Weekly Opinion/Editorial

THE REAL CONSERVATIVES WON!
by Steve Fair

Last Saturday, the State GOP held the annual state convention in Tulsa. 1035 delegates were there- the largest number in recent memory. A new National Committeeman and Committeewoman were elected. Lynn Windel and Bunny Chambers, the incumbents did not seek re-election. James Dunn, the 2006 Republican nominee for Attorney General, from Guthrie, and Dr. Carolyn McLarty of Woodward were elected to fill those slots.

Because of what happened at a couple of state GOP conventions - Missouri and Nevada - this year’s state convention was expected to be contentious and controversial. In those two states, a majority of the seated delegates were supporters of Congressman Ron Paul. In Missouri, the Paul supporters elected their “slate” of national delegates and rejected the “slate” recommended by the state executive committee. The Missouri delegates have allegedly pledged to violate party rules and state statues by not voting for the candidate who won the presidential primary in Missouri, Senator McCain. The Missouri delegates are saying they will go the national convention and vote for Ron Paul, not John McCain. The Nevada GOP convention was shut down because it appeared the same thing might happen. Neither of those two things happened at the Oklahoma convention because the coalition formed by Paul supporters, and two other groups, were outnumbered by long time party activists two to one.

Oklahoma has a total of 41 national delegates to the GOP convention. Any person serving as a national GOP delegate must sign an affidavit stating they will abide by party rules and state law by voting for whomever won a plurality of votes in the presidential primary by Congressional District and statewide. Senator McCain won 35 delegates, Governor Huckabee 6 on February 5th. Ron Paul got less than 4% of the votes cast in the 2/5 primary and no delegates. Fifteen of the national delegates are elected at the five district conventions. The remaining 26 delegates are elected “at large.” Three of the 26 slots are automatic slots- the state chairman, national committeeman and national committeewoman- and the other 23 slots are filled through a process of research and interviewing by the State GOP Executive Committee. The Executive Committee is composed of the State Chair, Vice Chair, National Committeeman and Committeewoman, the District Chairs and Vice Chairs and five appointees by the State Chair and five appointees by the State Vice Chair. I serve on the Executive Committee because I am the 4th District Chair. The committee is made up of conservative Christian grassroots activists that have been ELECTED to these positions because of their past activity and volunteer efforts on behalf of the party. They are not paid staffers- hirelings, consultants, elected officials, or rich donors. They look and reflect the values of Oklahoma. This executive committee is one of the most active and engaged of any in recent memory. There is no one on the committee with an agenda or who wants to remain "in control" by excluding new people.

This year, over 100 people applied to be considered as an “at large” delegate to the Republican Convention. Each applicant filled out an information sheet recapping their involvement in the party, and why they wanted to be a delegate to the national convention. The State GOP Executive Committee personally interviewed 78 of those people on Saturday April 19th in Oklahoma City. After three hours of interviews, a secret vote was taken. Twenty-one of the twenty-three delegates were elected on the first ballot. It took two additional ballots to fill the remaining two slots. The most qualified applicants were apparent as evidenced by the group’s continuity in voting. The process was fair, professional, ethical and above board. ANYONE WHO STATES OTHERWISE IS EITHER MISINFORMED OR DISHONEST!

At Saturday’s convention, a group calling themselves “The Liberty Coalition” distributed their own “slate” with the intent of having their slate selected instead of the executive committees. The Liberty Coalition is a combination of various groups. One arm of the coalition are the so-called ultra-conservatives. They believe the current leadership in the state party-, which includes me-, are moderates at best and liberals at worst. If these so-called ultra- conservatives knew just how conservative I am- theologically and philosophically- they would probably be trying to recruit me. Another arm of the coalition has been attempting to create a “shadow” state Republican Party for years. They have their own conventions; their own officers and they bill themselves as the “true” conservatives. Some in their ranks have been indicted for violating ethics rules.

The last group has the largest numbers, but have less experience in the political arena- the Ron Paul group. The Paul supporters are a strange demographic. They range from people with strong family values to those who want to legalize dope. Many have been registered Libertarians or conservative Democrats who have recently changed their party affiliation to Republican. Some have been "awakened" politically by Congressman Paul's message- which many int he Republican party agree with. But the leadership of this movement has said their stated strategy is to “steal” the Republican nomination for Ron Paul by electing national delegates, going to the national convention In Minneapolis and violating party rules and state laws. They are convinced only Paul can save America.

The real problem with the Liberty Coalition is their inconsistency. They bill themselves as principled, yet they employ unprincipled, deceptive, attack dog tactics against anyone who doesn’t agree 100% with their philosophy. They call themselves conservatives, yet they form unholy alliances with groups whose motives and actions are far from conservative. They call themselves honest and trustworthy, but they will partner with those who openly state they believe the end justifies the means. Truly principled, ethical people don’t engage, associate or form alliances with the unprincipled and unethical. I hope the principled people that are a part of any of the three groups recognize the inconsistency and the "win by any means" mentality of many in these group's leadership.

Situational ethics do not guide the principled. Principled people don't seek to tear down organizations because the organizations don't agree with them 100%. They work to change the organizations by working within the organizations. Principled people are Salt & Light (Matthew 5). They don't backbite, accuse, lie about people who they know are principled, honest people just because those people don't completely agree with them. Thankfully the majority of delegates at the state Republican convention on Saturday recognized the inconsistency of the Liberty Coalition and voted 2 to 1 for the Executive Committee’s slate- the real conservatives!