When PseudoRepublicans Attack

I got an email from a reader, friend and fellow SD35 grass roots activist. It was a copy of an email that she had gotten from former Representative and current candidate Tom Rees. She sent it to me because she knew about the past issues that I had documented about Mr. Rees and his personal vendetta against current HD35B Representative (and staunch conservative) Mark Buesgens. This email is a continuation of an attack on the local BPOU that he started two years ago when he first unsuccessfully ran agaist Rep. Buesgens.

Dear Scott County Republican:
The Republican State Convention is now history. I trust that you were able to share some Good time (sic) with people of similar political beliefs. Our partys governance principles remain the Best hope for your grandkids and mine.
There was a time not too long ago when Scott County was a hostile place for

Republicans. As the first Scott County legislator elected with a party labelI know how it was. For example, in Shakopee when I was door knocking a person of different political persuasion Grabbed a baseball bat and chased me nearly a city block screaming to “Get out of town!” I was cursed and spat upon several times by Savage residents when I identified myself with the Republican Party. It was a different time and place.
Now we are facing another low point for our party on the national level. I believe we

Have had local electoral success for several reasons: (1) A superior Get Out the Vote (GOTV) Effort that overcomes a numbers deficiency by generating a larger turnout of those people that Tend to vote Republican; (2) A rather philosophical DFL local party many that I know personally That simply are not the “get your hands dirty” type of political worker(3) Candidates that for the Most part adhered to the Republican Party of Minnesota Party Platformand (4) A small group of

Hard working advocates.
However I submit that the local party leadership has squandered organizational opportunities. First the notion that the formal Party leadership should include elected officials who are endorsed by the organization. The result is inevitably loyalty to the official/candidate rather than the Party philosophy when the local Party organization becomes the campaign structure for the candidate that the narrowed involvement ultimately hurts the effort by shutting out those individuals that may have talents that would serve the Party and the public more effectively.
Second opportunity is the “Search Committee” function of the BPOU. This activity is the way party loyalty is built and future success! I don't mean the sop to precinct requests to at least have a Search Committee meeting scheduled less than two hours before the endorsement but to Show that the incumbents own the party. Each time I received a party endorsement it was the party members given the opportunity to get to know the candidates that chose me to represent the

party principles even though I may not agree with every item on the platform, I was the Best to bring the Party message to the constituency. The local Party’s Constitution identifies the Candidate Search function as one that should be assigned to one or more of the Executive Committee members. Howeverfor at least since the redistricting this important function has been Ignored.
Thank you for your consideration.

A little history on Tom Rees. Two years ago, claiming that Rep. Buesgens was not representing the HD35B, Mr. Rees went to the SD35 DEMOCRATS (so much for his loyalty to the Party philosophy) for endorsement. He never approached "his" party for endorsement - choosing instead to challenge Buesgens in a primary race. During the primary race, rather than running on issues, he made Rep. Buesgens the issue. He played the politics of fear and personal destruction - quite poorly I might add.

I can't argue with the first two paragraphs. There was a time when being a Republican in Scott County was akin to being a Republican in Ramsey County (note to Mitch - it CAN be done). However, it is the final two paragraphs that I simply must take issue with. First is the claim that the local BPOU has "squandered" organization opportunities. Given that in the 6 years I was involved in the local BPOU I only saw Mr. Rees at one convention or BPOU planning event, I am hard pressed to figure out how he even KNOWS what organizational opportunities he is talking about. In the 6 years I was involved in the BPOU, they have completely computerized their lists and developed many opportunities for the activists to get involved and get together. These opportunities were set up after input from the grass roots - input that was solicited FROM grass roots members including Mr. Rees - who chose not to reply to requests for input.

My second and third issues come in the final paragraph. First is the Search Committee function. The Candidate Search committee is a standing committee within the SD35 organization and is run solely on volunteer efforts. During the ONE AND ONLY convention that I saw Mr. Rees at (in my 6 years in the BPOU) he had the opportunity to sign up for that standing committee and again - he refused to get involved. How can you criticize a process that you know nothing about and that you have never been involved in? If he was involved in the process he also might understand the difference between an "ex officio" member of an organization and a voting member of the organization - something that activists have been trying to explain to him for the last 4 months (since the convention).

My last disagreement with him has to do with his accusation that delegates are not given adequate time to get to know people who are running for office. The candidates who are successful in running for office actually come to conventions and caucuses when they are not running - again something Mr. Rees has been reticent to do. County Commissioner Barbara Marschall is an excellent example of how to do it. Every year she is at caucus - talking to attendees and party officials alike. She comes to conventions - not as a delegate, but as a candidate whether she is running for election or not. Same thing with Rep. Mike Beard. He is always making the rounds of the caucuses, conventions and community events. People in his district know him, not because he is their elected representative in St. Paul but because he is active in the BPOU and the community - unlike Mr. Rees who does not even show up for BPOU conventions.

As I said in my post yesterday, Mr. Rees was invited to speak to the Nominations Committee of the last BPOU convention so that he would be allowed the opportunity to speak to the convention. He chose to respond to that invitation by storming out of the convention hall because the Nominations Committee would not allow him to interrogate Rep. Buesgens. These are not the actions of a serious candidate for public office. They are the actions of a gadfly - someone whose only interest is to tear down a good man and tear apart the Republican Party he claims to care about.