Posted on 03/07/2004 11:31:05 PM PST by JohnnyZ
SEASIDE -- In an unexpected and, at times, rancorous showdown, delegates to the Republicans' annual Dorchester Conference voted Saturday to recommend removing any mention of abortion from their state party platform.
The issue pitted two longtime party stalwarts, former U.S. Sen. Bob Packwood and state party Chairman Kevin Mannix, in a face-to-face debate that left more than 350 delegates disagreeing over party unity, party growth, loyalty to respected leaders and possibly to their personal principles.
Before voting on the proposal to remove abortion from the platform, an angered Mannix urged delegates to abstain as a way to show party unity.
Consequently, the final vote sent an unclear message to the state central committee: 86 delegates favored dropping abortion, 58 voted against and 212 abstained. Because conference rules say an abstention is a nonvote, the proposal was approved.
The conference -- which marked its 40th anniversary this weekend -- is not an official arm of the Oregon Republican Party, and the central committee is not bound by its recommendations. More than 500 active Republicans registered for the event at the Seaside Convention Center.
The eruption of the abortion debate overshadowed other topics, including gay marriage and the announcement Saturday morning by Brian Boquist, who has been serving with special military operations in Iraq, that he will withdraw as a candidate in the 5th Congressional District Republican primary election. His decision leaves two active candidates in the race as the Tuesday filing deadline approaches.
Gay marriage came up Friday night when U.S. Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., delivered calm but strongly worded comments underscoring his deep opposition to allowing marriage for same-sex couples, a view that met with rousing, if not universal, support.
The mood around the convention center in general was upbeat as congressional candidates, especially, energized the atmosphere with small platoons of supporters. Fifth Congressional District candidate Jim Zupancic's crew was evident in red sweat shirts, while the name of state Sen. Jackie Winters, R-Salem, was prominent on rented pedal-powered surreys loaned to delegates and families to tour the historic beachside resort.
What might otherwise have been a predictable outcome of the debate on the abortion plank turned into a full-fledged argument when Packwood, the founder and dominant figure of Dorchester in its early years, challenged the Oregon Republican Party to restore itself to its former greatness. It can take a step in that direction, he said, by catching up with the rest of the state and removing abortion as a point of contention.
In fact, he said, "Let this conference say loud and clear" that "a woman shall have a right to choose."
He recalled the "great days," going back to the 1950s, when moderate Republican leaders at local and state levels supported progressive legislation against racial discrimination, when Republicans such as Tom McCall and Vic Atiyeh all but owned the governor's office, when the Dorchester delegates approved resolutions ranging from recognizing China years before President Nixon visited there to supporting statewide kindergartens and sex education in elementary schools.
Public opinion in Oregon on abortion has been decided, Packwood said. "If we start down that path and echo those views," he said, the party again will see statewide candidates and officeholders of "stature," something the party lacks today.
Mannix, the state party chairman and a delegate to the conference, emotionally accused the Dorchester board of directors of crafting a biased topic by selecting abortion for debate. "It is not the way to unify the party," he said.
He implored delegates to abstain as a means of saying "to the Dorchester board, 'We do not accept your efforts to divide this party.' "
By taking a stand at the conference, and not leaving the matter to the party at its July platform meeting, "we are not only going to feed the press . . . we also are going to feed the Democrats," Mannix said.
Delna Jones, a former legislator and Washington County commissioner, told the animated audience, "What elects Republicans is who they are, regardless of what the platform says." She also urged delegates to abstain.
Despite animosity during the debate, Packwood and Mannix later had a friendly encounter in the convention center's lobby, vigorously shaking hands and parting with smiles.
Mannix said in an interview that he viewed the 60 percent abstention count as a call for party unity. The vote, he said, "lets us all join together, lets us focus on the future and lets us also focus on what unites us."
He would not comment on Packwood's reference to a lack of stature among the party's statewide candidates. With the primary election near, the party has no candidates for attorney general and less-known candidates in other statewide races.
Packwood took no umbrage at Mannix's heated remarks on the floor and called the vote results "modest progress."
Dorchester planners expressed dismay at the reaction from many of the delegates who objected to being asked to wrestle with the abortion issue.
Angela Wilhelms, a conference board member who helped select issues for discussion, said a common criticism of past conferences has been that the topics debated were dull and predictable. "We finally deliver one (that isn't) and they run away from making a decision."
Annette Price, the conference president this year, emphasized that the conference "is not the party" but a gathering of the Republican faithful with no say over party decisions.
Other topics debated Saturday were dispatched with little disagreement.
Delegates overwhelmingly opposed requiring businesses with six or more employees to provide medical insurance. They also easily voted against a proposed constitutional amendment setting attorneys' share of medical malpractice awards at $100,000.
Interesting to hear that Boquist isn't going to run this year -- that's pretty expected, given the tone of his comments recently. He lost in 2000 and 2002 to Darlene Hooley -- time to give Jackie Winters or Jim Zupancic a shot.
How much longer before these sell-outs start insisting that the Republican platform have no mention of Second Amendment rights as well?
Someone needs to show these Democrats-in-Republican-clothing the door.
But this vote was a repudiation of Packwood and a vote of confidence in Mannix, who's conservative.
212 - the Mannix position, abstain, not even consider a change
86 - the Packwood position, in favor
58 - to keep the pro-life plank
That's 270 votes -- over 75% -- for a conservative position.
If the GOP were to drop a pro life position from the platform, I would probably change my party registration to the Constitution Party. No joke. The Republican party is moving farther and farther away from me with the illegal immigrant thing, social issues (David Drier's rant against a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman, etc.)
If the GOP were to take up two of Colin Powell's terrible positions, pro-abortion, and quotas for minorities, thenI would certainly change registration. Quotas for minorities, and abortion are two of the great evils in my mind. Gay marriage is another great evil. Man, if the GOP went for those three issues I would be outta here.
As a conservative I feel sooooo taken for granted by the GOP. At this point I fear it's only a matter of time before the GOP goes too far, and I'm left the decision to change registration.
Of course, so would a lot of people.
I wouldn't make too much of a non-binding resolution whose "approval" was clearly opposed by the vast majority of those present. We've beaten back the Whitman-Snowe-Packwood crowd a couple of times and we'll continue to do so. They probably have less power today than . . . well, a long time. The Connie Morellas of the world go down to defeat, the Marge Roukemas get replaced by pro-lifers like Scott Garrett, and the GOP continues to absorb socially conservative southerners to the ranks.
LOL! You're not seriously supporting the Peckerwood position, are you???
Not many. Pro-life is the vast FR consensus. Having said that I thought Packwood was dead.
Oh, brother. The # of freepers you refer don't hate winning elections, they hate pyrrhic victories. You win nothing by giving up the core of your beliefs.
It is truly amazing the # of freepers that love winning pyyrhic victories.
It's precisely this whorehouse-sell-your-beliefs-for-victory attitude (as well as the Rino's constant bashing of the real conservatives because we stick by our principles) that got me to even considering re-registering with the constitution party.
Here is a stark reality. In the blue states Olympia Snowe is a "right wing extremist". It is fine to bemoan all of the rinos but when it comes to a governing majority the GOP has to put up with them just as the Dems have to put up with guys like Zell Miller. In congress it is a numbers game and it dictates who heads committees, and who controls the agenda.
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