We Need Big Changes...

Outgoing State Rep. Paul Mirski's Letter to Grafton Republicans

To Grafton County Republican activists:

December, 2006 -- In the last couple of weeks, I've forwarded a couple of articles as well as personal observations about what happened November 7th to NH Republicans and Republicans elsewhere.

One of the few bright spots in the last election, in terms of support and help for candidates, occurred in Grafton County. Our Grafton County party
leaders, led by Lud Flower, tried everything in the world to help out. They all have my personal thanks and appreciation.

Regardless of the scurrilous treatment of Carl Johnson (defeated GOP state senator from Meredith -Ed), and last minute attack ads and untruthful Democrat mailings against Republican candidates, the truth is that we lost the last election on the ground.

Until November 7th, Republicans had been in control of the state legislature for something like 82 years. The State Committee had come to the point where it had entirely forgotten its base - the workers on the Grafton Committee committee, those on county and town committees across the state and all those who happily help out in whatever capacity they can throughout the year and on election day. On November 7th, there were no poll checkers, and no one personally calling those Republicans who hadn't voted by 2PM. There was no statewide organization. There had been no attempt to prime party stalwarts during the previous biennium about the worth of supporting state legislators irrespective of whatever was going on in Washington or Iraq. NH Republicans simply didn't vote. I haven't bothered to analyze local or even wider results in detail, but I do believe that those who stayed home may have well made the difference in my losing Enfield, my home town, to Suzanne LaLibertie. Some will excuse those at the top of the Party on account of the money drain which the phone jamming suit had on party finances. I can say from personal experience, there was little difference this election from previous elections with regard to State Party support for NH House candidates.

We need big organizational and policy changes at the state level.

We need to rebuild the party around the 171 or so most active Republicans in New Hampshire - those elected to the NH House and Senate. We need to change the power structure within the State Party to favor local elections over elections to the US Congress. Republican activists are activists all the time - not just every four years when presidential candidates clog our highways or every two years when US House members or whenever a sitting Senator becomes interested in New Hampshire's electorate.

Republicans in our state legislature slog it out every day. The email discussions about the nuances of legislation and Republican legislative initiatives on behalf of NH residents on the House Republican Alliance list- serve would amaze you. All day every day, the Republican legislators you elect from Grafton County work hard to advance the ideals promoted in our terrific Party platform. These same legislators do not exist so far as the State Committee is concerned. I'd be surprised if the current Party chair could name very many of them off the top of his head. To be fair to (current NH GOP Chairman) Wayne Semperini, though, a nice enough guy, previous chairs probably couldn't succeed in naming the members of the Grafton Republican delegation either.

There are some who will try to blame whats wrong with the Party on our extensive and often specific Party Platform. "Too divisive." "Not big tent
enough," some will say. Rubbish! The NH Republican Party has a Platform worth emulating across America. Its an absolutely wonderful exposition of principle and purpose. Read the other party's platform drivel. Be proud of standing for something.

I must also tell you that I have no sympathy for the loss of Republican candidates who tried hard to suck up to Lynch to keep him from actively
campaigning against them. In particular I think about the long serving and now defeated Governor's Council candidate who had Lynch's name on his political signage throughout his Governor's Council District. There are plenty of others who, though they may not have been paired on campaign signs, went out of their way to abandon our party and our gubernatorial candidate in favor of John Lynch. One of the more satisfying losses I learned about, was that of a Rochester "Republican's for Lynch" House candidate who, had she declared as a Democrat would have retained her House seat. She was handily swamped along with so many other Republican candidates.

This year, filling House seats fell to the Republican Fund, an entity which Hap Hinman and I established eight years or so ago. Currently its two principal drivers are Rep. Dan Itse from Fremont and Rep. Steve Stepanek, from Amherst. I worked with them and others this year to find candidates across NH and I believe we had the best slate of candidates for the House in years. All that effort went down the drain but for 5-10 who were elected, mostly in the strong Republican counties along the NH Border. (By the way, big congrat's to Rusty Bulis, from Littleton).

I don't have a favorite for the post of Party Chair. What I do know though, is that I will not support any candidate who's not for wholesale restructuring of the Party from the ground up. No one within the present party hierarchy deserves the right to any further involvement in our Party
structure without making an absolute commitment to change the focus and direction of party support from being primarily directed at congressional
candidates and at gubernatorial races. We need to focus instead upon building our new base around our local legislators. We need to build future Republican leadership in NH around the state's most active Republicans - those serving in the NH House and Senate. The State Committee voting structure needs to be revisited and the weighted influence which congressional candidates have within the State Committee needs to be abolished.

Also, In this age of Abramoff, I was very surprised recently, to notice at least one lobbyist sitting on the state committee. We simply can't permit any
lobbyist or paid political operative to have a seat on the State Committee or on any county committee for that matter. We cant afford to have the other
side point to the NH Republican Party and assert that we're a party run by special interests. We need a Bylaw change which prohibits any lobbyist
registered here or elsewhere or anyone paid to advance a political candidate or cause to have a seat on the decision making board of the Republican party. Some of the problems which we've had with getting focused on our local and Senate races, likely stem from the ability of paid activists to divert
attention from building our base.

To achieve any change in our bylaws - to refocus effort - whatever those changes might entail (and I haven't been studying this problem in any detail
though others may be), those who may be selected to serve on the Grafton slate for the State Committee need to try to act in unison on behalf of full and complete reform. If we fail to act in unison in favor of a strong reform candidate for chair and an ancillary slate of officers - ones who will also
commit to restructuring through bylaw reform, Grafton Republicans will deserve to be whacked again in the next election cycle and the Republican Party will deserve the continuation of its new minority status.

I'd ask you all to keep an open mind about voting and candidate support at the forthcoming State Committee event in January. No one from Grafton County ought to make a commitment to support any candidate for Party Chair or candidate for any other Party post until they know exactly what sort of plan and program for restructuring they have in mind for the future.

Insanity, as everyone knows, is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result. A good thing to keep in mind when thinking
about policies for the future and the composition of New Hampshire's future Republican hierarchy.

Representative [for two days more] Paul Mirski
PO Box 190
Enfield Center, NH 03749

Posted December 5, 2006

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