January 27, 2007
Esser wins
According to a source at the meeting, Luke Esser was just elected WSRP chairman 71-43.
Congratulations, Luke!
UPDATE. Esser sent out his first press release:
"The first step towards recovering from our defeat in 2006 is recognizing that we have a problem, and today we did that," said Esser. "Though we face difficult times I'm confident we will rebound. The Republican Party is overflowing with ideas for making Washington more prosperous and secure."
"The Democrats are using their majorities to restrict the initiative process and spend a massive 30 billion dollars on state government. They're governing way to the left of Washington voters."
Postman has
an on-site report.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at January 27, 2007
02:20 PM | Email This
1. Well, the only question here is this: do we get Jolene Unseold's famous "the winds of hate have swept the land" speech? (Unseold's remarks election night, 1994, when she and a great many others were done in, in her case by one L. Smith)
2. I'm happy for Luke, by any objective standard he will be a great chair by virtue of his own qualifications.
BUT to now have the dishonesty, cruelty and mismanagement of the Tebelius chairmanship put behind us is a genuine relief.
On to victory!
3. For whatever first press releases can tell us, I like the sound of this one:
Be direct about acknowledging problems, take an objective look at how best to fix them, put the focus on (D) policies that range from the misguided and counterproductive to the outrageous, and move forward.
Just a small first step, but a good start by Chairman Esser.
4. Best of luck to Mr. Esser.
The state needs 2 healthy parties, and we'll have at least a chance of that with the new chair.
Speaking of $30B, how's that national debt doing?
5. Sweet Deal, Diane and I had snippy e-mail exchanges before and after the election, never liked her, Congrats Luke Buddy! Duvall is proud of you!
6. Sweet Deal, Diane and I had snippy e-mail exchanges before and after the election, never liked her, Congrats Luke Buddy! Duvall is proud of you!
7. Ding dong....!
8. Not cool to kick Diane when she's down. She worked hard for the party. I think Luke is a better fit, and I hope he does well. But let's hope that people have enough class to wish Diane the best and hope she continues to use her energy and intelligence to support the party.
9. The genuine sense of relief in the room was so strong it was astonishing.
So many tasks that should have been simple turned into tooth and nail battles with Diane that it left her staffers and people at all levels of the party exhausted and stressed. And Diane herself did not seem to thrive in the job. There were only a few times that she appeared to be having fun.
I know that Diane is smarting from this, but I truly believe she will be far happier moving forward in her next job. I was very surprised that she ran again, as, even if she was reelected, I thought things would only get harder for her.
I think that many of the people in the room were relieved FOR her. In all truth she is now out from under a burden she was ill suited to carry.
Diane is a very bright and capable person with many fine qualities whom I admire. But her strengths are not in the end the qualities that make a good WSRP Chair.
I wish Diane the best in her future endeavors.
10. I heartily concur with "In the Room." The State Chair position isn't for everybody; it no doubt takes a unique personality to hold together such a diverse and fractured statewide party. I'm sure it's an unforgiving job, and that's what Diane learned today.
In my own analysis, the tide turned against her when she spurned Stefan, et al and their legitimate questions. Maybe this will be a good case in point for future leaders.
As for Luke: "Esser said he will meet with party staff Monday." Good. I have a feeling there will be some house cleaning taking place.
11. Although my husband and I supported Diane to continue as state chair, we too, just as Diane, will support and stand behind Luke and the state party now that he is elected. I gave my reason - the property rights initiative, but that is in the past.
We have to move forward now, and I consider Luke to be a good conservative and a friend. I am very sorry that he lost his senate seat. We needed him there. We all worked hard to get him re-elected.
Congratulations Luke.
As for Diane - she's a great lady, and I know that she will do well in whatever endeavor she now choses. I consider her a friend also and wish her every success.
Ruth Gibbs
12. Thank you ruth. Your sentiments are shared by many. I wish Luke the best and hope he can lead a more united party into the next election cycle.
