Posted on 01/05/2010 10:11:49 AM PST by BP2
| Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer announced his resignation Tuesday amid criticism the party has been wasting money and not raising as much as it should. Greer will step down Feb. 20, more than three years after Gov. Charlie Crist hand-picked him to run the state GOP. In recent weeks, major party donors and other leaders have called for his resignation, citing questionable party spending, lackluster fundraising and division among party loyalists. In his resignation letter, Greer said he has the support of most party executives, leaders and donors, but the few who oppose him are causing too much division. "This internal discord has many origins and political agendas, but the one common result is a detrimental effect on the Republican Party," Greer said. "I have made a point to put the best interest of the party before my own, even when criticisms were misdirected and invalid, and I will do so again now. While some are more interested in tearing and shredding the fabric of the Republican Party to pieces, I will not be a participant in this destructive behavior." Crist defended Greer throughout the criticism and continued to praise him Tuesday. "Under Chairman Greer's leadership we maintained a strong majority in Florida's congressional delegation and overwhelming majorities in the state House and Senate. Jim has long been a loyal servant to the Republican cause," Crist said in a statement. "Chairman Greer has and always will have my unwavering support." Greer planned to tell the party's executive board about his decision during a 12:30 p.m. conference call. "I call on Florida Republicans to unite behind our common values of less government and more personal freedom and sincerely hope that we can move forward together to ensure statewide Republican victories in 2010," Crist said. Sen. Paula Dockery, a Republican candidate for governor who has criticized the way the party is being run, said she hopes Greer's resignation is just the first step in making the party more accountable with money. "I don't think you can correct the problem until you address it fully and put it behind you," Dockery said. "I'd hate to see us just change the person and not change the way business is done." Senate President Designate Mike Haridopolos, R-Indialantic, and House Speaker Designate Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, released a joint statement praising Greer, particularly for his youth and minority voter outreach and voter registration efforts. "Chairman Greer worked diligently to ensure the Republican campaigns and candidates, counties parties, and other local and statewide Republican organizations had not only the resources, but also the skills necessary to ensure victory. The victories Republicans saw at the local and state levels in 2008 and 2009 are truly a testament to his leadership," the statement said. |
| The Orlando Sentinel is reporting that Greer will resign his leadership post in advance of a party meeting on Saturday in Orlando where he was likely to be ousted by party officials.
Greer will step down today, a change that will be announced at a 1:15 p.m. press conference Tuesday.
Greer will be replaced by State Sen. John Thrasher, a former speaker of the Florida House.
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The GOP has shown that it is pointless to fund the ‘party’ on any level. Their choices of candidates deserving support are often unacceptable. Choose the candidate deserving of your support and fund them directly as you wish. Cut out the weak link
Exactly!
Those fund raising organizations served a purpose before the internet, but now the candidate can raise money directly.
These organizations (RNC) serve no real purpose, waste funds, and involve themselves in primaries, which is none of their business.
How much does Michael Steele make?
Looks like Rubio is going to be the nominee. The handwriting is on the wall because if Crist was going to win there’s no way Greer would be sent packing. This is also a commentary on the perceived decline and threat of the dim party.
Running for office is not an individual event. It takes help, lots of it. Modern state and national level political parties provide a multitude of essential services to their candidates: donor and voter lists; polling; political and campaign advice; campaign software; staffing and contacts; and so on. For most candidates, this help would otherwise be unavailable, arrive too late, or be cost prohibitive.
There may be a need for some central control, but there seems to be a great deal of overlapping with specific areas of the Senate and House.
There should be a way to make this a leaner operation, and only helping those who have won the primary, not deciding who should win the primary.
In practice, the usual and best course is for the party to offer good will and help to all credible candidates so that their campaigns are well put together. Campaign seminars, advice, software, and voter contact lists are not fat but political muscle and sinew. That takes not just money, but money long before the election season.
More money is needed to build cash reserves for post primary candidate support through staff, advertising, and voter contact. The size of such reserves is a critical factor in determining how many races can be targeted for help from the party.
Sometimes, candidates are urged to get out of a race for the sake of avoiding the expense and distraction of a primary campaign. The key to such an effort is that it be done diplomatically and with respect to the candidate, as a matter of persuasion, not as an effort to force or control. Otherwise, there is a risk of needless division and hard feelings.
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