Via Politics in Minnesota, we find this questioning headline in the Rochester Post Bulletin: Olmsted County Republicans asleep at the switch?
Here's the lead:
During her years in the Legislature, former state Sen. Nancy Brataas never had a reputation for biting her tongue when she had something to say.
Now Rochester's political grand dame is raising her voice anew, warning of the growing influence of what she calls "right-wing" extremists in the area Republican Party.
Yet other GOP leaders see the issue differently. They say the party is simply being rejuvenated by the introduction of new blood and new ideas.
At issue is the growing political muscle of area supporters for GOP Texas congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul. The tension between those views reached a flashpoint last weekend when Republicans endorsed Jacob Dettinger, a local businessman and Paul supporter, for House District 30A. The seat is now held by DFL Rep. Tina Liebling.
Brataas calls what happened at Saturday's endorsing convention an "absolute travesty." Out of 50 delegates eligible to be seated, only 19 attended, she said. Dettinger eventually won the party's endorsement to represent a district of more than 32,000 people with 11 votes.
Read the whole article. There's also an interesting companion article, War of words, philosophies at root of GOP rift, in which we find an explanation for the low turnout at the endorsing convention. It sounds like there aren't enough Republicans activists to go around in Rochester:
. . .Yet, area Republican leaders say there is a simple explanation for why the convention was so poorly attended. The race for the endorsement was uncontested. There is less motivation to attend a convention when the outcome is preordained.
Duane Quam, chairman of the GOP First Congressional District, says there also were competing political activities going on at the same time. Statewide campaign activities for GOP Sen. Norm Coleman's reelection were scheduled for the same time. So with the conventions for Dettinger and Johnson considered noncompetitive, supporters of the candidates were instructed to participate in the Coleman activities rather than attend the convention, Quam said. . . .
Some more tidbits from the second article:
. . .since receiving the GOP endorsement for House District 30A, Dettinger has found his views on the receiving end of critical remarks by former state Sen. Nancy Brataas.
Brataas, the state's first elected woman senator who served from 1975 to 1992 and who identified with the party's moderate wing, emphasized that her criticisms should not be viewed as personal attacks. But she believes Dettinger and other supporters of U.S. Rep. Ron Paul are filling a political vacuum created by the fact that area Republicans aren't paying attention. . . .
. . .Dettinger, owner of two Erbert and Gerbert's restaurants in Rochester, is one of two House Republican candidates from the area who support GOP Rep. Ron Paul for president. The other is Jason Johnson, a technology contractor who is running for House District 29B, a seat held by DFL Rep. Kim Norton.
There's been blogosphere chatter about the Ron Paul issue in the Sixth's GOP, but no mention of the complications it's causing in the First.
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