After several months of discussions between state committee members, county chairs and party activists…the State Committee’s Policy Committee unanimously passed a resolution recommending a closed primary to the full State Committee.
The Committee considered the pros and cons of a caucus, convention and closed primary. Every possible factor was considered and there was a significant amount of input from activists around the state. Committee members representing EVERY congressional district solicited advise from their members.
The Committee also recommended using the 2008 Apportionment method to allocate delegates. That is winner take all by congressional district and proportional for the at-large delegates based on the overall statewide vote. A candidate would have to get a minimum of 15% to qualify for any delegates.
No specific dates were agreed upon. Rather the Committee asked the legislature to consider setting a date between Michigan’s statutory quarterly primary date on February 28th and the first day within the window set by the RNC Rules, March 6th. However, if no date is designated by the legislature then the closed primary would be held on February 28 by default, as current statue states.
There was a consensus to use the same rules as in 2008 with two minor changes, one dealing with challenges and another specifying that the Michigan process be based on a closed primary.
Formal adoption of these rules with any amendments will be passed by the State Committee as a whole on their regularly scheduled meeting set for August 13th.
***MRP Members Received the Following Message 7-12-11***
A Special Message from MIGOP Chairman Bobby Schostak
Dear Republican Friends,
The Policy Committee has made its recommendation to the State Committee regarding the presidential selection process.
The committee made its recommendation as noted below, with representatives from every district, and arrived at its recommendation, because our grassroots let their voices be heard. Our committee members listened to all the options in front of them, including caucuses, conventions, and various forms of primaries, and listened to the reasons for each including all of the pros and cons.
After receiving hundreds of emails, phone calls, and other types of communications, the policy committee has unanimously recommended to the full Michigan Republican State Committee that the Republican Party select the Presidential candidate through a closed primary.
The committee also unanimously recommended that a candidate’s delegates will be apportioned with each congressional district having winner-take-all delegates. Remaining delegates will be apportioned when a candidate gets a minimum statewide percentage, and proportional delegate allocations will be similar to the 2008 process.
As to the date of the primary, 13 members supported, and two members opposed, recommending that the Legislature approve a date between February 28 and March 6, 2012. If for some reason a date is not selected, then the closed primary would automatically be held on February 28.
These recommendations will now go to the full State Committee for its deliberation. I expect that the full committee will make its decision at the August 13 State Committee meeting in Lansing. Ample opportunity will be provided for different opinions at the August meeting. I look forward to the State Committee’s full deliberation, just as the Policy Committee did, for the best path ahead.
I want to thank the members of the Policy Committee for their work; regardless of one’s opinion of the selection process, the committee members deserve our sincere appreciation for their selflessness, dedication, and investment of time. As mentioned, the deliberation went on for weeks; alternatives were extensively debated, including delegate allocation and the date on the calendar. A thoughtful process was concluded this evening, ready for State Committee review and approval.
Significant research methods that other states have used in the past were discussed with an understanding of how things in Michigan work.
In closing, I am proud of the process that was undertaken by the committee. The perspectives of the grassroots were on the table at all times, and the committee’s recommendation reflects an intense focus on selecting what’s best for Michigan, our party, and our country.
Once again, the Michigan Republican Party is driven by the passion of our grassroots volunteers and I encourage your opinions to be share with me at rschostak@migop.org.
Again, allow me to thank you for your continued support of the Michigan Republican Party.
Thanks,
Bobby
***MRP Members Received the Following Message 7-13-11***
A Special Message from MIGOP Policy Committee Chairman Mike Cox
Dear Republican Friend,
Why I voted for the closed primary?
Let me first expose my biases and hidden agenda. I have given money to Mitt Romney. And Thad McCotter. And Michele Bachmann. I gave Romney money because he raised money for me in 2005; I gave Thad money because he is a long time friend; and Michele Bachmann because she presents an important point of view. All this is a long way of saying, I don’t have a candidate. My candidate was Mike Huckabee.
So why support the closed primary? The best way to explain is to look at the other options first. I will cover the caucus plan first but, truth be told, until 2 weeks or so ago, I was between a convention of some sort and a closed primary.
