ass.
“would make a bump on on a good man’s ass.”
Just for educating my naivete, WHY would any man, good or otherwise, WANT a bump to appear on their ass?
These Southern sayings are so coool…
Icarus,
Evidently you cannot read.
The shunners of Sue were Saxby people who did it despite her shilling for him.
Add INGRATE to the list of offenses.
They have better sayings in Texas I have to admit. Actually I wouldn’t mind finding a website. For example: “Busier than a 3 legged cat trying to catch a fish on a frozen pond”.
That is fair-to-middlin’ busy.
Real busy is “busier than a one-armed paper hanger in a tornado.”
One I like is the GOP is “crooked’er than a barrell of fishhooks.”
Maybe I got it wrong.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=busier than a cat trying to bury a turd on a frozen pond
the one I like is…………
“yo maw”
It’s always the important URLs that get screwed up.
http://tinyurl.com/5wkq3y
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