GOP Alaska State Convention

                    Last week I attended the three-day GOP Alaska State Convention held at the Anchorage Hilton Hotel, my first time at a State Convention.  I represented my district, first as an alternate and later as a delegate, and I found the entire experience to be very interesting and eye-opening.  I was grateful to be in a large gathering of people where I could talk politics - conservative politics - and not feel obligated to "tone down" my thoughts and feelings.  It was wonderful to be surrounded by people with similar beliefs!

                    The first item of business was to obtain credentials.  I had to show my driver's license as a picture identification and proof of residence; I also showed my voter's registration card.  It was very obvious that the Alaska GOP wanted to make sure I was who I said I was and lived where I said I lived, meaning that I had to represent the actual district where I reside.

                    I was among the first to arrive at credentials and found the process not quite organized; I assume that things ran a little smoother later in the process.  I attended an orientation meeting for new delegates, which had a lengthy delay due to the disorganization of credentials.  While waiting for the meeting to begin, my table mates were bombarded by a husband and wife with unwanted information about why we should vote for Ron Paul.  Not only did they talk unceasingly, but they did it with very loud voices.  The more they talked, the more determined I was not to support Ron Paul.  They were so obnoxious that they poisoned their message!

                    When the orientation meeting actually began, the parliamentarian for the convention explained Robert's Rules of Order, the recognized guide to running meetings and conferences effectively and fairly.  I previously knew about Robert's Rules, but I didn't have any lengthy experience seeing them in action.  After being in the actual convention, I had a complete understanding about why we needed to have an accepted set of rules and why the parliamentarian was an absolute necessity.

                    Some of the guidelines for using Robert's Rules are as follow:  1) Obtain the floor (the right to speak) by being the first to stand when the person speaking has finished; state Mr./Madam Chairman.  2) Debate cannot begin until the Chair has stated the motion or resolution and asked "are you ready for the question?"  If no one rises to discuss the question, the Chair calls for the vote!

3) No member can speak twice to the same issue until everyone else wishing to speak has spoken to it once!  4) All remarks must be directed to the Chair.  5) The agenda and all committee reports are merely recommendations.  Debate begins and changes occur as the items are presented.

                    When a person rises to speak, they must speak according to rules, some of which follow:  1) Main Motion:  Brings the next item on the agenda before the assembly.  2) Point of Order:  Infraction of the rules, or improper decorum in speaking.  This point must be raised immediately after error is made.  3) Amend:  Insert or strike out words or paragraphs, or substituting whole paragraphs or resolutions.

                    The opening reception was held at the Top of the Town, the fifteenth floor of the Anchorage Hilton Hotel.  The view from Top of the Town is magnificent and dazzling!  Our newly re-elected mayor spoke and, among other things, he said something similar to "Three years ago I promised the people of Anchorage that I would do certain things.  I did them, and the people rewarded me by electing me for another three years."  This is a simple statement, but it tells the whole story.  We elect leaders to do certain things; when they do as they promise, they earn our trust to be our leaders again.

                    Some time between the end of the opening reception and the next morning, an e-mail was sent to many if not all of the delegates.  I received the e-mail and was stunned by the information contained in it.  I thought that the e-mail should be seen by somebody in charge, but I didn't know who to contact.  It was addressed to "Alaska Ron Paul Delegates and Alternates" and outlined a plan for a hostile takeover of the Republican Party.  The e-mail stated in part, "… we take over the state convention, we change the rules, and we take over the Republican Party."  The plan was to use deception and misinformation to prolong the convention through parliamentary maneuvers, etc.  The e-mail was closed "In Liberty" with the name "Mike Cook."

                    The next morning the Governor called into the convention from Juneau and spoke for a few minutes before addressing the e-mail, which he said he received.  He spoke about how the plans contained in the e-mail were detrimental to liberty and had no place in the Republican Party Convention.

