GOP: Alex Primer 101

Now that the free world can catch it's breath with the factional intramural over (at least for a day) on the Summit County GOP front here's some observations and thoughts coming out of Alex's victories and one small step turning into a giant leap for the opposition.

First, it was pretty clear from the start that despite the appearance of chaos with a full house squeezing into tight Tangier quarters the A-team had a plan and strategy, and it included making the New Summit Republicans eat some of their own strategy. Tops: you wanted a secret ballot, you'll live with it. With party cameras rolling to keep everything on-the-record -- a nice lesson learned from the impact of Jennifer Brunner's deposition -- Alex Arshinkoff cloaked himself in the Mr. Fairness mantra, telling his own supporters they had to sit in place and not escape to the bathroom as each vote was called out one-by-one, all 365 counted. That set the tone on just how long it would take this game to play out by the NSR's wishes and most in the crowd clearly wanted to get going, especially after seeing the Arshinkoff forces work up a dominating more than 2-to-1 vote margin. Voting by raised hands was a no-brainer after that.

I don't think the threat of "intimidation" voiced by the NSR's had a thing to do with it; it had everything to do with individual convenience and comfort, a basic consideration in event planning and something clearly taken into account by Arshinkoff. He could easily afford to overrule his own vocal supporters when they booed or tried to silence NSR's Kevin Coughlin, imploring them to let Kevin be heard. It's easy to be magnanimous when you hold the cards, and the first vote was a clear sign Alex was ready to clear the table.

There's been plenty of confusion on just what post does what: a colleague called this morning trying to figure it out as well, asking who won to be the party boss? The answer in politics, as in the military, is never that simple. The strategy of securing the overall Central Committee chair position was brilliant and clearly set the NSR's on their heels. They could only watch as Arshinkoff extended every possible courtesy to make sure there were few grounds to grumble they'd been run over by the A-train. Carol Klinger, prepared to campaign, found herself a warrior without battlefield when the decision was Arshinkoff versus Varian. Even some of the more vocal Alex critics think the GOP was skunked by Brunner's decision to insert herself in local GOP politics and it isn't much of a leap to see Democrat meddling underneath the rocks. Local republicans may be paranoid...but that doesn't mean Wayne Jones isn't out to get them.

What makes this struggle fascinating is just how political skill and maneuvering, despite the overreaching and some nasty tactics, played a role in Arshinkoff's victory. It was clearly his crowd last night, showing the NSR's have more work ahead in building their parallel organization. For all the talk of party building, the best strategy for NSR is to make sure they put a majority of their own butts in those Central Committee seats so they don't even need to sabre-rattle over rules. Arshinkoff knew how to run his meeting: his lieutenants Jack Morrison and Jim Laria had their orders and troops ready to go and it didn't hurt that the "surprise" move to run for Central Committee chair meant the fight over who would chair the Executive Committee didn't mean a thing. It took away the standard from the NSR's standard-bearer, leaving them with a front man tainted by the stench of the Board of Election's musical chairs whether he deserved the criticism or not.

It's important to note there are TWO chair positions in most party structures: the Central Committee boss usually runs the annual meeting, presides over the annual dinners and can serve as a figurehead. The Executive Committee is where the heavy lifting comes in providing people, vote support, organization and money and those folks don't even have to be members of the Central Committee. The EC has it's own chair and while that position usually serves to run the day-to-day, Ohio law pretty much allows local political parties to set their own guidelines and structure as long as they don't go overboard and start trampling over the rest of the Ohio Revised Code. It's why Brunner's actions seem so heavy-handed; government has a long tradition of being formed by politics but for the most part staying out of how political parties want to do their business. It's the ultimate expression of Capitalism: let the parties (business) do their thing and let the voter (buyer) sort it all out when it's time to buy

Important to note: Arshinkoff was ready with strategy supporting his rules, including plans to revise the rules; he had his slate of officers up-front and clearly expressed and listening to his slate for Executive Committee, which includes Klinger and other critics, shows he knows the wisdom of the old adage about keeping your friends close but keep your enemies closer. Working with the NSR quiets the storm and helps refocus the party message on candidates. His message of putting the rancor behind everyone and work toward November positions him as a uniter, taking away a top issue his critics use against him. When he says he wants resources used to help candidates instead of in-fighting it has resonance with rank-and-file Republicans who would like to see more wins and less sibling squabbling.

There were bright spots for the NSR effort: 115 voters show there's a chink in the armour and serves to keep the King aware he's being watched. It establishes a credibility baseline for the next challenge in two years, which should be enough time to do what they tried to accomplish in six months: truly build the grass roots support to the level where they can win and not just serve as the opposition.

