"After tonight's primary election, it's clear that a large majority of state central committee members support my continued service as chairman of the Republican Party," DeWine said in the statement.Folks, I am telling you right now, the anti-DeWine folks not only are now in the majority, it is a significant majority. The committee has 66 members, and I am talking numbers in the low 40s, maybe more.
"There were good people on both sides of the leadership contest and now that it's finally over, we must join together to unify our party moving forward. There will no doubt be a few dissidents who try to continue this dispute. When they do, they will answer to the millions of Republicans in this nation who are counting on Ohio to ensure the defeat of Barack Obama in November.
DeWine is right that we have to unite our party. And the first step is removing a corrupt chairman who spends party resources on central committee races and blatantly violates the party bylaws and election laws. Governor Kasich is right to want him to step down.
Want to see another indicator of how things really went? Let's look at tweets from Kasich staff as last night concluded.
Jai Chabria: It's been a good night.
Jon Keeling: To say the least. RT @jchabria It's been a good night
Sherri Carbo: Smiling big :) RT @jchabria: It's been a good night
Nicole M. Kostura: Smiles all around "@Jon_Keeling: To say the least. RT @jchabria It's been a good night"
These people are some of Governor Kasich's closest advisers and inner circle. Do they sound like they were disappointed last night?
Governor Kasich had this to say himself,
“We did extremely well and we will have a transition to new leadership," Kasich said, referencing the 66 ORP central committee seats up for grabs last night. "You know the results. We will transition to a new chairman at some point. We don’t know exactly what all the numbers are, but we are very pleased we’re in a position where there will be some changes.”
DeWine should probably change his name to DeNial. Because that's what is going on when he comes out and tells Joe Hallett what he told him last night. The next part of his quote gets better.
"The results of the primary election will be certified in late March, at which time I will immediately call a committee meeting in April."Yes, Kevin, please call a committee meeting as soon as possible. Do it. Call for a vote on your leadership if you really believe that "a large majority of state central committee members support your continued service as chairman". Schedule it. I dare you.
A lot of people have messaged me and asked for a list of all the races. I'm putting together a list of what the new committee will look like, including all of last nights results. I wish I could have had it up for you already. It's just taking a little time, something I haven't had much of this week. Hang in there!
Follow @Bytor3BP
You should contact the press - they seem fairly baffled:
ReplyDeleteSee http://tinyurl.com/6oh6wr2
beginning at 44:28.
I'm a little disappointed in this post. Usually you do a good job using facts to back up your arguments. I'm not ready to wholeheartedly believe one side or the other based on 4 staffer's personal twitter accounts, especially when both sides are claiming victory. I'll look forward to reading your next post with the results and an indication of which members are on which side.
ReplyDeleteWhat can be said? the election results speak for themselves, the anti-Dewine group won handily. Do you want the winners and losers broken down? Go to the state party website and look at their endorsed candidates. Cross off the known Kasich people on the committee and then cross off all the dewine allies who got trounced Tuesday, what do you have left? Around 25 people who have to feel like they are in a very precarious predictament. My advice if you're in that group? Get on the bus before that vote.
DeleteAnonymous-It seems like Bytor has been really well connected through this whole thing. I don't see any reason to disbelieve him now. But we'll see in April, I guess. If DeWine is still Chairman after that meeting is over, we'll know he won.
ReplyDeleteWe know he wants to be Chairman at all cost. If he's knocked out or pushed out, we know his claims of victory were b.s.
The only way DeWine could be sincere is if he really hasn't figured out who is who in this zoo. Is that a possibility? Could he be counting Kasich's guys? I can think of one he probably thinks is on his side who isn't, could there be 6 or 7 like that?
DeleteCould Kasich be counting DeWine's guys... is it really so absurd for that argument to go both ways?
DeleteI'm sure it's possible. But check out the new post on GOHP. It highlights all the people Dewine spent money on and lost. Even the Vice-Chair and Treasurer. When you spend money on someone, that means they are key to maintaining a majority. So it's hard to see how he could lose all those races and still maintain anywhere close to a majority.
Deletehttp://gohpblog.com/?p=1176
The real takeaway is that the party organization is not respecting the party in office. If the battle becomes protracted, the party in office has bigger guns because the gov's pulpit is more bully than the chairman's.
ReplyDeleteKinda odd how they're so certain, but the only person calling for a vote is DeWine...
ReplyDeleteThat's what I thought - you'd think he's pretty confident of the outcome. Any thoughts on whether plan B for Kasich and Co would be to minimize the flow of cash to a recalcitrant party?
DeleteSo Plan B is to defund the party while they are working to defeat Obama? That isn't putting personal grudges ahead of the cause or anything...
DeleteThe party would be replaced as a source of grassroots organizing and campaign spending, just as RGA and others filled in when Steele provided poor leadership on the national scene in the wake of 2008.
DeleteOhio's a battleground state, so it could be done, especially with Super PAC spending and grassroots organizing in opposition to Obamacare. Obviously this is all plan B speculation, the jury on plan A is still out.
This discussion is moot, those that want a new chairperson won big tuesday. The numbers were, like DeWine, crunched months ago. DeWine is buying time, he knows he lost Tuesday. By my math it is something like 42 votes for the good guys, hope he calls that meeting! I'm disappointed that the Dispatch would run DeWine's statement without investigating his claims, as they are patently false.
ReplyDeletePerhaps if Kasich and Co. spent more time on tending to the needs and running the business of Ohio rather than focusing on ousting Kevin DeWine, the state may be a bit better off.
ReplyDeleteYou know Ohio is first in the midwest in job creation, right?
DeleteOh, and the state's credit rating was upgraded.
And taxes were cut.
And the budget balanced.
Sounds to me like "Kasich and Co." has their eye on the ball.
All commentary on this fight is baseless. Neither side is sure of their standing and they will be working committee members hard right up to the meeting.
ReplyDeleteClaims of victory or nothing more than people playing a confidence game. Instead of listing the same five or six people who won their races, roll out the whole list of COMMITTED votes for Kasich's invisible and undetermined chairman-designate.
Until then, shut up.
That should be your first clue, you just said you're unsure of your standing. Beating Obama and keeping Ohio on track requires a true grass-roots party where the state supports the county parties, which builds the base and get out the vote. If that's the course we were on, you would be more familiar with your standing. Kasich's slate is out there, I found it easily. Where's Kevin's?
Delete