by | Mar 27, 2012
What had promised to be an explosive evening at the Polk County central committee meeting Tuesday night never really materialized.
Throughout the past two days buzz had been growing that an organized effort to unseat McLaughlin as Chairman would take place, and rumors were flying that the person spearheading this undertaking was Rep. Kim Pearson (R-Pleasant Hill). What is clear following the meeting is that she was never involved at any level, and that the leader of the group aiming to replace the Chairman was in fact precinct 85 resident Craig Bergman.
The only fireworks transpired at the beginning of the meeting when a motion was made to suspend the rules and normal proceedings of the meeting and instead have a vote on removing the Chairman.  What played out was that, by a near three to one margin (91-39), the central committee voted to proceed with the meeting’s business as usual and have the showdown afterward. Presumably based on the large majority who stood in support of putting off the vote, the contingent on hand to oppose the Chairman realized that they did not have the numbers and chose to stand down on this night.
Perhaps the most memorable and foretelling moment of the night came when Chairman McLaughlin, on mic and standing at the podium, was explaining to a confused group of members that he was not avoiding a vote on his fate. He summed it up by saying, “if anyone wants to try to ‘send me to the showers’ they are welcome to do that”, which he followed a few seconds later with, “That said, I don’t intend to go to the showers I intend to finish my job.”
Clearly Kevin McLaughlin is not backing away anytime soon, and neither is the sizable sect passionate that his performance as Chairman has not been up to par. Based on the numbers it is hard to see how this group, in its current size and form, will be able to successfully remove the leadership in the middle of their term. It is fair to note, however, that while this effort was denied tonight, there has been widespread discontent and rumblings regarding what has been perceived as several organizational shortcomings.
My sense moving forward is that McLaughlin and his team will survive any future attempts to remove him. The final decider here will ultimately be what it always is–results. If their performance in November demonstrates success in electing Republicans, particularly Tom Latham, then their style and methods will be vindicated and they will be lauded. Should they not meet expectations, and should they fail to deliver a number of victories similar to their very successful predecessors–they will be quickly voted out in January.
Conservatives are often fond of saying that results, not good intentions, are what matters. What we have here is a perfect embodiment of this…as it should be.
by Art Smith | Oct 25, 2010
Kim Pearson, who is running for Iowa House in district 42, will be holding two fundraisers this week. Both look to be great events and opportunities to meet the candidates before the election:
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Congressman Steve King
will be the featured guest at a fundraiser for
Kim Pearson
Monday, October 25th 7-9 PM
Toad Valley Golf Course
237 NE 80th St.
Pleasant Hill, IA ( map)
(1/2 mile south of Southeast Polk High School)
$25/person or $50/family
For more information,
contact Kim at 515-224-2126 or
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Congressman Ron Paul
Will be the featured guest at a fundraiser for
Kim Pearson, Glen Massie
and Kent Sorenson
Thursday, October 28th 7-9 PM
Airport Holiday Inn
6111 Fleur Drive
Des Moines, IA ( map)
$5/person or $15/family
For more information,
contact Susan Geddes at 515-202-3733
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by | Oct 22, 2010
Matt Strawn, Chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa, will be out door-knocking and encouraging folks to get out and vote in Altoona along with Kim Pearson who is running for the Iowa House in District 42.Â
“Every local race matters in this election,” Strawn said. “Changing Chet Culver isn’t enough. We need to change leadership in the Iowa legislature and return principled, conservative government to the people of Iowa. We need to elect people like Kim Pearson.”
It’s awesome that Matt is getting out and helping candidates like Kim. Kim is a great example of a new group of candidates that have just had enough with “business as usual” politics and want to get state government back to doing the work it is intended to do. More information about Kim can be found at her web site by clicking here.
Other party leaders have also been getting out and doing work along side of the volunteers. John Bloom and Will Rogers (Polk County GOP Chair and Co-chair) have both put in scores of hours making phone calls, deliverying yard signs, attending and hosting fund raising events, and knocking on doors. These two leaders have put as much time as possible into this campaign and the impact is impressive!
But most importantly, it’s encouraging to see the level of work being done by volunteers and interest in general in this year’s mid-term elections. The work being done by volunteers is great. We are seeing a lot of yard signs and bumper stickers… I just put up my first ever barn sign on a friend’s property. Granted, I’m known in the neighborhood as the “Burma Shave Guy” because I have so many signs on my lawn. But everyone knows who to come to for signs of their own as well.
I’ve also had a lot of great personal interaction at work, church, in the grocery store, on the street… it’s pretty amazing to see how interested people are in what is happening in our government!
Signs are great, phone calls are good, but the most effective way of impacting voters, in my opinion, is knocking on their door and talking to them. Some of the best campaigners are good at getting out and meeting folks in their community, and getting volunteers to do the same on their behalf. I’m really glad that Matt and Kim are going out today to connect with the voters. This year’s election should be a turning point for our state and our county.
How can we all best show our appreciation for the work being done by party leaders and volunteers? Get out and vote. Polk County satellite voting is available today and tomorrow (locations can be found at www.polkgop.com) and early voting is available up to the day before election day (information on this also found at www.polkgop.com). Or, just go to your polling place on election day and vote. If you don’t know where your polling place is, you can get that information at this link.
Parties and candidates can all still use volunteer help. Go to www.polkgop.com to find a Republican candidate to connect with, or use the contact information there to connect with the Polk County Republican Party or the Republican Party of Iowa.
Now is the time to make a difference. Don’t wait.
What had promised to be an explosive evening at the Polk County central committee meeting Tuesday night never really materialized.