A-10 pilot, and former Pima GOP Chairman Brian Miller
(in a training aircraft)
Posted on 07/16/2011 1:15:26 PM PDT by Tucson_AZ
Edited on 07/16/2011 4:01:39 PM PDT by Sidebar Moderator. [history]
One of the serious problems facing the Republican Party is that their leadership cadre is aging and ossifying. The people who make up the county and state committees all over the country are getting older and older and increasingly out of touch with the grassroots of the party and the younger people who vote Republican but aren't at all satisfied with what the party has come to stand for or the way that it is run.
The party desperately needs new blood and younger leaders who can relate to young voters. Yet it's awfully hard to get the entrenched blue-hairs to open their fists and share a little power, and even when they do they often aren't comfortable with the results. Young people want to actually do things and stand up for principles and make the party dynamic and effective and for people who are set in their ways and just want to do the same things that have produced mediocre results for years, that's threatening.
A-10 pilot, and former Pima GOP Chairman Brian Miller
(in a training aircraft)
A classic example of this conflict between the dinosaur elite and the younger generation who want to make the GOP an effective party and a party to be proud of is now on display in Tucson Arizona. Last year they elected as Chairman a young Air Force veteran who had just concluded an unsuccessful run for Congress. 36 year old Brian Miller seemed to be the model of what the party leaders were looking for in a younger Republican to join their ranks. He was younger but not too young and had a military background they could admire, plus he was articulate and had already showed his political commitment by running for office.
For a few months it looked like the Pima County GOP was going to move forward and do great things under Miller's leadership. Then came the horrendous death of Jose Guerena at the hands of the Pima County Sheriff's Department SWAT Team. Guerena was a decorated Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq War who was gunned down unnecessarily in a bizarrely excessive SWAT raid on his home in which he fired no shots and was shot 22 times.
The incident became an international scandal. Miller was understandably outraged by the situation and sent out an email as Pima County Republican Chairman objecting to the tactics used by the police in the raid, writing "It is my hope that this tragic event will lead to a renewed discussion of the policies that routinely lead to heavily armed and militarized local police invading private homes and a renewed interest in the civil liberties codified in our Bill of Rights."
Miller continued to be personally outspoken about the need for an investigation and accountability in the case, not saying anything much different than the criticisms of the raid in local and national news media, but this began to rankle some members of his County Republican Executive Committee who like many older Republicans subscribe to a law and order mentality which assumed that whatever the police did was right because they were the good guys and anyone they went after was automatically guilty by assumption.
Miller disagreed, citing things like the rule of law and due process and the Bill of Rights, but that didn't mean much to his critics who accused him of causing "division and chaos" and that his statements "created serious problems for our elected officials." The Executive Committee board issued a statement condemning their own Chairman and ultimately demanded his resignation. When he refused they voted 10-2 to effectively suspend him as chairman pending a vote of the entire County Executive Committee on the issue of removing Miller from office. That vote would require a 2/3 majority and is scheduled for tonight.
Miller has been waging a quiet campaign to build support for his position in the several weeks leading up to this vote. He has sworn not to give up without a fight. The outcome of the vote is by no means certain, because as is the case in many county parties nationwide the rank and file precinct chairs are a much more diverse than the established leadership and also tend to be younger. With a 2/3 majority required to oust Miller the vote will likely be very close.
Miller has described the campaign against him as a "political witchhunt" and that some on the board are "avenging old political scores." It seems quite likely that outrage against Miller's statements in some quarters are being used by others to advance their desire to regain control of the party leadership.
This specific situation is troubling, but what is more worrisome is what it says about the current state of the Republican Party at a key organizational level. This problem is not isolated and it is not unique. It is something the party will need to come to terms with if it is to survive. It is unhealthy to suppress the next generation of leadership and alienating Republicans who want to be involved from the party leadership is a sure formula for disaster.
It's a particularly ugly situation because in this case Miller was just speaking up for principles which he grew up believing were what the Republican Party stood for. The party claims that it champions civil liberties, human life and keeping the government off of our backs. The preamble to the Arizona Republican Party Platform says:
"...the citizens of our great state might blossom under new freedoms borne from less government regulation; and, the prosperity of a society that shall one day come to recognize fully the value of life, the value of each individual, the value of responsibility, the value of the rule of law, and the value of personal dignity."
Those are the kinds of values the Republican Party is supposed to stand for. In his statements about the Guerena case Brian Miller was clearly concerned about those very issues, justifiably angry that Guerena was deprived of life and dignity and his individual rights in violation of the rule of law and the kind of responsibility we should expect of our government and its agents.
Miller merely asked his fellow Republicans to stand up for the values they claim to believe in and that got him labeled a traitor. What kind of message does that send to the other young Republicans around the country who might want to get involved in the party? What kind of party is represented by that kind of hypocrisy?
More and more it has become clear that we have two Republican Parties in the United States. One is dedicated to principles and one is dedicated to holding on desperately to status and position and failed ideas. The party of principles is the party which Brian Miller spoke for which he spoke up for Jose Guerena. That's the Republican Party I want to be part of.
Senator Antenori's claim last night that Pima County could somehow take credit for "the most conservative legislature in state history" was only slightly more disgusting than the roar of approval than greeted his utterance.
I don't know if he was intentionally misleading, or if he is really unaware of the LD lines. The boundaries or part or all of six legislative districts fall within Pima County. Of those, three have Republican representation, LD 25, LD 26, and LD 30.
Guess what those three LDs have in common. All three of them extend outside of Pima County.
Of the three districts entirely within Pima County there is not a single Republican Legislator. We have a Mayor who is registered in the Republican party, and one Republican City Council Member. We have two Republican County Supervisors.
