Dear Sirs and Madams,
From what I read around the blogosphere and from publications like Human Events, it seems that Chairman Bob Bennett has convinced enough of you to allow him to continue to dismantle some of the work he has done over the years. I implore you to not allow Mr. Bennett to continue as chairman. As the last election showed, Mr. Bennett does not possess the leadership anymore to lead the coalition of Ohio's Republican leaning voters. I not only implore you to not reelect him chair, but I am also incentivizing it. If you do allow Mr. Bennett to continue what has become a farce of leadership, then not only will I support any Republican who comes out in the primaries to oppose you, but I will support them financially and on this blog with positive stories. Why do I think Bennett must go?
First, let me say this. Bob Bennett has had a great run as Party Chair. He helped orchestrate the retaking of the Ohio government from a corrupt and immoral Democratic party. He helped us retake the governorship after Dick Celeste (emphasis on the first name). He helped us get majorities in the General Assembly, as well as the clean sweep of state offices. Under his leadership, the party took back the US Senate seats. Bob Bennett, chair since 1988, has had a good run, but it is time to move on.
The last two election cycles have shown the Ohio Republican party to be crumbling under its own weight, or the weight of the chairman's ego. In the last election, where was the grassroots organizations? Where was the support by the state party for the governor candidate? Where was the ground game? Hell, where was the party apparatus from May til September? Under Mr. Bennett's tenure, we have seen a growing fractionalization of the party along ideological lines. And Mr. Bennett has done nothing to stem the tide; in fact, he has encouraged it.
In his tenure, county parties and their endorsements have become a joke and inconsequential. The county parties have been made to feel like victims of mafia insurance rackets, and while the chairs have been privately advocating for changes in officeholders (like Mike DeWine in the Senate), they have been forced to tow the party line for fear of getting smacked down by Mr. Bennett. Mr. Bennett through his ironhanded ways have turned good people from the party by producing such stilted primaries, using the party apparatus to protect weak incumbents (like DeWine) from legitimate challengers in the primary. Gosh, look what that did for us this past fall!
Also, in addition to not encouraging primaries and the will of the people, as I said, Mr. Bennett has quashed the importance of county parties. County leaders are little more than little cheerleaders and gophers for the state. Once upon a time, their endorsements and words meant something. Their endorsements had to be earned and carried weight. Now, they are levied pretty much by how much Mr. Bennett can smack around party chairs.
Under Mr. Bennett's tenure, due in large part to his weeding out of the primaries, the state Republican bench is the thinnest it has ever been. There are no clear sure thing candidates for governor or state offices. Instead, we are left with cheering for retreads like John Kasich or Rob Portman, neither of whom has most conservatives or even moderates doing somersaults.
Under Mr. Bennett's tenure, our party has become fractured. This was shown mostly in the gubernatorial race. Mr. Bennett did not have the ability or respect to bring moderates and conservatives together once the primaries were over. In fact, he allowed both candidates to engage in breaking the Reagan 11th commandment with their mudslinging. After the primaries, he did not have the respect of either side to bring people together under common cause, or he did not want to work that hard.
Under Mr. Bennett's tenure, we have allowed name recognition and winning to become the main goal, not advancing an agenda. Now, I know we need to win to get an agenda, but shouldn't we have an agenda, instead of just saying we stand for winning elections? Where is a state party platform? Where is a Contract with/for Ohio? Where is the connection to the people?
Under Mr. Bennett's tenure, he did not stand up to Gov. Bob Taft when Taft was laced in corruption and actually pled no contest to a crime. A competent party chair would have asked Taft to resign for the good of the party. Related to corruption, under Mr. Bennett's tenure, the party has become embroiled in high profile corruption and fund-raising cases, with those involved bearing little burden from the state. A good party chair would advocate for clean candidates and vete out the ones who have these issues.
Mr. Bennett had a good run, but he allowed himself and the party to become bloated and fat, resting on laurels and on the assumption that the Ohio Democrats would never get it together or realize the art of campaigning. Well, he got snookered, and it has been coming. Mr. Bennett needs to be shown the door, because our party needs new leadership. Its face should not be the face of a chair who lost the highest amounts of Gen. Assembly seats in the past 30 years, but someone with fresh new ideas. It should not be the face of someone tied to Tom Noe, Bob Taft, or Bob Ney. It should be a fresh face.
Ladies and gentlemen of the state central committee, the people want a change in leadership. Our party needs new leadership, a leader who can bring the moderates and conservatives and libertarians together in common cause again. They need a leader who is not just about if an R is next to your name, but about the values of the party. If you vote for Bob Bennett as party chair, you are voting for more of the same, and you are cursing our party to inconsequence for at least the next four to six years. As a member of a county central committee and someone who honors the foundations of the party under Lincoln and its glory under Reagan, I cannot sit by and allow this to happen. If you vote for Bob Bennett, I will encourage people to run against you for state central committeepersons. Not only will I encourage them, but I will give them press and support, including financial. I will campaign for them, and will work to see everyone who votes for the continued sinking ship of USS Bennett pay a price, namely your position in the state central committee.
Ken Mehlman was a great campaign chair for Bush in 04. He had one election to win, and he lost. After losing, he resigned. Mr. Bennett should follow that example. The people of Ohio, many Republicans, voted for a change in Republican leadership by going Democrat. Mr. Bennett should get his ego out of his ears and listen to them.
I encourage the state central committee to not vote to reelect Bob Bennett to state chair. Doing so will only lead us further down the road to irrelevance in this state.