The question leading into November is whether they will be loyal opposition; given the historic nature of the race at the top of the ticket and two solid candidates in Laria and Pry facing off for the County's top executive position makes sitting on the sidelines unpalatable but the GOP does have a record of preferring to be right than win (see: Goldwater in 1964) but even those occasions helped lay the groundwork for revolutions to come (see: Reagan in 1980, Bush in 2000) when managed correctly. 115 is a number that shows a good start; 260 shows the Old Guard is paying attention.

The GOP's Short Game

As of this writing just about 48 hours to go until the Alex-Carol-Kevin Show hits the stage at Tangier, with up to 470-plus invited to witness either the start of the new era Summit Republican Party or stay-the-course politics under the elephant's trunk.

There's plenty of angst in this family feud, not the least of which has been among the men and women who actually make up the Central Committee, a name that sounds more like a throwback to Vladimir and Josef's time than political organizing in America in 2008. The comrades are not exactly thrilled with the prospect of being put on the spot by either group.

I think the Klinger-Coughlin brigade hit a wall last week when the fight became more about the rules of engagement than the prospect of romance; the sniping back and forth over which group's rules were more fair than the other still hurts my eyeballs just thinking and reading over the rules. Sure they're important, but in the long run the folks who control the party get to set the agenda and for Wednesday night's roast on West Market that would be the Arshinkoff wing.

For his part the incumbent chairman assures me votes will be conducted by secret ballot so long as the majority wants them cast and counted in secret. A 60% vote by the body as a whole will allow voice-voting and that might be a key to consider in figuring out just how long this all might take. My guess is despite talk of how committed people are to their party the possibility of imposing long waits on older bladders might play more of a part in whether balloting stays secret than either side cares to admit. Arshinkoff also says the media is welcome (we'll have a table off to the side to watch the proceedings) as witness to this slice of local political history.

The New Republicans want a head-to-head vote but that's not likely to happen; county committees have lots of leeway on how they run their own show and here the Central Committee chooses the Executive Committee which then picks the Chairman. So for the upstarts to upstage the Old Guard they need to replace the Old Guard, a formidable task since it isn't mano-a-womano but a more complicated process. Not only would the Central's have to vote against their long-term chairman's interests but now they're being asked to vote no on people they've supported in the past on the Executive Committee...a personal vote.

Is all of this bad for Summit County's GOP?

Nope.

Think of this as the natural way of things. Someone has to challenge the old bull elephant for dominance over the herd, and this is the challenge. For the most part despite the hard feelings each side seems to feel for the other most of this debate has been largely issue-focused, and that's a credit to both sides for not pursuing the case through the mud (even though both will point to this-or-that as proof the other side tossed dirt) but talking about strength of organization and ability to fund raise in the modern campaign cycle.

It's a good sign when democracy occasionally raises it's unruly little head in Summit County's political world. It was good for City Hall to have a scare, however brief, from Joe Finley because that's the kind of voice people in power understand...it helps them regain their focus on why they wanted the job in the first place. It is good for young voices to join the chorus of the Akron School Board because having a fresh perspective keeps an organization vibrant and in touch with stakeholders.

It's good for Arshinkoff to face a challenge from Coughlin/Klinger because it shows the GOP is diverse, and diversity helps build a stronger base to grow from despite the pains of transitioning from one to the other. No matter who wins the battle Wednesday night (if indeed there is a clear winner to be found) the ongoing fight for the soul of a political party is worth the effort.

Getting back to the point of gulag politics noted above: Akron and Summit County are largely run by men who've been there for awhile. In and of itself that isn't necessarily a bad thing, just as long as those on the outside still have faith the system can work for them just as it does for folks in charge.

Klinger v Arshinoff: Mano et Mano

The die may be cast with plenty of debate ahead in the hallways of Cuyahoga Falls City Hall as Carol Klinger, at-large GOP member of City Council will face-off as the standard bearer for the New Summit Republicans in their bid to depose Alex Arshinkoff as chairman of the county party.

The primary election March 4th only set the table for more moves by both sides; Arshinkoff says he picked up the majority of contested seats among the 470-or so Central Committee members but the group backed by State Senator Kevin Coughlin claims a secret ballot will show their support runs much deeper so long as voter choices won't be public knowledge.

In the middle of all this: Cuyahoga Falls, ground zero for Summit County's GOP. It's not Hudson, Bath Township, Twinsburg or Green that play big (although new Board of Elections member Don Varian is from Bath). The Falls is where the heavy lifting comes to play, complete with Arshinkoff loyalist Mayor Don Robart now in the position of working against one of his own City Council allies in Klinger. Add Coughlin as a Falls resident to the mix and you really get a sense of how this battle is more like a siblings war then a simple neighborhood brawl.

Still waiting to hear on when the local party moves beyond the certifications from the Board of Elections and sets a date for the full Central Committee to meet and vote.