Lessons from a Utah State Republican Party Convention

The first caucus I ever attended (Republican) was when my first child was a year and a half old and I was 24. I spent several hours over the previous 6 months to find out who my precinct leaders were, with no success. I told them I looked on the internet and made phone calls to former caucus chairs and they told me current information was in the phone book. I said, it'd be nice if there were more in my generation here to represent, and some technological upgrades. They said, technology is unreliable... And, indirectly, so are you.

Last year, March 2016, I attended my local caucus in a new city, endured the heat of 70 bodies packed into a High school computer classroom, and volunteered to be a county delegate, secretary, and treasurer, because no one else wanted the job. Surprisingly, no one was overly concerned that I said I was a Centrist that leans Republican. Several said they are too.

As any good delegate, I attended meet and greets, vetted candidates for office, asked questions, and voted at the convention, staying there through to the end of the program.

Two weeks ago, the precinct regional chair calls me and says, A state delegate dropped out and I picked you to fill the seat. I hope you can attend. I said 'most likely' and promised myself that I'll make it happen.

I vetted candidates, tried to call some of them, asked them well thought out questions at the meet and greet, then voted and stayed till the end of the convention. I also studied the resolutions, asked for clarifications and voted for what I felt was right and best for the individual and the collective whole.

However, I was very surprised at what I learned going through the process of voting on candidates and resolutions. And that is, delegates are more of a problem than the party leadership is.

Delegates are the Problem

I saw a plethera of delegates with bad attitudes. They made comments like, "this is ridiculous that this takes all day" and "I'm missing my grandchild's soccer game for this." Someone made a motion to add a resolution, but many people clearly didn't want to be here voting any longer than they had to, so it was not allowed to be presented, based on a 2/3rds vote. This is whining and selfishness. They all volunteered to be a delegate, and at least some of them fought for the position during their local caucus. But no one is making them attend. There is usually only one convention a year, so I'm surprised to hear so many whine about the 3-7 hours per year they actually have to attend something. Meanwhile, all of the candidates they're vetting, have volunteered dozens and hundred of hours to fill a volunteer position, as well as spent their own money to campaign and "show up" at everything. 

And then delegates start arguing about the wording of bylaws... like they'd like all 1200 delegates to sit down and edit the whole thing right then and there. As if even 10% of the delegates have even read through the Republican bylaws. I'm not sure how we're even conducting meetings correctly, assuming we are, since only the Leadership act like they know what's in it. This is probably why the Constitution isn't being followed either. Few people even know what it says. 

Delegates clearly blamed leadership for the poor organization of information being passed down. However, many delegates took little thought as to how they could have found that information or helped the party be more organized. There is always something each individual could have done to improve the disbursement of information. Even most of the new delegates could have done a google search for, "how to be a delegate." And they could read the mail they were sent. 

Republican Leadership is concerned about using technology to be organized like Democrats already are. Leadership is concerned about their member size shrinking, and reaching out to young adults - the millennials. Leadership is also trying to placate the almost political mob of delegates who want the convention to be over as soon as possible. Maybe 1/3rd of the delegates remain when the final speaker finishes. 

But delegates overwhelmingly vote against technology candidates because they distrust technology. Out of 4 vice-chair candidates, the 40-year-old web developer was eliminated first, with a 15% margin. This week, they voted about 70% against medical marijuana, when 3rd party polls throughout Utah vote with 2/3rds majority in favor of it. Delegates overwhelmingly support the caucus system, perhaps because they're part of it. And they send the message to millennials that they're not welcome. Overall, they vote with fear for the future. 

As I was wandering the meet n greet, I was often frustrated as I waited for a chance to ask a relevant question, because there were often delegates trying to pick fights with candidates about their soapbox issue. "How are you going to unite the party?! How are you going to make everyone support Trump?" These delegates would then proceed to tell them what they need to do... most of which wasn't helpful.

These delegates are also the reason that "rhetoric" and "unite the party" and "support the nominee" and "special interest groups" all sound like swear words to me. 

Special Interest Groups

"Special Interest Groups" as an enemy, confuses me. There were a dozen "special interest groups" set up at tables at the morning meet n greet. The Elephant Club, Fairvote.org, Utah patients coalition, Liberta Institute, and Americans for prosperity. I'm sure there were more. But the comment the executive director made into the microphone, about those evil "special interest groups" was about selling National Parks to pay the debt of the United States. 

That was MY idea. I'm not aware of anyone else putting forth the same idea at the same time I did. And it's one I emailed to my states representatives, including Jason Chaffetz. 

But I didn't mean sell all of it, or sell it all to businesses. I meant, sell the less visited areas, the thousands of acres of land that people rarely travel to see. I meant, sell the "best spots" from federal government to state government. Arches should be kept a park. But I still think the Federal Government should sell it to Utah Government. I know that nearly every Utahn would be willing to donate in order for the State of Utah to purchase it. (Then we'd need a law to prevent the Federal Government from usurping it back.) This isn't about getting rid of parks, this is about using a Federal asset to pay off Federal Debt. No one would be suggesting this, if the Federal Government weren't so over their heads on finances. 

Is there a better future?

We live in a land where no one listens to details, everyone rages about suggestions, and media fuels the fire. Citizens have as much debilitating debt in home finances as the federal government has. Few people have the skills to debate an issue without growing angry. For these reasons, I'm just not sure we will ever get anywhere better than where we are.