Myths about Republican Reformation
A lot of misinformation is circulating out there - let's set the record straight.
Ohio Promise Keepers and Committee for a Better Ohio
“Dark money organization” is invariably what rolls off the lips of Chairman Bob Paduchik when discussing Ohio Promise Keepers and Committee for a Better Ohio. The Ohio Republican State Central Committee Chairman and also mentions that these organizations are trying to destroy the Republican Party.
The only thing these organizations are trying to destroy is the unethical conduct and scandals that plague the Ohio Republican party.
Just what is a dark money organization? It is an organization that you do not know where their sources of funds come from.
I’d like to remind Chairman Paduchik that no State Central Committee member has to disclose where the sources of funds for their campaigns come from. So the State Central Committee is indeed the very thing that Mr. Paduchik demonizes Committee for a Better Ohio and Ohio Promise Keepers of being.
That’s right! The State Central Committee and all County Central Committees in Ohio are “dark money organizations” because members do not disclose where their campaign funds come from.
Committee for a Better Ohio did not spend hundreds of thousands of dollars like Bob Paduchik has asserted to many SCC members to take over the State Central Committee. That is a very absurd accusation and we call on him to substantiate those allegations. We’ve had a ton of grassroots support and volunteers that were paid $0 to help. We raised a little money to help in advertising but mainly we gave guidance to Ohio Promise Keeper candidates.
A State Convention
A State Convention does not make the State Central Committee (SCC) irrelevant. Far from it! A State convention merely helps to make it much more difficult for special interests to influence the party.
What does a State Convention do?
The convention is where a platform is adopted - normally the recommendations of the SCC heavily influence the platform. The SCC also adopts the rules under which a platform item is considered.
The convention can amend or adopt new bylaws for the SCC. Again, normally the SCC can heavily influence changes to the bylaws by making recommendations to the convention.
The convention can make endorsements of candidates and again this can be highly influenced by the SCC.
The convention is a place to poll participants to get an accurate reflection of the state on a variety of issues to better engage on the issues and priorities of constituents. Lastly, the convention is a massive fundraiser for the party.
So what does a SCC do?
Contrary to the popular narrative that their sole job is to win elections - their job is multifaceted.
SCC members are the conduit to the counties within their districts to carry information back and forth to the SCC. SCC members need to advise, educate, and listen to County Central Committees (CCCs). SCC members advise county leaders on what they are doing at the State level, educate members of the policies being developed at the State level, and of course, bring feedback from CCCs back to the SCC.
The SCC is supposed to provide campaign infrastructure for candidates. Infrastructure includes compliance, coordinating with county parties, scheduling speaking events, holding rallies, and providing databases and apps for canvassing. The SCC would normally provide guidance, training, and consulting for candidates and CCCs. The party is also supposed to help in educating the public on important issues that will help the party realize its platform. For all of its infrastructure operations, the party is supposed to hire a CEO or a director to manage the day-to-day operations of the party.
The SCC devises the metrics on which to measure the success or failure of the CEO/director.
The SCC reviews the performance of the Chairman and decides when to terminate or hire a new CEO.
The SCC makes certain that the books of the party are properly audited by an independent auditor.
The SCC maintains a website for the registered reppublicans to connect with SCC members and with CCC members.
The SCC is supposed to budget money for its infrastructure operations and ensure that the organization is being run efficiently. It is quite common to have quarterly meetings and have the SCC decide on quarterly budgets.
The SCC is supposed to make the difficult decisions of how much of the money it raises is donated to which campaigns. The SCC devises the strategy for which campaigns are a priority and which need help and which do not need help.
The SCC is supposed to promote the platform of the party through platform subcommittees. These subcommittees help to raise awareness, raise funds, and provide a rallying point to demonstrate Republican involvement and engagement.
The SCC creates an executive committee that makes recommendations to the SCC. It empowers this executive committee to do research and make investigations.
The SCC rents, leases, or purchases facilities for carrying out its activities.
The SCC is supposed to hold Republicans accountable to their party platform. While the SCC can issue resolutions of support - some actions of Republicans may be so reprehensible as to earn a resolution of Persona-Non-Grata. For example, Anthony Gonzales was labeled Persona-Non-Grata by the Ohio Republican Party by resolution.
An Inconvenient Truth
Currently, the Ohio State Republican State Central Committee does not decide strategy for how money or when funds are distributed to candidates. This is a real problem for many Republicans. Chairman Paduchik runs the show and peddles the dollars funneled into the party by campaign finance laws.
How do we know that the Chairman and the Committee are of like-mind when it comes to say…..the distributions of limited funds to the Governor’s campaign or that of the Chief Justice? Most SCC member do not even know it is their place to question this? What goes into this thought process and how are these decisions made?
If funds are limited shouldn’t the SCC ultimately make the determination of who get’s the funds and when?
To be certain, the accounts of the committee are the committee’s accounts - not the Chairman, the treasurer, or anyone elses.
