What happened in Nashville yesterday?

I received this email from Matt Collins today.
Posted online here

http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog.php?view=12809

What happened in Nashville yesterday?

WOW! Surprised

I'm almost at a loss of words...(again)

The Davidson County (Nashville) Republican Party (DCRP) gathered yesterday to elect their officers for the next 2 year term. Those voting on the officers were delegates that had been selected on Feb 28th at the DCRP Caucus. It is not wise of me at this point to disclose how many delegates I brought with me but I believe there were around 184 delegates selected and about 141 of them showed up yesterday to vote. I was running for the DCRP chair position against Mrs. Kathleen Starnes who is what I would describe as the "establishment candidate".

To start the day off for whatever reason the venue we used was late unlocking the door by about 20 minutes. That combined with the length of the registration queue caused a delay of roughly 30 minutes for the convening of the convention. Due to normal business (approval of the rules, motions for or against processes etc) it was about 10am before the election of the chair got underway. A gentleman who ran for chair but dropped out a few weeks ago had decided to throw his hat back in the ring by way of a floor nomination. The rules did not allow him to speak if he did not give a few days prior notice about his candidacy to the Contest/Credentials Committee. It's exceptionally technical but there was a flap about whether or not the rules should be suspended so that he might be allowed to give a 3 minute speech. The rules we not suspended and he was not allowed to speak. The individual who nominated him was given 1 minute to give a nominating speech. This candidate is what I would call an "anti-establishment candidate".

After his nominating speech I was given 3 minutes to speak and my other opponent, Mrs. Starnes, was given 3 minutes to speak as well. At the conclusion of our speeches ballots were passed around and everyone was asked to write down the 3rd candidate on the ballot so that all 3 candidates would appear on the ballot. After the ballots were collected and counted the results were this:

- establishment candidate = 64 votes
- anti-establishment / last minute candidate = 20 votes
- myself - 57 votes

The anti-establishment candidate at this point was out of the race and then we proceeded with a runoff between the establishment candidate and myself. During this election there were some anomalies in the voting. Allegedly a few ballots were destroyed, and some rules were broken according to several individuals who informed me about this. I did not see any of these actions for myself so I do not want to accuse anyone or speculate on anything. And I don't even necessarily believe that these actions (assuming they occurred) shifted the outcome in anyone's favor or not.

The official tally of the runoff was 69 votes for Mrs. Starnes and 69 votes for myself. That obviously equals 138 which is less than the number of delegates on the floor. It is also worth pointing out that 4 people in the first election who were not delegates voted illegally, their identities of course remain unknown; but this was inconsequential. At this point it was 11:30am and delegates were leaving due to the fact that many had other activities scheduled during the day. Historically the DCRP convention doesn't normally consume 3 hours so people had planned accordingly. Also more important was the reality that we had leased the room only until noon.

After we were informed there was a tie someone from the state party and the current DCRP chair pulled myself and the other candidate aside and explained the situation to us. They essentially begged us to both agree that we should adjourn and reconvene around 30 days. Given the circumstances that it was hot in the room (the A/C wasn't working), we were losing delegates, and we were about to be kicked out of our rented space, we decided to choose this course of action. So the current officers and chair are still seated and will be until we decide upon a date to reconvene and vote in a new chair.

And that's where it ended.

I had many delegates that I did not bring including some sitting Nashville City Councilmen who were supportive of me. Also a very high ranking member of the TNGOP reached out to me today, gave me his card, and said that TNGOP chief of staff Mr. Winslow (who called us "nutjobs") does not speak for the entire Party. Many individuals changed their opinion about me and what I represent during the course of the day apparently. In other words the tide is turning and our ideas and our presence are becoming more accepted and apparently even welcomed in to the Party by more and more individuals!

I believe that if this approach is carried out by other limited-government groups around the country in regards to getting voted in to their local Republican Party we would start to see a change in the GOP and perhaps an entire paradigm shift within as early as 2 years. That time horizon is of course critical to the 2012 election.

History is indeed being made and this time the limited government conservatives are the ones making the "change".

If you are in the Middle Tennessee area please come out to Logan's Roadhouse on Elliston Pl Thursday night (3/12) between 6p-8p to discuss our options, plan our strategy, and delegate tasks to win the vote.

Also see the following articles:

"A Revolution in the Davidson Conuty GOP?"
http://politics.nashvillepost.com/2009/03/06/a-revolution-in...

"Ron Paul Republican makes run for Davidson County GOP Chair"
http://www.examiner.com/x-3875-Nashville-Public-Policy-Exami...

RLC Members Running to be County Chair in Tennessee and Utah
http://www.rlc.org/2009/03/07/guymon-collins/