Broward Republicans voted not to hold a straw poll on the U.S. Senate race until after the party hears from Gov. Charlie Crist and his opponent former house speaker Marco Rubio.
GOP chairman Chip LaMarca said he wants the candidates to come in September and October which means the earliest a straw poll vote could occur would be November.
It appeared to be a small number of activists pushing for a straw poll -- and they were drowned out by those who advocated against it, saying it would be divisive. Patrick Castronovo, who pushed for the straw poll, accused LaMarca of ''being in bed with Crist.''
But other activists said that they should focus on what unites them -- ousting Democrats and fighting President Barack Obama's healthcare reform -- rather than fighting about Republican candidates. The spat grew feisty with at least a couple of participants videotaping the meeting and some shouting out terse words about the opposite side.
Correction: Very Small number of unimpressive activist.
Posted by: jen | August 24, 2009 at 11:55 PM
For a "small number of unimpressive activists", the Crist people sure pulled out all the stops, bringing ut old capo Ed Pozzuoli, Maureen Jaeger (actually works for the Governor) and a number of "suits" guarding all the approaches to the meeting room.
Posted by: Dom | August 25, 2009 at 08:23 AM
My name is Daniel Ruoss. I am the BREC Committeman for Precinct L010, Immediate Past-President of the Broward YRs, YR National Federation Resolutions Committee Chairman, Candidate for FFYR National Committeeman, Interim Executive Director of BREC during the '06 Crist endorsement and veteran of many campaigns. I am also an ardent Marco Rubio supporter who like many on this page and in the Party is very disappointed in Gov. Crist. That being said let's clear some things up about the BREC meeting last night.
No one is being denied their 1st Amend. rights. Committeeman Castronovo was lacking in his understanding of BREC rules and parliamentary procedure as outlined in Robert's Rules of Order. The straw poll motion was out of order and the ensuing shouting was rude and childish. It brought BREC down to the level of Broward Democratic Party meetings. Also, the shouting and cursing from the back of the room by non-BREC members was shameful. These actions reflected very poorly on my candidate of choice, Mr. Rubio, and did him no favors. Had those in favor of the straw poll been more organized and followed procedure the straw poll most likely would have passed with an ensuing Rubio victory. Instead they proved the strongest point against the straw poll which is that it breeds division, raises tempers and creates unnecessary infighting.
I spoke against the straw poll as someone who was neck deep in the '06 Crist endorsement. It is one of the few decisions in my involvement in politics I wish I could take back. Make no mistake, a straw poll is an endorsement by another name. In '06 the Crist endorsement caused deep divisions and many good Republicans who supported Gallagher felt ostracized. They ceased a lot of their involvement. This hurt us all in '06 and '08. I support Rubio but Broward is my home and will be my home after this 2010 election. I do not want to see what happened in '06 happen again. One of Broward's strong points is that compared to other REC's we are very unified. Unified despite many of us supporting different primary candidates. Agreeing to disagree in a civil manner and keeping our friendships. This straw poll debate can only hurt that. You saw that last night and it will only get worse if this continues.
If at the next meeting a straw poll is decided upon by BREC members in a civil manner in accordance with BREC rules and parliamentary procedure I will certainly abide by it with no sore feelings. But what happened last night was an embarrassment and gives us all a black eye. I ask my fellow Rubio supporters in BREC to keep this in mind. Shouting, cursing and being out of order disgraces our candidate as well as ourselves. Hopefully, before the next meeting tempers will cool down and civility will prevail as we deal with the important issue of a BREC straw poll. Let's please keep in mind that we do best when we focus on fighting the Democrats and not each.
Defeat Meek and let's sink Sink!
Posted by: Daniel Ruoss | August 25, 2009 at 12:00 PM
Are you sure those weren't the GOP Brown Shirts? You REPUBS are too much. Thank you, thank you, thank you and thank you again for making our job in the DEM party that much easier. You righties are so PREDICTABLE!!!
Posted by: GOP Suits! | August 25, 2009 at 12:14 PM
We konw Daniel, we know allready! Are you done kissing Chips ass?!Dont worry...you wont go far in BREC. LOL!!!
Posted by: Lisa | August 27, 2009 at 07:41 PM