Last Saturday, the 19th, I went to the 9th District Republican Convention in Mexico, Mo. What I saw there was pretty absurd. People weren’t allowed to speak their opinions on the grounds that they weren’t following parliamentary procedure. It was clear that for those in charge, the purpose of this convention was not to hear party members out.
The following are my notes from the day… like a liveblog, if I had been online at the time. 
10:35 a.m.
As I write this blog post, I’m sitting at the 9th Congressional District Republican Caucus in Mexico, Mo. I recognize a few faces from Boone County and the 9th District Congressional nominees, but mostly the building is full of people from all stations of life.
I have yet to see a person of a minority race.
From what I’ve heard from sources, usually the turnout for these events isn’t always great. However, most counties are missing at most two people. A few are missing four, and one is missing six.
A mother sitting across the table from me keeps worrying about the doors locking behind her kids.
People are talking about turkey season.
Boone County has 18 openings. There go my numbers. Way to go, guys.
11 a.m.
The friction is palpable, and absolutely nothing has happened yet.
A Boone County delegate who was late has raised at least three points of order and motions.
He keeps getting shut down.
12:00
Wow. Jason Parker, a man sitting in the back row reserved for St. Charles delegates, just stood up and got into a shouting match with the chairman. He contended that the entire convention was out of order because the rules state that rules may be voted on individually if a voting member motioned so (he pointed out that the bald guy had done so.)
A man who refused to talk to me asked from the side of the seating area when the correct time would be for Parker to ask his question.
“We just can’t scratch past the surface with some of these people,” The mom sitting across from me is saying…
12:15
Speeches for elector
Elector must be elected by a majority – this might be a long process.
Turns out it’s not terribly long. Thank goodness, this part doesn’t have much controversy. Nadine Thurman is elected.
1:30
The Congressional candidates are giving quick speeches. Every one of them is referencing Ronald Reagan.
1:42
St. Charles County has proposed an amendment that is the only of the submitted amendments that the Platform Committee recommended be brought up for discussion. Unfortunately there’s more dead time while they can’t find the resolution. So, they’re introducing everyone here who holds public office or is running for one.
There were three speakers each for and against the motion, and things got pretty emotional. It seems that the people in favor of the motion feel that there has been irresponsible spending in the war in Iraq, and that the nation is setting itself up for a grotesque failure and defeat. Those who wanted the amendment to be voted down seem to feel like it would be a weak move for the U.S.
Here are a few quotes from the speakers:
Brad Bols –
“There’s one thing that we need to agree on – that is to support our troops. When we send someone on a mission, they need to know that we’re supporting them, and that we give a darn about young people serving our nation.”
Todd Adams –
“Some friends in Iraq – I spent seven months over there running convoys – I saw a lot of wasteful spending going on. A lot of them are wondering why exactly we’re over there still. There’s corruptions in the Iraqi government… they’ve kinda lost “
“Everybody’s in favor of the troops and supports them wholeheartedly. It’s a question of the mission and where it’s going. I just don’t understand and my friends don’t understand why we continue with this without a solid vision of where it’s going. We just hope that we can come to a reasonable ending before we spend so much money and get so deep in the hole that we have a hard time ever getting out.”
Ron Patton
“I’m a veteran, and I’m proud of it. I’m proud of all that you said. We gotta stand behind those guys so they don’t ever wonder who they’ve got standing up behind them. Those guys have to know that.”
Bruce Summers
“When we look back in hindsight we’re going to look back on this. What’s the common analogy? The closest thing … the war on pirates – did we go around the world and invade other countries. We didn’t occupy. When has there ever been a successful occupation of a foreign country. The only successful time I’ve seen another “
“When that happens the people that were there in the first place. If you think that’s going to happen - that country always falters, and that’s what we’re heading for , and when you look in the rearview mirror, this is going to be one of the things responsible for it…. You look at the historical facts of what is probably going to happen. Throughout history what is probably going to happen. We’re going to have to come home in defeat.”
Merrill Townley
“I want this convention to be assured that Eric and all of his compatriots did not die in vain. I come to remind you that this country was attacked on 9/11 (cheers) we don’t need to deal from a policy of weakness, we need to deal from a policy of strength. This would be just an admission that we’re a weak country and that we don’t have any principles to stand up to and I urge you to not approve this amendment.”
I was really frustrated when I left this convention because the way it was run was comparable to a circus. The man in charge essentially used parliamentary procedure to shut up anyone that requested more time to read things or changes to what was going on. It was quite possibly the most frustrating thing I’ve ever sat in on.
Filed under: Elections, Politics, Reporter's Notebook | Tagged: 9th district, convention, Republican