Why is it important for SCC members to decide strategy and control funds?
When it comes to strategy and funds being distributed it should always ultimately be made by an informed SCC. We’ve seen where the Chairman of the party claims to have unlimited discretionary spending and this has not been rigorously challenged by the SCC members. Even the bylaws do not give the chairman unlimited discretionary spending.
If the chairman has unlimited discretionary spending - meaning that the SCC does not have a say in how funds are spent - then isn’t the SCC already irrelevant?
The Chairman raises the money and spends the money - what do the SCC members add at this point other than being a nuisance to the Chairman? Everything else the SCC does is figureheading. A figurehead is a spokesperson for an organization but does not substantially contribute to the organizations governance or operation.
The danger in having an all-powerful Chairman is that they can easily abuse their power.
If a Chairman is all-powerful like Chairman Paduchik claims to be, there is only one type of Republican State Central Committee that we can have out of the two common types.
SCC Type 1
Chairman answers to the State Central Committee - not the other way around.
SCC members are involved in making the decision on strategy and control monies through budgets passed by resolution.
The SCC members make meaningful endorsements that come with funds attached.
A platform is necessary to the operation of the party and helps to reassure registered Republicans that in voting a straight Repubican ticket that candidates will focus on achieving the goals of the platform.
Feedback from the County parties is genuinely appreciated and utilized. The County parties become more motivated when they are part of the decision making process. Everyone becomes more active and engaged when there is a path to have their voices heard and the ability to make a difference.
The Chairman does not fear a State Convention and does not fear the control of funds being handled by the SCC.
A focus on fundraising is through the platform
The party advocates for no contribution limits to candidates for individuals and companies because the party raises its owns funds. This avoids possible impermissible influence and other ethical quandries that a party Chairman may have over candidates.
SCC Type 2
A special interest group or gubernatorial candidate normally obtains influence over a certain percentage of members on the State Central Committee. This is normally somewhat innocuous in how it happens. Either the SCC candidate or current member are endorsed, appointed, or the special interest group may help arrange for some of their campaign financing or arrange for volunteers for their campaign. Many times these SCC members are not aware of the impermissible conflict that can become a direct conflict of interest and will vehemently protest that any such untoward influence has taken place.
While the State Central Committee hires the Chairman, the State Central Committee answers to the Chairman. There is always a group that sows disunity within the SCC because they disagree with the Chairman and can have no honest or fruitful discussions with SCC members that back the chairman. It is common for this type of Chairman to retaliate against members that disagree with them and vigorously defend their actions.
The Chairman unilaterally makes the decisions on spending and strategy and solicits no input from the SCC members. SCC members become a figurehead.
The party has a largely symbolic platform that is largely symbolic or no platform at all. Candidates do not have any penalties that they will incur if they champion policy in opposition to the platform. Many times the platform that is developed is so rife with symbolism that it is hard to develop any metric that measures success.
The SCC make meaningless endorsements and are under pressure to follow the lead of the Chairman and the status quo.
Money is normally raised through an effective money laundering operation where camapaign finance laws limit contributions to candidates and much higher amounts of contributions are given to the party. Back room deals are made by the Chairman to earmark contributions made to the party for candidates to get around campaign finance laws.
Unlike type 1 which relies on the popularity of its platform and holding its candidates accountable, there is no accountability for candidates to be held to in a type 2 SCC. Type 2 SCCs tend to represent special interests more than they represent the will of registered Republicans.
If you ask any SCC member to truthfully answer if Ohio’s Republican State Central Committee is a type 1 or type 2 - there would be no one that answers that they are a type 1 organization.
What is the purpose of the SCC
Let’s get to the point of the SCC and you can divide this into two groups of people on the SCC.
There are those that believe the entire point of the SCC is to win elections. Then there are others that believe that the entire point of the SCC is to ensure implementation of conservative policies to make Ohio a better place to live.
If I sell you a product and it does not perform as advertised, you’d want a refund. Well, look at it as a political party is selling you a candidate. What happens when that candidate does not perform as promised? Is there any service after the sale?
In a type 1 SCC the party takes responsibility for the product it sold you and places pressure on the candidate. In a type 2 SCC the party says sorry - all sales are final - we’ll see you in a few years and sell you a replacement.
If you are only preoccupied in victory in political contests then you let the party and candidates say and do anything to get elected and then not take responsibility for not getting anything done.
Republicans do not have a whole lot to cheer about even though they have dominated Ohio politics for the last 40 years. Just look at the stats on where Ohio is:
The party hasn’t… - no, the party won’t take responsibility for the state of Ohio.
If we want to pursue exceptionalism in Ohio and have growth and prosperity - we can’t have a SCC that is merely a figurehead for the Chairman. We need to transition to a Type 1 SCC that is active and engaged and actually listens to county central committees.
For more ideas on what the State Central Committee could be and do - please visit Ohio Promise Keepers.
As always,
Thanks for reading!