In an interesting episode, our neighbor to the north is facing similar battles within their GOP ranks that South Dakota Republicans have had growing in the ranks, where populist activists seek to oust long-time carriers of water for the elephant:
North Dakota’s dominant political party may be on the cusp of coming under the control of conspiracy-addled populists. It all hinges on a meeting to be held this weekend.
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The NDGOP is a very open organization. So much so the supposed “good old boys” and “elites” — the traditional Republicans who have been winning one election after another for 30 years — may, at a reorganization meeting to be held this coming weekend in Fargo, be given the boot by a small-but-active contingent of Trumpy culture warriors.and..
Because it is not a top-down “good old boys” network, because it is not a walled garden for some imagined cabal of political elites, a smallish faction of angry populists have been able to manipulate the process to the point where they may well be in charge of the party after this weekend.
The NDGOP is so bottom-up it doesn’t even have a uniform set of bylaws for electing leadership around the state, something that has led to a lot of shenanigans..
What are your thoughts on this? Is it a recipe for disaster that will lead to the loss of elections? Or is the influx of people a good thing?
Look for a wide spectrum of ideas and solutions.
Interesting movement in ND.
Are the issues that define “populist” what Trump recently enumerated?
It’s a swell of ideas into the party that is changing leadership.
Anybody know how they’re counting their votes?
something is swollen.
It is the sort of shenanigans that our common young friend, Mr. H, encourages. This means it is probably bad. Very bad.
It’s a sad day when new people come in delusional and seek power and to push the others out and a sad day when those running the party act like gatekeepers to keep the new blood away.
Really this is an easy fix but it doesn’t seem like anyone wants to put in the work to course correct.
Maybe the only thing the fringe and the establishment can agree on is getting rid of Kristie Fiegen.
This new lurch to the far right and Conspiracy Land will alienate the middle, who will have no choice but to vote left. Doomed to abject failure statewide and nationally. We will nominate Trump and he will lose again. Leaving us with the lefties in charge.
We have lost the distinction between conservative, and reactionary / disruptive.
Do you mean the conspiracy that Biden took a bribe?
As long as Republicans play by the rules we will win. That means ballot harvesting.
The populists are the majority of the GOP. You are in the minority Pat.
It isn’t that they are populists, the problem is they do not understand the relationship of a political party to the elected officials.
They have the idea that the politicians work for the party, and that the party exerts power over them after they are sworn in to office.
They are wrong.
Political parties are actually service organizations to help people get elected. The parties work for the candidates, raising money, getting out the vote, organizing campaign events, and conducting primary elections. .
When politicians lose the support of the party, they lose the primaries.
The newcomers do not understand this, and think if they can take over the parties they can dictate policy to elected officials.
In the SDGOP these people became the useful idiots of the sore losers who lost their primaries, and they were sent to the convention to exact revenge upon the party which had rejected them.
What a mess.
That’s exactly right. Parties exist to win elections, not to punish their own elected officials.
If these people want a change of direction in the party, they should run for actual offices, not party offices.
100% right.
It will take a lot of education to teach people that the elected officials work for their constituencies, and the parties work for the candidates who want to become or remain elected officials.
Unfortunately, that important part of Civics dealing with voting, political parties, selection of candidates, and the function of Party members, Party Officials, candidates and office holders in preparation for an election is often skimmed over. Class discussions on these topics can be dynamite under the teachers desk and they must be very careful how they present and moderate this education. Students aren’t very discreet or accurate in quoting teachers. As a result, we leave this education to bar stools, gas stations, club rooms, and organizational meetings.
Which is how the SDGOP was flooded with barbarians who bought tickets to a fundraiser (the convention) and demanded full refunds.
If this mess isn’t corrected, the next mob of precinct committtee people won’t even know how to flush the toilets they don’t want to pay for.