The Caucus Plan
The advocates of the caucus plan claim the caucus is the way to go because 1) it isn’t expensive; 2) provides incentives for every campaign to mobilize supporters; 3) prevents left-wing meddling; 4) saves the taxpayers money; and 5) is fair to every campaign. The Michigan Republican Party has had one prior caucus in 1988. (Actually it was county caucuses to pick delegates to state convention; a full state wide Iowa or Nevada caucus is more complex.) It became nationally famous because then vice-presidential son, George W. Bush, was shown on CNN locked out of a caucus site in Downriver Wayne County where he went to speak for his father, George H.W. Bush, the sitting Vice President who was running to succeed President Reagan. Bush, Jack Kemp, and Pat Robertson were the main contenders for the caucus vote. The election was extremely bitter because of voting irregularities and credential challenges which led to rump caucuses, and a variety of lawsuits that went on for 5 years. More importantly, the division between Bushies and Kempies and Robertson lasted for years.
Then there is the price of the caucus. Iowa claims to make money off the Iowa caucuses – many doubt that is true but if true it is only because of Iowa’s historic first in the Nation status. No big state uses the caucus system because it is too costly and unwieldy. Nevada has a caucus. In 2008, the Republican Party paid $300,000 to the Clark County Board of Education for use of its schools. Clark County is approximately 1/8 of the size of Michigan. Using the same number and the caucus could cost the Michigan Republican Party close to $2.5 million. Even if the cost were half of Nevada, the $1.25 million would blow a huge hole in the State Party’s budget precisely because this is a “federal” election as we are nominating a candidate for federal office. As a result, the State Party could not use corporate money; it would have to use money raised from individuals. Well, perhaps, we could get some wealthy individuals to just foot the bill? Nope. Individuals’ donations to party organizations are capped at $10,000 per individual under federal law. Even more importantly, every dollar the State Party spends on caucuses is one less dollar it can spend on beating Debbie Stabenow and Barack Obama – up to $2.5 million less dollars!
How about voting? Generally caucuses operate by people gathering in a room, all supporters of one candidate gather together, undecideds are off to the side, and then are courted by the various groups. The voting and supporters’ speeches continue until one candidate gets more than 51% of the vote. Above I talked about the cost; let’s talk about the actual voting. The voting is not by secret ballot. Rather you must publicly state your candidate. No privacy of the voting booth. Maybe you don’t care about that. Well, do you want to keep voting over and over until some candidate’s supporters get tired of voting? It can last hours. Is that process fair to the sick or elderly?
How about who gets to vote? One of the checks against the Left is supposedly the precinct leaders’ ability to screen out Democrats. This presumes you know who is a Republican on your street, the next street, and 7 blocks over from you. If you are the precinct leader and someone who is a qualified voter in your precinct tells you that they want to vote, will you tell them “no, I am not sure that you are a Republican…”? It is a process that can lead to fights over credentials. Is it a surprise the 1988 caucus led to multiple lawsuits? If I challenge a Republican who lives 3 blocks from me because I am not sure he is really a Republican and he cannot vote in the caucus, can I expect that Republican “to go away happy”? How eager is that challenged Republican going to be to help Republican candidates? And what about those serving in the military? My nephew is in Afghanistan with the Marines, shouldn’t he, at least, get a chance to vote absentee?
In 2008, Barack Obama brought millions of new Democrats into the Democrat Party. If a Michele Bachmann or Rick Perry or Herman Cain – or Mitt Romney or Thad McCotter – catches fire on the way to the Michigan nomination process next year, do we want to turn them away because the elected precinct delegate doesn’t recognize them? At the same time, in the hundreds of precincts that do not have an elected Republican precinct delegate, do we want some Democrat to come in and create a false caucus? How do we provide ballot security in these types of situations?
The Convention Plan
I have to admit, I am partial to conventions. I was nominated at a convention in 2002. I would not have been able to beat my Republican opponent, the then Senate Majority Leader, in a primary. As I stated above, I was wavering between a convention and closed primary until just a week or 10 days ago. At the end of the day, a vote of 2,000 convention delegates is too small and too exclusive. Why? One, it freezes out those who have recently engaged with our Party, the Tea Partiers and others who helped carry our Party to victory in 2010. Two, it freezes out any other new would-be Republicans who get excited about any of the Republican presidential candidates. Let’s say, Herman Cain or Rick Perry is rip-roaring at the end of this year. The “new” Republican wants to vote for or help Cain win in Michigan, what can he do? If he is not already a precinct delegate, the Cain supporter cannot do anything – make calls, write letters, Facebook, etc – not even vote for Cain.
