Thanks to infighting between traditional Republicans and Tea Party/Ron Paul factions, the concluding session of the Alaska Republican Party convention held in Anchorage today was unable to conduct any party business as they could not muster a quorum. Biggest reason people didn't show up? The outgoing party chairman had been urging delegates to stay away to avoid the Paul/TP supporters taking over. More below the fold.
Randy Ruedrich, current chairman of the Republicans and long-time foe of Sarah Palin, (in this case, the enemy of my enemy is STILL my enemy) had been telling delegates to stay away from the meeting since he was worried that if the new guard showed up in sufficient numbers, changes to party rules, such as his immediate replacement by the newly elected state party chairman and Paul supporter Russ Millette, would ensue. He told a meeting of Fairbanks Republicans, "“I would encourage all of you to make that day useful because I understand that many people are not planning to be there,” Ruedrich said. “I would encourage you to work on things that are family related or go fishing.” His tactics were successful, as he had to gavel today's meeting closed with only 191 delegates in attendance, short of the required 275.
Millette, who'd been elected as the new party chief during the April convention, denied that there were plans in place to overturn the nomination of Romney delegates, along with other changes the old guard Republicans feared. Millette suggested the June meeting in May after Ruedrich gaveled the April meeting to a close before all party business, including voting on a resolution to censure Sen. Lisa Murkowski and other tasks could be completed. Now that the convention is over, Millette is in the interesting position of not being able to lead at all until after the 2012 elections. Is there such an animal as a pre-lame duck?
Since they were unable to replace Ruedrich immediately, he will stay on as party chair until February 2013. Ruedrich, who declined to run to keep his position during the April meeting, upset Tea Party/Paul supporters when he moved $100K from the party's coffers to a Juneau group of Republicans to avoid the funds being used for pre-primary campaigns and endorsements.
The TP/Paul supporters decided to meet in another location and have an advisory vote on party rules changes and other matters, though how much weight this vote will carry is unclear.
More information here:
The Alaska Dispatch
The Anchorage Daily News