Setting the stage for more revelations and questions on the Rule 11 episode

Just call me NAVEL GAZER!*

The other day I reported on a letter from a Lynn Beiber that was published in the Gazette.   Ms. Beiber charged that the MD GOP waived  Rule 11,  a kind of neutrality rule, so that the  Republican National Committee could begin supporting former Governor Robert Ehrlich before the September 14th primary.  The highly suspicious action puts an elitist insider stamp of approval on the Ehrlich campaign before voters had even had an opportunity to hear from primary challenger Brian Murphy.

Here also is another letter by a Mr. Farrell Keough with more details of the backroom deal.

I didn’t even know about all this (how bad it was) when I wrote a letter to the editor (scroll down to second letter) published at the Hagerstown Herald Mail stating that conservatives and other Tea Party types are only asking for a fair playing field from the MD GOP and that primaries are important for voters to learn about candidate’s positions and sort out issues.

(Incidentally, all of this happened at the April 30th spring convention of the MD GOP, read more here. Note Ehrlich had an opportunity to speak, although he had not filed to run for governor at that point.  Murphy was not permitted to speak to the Maryland GOP gathering while some no-name ex-governor of New Mexico did speak.)

Now rank and file Republican voters, who are beginning to learn about what happened, are justifiably steaming mad over this waiver of the RNC’s Rule 11 (below) and want to learn more about how three “big shots” apparently unilaterally made the decision well in advance of the gathering.

See two of several reports about the event —one from the Washington Post, here and the other from the Examiner, here.

One thing that puzzles me is I see that Mr. Murphy filed with the Board of Elections on April 16, 2010 and Mr. Ehrlich waited until nearly the last day on July 2, 2010 to file (why?).   So therefore Ehrlich wasn’t even an official candidate on April 30th.  Can Michael Steele’s RNC give money to a non-candidate?  Is that even legal?

Tea Partiers and conservatives generally have been maintaining all along that they, for the most part, wish to work within the Republican Party structure to advance principles, one of which is to eliminate the backroom wheeling and dealing that Maryland is famous for and that disrespects the voters.  Doesn’t the MD GOP get that?  We have no problem arguing over the issues in a fair and open debate with moderate voices (like Ehrlich’s) in the party—ideally reaching a consensus as we face the Democratic incumbent in November.  But….

…. we will do whatever is in our power to bring to the public’s attention and expose elitist insiders—the political class—when they are stacking the deck to keep our voices, our ideas, and our candidates from being heard!

* Mr. Griffiths (at Red Maryland), for your information most of us—the 3%—have only recently come to appreciate the candidacy of Brian Murphy and you should know that his campaign had not mentioned any of this to me or anyone else I know.  The scandal of the Rule 11 decision is bubbling under the MD GOP surface and may in fact be pushing more people into the Murphy camp as many Republicans are sick and tired of Maryland insider political deals.   If it benefits your candidate and you want to patronize us by calling us “navel gazers,” you go right ahead.

Here is Rule 11:

(a) The Republican National Committee shall
not, without the prior written and filed approval of all
members of the Republican National Committee from
the state involved, contribute money or in-kind aid to
any candidate for any public or party office except the
nominee of the Republican Party or a candidate who is
unopposed in the Republican primary after the filing
deadline for that office. In those states where state law
establishes a nonpartisan primary in which Republican
candidates could participate, but in which the general
election may not include a Republican candidate, the
candidate endorsed by a convention held under the
authority of the state Republican Party shall be
recognized by the Republican National Committee as
the Republican nominee.

(b) No state Republican Party rule or state
law shall be observed that allows persons who have
participated or are participating in the selection of any
nominee of a party other than the Republican Party,
including, but not limited to, through the use of a multiparty
primary or similar type ballot, to participate in the
selection of a nominee of the Republican Party for that
general election. No person nominated in violation of
this rule shall be recognized by the Republican National
Committee as the nominee of the Republican Party
from that state.

Note: This post is to bring readers up to speed on this controversial issue because we have more to come!