Lawrence Stone, the spokesman for the GOP coup attempt against GOP Chairman Vinny Reda’s party machine, says the Republican insurgency has signed up over 60 new potential committeemen. He also said he’s heard from dozens of existing committeemen and he believes over 100 are on the anti-Reda side.
The anti-Reda efforts have sprung forth from a loose-knit organization that calls itself the “Rockland Republican Academy,” a descendent of the “Republican Rebel Academy”ย started by political candidate Anthony Mele in 2011. (Full disclosure- Mele has been a part-time columnist for the Rockland County Times since losing to Eliot Engel in his run for Congress in 2010.)
Stone, a longtime conservative independent who only registered as a Republican in the past two years, said he wants to bring as many people into the GOP as possible during this busy presidential election season. He accused the party of being driven into “irrelevance” by Reda and accused Reda again of making “backroom deals,” that preserved his own influence instead of focusing on growing the party’s political voice.
Reda and his supporters have countered that the insurgency is just a cover for Anthony Mele, who they believe wants to be chairman, and who they have said has an axe to grind for failing to secure the party machine’s support during his 2010 run for Congress.
Reda and his loyalists have even secured the assistance of Anthony Mele’s former campaign organizer Lynn Teger, who recently penned a rambling letter to GOP committeemen, accusing Mele of being a power hungry fraud.
There is concern in Stone and Mele’s camp that Reda may use parliamentary maneuvers to minimize the influence of the new committemen or remove some altogether. The laws regarding internal party politics are very complicated.
Stone said, “The only reason they are going to fight us is to hang on to their power.”
Spokesman: GOP Insurgents Have Signed Over 60 New Committeemen and Another 100 Sitting Members on Their Side added by dskriloff on
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Thank you Committeemen if you can replace the sitting chairman. I have no problem with a Democrat, per se, having the endorsement of the Republican Party. It would depend on the individual’s character and record. I would, however, have a problem with either a Democrat or Republican being endorsed as a result of back-room deals and cronyism instead of the individual’s character and record.
I also have a problem with a Rockland Party Chairman (no less 1st Vice Chair in the state) who would put a 12-term United States Congressman and bona-fide Republican presidential candidate at a disadvantage via a robo-call stating a falsehood, prior to New York’s primary.
Contrary to Mr. Reda’s message, Mitt Romney was not the only candidate still in the race. Ron Paul was also in the race – and amazingly still is despite a media blackout of his campaign throughout this election season (http://i.imgur.com/UvJTT.jpg) and disingenuousness on the part of Republican committees across the country, not just here in Rockland. This regarded both primaries and state conventions, enough so that a group of disenfranchised delegates filed a class action suit in federal court (pending) against dozens of state parties and their chairmen, including New York’s own. (http://electionfraudremedy.com/07-10-2012_FIRST_AMENDED_COMPLAINT.pdf)
But no, thank you, Committeemen, if you cannot find a replacement for the current chairman who could be counted on to operate with greater integrity than already exists.
I registered Republican when I was 18 because my parents were Republicans. It didn’t matter to me. I’m a loyal friend, not a loyal party person. I voted for George Bush, his first term, then Ralph Nader. Last time I voted for someone whose name I’d never heard of rather than vote for either of the two establishment candidates – both in favor of (or who turned out to be, regardless) big federal government/power, decreased personal liberties, bank/corporate bail-outs, increased national debt, and pro-war, to boot.
If both parties hope to remain viable, there needs to be fresh leadership across the board. I’m among a whole host of people among the 99% more interested to see this country and its people thrive than see entrenched party leadership thrive.