I wasn’t there, so I don’t know exactly what happened at the Nye County Republican Party convention last weekend in Tonopah, but suffice it to say it rings like par for the course: Ron Paul supporters showed up en masse, successfully “took over” the convention and generally made life miserable for the non-Ron Paul folks who took time to attend.
Now here’s the thing…
At such party gatherings, there have always been a handful of pain-in-the-butt wanna-be parliamentarians whose mission in life solely appears to be to stand on a soapbox and impress everyone with their in-depth knowledge of the arcane Robert’s Rules of Order and the party’s bylaws. They hold things up, drag out the meeting and accomplish very little in the way of, you know, actually electing Republicans to office.
Back in my day, we called it “Mike Weber-ing.”
Now multiply that number by the dozens – or hundreds – and you have a sense of what has been going on all around Nevada since 2008. As such, unless you’re one of the newbies and part of this crowd, going to these meetings pretty much sucks. Even more than usual!
Then again, that’s EXACTLY the point.
Yes, dealing with such minutia and fighting over such trivial rules is maddening – but those ARE the rules. The Ron Paul folks aren’t doing anything “wrong.” Sometimes it seems counter-productive – I wish they’d focus on electing Ron Paul-type candidates to the state Legislature where they could do some good! – but they are well-organized, highly motivated, and the living embodiment of the phrase, “The world belongs to those who show up.”
Personally, I think some of them would do well to learn the wisdom about catching more flies with honey than vinegar, but the bottom line in politics is basic math not manners. All you need to do is (a) have an agenda, and (b) be able to count to 50%-plus-1.
And let’s face it, the Ron Paul folks have perfected the formula at many of these recent GOP meetings – and as aggravating as it is for the minority that is not as well organized, motivated and disciplined, this is EXACTLY as the game is played. So good on them.
Now, about those legislative races?
