Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / June 27, 1985, edition 1 / Page 28
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Party Participation: Return Of The Smoke Filled Room? When I consider attend ing borne state’s Republi can Conventions I find my self imagining an event wrought with factions cut ting deals to get the ne cessary votes to push teir philosophies or a good old fashtoned floor fight. Yet, f usually find these conven tions to be merely home-, comings for a handful of " party faithfuls, T've. re-1! centiy asked myself, “Does this stodgy manner allow Republicans to quietly ease very important issues Through (hew conventions? During the 1965 Dela ware State Republican j.Convention I realized that I**1 had been erroneously using $he stereotyped hubbub imagery of Democratic .Party Conventions as a norm for conservative Re ; publican Party excitement. I was shocked to realize that the Republicans were making paradigmatic poli cy shifts that were going v unreported. As I listened—the Various resolutions read for convention approval I heard one that hinted at the return of the smoke-rilled rooms to Delaware politics. This resolution called for a -candidate to have 30 per cent of the State Conven tion delegates’ support be » fore he could force a pri mary for statewide office. This resolution passed by a unanimous vote since all resolutions were voted on in one bundle. I could not believe this smoke-filled room resolu tion had passed without anyone questioning its in tent. Querying both black and white delegates on why they felt this particular resolution was needed, I experienced difficulty get ting many delegates to talk. Many peoqfe moved away quickly when I chal lenged their support of a return to smoke-filled room politics. However, Mr. Frank Di Mondi, the newly : elected state chairman, of fered a rationale. Di Mondi feels that the * party faithful needs to have Morehead Medical Center Licensed OB-GYN Specialist < i ;'-'rv r fl Worried About Being Pregnant ? We Care • Free Pregnancy Testing Daily (no appointment necessary) • Abortion W**: • Birth Control • Sexuality Counseling 3344132 AU Calls Strictly I Wl Pu irtPriYt Mon.-Frl. M; gat, h J some input on candidate selections so they will coot -thme to work liard-in the party structure. “Some of the Republicans want to see the nominating process moved back to their de cision making and having more input into it..” says DiMondi. He admitted that this re solution was a throw bdck; to the days when one ga^-i nered so many votes that they could ran in the pri-.. manes. When challenged to clarify his comments Di:" MoncB said, “...it’s a fact* that after the open pri maries came about there were problems in keeping interest up in the various parties. Why should a per son participate in the con vention process and not really have a meaningful voice?....I'm sure they’T.' feel that this is back to basic politics to try to generate interest and keep people interested....’!. Di Mondi summed up his feelings by saying that party workers’ input on the candidates should he in direct proportion to their efforts. Priscilla Rakestraw, a member of the National Republican Committee, echoed Di Mondi’s conten tion. She commented, * am supporting the ; tion to enable people are most informed i party matters - about party candidates - to give them more responsibility in Se lecting the best qualified candidates.” I wanted to know if the Delaware actions were part of a budding National Republican trend so I asked Portia Scott, a mem bei—of the Georgia-State— Republican Committee, to comment on the Delaware --primary resolution. -She felt very strongly that the process should remain open. Ms. Scott says, “Elections ought to be free for any qualified candidate or individual who wants to run.” She felt candidates should have the endorse ment and support of the party leadership but that this should not be a ne cessary condition for a per son to run in a primary. .'Abother major shift in Republican philosophy oc curred when Di Mondi made his acceptance —speech. He extended a legi iiiiiaic wciLUiuc vu mi black community to ioin convention to convince me the Delaware Republican os '''Intentions publicly
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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June 27, 1985, edition 1
28
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