Four elected officials from Pima County proper. Out of the 12 seats available in the city and the county we hold 4. 33%. If you throw in the nine legislative seats for a total of 21 available seats, we hold 14%
That's what Antenori claims is great achievement, and the majority of the PCs in Pima County agree with him.
No wonder we loose. We think 14% is a victory.
What Antenori didn't share is that the Republican plan for Pima County is to essentially build a political wall around it and cede it to the Democrats. They've given up on winning elections in Pima County.
If this were really about elections, they would have recognized Frank's chicanery for what it was, eloquent, but empty rhetoric.
So again, I say, for the Dinasaurs who want to preserve the status quo at all costs, this is not about elections, this about their club and keeping everyone who is not like them out.
Well, they may be content calcifying and cedeing Pima County to the Democrats. They may be content with Detroit being more business friendly than Tucson. They may be content with Tucson hemoraging those educated at the UofA into other communities because we refuse to create a community here where new graduates can live and prosper.
But I, and true conservatives like me, are not. We are desperately concerned about our community and we do not want to allow Antenori, Proud, and Melvin, whose Districts' boundaries fall outside our county to ghettoize us.
The Republican party is not a social club and it is time that the Dinosaurs and their "leaders" like Melvin, Proud, and Antenori learned that.
We need a second party.
Conservative support for law enforcement used to be one of the coziest relationships in the political world. Civil forfeiture, wrong-house raids and the $500 speeding ticket have changed all that.
PIMA County is the Red Stain on Arizona’s Blue Dress.
Got distracted by one of my children and forgot to post the attribution link at the top of the comment: https://www.facebook.com/groups/215684591806716
Good bust... excellent!!
The thing is, we have some pretty smart, experienced people around here who can sniff out Campaign for Liberty operatives like yourself. Have a nice day.
I am so sorry to hear this! Brian Miller seems like a terrific guy and a great cnservative. What is he going to do now? What can be done about this? Not in AZ so not much i can do except be upset.
to get rid of the guy over what he said about the Guernara case! Give me a break!
From the article it looks like he is going to sue.
Most of the GOP is in this situation. What the old guard can’t get past is even though they know the party desperately needs new blood and younger leaders who can relate to young voters; they just can’t help themselves because they are control freaks who just can’t let go. Is there any chance Miller will stay on and keep trying to work within the Party, or did it become too rancorous?
we need to bolster the younger Republicans..I am for the first time going to join the Rep party this year...always was an “independent ‘ conservative...with numbers we can support guys like this and begun to move this huge elephant.
without more numbers within the party to support him, Miller would be fighting a losing battle..one person, or even just a few can’t change the “control’ machine.
I look at most large cities and most have a Dem as mayor. Nashville is still a dem major city and has been since I have been here. The police are union and all seem to belong to the guard or reserve,too.I do not have problems with our police. I have a real problem with our liberal judges and jail policies. I would welcome a sheriff Joe here.
Well, I’m a senior citizen who has been doing this political thing longer than I would like. I am a central committee member and would be THRILLED to give up my seat to a young conservative. Where are they?
Instead of a schismatic movement, what is needed is more of an educational movement for older Republicans, emphasizing *why* Republicans and conservatives need to move beyond the old ways. And this can be a very positive and optimistic view, if explained in the terms older Republicans understand.
1) The post-FDR America they grew up in is no longer sustainable. Deep debts were made that must be paid off before they ruin our nation. A growing spiral of debt has pushed the country to the brink, and the overspending has to end.
2) The old Republican party was satisfied with the “Pax Americana” and strong “law and order” at home. But even this is now horribly overgrown and needs to be streamlined beyond the “more is better” approach. The US military is deployed to 100 nations, and we only need to be deployed to 8 or 10. The federal government has more than 50 federal police agencies. Enough is enough.
3) The old Republican party was willing to compromise with radicals and socialists, but you cannot compromise for long with outrageous and destructive demands. There must be an end to compromises and bargaining with the devil.
4) FDR and LBJ almost destroyed the constitution by giving the nation’s lifeblood away as largess in a fruitless and wasteful manner. There is just as much poverty and slums now as there was then, which shows it was a waste of time. It needs to end.
5) Socialized medicine and retirement, no matter how much baby boomers revel in it, was a bad idea then, and is a bad idea now. The money we paid into these programs was spent as soon as it was received, and nothing was saved to make good on the promises. All those people, Democrats and Republicans, who brought this about should have their headstones knocked down by those still alive, because that is all you are ever going to get from their promises.
6) Young Republicans have none of the liberal illusions the baby boomers grew up with. Theirs is a harsh world, full of tyrants and internationalist conspirators, all of whom want to tear down America. They fight in foreign lands against barbaric people little different from Philistines. And fight, and fight, and fight, with no end in sight. So they deserve the respect of the older Republicans who grew up in a world of mostly peace.
7) The future will be no easier, but younger Republicans still have the intestinal fortitude to ignore the illusions and return our country to its strong constitutional origins, in the face of a hundred and some years of “progressives” fouling things up. The salad days are over, and to keep our country great it has to be lean and fit.
THATS WHY?... Ann Coulter does well in college campus’s..
Young people want to know what “FREEDOM” “is”..
Example: freedom is being able to NOT BE a member of a UNION.. i.e. “right to work”..
Smart ones say “I SEE”, the dumber ones say show me the money..
I am eager to turn over the reigns to a young conservative. Where do I find one willing to do the work?
Horse manure.
That Marine who got gunned down was an associate of a drug dealing cartel.
There’s going to be a third party and it will be the GOP...By their own making.
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