GAGOP Elections – the Ron Paul Factor

After their candidate managed to only get in the high single digits in the primary elections, the Ron Paul supporters are at it again, this time mobilizing to take over the Georgia Republican Party.

This email was sent out by Ike Hall, interim state coordinator for the Campaign for Liberty and former state coordinator for the Ron Paul campaign in Georgia.

 01/09:Ike Hall [State]: GOP Precinct Mass Meetings

OK, it’s that time of year again. The GOP convention call has just been published and we don’t have much time.

This year is going to be a bit different than last, but no less important. This is the year that the GOP leadership is chosen at all levels. It is imperative that, even if we are not running for leadership positions ourselves, that we be prepared to evaluate the folks that are. Of course, if we ARE running for leadership positions, we’d best get our names out there!

Not all of the details have been posted at the Georgia GOP website yet, but here’s the calendar:

Precinct Mass Meetings will take place February 7, 2009 (I’m guessing 10 AM sharp) in counties with population greater than 80,000.

Precinct Mass Meetings will take place March 14, 2009 (likely at 9 AM sharp) in counties with population of 80,000 or less.

All county conventions will be held on March 14, 2009 (probably at 10 AM sharp).

All district conventions will be held on April 18, 2009, and the state convention will be held May 15-16 in Savannah.

But here’s the important part: you cannot participate if you do not attend the precinct mass meeting. And it is important to bring along as many people as possible if you want to be elected to the next level.

The C4L in Georgia will likely have several orientation sessions to explain the process. Please watch the state page for announcements.

While a standing vote by Convention Chairman Randy Evans showed the GOP delegates gathered in Columbus that the Ron Paul supporters were much louder than their actual numbers suggested.

That being said, in some counties, the Ron Paul delegates were much more effective in electing officers and generally causing havoc.

The question is, how mobilized will they be without a Presidential candidate to support? There will be no more George W. Bush to be the GOP boogeyman, galvanizing the libertarian wing of the party. We will also know be then which direction the RNC has moved towards as the Chairman’s race will be decided before the mass meetings.

Many long-term Republican activists welcomed the new people Ron Paul was bringing into the Party; that was until we saw the chaos that many of them, though certainly not all, were determined to add to the process.

The question this year is whether there will be any excitement to bring the long-time grassroots activists back to the process. If not, if the Campaign for Liberty, especially if they can build coalitions with other Republicans who are unhappy with the current administration, may have just enough numbers to turnout the current Republican leadership at many levels in the process.