A state convention may also lead to some of the same potential bitterness of a caucus. Some 7,000 precinct delegates would meet to pick the 2,000 or so state convention voters at county conventions. Attorney General and Secretary of State races can be very competitive, but is it not possible – maybe even probable – that county conventions to pick the next President will be very contentious? If so, how will that impact races for state representative next year? Don’t get me wrong, I like some political brawling like we had with the Smietanka-Romney floor fight in 1998, but we have to be smart. We are at an all-time high in the House; with redistricting and the natural fall off after winning such a huge majority, the amount of competitive House races is going to be very challenging. Each state representative will need a strong, “non-bitter” team behind him or her to win next November.
The potential for bitterness could be reduced by holding county conventions where each precinct delegate votes for the nominee. All precinct delegates could show up at a county or district election, vote, and then leave. There would be no fights, only votes. But, again, the whole Michigan electorate would be 7,100 precinct delegates. The amount of candidate appearances in Michigan would be minimal and only geared to the precinct delegates. No television or radio advertisements to gin up excitement, no free media coverage of our rallies, and no very public debate of what kind of president our state and our Nation need. Less exposure, less enthusiasm, less voter interaction, and less opportunity to continue to grow our Party.
So why the Closed Primary?
1. For the past 100 years, primaries have been considered the anti-political boss method of nomination. Primaries were born for the same reason that the direct election of Senators came into being – to give the little guy a voice. Instead of smoke-filled rooms and party bosses picking the anointed presidential nominee at a caucus or convention, primaries allowed grass-root voters to bypass the bosses. In 1916, the Michigan Republican Party conducted its first presidential primary. A new politician by the name of Henry Ford won the primary.
2. Some have told me they worry about what Mark Brewer is going to say. Huh? What can he say, he is afraid of his fellow Democrats – after all they have chosen George Wallace and Jesse Jackson in their primaries. (By the way, you can go on You Tube and watch Mr. Brewer on 12/13/2007 urge Democrats to vote in the 2008 Democrat primary – i.e., he thought a closed primary for Democrats to support a Democrat to succeed President Bush was a good idea.) And that is why only two people’s votes count on the Democrat side; Mark Brewer and Bob King, the UAW head, who tell everyone who to vote for. Both parties have been using the primary in Michigan for 90 years – it is the American way. Let’s not be afraid of democracy like the Democrats.
3. In 2008, almost 900,000 people voted in the Republican primary. If the same turnout occurs in 2012, then our Party and the House Republicans will have the names of 900,000 harder core Republican voters. The list of those voters will help every local Republican running for township trustee, county commissioner, state representative, all the way up to Senator and President identify voters and potential donors.
4. What about Democrat crossover? In the 2008 closed primary – voters had to declare their party designation by selecting a Republican or Democrat ballot – the “regular” Republicans won. Even though Obama was not on the Democrat ballot there is no evidence of Democrat cross over. Look at the 2008 results: Romney was first; McCain was second; Huckabee was third; Ron Paul was fourth; Fred Thompson was fifth; Rudy Giuliani was sixth; and so on. Where was the Democrat plant? Who did the cross overs vote for? In fact, despite no advertising, Democrat voters who heard about some primary election did show up and vote – in the Democrat primary. Hillary Clinton received 300,000 votes while undecided received some 200,000 votes.
5. As the first big Northern swing state, we have the opportunity to attract all the top tier candidates to our state and primary. They will have to talk about our issues. We have the opportunity to start party building and voter outreach in the early spring – to provide the trial run and foundation for November. In the 2008 presidential primary process, many local Republicans and the legislative caucuses benefited from fundraisers where presidential candidates appeared as the special guest. Many activists met these candidates at our 2007 Mackinac Conference, watched them in the Dearborn Presidential debate, and were able to meet and greet Presidential candidate at frequent events. Michigan was able to have a voice that was heard across the nation.
I am supporting the closed primary process. It is not perfect, but it is the most sensible process and it has my support.
Take care,
Mike Cox