                    After the Governor concluded his remarks, the outspoken Ron Paul woman from the previous night went to the microphone to say that she had not received the e-mail and she did not know who had sent it.  Others wanted to speak about it, but the floor was given to our National Committeewoman who had also received the email and had done some investigating.  She said that she had spoken with lots of Ron Paul supporters but hadn't found any who had received the e-mail.  She shrugged it off with the idea that someone was trying to divide the Republicans and talked about the importance of unity in the party and her duties.  My question was, how did anyone know whether or not I supported Ron Paul?

                    No one seems to know where the e-mail came from or who "Mike Cook" is.  I did notice that the Ron Paul supporters were not so much in our faces afterwards.  We divided into committee meetings.  Since I was still an alternate, I did not have an assigned committee.  I chose to go with a new friend to the National Defense and Veteran Affairs Committee and again found the experience very interesting.  About half of the members were retired military officers or non-commissioned officers.  The votes on most plank items were usually split down the middle, with the former military people on one side and those who had not served on the other side.  Although I was not a voting member of the committee, my thoughts and feelings were usually with the military.

                    I remember discussing the plank about the war on terror.  I remember one retired colonel who became very emotional when he spoke.  He told us of the various countries where he had served while gathering intelligence.  He said that he could not share what he knew, but he testified that our enemies are "evil."  When he sat down, a former special operations officer stood and testified of the same thing.  They both knew things that they could not tell us, but they were adamant that we are battling "evil."

                      The evening meeting was a formal dinner with speakers.  Our Senator Lisa Murkowski introduced Senator John Barrasso from Wyoming.  During her introduction the fore-mentioned Ron Paul woman (Did you notice that I am not calling her a lady?) attempted to interrupt the Senator.  There was quite a scene and a great distraction from the introduction as well as the remarks of our invited guest.  The woman would not sit down and be quiet; when people tried to move her away, her husband came to her defense with "Don't touch my wife!"  Someone apparently got the husband's attention and spoke with him because he came back in the room and convinced his wife to leave.         Our visitor was great, and I liked much of what he said - that I heard, but I was really embarrassed for Alaska!  After the meeting was over I went up to shake his hand and apologize for the rudeness.  He seemed to be used to idiots acting out like that!

                    We met again early the next morning, and I heard hints of police being called the previous evening.  Party leaders continued to plead for unity.  The aforementioned man and woman were much more subdued, but other Ron Paul supporters were very obnoxious as they constantly questioned everything.  I was so irritated with their behavior!  It was quite obvious to me that the aforementioned e-mail described the exact plans for the Ron Paul supporters (Libertarians at heart, Republican in name only) to take over the Republican Party.  We adopted the planks for the Republican Party and voted for officers - all accomplished with much contention.  The convention ended because we ran out of time in the hotel and before we learned who our new officers were.


                    In the afternoon of our final day, a saner Ron Paul supporter from my district made a public and private apology to Senator Murkowski and explained that the problem took place while he was out of the room.  Senator Murkowski graciously accepted his apology on behalf of the Ron Paul supporters and encouraged us to have unity and work together for the good of the country.  There was a wonderful spirit in the room - until one of the people involved in the raucous stood and began to speak.

                    I do not remember when I first noticed some men who were surveying the crowd and assumed they were Ron Paul guys.  The morning of the final day I realized that the two men - and maybe others - were using radios to communicate.  I noticed later in the morning that one of the men - really big - was shadowing the Chairman of the Republican Party.  Every where Randy went, the guy was close by.  I also watched him shadow another officer out of the room later in the day.  For some reason, the officers of the Alaska Republican Party had body guards!

                    We were not able to hold off the hostile takeover.  Ron Supporters were elected  to three officer positions.  I hope and pray the right people are leading our organization.  One thing I do know is that good people who are Republicans must become active in the organization or the Republican Party as we know it will become a thing of the past.  It will be taken over by a radical fringe group just as the Democrat Party was taken over by the progressive fringe.  Now is the time for all good men and women to come to the aid of their country.  Your country needs YOU to Stand Up and Be Counted!  Will you do it?