In Flyover Country: SCC Meeting Saturday!

In Flyover Country

On the ground, but never grounded...

SCC Meeting Saturday!

Posted by Captain Oveur at 7/17/2008 8:17 AM

We're hearing a lot of rumors swirling around in preparation for this weekend's SCC meetings. There are a lot of questions that we picked up at convention last weekend, in addition to the e-mails we've received since then:

Will the Iowa Christian Alliance finish what they started at the state convention and oust Chairman Stew Iverson?

We think they won't. First, why take over now in the middle of a tough election year? Assuming the party's electoral prospects remain dismal, wouldn't a more lasting revolution take place after Republicans lose in November? Then the anti-establishment can say "look, we've let you guys have control for several cycles, and you keep losing... give someone else a try."

First of all, hoping for a loss is something Democrats do (see Iraq and Sen. Reid's statements last year if you need to be reminded.) No matter what wing or bloc of the party you belong to, it's time to "man up" and do what we can to reverse our political downturn.

What will happen with Gopal Krishna?

We keep hearing about continuing tension between the new-comer Krishna (RPI Treasurer) and the campaigns and staff. In the only surprise at the state convention, Krishna was removed from the national delegate slate, suggesting that his hold on power is tenuous. We wonder if there will be a resolution to these conflicts, or will they continue?

This is important, folks. The Treasurer has the ability to either make things work smoothly, or he can gum up the process more than any other single figure in the party.

Will the Sporer-Scheffler-Krishna alliance hold?

It will if a real consensus is found for whom the next chairman will be. We think Scheffler doesn't have ambition for the top job, but certainly Sporer and Krishna both want it. Ambition has shattered a lot of effective coalitions, and could do so in this case. Our money is on Sporer making a hard play to take over the party after this election cycle, and unless someone from inside the SoCo movement (Hurley for Chairman?) challenges him, he could be tough to beat.

While all this fighting is going on, has anyone raised any money?

Like it or not, parties need money run campaigns. We know some folks think all you have to do to win elections is to state and restate your opposition to abortion (Steve Deace), but campaigns need money to function. We took note when Kim Lehman said, on Deace's program, that Christopher Reed couldn't afford to pay his campaign manager. She was making the point that the party should help fund his campaign. While we disagree strongly – campaigns should be able to attract contributions to be viable, or wither and die – it points out that while all the fighting goes on, we're losing ground to the Democrats when it comes to fundraising.

If nothing else, donors don't want to support a party that is in the process of destroying itself from the inside.

Flyover Suggestions for SCC Members:

Remember, you're all Republicans and we're less than 16 weeks from one of the most important elections we've seen in decades. The Democrats stand on the brink of a sweeping victory: expanded control of the US House, up to 58 or 59 seats in the US Senate, President Barack Obama (I can't believe I just typed that), and in Iowa: growing majority in the state Senate, 4 of 5 members of Congress, a dogfight for the Iowa House (where Flyover thinks we have our only chance), and Governor Culver, who just contributed $100,000 to the Iowa Democratic Party to help in their efforts. In spite of the fight Democrats are having over how to conduct this campaign, they have a lot to be happy about.

If this doesn't inspire you to work together and figure out the best way to organize, mobilize, and fight this fight, nothing will.

So get it together. Work it out. Remember that the Republican Party has never been successful without the ability to reach out to all of the factions - SoCos, Fiscal Conservatives, Libertarians, Country Clubbers, and yes, social moderates who just want government out of their lives.

Comments?

PS Folks, sorry we've been a little light on the posting lately. It's been a busy week up here in the cockpit and we've taken a little time to enjoy the hot summer days.

The above post was a corroboration from a lot of folks e-mailing in. Have more? E-mail us at captainoveur@inflyovercountry.com.