Second District GOP

This is an e-mail piece that I and my colleagues on the State Central Committee from the Second District sent to Republicans in our district. I believe that it is self-explanatory.

Dear Second District Republican,

We are almost there! The campaigns of our fantastic candidates are moving full speed ahead as we approach the finish line. We can almost smell victory, but there is still much work to be done.

First of all, thank you for all of your efforts. Whether it has been placing yard signs, knocking on doors, dropping literature, or calling your neighbors, your commitment to our candidates has been inspiring.

Unfortunately, in these last crucial days of the campaign, an issue has arisen that affects our Second District Congressional Candidate, Dr. Marianette Miller-Meeks. Iowa Right to Life, in their 2008 Special Edition Election Newsletter, unfairly distorts Dr. Miller-Meeks’ pro-life position. Since our newly-elected National Committeewoman, Kim Lehman, is also Executive Director of Iowa Right to Life, this has caused a great deal of confusion.

Let us make this clear ­ we support ALL of our Republican candidates and we believe that ALL leaders in our party should do the same. In the next few days, we must work together to elect our ENTIRE Republican ticket, from the White House to the County Courthouse.

If we can be of support to your county efforts during this home stretch, please do not hesitate to contact any or all of us.

David Chung
Lisa Smith
Jason Hutcheson

Comments

[Robert]

Okay, nice fluff letter David - but you should resign too if you cannot get rid of Lehmen the Loebsack supporter.

Where's your cajones?

[Brent Oleson]

Those are great comments Dave. We already know that you three support Republican candidates on the ballot this year. What about our National Committeewoman. Does she support our 2nd Congressional District Nominee?

Is this a green light for moderates to abandon the party or take high profile shots in 2010 if Congressman King is our gubenatorial nominee?

[CedarWaxwing]

Brent,

NO..Kim Lehman does NOT support our 2nd District nominee. In fact, her organization publically denigrated her and is misleading the public about her positions.

This comes after Lehman PUBLICALLY stated at the State Convention that she would support ALL Republican candidates on our ticket.

We must send a very clear message that it is COMPLETELY inappropriate for our National Committewoman to engage in such activities less than 20 days from an election.

The people of the 2nd District made their choice clear on June 3rd--that choice was Miller-Meeks.

If Lehman can not support our nominated candidates, then she does NOT deserve to represent Republican activists in our state.

[Andy Cable-]

Kim Lehman has crossed the line already and should be held to the flame for it. My understanding is that there is little that we or the SCC can do for four years- outside of complain. However the power of removal is held by the National Committee and they have procedures to that.
I do believe it is upto the SCC to at least sort out the facts and send a letter to the National Committee and ask for their opinion.
The other question that needs to be addressed is where our National Committeman comes down on this issue. Where is his support? To the partner he so solidly supported at the State Convention? Or to the Republican Party of Iowa that he has also been elected to represent.
I am no longer on his mailing list but have heard he sent out a tepid letter stating he supports all statewide GOP candidates but stopped well short of rebuking Lehman.

[Al]

I think that something that needs to be remembered here. Iowa Right to Life is NOT a Republican organization. It is an independent organization that has it's own agenda. And another thing that must be remembered is that that there are more people with the Iowa Right to Life than Kim Lehman.

While we are at, where was the outrage when a county chair sent out a letter urging people to write in a FAILED candidate instead of the Republican nominee. This to me seems a much more dangerous occurrence.