Note to Batchelor et al: The GOP is in no danger. It died during GW Bush, became 'non-partisan,' loves Obama, and sees the Tea Party as its only enemy

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After being MIA the Ohio Republican Party finally has a purpose: Keeping Tea Party people out.

1/30/12, "Ohio Republican Party’s Outrageous New Tactic to Keep the Tea Party Out," Big Government by Bytor

"There was breaking news last week of an upcoming meeting that has been called for the Ohio Republican Party (ORP) State Central Committee. Below (link) is an excerpt of the memo sent out to committee members....

Talk about trying to protect their established incumbents! To be seated on the committee, a person will have to have voted in the Republican primary in 2008, 2010 and 2012. This is a pretty brazen move by Chairman Kevin DeWine and his allies. This rule, if adopted, is clearly intended to make it harder for outsiders to be seated on the State Central Committee, even if they are elected to the position.

The timing of this is no accident. There are two clear goals here.

1. Keep the Tea Party out. And this one isn’t new. Back in 2010, the ORP outraged many conservatives when it used the tea party brand and sent out mailers with a “Tea Party Values” logo that endorsed…Jon Husted. Ohio conservatives know that Husted can hardly be described as “Tea Party”.

Yet, while ORP was associating itself with the Tea Party on paper, they were simultaneously putting incumbent Central Committee members on the mailers to appear as though they were endorsed. The same incumbents that the rash of newly politically active tea party types were running against. Ohio Liberty Council described it as a declaration of war against the Tea Party and a violation of committee rules and state law.

(4/24/10): The Ohio Republican Party (ORP) after spending more than a year “Missing In action” as the Tea Party movement fought against the bailout, Cap and Trade and the Health Care bill, has finally swung into action. It is bombarding Republicans throughout the state with cards endorsing candidates for the State Central Committee in order to defeat … not liberal Democrats … but Republicans from the Tea Party movement.

A suit has been filed with the Ohio Elections Commission about the perceived violation of party rules and state law with these endorsements, which have not been authorized by the ORP’s governing board. In an initial review, the OEC ruled that there is “Probable Cause” and ordered that the case be held by the full Commission. In his defense, ORP Chairman DeWine argued that it was perfectly acceptable for the Party to endorse incumbents. However one incumbent who has a reputation for standing on principle against DeWine (Rousseau), was not endorsed by the Party; instead the Party endorsed his challenger.

So, even 2 years ago, the ORP was asking tea partiers for their votes and claiming that their preferred establishment candidates had “tea party values”. But when some of those same voters wanted to get involved by running for a seat on the committee,

• they were told that they weren’t welcome.

Also to be discussed at the upcoming, besides the proposed amendment: endorsing all the incumbents again.

It also is possible that the central committee could take up a proposal tabled at a previous meeting that would call for the endorsement of all incumbent central committee members for re-election in the March primary.

Now, with this new proposed rule, they’re planning to go even further to keep the Tea Party out.

2. To protect Kevin DeWine’s Chairmanship. The ORP knows that many of this years challengers to committee incumbents would vote against him in the next election for chairman. What better way to protect yourself than to create a new rule to make it harder for new people to the party to be seated on the committee?

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio Republican Party chairman wants to change the rules for who can serve on the party’s state central committee, a proposal that comes about a month before GOP voters elect the next 66-member group.

The move could help Chairman Kevin DeWine fend off a challenge to his leadership. DeWine and Gov. John Kasich are locked in a messy election-year battle for control of the party.

Perhaps the most outrageous part of this is the outright brazen timing. Candidates have already filed for the election. They’re already on the ballot! The election is only 5 weeks away. What are they going to do if a person is elected, but doesn’t meet their new rule? At least one candidate has already been identified as not meeting the proposed new criteria. They’re creating a recipe for chaos.

But apparently Kevin Dewine doesn’t care, as long as it helps him hold on to his chairmanship. He obviously isn’t confident about his fortunes, and is doing all he can to rig the system. This is just another example to add to the mountain of evidence that

• Ohio conservatives can’t trust Kevin DeWine."...

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Nov. 8, 2006, Rush Limbaugh on the Bush crowd selling out to democrats

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