Posted on 05/16/2009 5:36:07 AM PDT by Scanian
The tribulations surrounding the GOP’s endorsement of Charlie Crist over Marco Rubio – and the implications it could have for the moderation of the national party - are wrapped up in internal squabbles among Florida politicos.
At issue is Florida’s “Rule 11,” which holds that party members are able to block out a given candidate in a primary election if they deem the candidate unfit to run. After the rule is invoked, no primary race is held – instead, GOP insiders get to decide the election.
In Florida’s GOP, Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer, a friend of Crist’s, tried to invoke the rule to ruin Rubio’s chances before he ever got off the ground.
“Rule 11 was a procedural matter that was logical because of the already official support that Charlie Crist has received, from the majority leader to the Senatorial Committee that has all the resources,” Greer told the St. Petersburg Times blog.
Rule 11 allows the national party to pool its resources on a single candidate, and was designed to prevent “crazies” from entering into an election. If a candidate who would seriously damage the GOP were to gain momentum in Florida, party insiders would be able to procedurally disqualify him.
If Rule 11 was used against Rubio, he wouldn’t receive any of the cash necessary to fund his campaign.
But Greer may have an uphill battle trying to block Rubio. For Rule 11 to take effect, three individuals need to sign off on it. That would be Greer, the state party chairman, and two national committee members – one of whom has said yes, and the other of whom has said no.
(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...
Selected, not elected?
If the GOP does this, I may NEVER vote for a GOP candidate again. Strike that: WILL NEVER.
I would not blame it on the Florida GOP. The main reason Crist is popular is that he draws from the Democrat side, as well as the liberal GOP side. Of course, I plan to vote for Rubio, but he’s not going to beat Crist, and if he should, he probably would not beat the Democrat. The problem is not so much the GOP as it is the electorate. The electorate has swung far to the left. I will admit, though, that a lot of the reason is that the national GOP allowed a massive influx of immigrants who do not understand or support the American experience. Unfortunately, that is water under the bridge at this point.
Marco Rubio is a stand up guy.....
Is this a joke? I can hardly believe this is real, that it is possible here in America. Say it ain’t so, Scanian, Say it ain’t so.
Used this on another thread: Rumble for Rubio!!!
Thanks for posting the phone number. Copied and armed (with indignation).
TALLAHASSEE -- Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer is trying to put out a brush-fire over his efforts to invoke a little-known Rule 11 to allow the national GOP start funneling money and resources to Charlie Crist's U.S. Senate campaign.Although the National Republican Senatorial Committee has already endorsed Crist over former state House Speaker Marco Rubio, a couple county GOP executive committees in Hillsborough and Brevard counties have passed protest resolutions, and Sharon Day, the Fort Lauderdale Republican who is secretary of the RNC, has refused to sign the request to invoke the rule.
Greer says it's a moot point because the NRSC has already pledged its resources to Crist in the primary.
And besides, he should be treated like an incumbent.
"The flip side to this thing is, the governor should be treated basically as an incumbent, many people feel," Greer said Friday.
“The party always has a practice of helping incumbents.”
posted by Aaron Deslatte on May 15, 2009 2:50:30 PM
The limp wristed GOP, in a “fierce” fight? What Orwellian nonsense.
I’m standing my ground, NO MORE RINOs! I might even support a conservative democrat, if there is one.
“crazies”
If the GOP calls conservative “crazies” then they need to DIE AND DIE!
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I am beginning to think that we are going to need to have an independent or third party candidate ready to go for next year’s Senate campaign.
WOW. Seeing you post this got me to reading the thread. Sounds like you have the beginnings of the strangulation of grassroots there in Florida that’s decimated the CALGOP.
BTW, is this Greer related to the Judge who abetted the murder of Terri?
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Don’t know about Greer, it seems to be a not unusual name. As for Florida this is more like a coup attempt by the Governor and his hand picked state chairman, backed by the MSM. County organizations are raising hell all over the state. In Florida the party chairman is named by the gubernatorial nominee. When they go rogue, only the most drastic measures, such as removal by the state committee, can stop them.
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