Posted on 06/10/2010 7:21:18 PM PDT by grace522
The city's Republican organization re-elected most of its current leadership last night, but with levels of controversy and opposition not seen over the last 50 years.
About a dozen of the Republican ward leaders elected Monday night were barred from attending the reorganization meeting at the United Republican Club in Kensington, or were kicked out of the meeting after it began, with no substantive explanations.
Meanwhile, about 30 protesters stood outside in the rain, many of them holding signs that attacked the current party hierarchy, led by general counsel Michael P. Meehan.
Toward the end of a 90- minute meeting, party chairman Vito Canuso was re-elected by a 44-12 vote over Al Schmidt, the leader of a dissident faction critical of Meehan and backed by the state Republican organization.
Schmidt and other allies recruited hundreds of new Republican committeemen for last month's primary election, many of them in areas of North and West Philadelphia where the GOP presence has been declining for decades.
Many of the new recruits were elected as ward leaders Monday night, but the results were rejected by the party leadership, for reasons left unclear.
Schmidt said the vote for party chairman would have been much closer, about 42 to 28, if all the elected ward leaders had been permitted to vote.
"I don't know the last time we've seen anything like this in Philadelphia," Schmidt said. "I don't know the last time we had a vote for chairman that was anything but unanimous. . . . Obviously, we didn't have the numbers we needed to elect me chairman, but this is all about the process, about giving this party a shot in the arm and getting it off its ass."
Read more: http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/20100610_City_GOP_re-elects_leaders_amid_dissent.html#ixzz0qVVBaarC Play fantasy sports and win cash prizes instantly. Philly.com's Instant Fantasy Sports Games
(Excerpt) Read more at philly.com ...
Sorry - That’s Michael Meehan and Vito Canuso.
Keep in mind. The people outnumber the party elite 500 to 1. These things don’t have to happen. When will people learn that a show of force is necessary if we are going to regain control of the party from a few elitists who have hijacked it??
Most Republicans from within all U.S. cities are RINOS, unfortunately.
Plenty of drama in Pennsylvania GOP politics. While I’m sorry about the outcome of the Phila GOP meeting, I’m glad to see this being reported, and glad to see new people trying to get involved. It’s a start.
Start up a dissident GOP group and elect your own leaders. Then let the people choose which group they’ll support. And don’t leave the brass knuckles at home.
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