Methinks the people in charge of the Republican party at the moment are a little nervous about having skipped an important part about how the party platform has been formed over, oh the past 8-10 decades.
Because today, in another e-mail that half the delegates – including myself – are not getting despite having registered, they have announced that they are holding platform zoom calls.
Those in charge seem to think that this somehow fulfills the State Party bylaws (as referenced with the Secretary of State, and their own website)?
SECTION IV
STATE CONVENTION
4. Convention Organization:
C. Committees: Prior to the state convention, the state chairman shall designate the members of the platform committee, rules committee, resolutions committee, and credentials committee. The platform committee shall conduct hearings around the state prior to the state convention. The convention chairman shall appoint any other convention committees.
Here’s the problem. This section of the State GOP’s bylaws are VERY specific that the platform committee shall conduct hearings around the state prior to the state convention.
That’s shall. Not, oh, if you remember to do it.
Equally important to note is that under this section there is NO provision for electronic meetings.
Under Section I of the bylaws, there’s a provision for electronic meetings for the State Central Committee Meetings.
I. Electronic Meetings: A meeting of the State Central Committee may be held electronically.
The Exec Board can do it under Section II (A meeting of the State Executive Board may be held electronically.). And County Central Committees can also do it under Section III.
E. Electronic Meetings: A meeting of the County Central Committee may be held electronically.
Buuuuttt… THERE IS NO PROVISION FOR ELECTRONIC MEETINGS FOR THE STATE CONVENTION. INCLUDING THE PRE-CONVENTION PLATFORM HEARINGS.
If they have provisions for electronic meetings in other parts of the bylaws, but not under the portion for the State Convention, they can’t send out a zoom call announcement to convention participants and pretend they’re following the bylaws.
It doesn’t work that way. And it takes the legitimacy out of the process since they can’t seem to read and follow their own rules.
There’s too much back room dealing going on with SDGOP. The very thing the current board claims to hate.
Well, when you chase out the people who know stuff and do the actual work, these things are bound to happen. More magical thinking please.
What a shot shiw Mr. Eschenbaum has wreaked, although all knew it was coming and all know how it will end. The poor state GOP, as all the Conservatives with Common sense have peeled off and breakfast with those who are not insaner than most.
Mr. Eschenbaum, you are a bum.
See you in grudznick’s town.
Actually heard most of this falls in Tom Brunner’s lap.
hard to hold platform committee meetings when the chairman hasn’t figured out who is on the committee
I heard that Tom Brunner didn’t want to hold meetings. When I saw who is on the committee, I can’t blame him.
I would not want to be stuck in a room with Tonchi Weaver and Phil Jensen either.
further perusal of the lists, I see Mike Mueller is in charge of facilities.
Does that mean the nursing moms will get a lactation room this time?
Will he be supervising the use of it?
Tom thinks he’s pretty smart. He doesn’t understand the cheers that were heard around the capitol when he lost his seat. He wasn’t/isn’t liked by serious legislators.
So… there are four proposals so far.
1. Tribal relations. The current platform plank says we are committed to cooperation between state and tribal governments to improve the quality of life for the state’s tribal members.
That’s a bit patronizing, methinks. Needs revision.
2. Ballot initiatives and Constitutional Amendments. That sounds like something that belongs in resolutions. Any time something comes up which is a current issue it’s better to make it a resolution so that years later it isn’t still in the platform, and arguments ensue about editing them out. Past examples of this were the persistence of planks about how Reading is Fundamental and Pine Beetles are noxious pests. Information like that should be given only once, after that it becomes nagging. It is quite possible the procedures for ballot initiatives and Constitutional amendments may be revised in the next legislative session, and no further reminders will be necessary.
3. Shared parenting. The nuisance that just won’t die. Humanity devised a system of shared parenting thousands of years ago, and called it MARRIAGE. Joint custody just means you’re still married. If you can’t make your marriage work, you aren’t going to succeed at shared parenting, either. No resolution, platform plank, or legislation will fix this
4. Economic Development. There is already quite a bit in the platform about economic development, but since the party leadership seems opposed to any, I suppose it’s all about the evils of electricity and we all need to be Amish. Hopefully they will not embarrass the state with a plank about how “we don’t want no economic development “
As to the pine beetles, they are just part of nature and ebb and flow. Does this “platform” also say that mosquitoes are noxious pests? It should. Not.
Pine beetles and jiggers are just stuff that the platform cannot change.
These people, mostly morons all.
At the time I wondered if the SDDP thought pine beetles were nice, and that was why we had our opposition to them in our platform.
When the “reading is fundamental” plank was discussed, somebody said “what about maths?” This was actually helpful, because the committee realized if we didn’t take it out, we would have to include every imaginable academic subject, and there would be no end to it.
Who has sent out the GOP PRE Convention survey for all the Constitutional candidates? Never saw this before this year. Wow
The way it reads it must be the guy with no prosecution experience…..who finished fouth in the race for governor.
Likely Deb Elliot. Another Colorado transplant that believes she is smarter than she is.
y’know, when the Mad Dads start yammering about shared parenting, maybe somebody will have the chutzpah to say “yes, the SD Republican Party is in favor of shared parenting and we call it marriage.”
That is the most conservative approach to the matter, if you disagree you are not a True Conservative, and if we offend Tom Pischke and his army of Mad Dads, maybe they’ll leave the party.
Mr. Pischke, who looks a bit like Bluto from Popeye, except for being much weaker of mind and arm, takes mild offense to being labeled as the leader of the Mad Dads. He is but a lower level minion in those groups, and not as toxic and explosive as some. Mr. Pischke generally keeps his hair coiffed sensiblily. grudznick can abide his trimmings.
They can suspend the rules just like the legislature. There is no provision to convene the legislature over the internet. Right Lee?
The purpose of holding meetings prior to the convention is to find out what people want changed.
It turns out hardly anybody comes to these meetings having bothered to read the existing platform. Perhaps the party should email a link to the platform to all delegates to read it before showing up for the convention. Threaten to give them a quiz when they arrive.
In addition to the folks who have never read the platform but have strong opinions about it anyway, you have the people who think it should be a binding contract, not a guide. They think it should be a weapon, not a beacon. They think they are writing legislation and they want it enforced.
Being told the primary election is the enforcement mechanism actually prompted one participant to complain “I voted in the primary but it didn’t work ”
The icing on the platform cake arrives in the form of Taffy Howard, who has nothing of substance to contribute but wants to waste everybody’s time to draw attention to herself.
Without a lot of committee meetings to deal with these folks ahead of time, the actual platform committee meetings at the convention will be a mess
Well, another TIF was just approved in Rapid City, so Taffy should be busy for awhile trying to stop economic development and job creation. You know, one of the actual pillars of the republican platform.
Here’s a thought: each county nominates their own platform committee, file each platform with the state, then the state’s platform committee finalizes it.