13. When I first met Tiebelieus on the floor of the WSRP convention in 2006, I told her straight out that she needed to direct and forceful to deal with Peltz/WSDP. She gave me this curt smile, vacant look and whimpy handshake that told me she would not deliver.
This is not a fashion runway but a strategic battle for the state. It is fought with smart stategy and decisive tactical skill.
Good luck Chairman Esser. BE FORCEFUL in dealing with Peltz/WSDP and our rebuilding.
14. James, Every year this State's education, transportation, planning and environment get worse. All under the banner of the "progessives". What is it going to take for people to realize this and change their voting pattern?
15. Jim @ #4
As a percentage of GNP, it's doing pretty well!
16. Does anyone know if the WSRP chair gets paid a salary?
17. Yes. Salary range is listed (WSRP Policy Statement 83-2, Revised 12/01/01) as $60-95k, but the executive board meets (minus the chair, obviously) to offer an exact amount depending on past experience, success during the last term, budgets etc. Most chairs start at the lower end/middle and work toward the top over a period of 2-3 terms. Exact amounts for past chairs may or may not be personal info. Health insurance, 401k, etc is additional. There are some expenses paid too. Going to DC for RNC meetings may be the prime example.
18. Do they get 16k raises each year like our Queen and her band of legislative thieves?
19. I've searched the PDC site - there are payroll expenses shown for Chris Vance & others - but none for Diane. ????
20. Have there been any lessons learned about how the State of Washington Republican party deals with gay folks?
I think one of the reasons Mr. Esser lost his Senate seat was an out of touch non communication with his district on this topic. The mantra is 'fiscal conservative not so much social issues '.
Will the rebuild as it is being called here change the past?
Inquiring minds will be interested.
Yes, I am gay and work at SGN.
21. Try the FEC website. A lot of the party expenses are paid out of its "federal" account.
22. "The Democrats are using their majorities to restrict the initiative process and spend a massive 30 billion dollars on state government. They're governing way to the left of Washington voters."
It's about $33.4 billion, not $30 billion.
23. I don't agree with Esser. I think the Dems are governing according to the will of the voters who elected Dem majorities in the State legislature. What's the problem with democracy in action? The problem is the lefty voters of this state, not the Dems in Olympia.
24. Gregoire should be challenged on her committment to transparency and accountability. I was thinking about this reputation she has as being a hard, back-room negoitiator.
What's the other side of that coin, I asked myself.
How about a lack of transparency in decision-making for starters? The Viaduct fiasco is a good example of this. Instead of explaining how she's going to solve the problem to the public, she's locked in a backroom battle of wills with Nickels and the Seattle City Council.
25. Every pastor should be a GOP PCO, or told to get out of the way. The denominations are becoming increasingly theologically-correct state religions with socially castrated leaders fearing their own shadows. Some are just shameless shakedown artists. The Muslims succeed because their leaders are brave; ours are cowards -- consequently, our men are cowards. It wasn't always that way. Christianity has been pacified by many of its enemies. As Christians we are to do good, and fight evil. There is ample scriptural authority and precedent for waging holy war against foreign and domestic evil. Kick our shepards in their butts and tell them to get a pair, or get new jobs.
26. I don't if Esser has the assertiveness and leadership skill set that is essential to make the Republicans a formidable force in this seasick blue state. It was clear that Tebellius was not helping out, no better than Vance and let the election results under their reigns speak for themselves.
27. I don't know if Esser has the assertiveness and leadership skill set that is essential to make the Republicans a formidable force in this seasick blue state. It was clear that Tebellius was not helping to bail them out, no better than Vance and let the election results under their reigns speak for themselves.
28. Going to have any more followup?
29. Ruth Gibbs never did ONE THING to help Luke Esser get reelected. and that's a fact!
30. Jim,
Does it make you feel better to say that?
What does it really matter now anyway? Look
your guy won the King Gop chair race. Its
time to move on.Whether Ruth Gibbs helped
out on Luke Esser campaign has no bearing
on anything so why say it.Again your guy
won the King Gop chair race its time to move
on.