Arshinkoff Wins; Ohio Republicans Lose

Ben Keeler has the details in a post over at The Point, but I wanted to address a few things here as well. Read Ben's stuff first...

Now, let's start with the statement from Carol Klinger:

"My thanks to all who have supported the effort to get our Republican Party winning again. While we would have preferred a different outcome at tonight's Central Committee meeting, we are generally pleased with our showing. A significant block of committee members are in place who want to take our party into the future with new leadership. We will build on this success as we continue our effort. This campaign to change the party leadership started with nothing. We enter the next round with much more.

There are things we wished would have been different about tonight's meeting. Free and open discussion on the proposed party rules was squashed. A straight matchup between myself and Alex Arshinkoff was denied. And Mr. Arshinkoff was elected Central Committee chairman, despite not being an elected member of the committee.

We will continue to press for needed reforms within the local party organization and make the case for fresh new leadership. We will also continue to support Republicans candidates running for office.

To all who have stepped up and given their voice to the cause, I say thank you and look forward to our continued efforts to make the Summit County Republican Party an organization in which we can all be proud."

The New Summit Republicans have shown poise and class throughout this whole ordeal. They just didn't have enough forces to close the deal, as Ben pointed out.

I think that the New Summit Republican model is the right way to go about effecting the kind of change we've been seeking in the Ohio Republican Party. I suspect that the New Summit Republican effort will grow in strength and influence assuming that they continue their efforts to expose the corruption and shady dealings going on up there.

Ben makes a point that I want to emphasize here:

[F]ar too many precinct captains were afraid to change the status quo of the party. They didn't want to lose their positions and/or connections, and I guess you can't really blame them for that.

This is the biggest challenge that any reform movement is going to face. And it will be a slow process convincing those who have been around awhile to accept change. The Republican Party has never been quick to embrace change and expecting to have that happen in a single cycle was probably a bigger mission than the NSR's were capable of taking on, but I salute them for trying. My hope is that the NSR's will carry on and attempt to recruit new candidates for Central Committee that are dedicated to the idea of reform while continuing to change the minds of those on the fence who went with the status quo simply because they feared change.

The forces of change do not run quick. The NSR's should feel proud of the accomplishments thus far and hold their heads high as they take on the challenges that now lie ahead of them. Arshinkoff was on the ropes, but he slipped away this time. With any luck whatsoever, he will have learned his lessons and will fly straight; but if not, the NSR's ought to unite the forces that they can and do whatever they can to bring the party back on the right track.

Ultimately, this is a story about vigilance and perseverance. Arshinkoff may have won this battle, but I suspect the outcome of the war is yet to be determined. And I'm not talking just about Summit County. The NSR's have represented what I believe to be a fledgling movement of conservative Republicans who are fed up with the nonsense in the Ohio Republican Party and aren't going to take it anymore. I've been covering troubles all over Ohio with county parties, including my own, and my hope is that there will be good Republicans ready to take on the status quo in those areas and demand change occur. Rank and file Republicans who are not a part of the party structure are becoming disenchanted with the way things are being run and they will either sit it out when we need them, vote with their feet, or vote Democrat to "teach a lesson." We must do something because the same old tricks are no longer working.