Why I Will Stand to Nominate Keith Downey for MNGOP Chair

by Walter Hudson – Fightin Words – April 5, 2013

State Central delegates find themselves in a difficult position when it comes to selecting a team to lead the Republican Party of Minnesota. Each candidate for party chair brings worthwhile qualities and ideas to the table. Minneapolis journalist and community activist Don Allen has institutional knowledge from urban constituencies which share Republican values but dependably reject Republican candidates. Long-time party activist Bonn Clayton has offered a notably specific plan for addressing the party’s debt and managing its finances. My friend and accomplished liberty activist Bill Paulsen has demonstrated an even keel and willingness to defy allies on matters of principle. Each man has the potential to stimulate necessary reforms in methodology, messaging, and operation. However, a choice must be made. All things considered, I have come to support former state representative Keith Downey and will stand to nominate him at Saturday’s state central committee meeting.

This choice, to publicly support Keith, puts me at odds with many in the liberty movement of which I count myself among. I expect to be attacked, to have my integrity to principle called into question, and perhaps even to be excommunicated from certain enclaves for supporting “the establishment candidate.” Be that as it may, I derive my support for Keith from my libertarian principles, not in spite of them.

Sooner or later, every party activist must ask themselves why they are such. Why the Republican Party? Career campaign operative Andy Parrish asked that question of liberty activists attending a panel put together by Steve Hensley of the Real Capitol View in January. “Why not start your own party?” he inquired of then MNGOP chair of Congressional District 2 and avowed liberty advocate Mark Westpfahl. “Why not start the Liberty Party?”

A well-considered answer to that question must include the concession that a hypothetical Liberty Party, which represents only the narrowly defined views of a particular ideological faction, cannot patch together a large enough political coalition to win elections. If it could, the Libertarian Party would be a true contender rather than, at best, a perennial spoiler. Conceding that point does not also concede any ideological argument. It merely recognizes political reality, an essential step toward affecting tangible change through a political process. The principle of individual rights remains intact, as does its proper application to public policy. Ideological purity does not win elections through some mystical process of righteous will, and cannot in and of itself affect law. Therefore, the ultimate answer to Parrish’s question is that the Republican Party and its capacity for broad coalition presents the best hope of enacting libertarian principles into law.

Given this reality, the question for liberty activists who are also delegates to Saturday’s state central meeting is the same faced by all delegates. Which candidate will best manage the Republican Party of Minnesota, best resolve its debt, best build its political coalition, and best ensure its viability going into the critical 2014 election year? That is not an ideological question. It is an operational one. Like a board of directors selecting a CEO, we delegates are tasked with reviewing each candidates’ credentials for the job with an objective eye regarding its requirements and expectations. As stewards of the party, we owe it to those who elected us to make our decision based upon relevant criteria, not ideological preference or pet issues.

I defer to the endorsement of Angie Berger, whose list of reasons for supporting Keith cannot be improved upon by me:

He’s been a candidate

• He knows what it takes to be a candidate and what to look for in recruiting them
• He knows how to run a large and hard fought campaign – his 2012 Senate race was THE most expensive state legislative race in MN state history.
• He knows how to raise money
• He knows what it’s like to be a candidate and then have to govern

He’s been a legislator

• He knows the current issues at the legislature
• He knows the current players in the legislature – DFL and Republican
• He’s in a great position to be an influential force on the House and Senate Republican caucuses

He’s been a businessman – partner in Virchow Krause, consulting government agencies

• He knows how to run the business side of the party
• He knows how to manage people

He’s not afraid of a challenge

• Keith left a very comfortable consulting job to be a full time legislator
• He challenged an 18 year Republican veteran for the endorsement
• He won his House seat twice but chose to move up to State Senate
• Keith could go back to consulting but is instead looking to take leadership of an organization that [is] going through very challenging times.

With all that said, I do not here subordinate my ideological imperatives to a cold analysis of party business. Were Keith a true threat to that which I believe in, an antagonist to the cause of liberty, I could not support him regardless of his resumé. While I disagree with Keith on at least one issue, I am convinced that his positions on policy are derived from his own well-considered principles, and that those principles are largely in sync with my own.

As Republicans, our task heading into 2014 is clear. We cannot continue as we have. We cannot impose upon each other tests of purity which devolve into inquisition and drive away volunteers, donors, and voters. We have to turn our engagement outward, turn our guns from each other and build relationships and constituencies outside our lofty echo chamber. How can we hope to do that, how can we hope to earn trust outside our ranks, if we cannot first foster it within? Keith understands this challenge and has convinced me of his sincere desire to meet it. He has the credibility to appeal to major donors, along with the sincerity and know-how to rally grassroots enthusiasm. He stands committed to providing a welcome mat for all comers willing to work to elect Republican candidates. While each of his opponents share the desire to expand the Republican coalition and attract new supporters, Keith proves uniquely positioned to deliver at this critical moment in Minnesota. For that reason, his qualifications to manage the party which remains the best hope for enacting libertarian principles into law, I shall on Saturday stand to nominate and then cast my vote for Keith Downey.