MNGOP - How's the Whither?

The Minnesota GOP has elected its new leadership -- Tony Sutton is now the state party chairman, Michael Brodkorb is the new vice chairman and David Sturrock is the new secretary/treasurer. There's a good roundup over at Freedom Dogs.

I didn't have a lot to say about the campaign because I'm hardly a party insider, but I do have a few thoughts I'd like to share.

It's been a bad few years for the GOP in Minnesota. The electoral winds have been pretty bad nationally and it wasn't realistic to expect great performances in either 2006 or 2008, but the erosion of support has been pretty alarming and, to be honest, the level of support we've seen at the local level has been surprising. I live in District 50B, a district that has historically been a swing district, yet in the last two cycles it's gone very badly for the GOP here. The DFL representative here, Kate Knuth, is a very bright individual, but she's a down the line liberal with enormous gaps in her understanding of the way the world works. Yet she has had a formidable campaign in both cycles, in large measure staffed and funded from sources outside the district. The GOP candidate, Lori Grivna, was certainly better qualified than her opponent, but never really got very close to winning in either election. And the level of support she received from the state party apparatus wasn't especially impressive.

There's one exception to this: we saw a lot of help from one individual in the state party leadership; the former vice chairman, Dorothy Fleming. Dorothy has been one of the most tireless workers for the party that I know of and she served a valuable role within the party, because she was highly attuned to the concerns of the rank and file within the various BPOUs. I don't know Dorothy well but have spoken with her at a number of events and she was more interested in understanding than instructing the rank and file.

As it happens, Dorothy lost her bid for re-election to Michael Brodkorb, who is a very smart fellow and a very talented political operative. He's also been one of the most effective bloggers in Minnesota, running Minnesota Democrats Exposed for the past few years. I don't doubt that he will be a valuable asset to the state party as a thinker, tactician and organizer. But I really suspect that the party will miss the contributions that Dorothy Fleming has made more than people might realize. I've long believed that professionalism is a double-edged sword in politics and while Dorothy isn't a knife-edge political operative, she gave the party a human face that has great value.

I really hope that Sutton, Brodkorb and the new leadership team look hard at finding a role for Dorothy Fleming within the party. If they're not sure how to proceed, they might want to consider what Chief at Freedom Dogs suggests. For the party to succeed in the short- and the long-term, we need tacticians and individuals who are skilled at cultivating the grass roots. Chief also suggests that Dave Thompson (who lost to Sutton) could and should have a role in the state GOP going forward. I agree with that as well.