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Ohio chairman “mortified” by McCain
By punch bowl | February 26, 2008
Time Magazine interviewed Ohio College Republicans Chairman Dan Lipian at CPAC:
“I am mortified by what is happening right now,” muttered Daniel Lipian, 24, the chairman of the Ohio College Republicans, and one of the dozens of young people who had booed throughout McCain’s speech. “I respectfully disagree with jumping on the bandwagon of someone who has a consistent record of going against the grain of our party.” But Lipian also knew that his boos were no match for a Republican Party that has been trained for decades to hate Democrats, not their own, and put aside their differences to come together for the good of the party.
Every CR should be free to have their own opinion, regardless of the position that they hold. If Lipian doesn’t like McCain, that is his business. But it is rarely a good idea to criticize the presumptive nominee of our party to a liberal publication like Time. Quotes like the one above are used against us and our leaders and damage our party.
Like my mother taught me, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
Topics: CR gossip |
February 27th, 2008 at 12:00 am
Speaking of quotes that are not exactly nice to Senator John McCain, but ultimately truthful in the eyes of those who wrote them, how about these two quotes from contributors to this site?
“My question is this: How long will McCain stay in the running to save face - to prove that his stance on immigration was not a big campaign blunder? Because surely in the long run, immigration, no money, and yesterday’s resignations will kill his efforts to be president.”
–Posted to CRNation.com on July 11, 2007 by sage of monticello
“When an important issue comes before John McCain, I am not certain that he will side with his own party. And that is not the person that we need leading our party. I will not be voting for John McCain.”
–Posted to CRNation.com on December 29, 2007 by cr nation
Time magazine surely has more readers than this site, but CR Nation does have many readers of its own. Is there really any difference here? Lipian’s quote will eventually be seen by many more than the quotes taken from this site, but they are all three negative opinions of Sen. McCain nonetheless. In addition, none of the three statements in question were made in close company, but rather were statements made very much in the public arena. At the least, Lipian did not make his quote behind the cover of anonymity. Are you really suggesting that he should have instead been quiet and not spoken up? There is no use in conformity for conformity’s sake in politics, even in College Republicans.
February 27th, 2008 at 12:10 am
Don’t violate the 11th commandment, son.
February 27th, 2008 at 1:23 am
Way to help the Party, Lipian.
February 27th, 2008 at 3:14 am
Jonathon,
There are several differences. First, regarding my comment. I used facts to draw the conclusion that John McCain would not be the Republican presidential nominee. No where in my statement did I indicate my preference for who the eventual nominee would be. In other words, I kept my opinion to myself. Mr. Lipian did not. There is a difference between the use of facts to draw a reasonable conclusion and mere opinion.
The second difference involves the timing of the comments. At the time cr nation made his/her comment, there was little purpose to reserve judgment for the sake of party unity because there was no presumptive nominee - there were at least seven candidates vying for the Republican nomination. It simply would have not made sense to reserve comment at the time in the name of party unity.
However, the time at which Mr. Lipian made his comment was very different. When he made his comment there was a presumptive nominee and a need for party loyalty - it is the timing of the comments that makes cr nation’s comment OK and Mr. Lipian’s inappropriate.
February 27th, 2008 at 11:16 am
I Dan and thats really disappointing. Not voting at all is only going to hand over our country to Obama or Clinton. To not vote is ridiculous. What happened to Reagan’s 11th Commandment. I liked Sen. Coburn’s comments on the article that CR Nation included on this sit. He’s right! McCain has criticized the people that grew the size of our government drastically and the people that didn’t stick to the principles of Goldwater and Reagan which eventually lost us the midterm elections. And to talk bad about a Republican to TIME MAGAZINE, that’s pretty bad. Our party is by far not perfect and I’m glad Senator McCain has the balls to stand up and say something!
February 27th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Lipian is out of his mind? What made him think it would be a good idea to speak out like this to TIME MAGAZINE!
No one in Ohio like Lipian anyways but as the figure head of Ohio CRs he needs to USE HIS BRAIN
February 27th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Some CRs spoke to the New Republic during the ‘05 CRNC election. Should they be ostracized for speaking out against fellow republicans? CRs shouldn’t speak to the media about Republican politicians in general, but as punch bowl’s advice should apply to ALL CRs, not just CR Nation enemies.
February 27th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Mr. Lipian is not an “enemy” of CR Nation. Simply because we feel that a CR has made a mistake, doesn’t make that person an enemy.
I would instead call Mr. Lipian an ally that made a mistake - a mistake that punch bowl wanted people to learn from.
February 27th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Just throwing it out there that “Ohio CR” is almost definitely not from Ohio. I do not portend to know Dan Lipian’s intentions for next year, but I would have to say that he would do extremely well if there were a vote held today to re-elect him. Our state federation has steered away from taking anonymous pot shots on internet blogs, so at least have the courage to put your name on it if you say that no one likes him or that he is simply the figurehead. May I ask who exactly is pulling the strings? If you are involved in CRs at the state level in Ohio, you would know by now that Dan Lipian is following his own plans, not coasting on anyone else’s legacy, but blazing a new path for the OCRF to follow. This is an article that is nearly a month old now, a quote from just two days after Super Tuesday, as well, so this is not really even new information in any case.
February 27th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
Ohio is a battleground state year after year, to hear the State Chairman in that state speaking ill of the Republican nominee portends badly for the entire party and our organization.
February 27th, 2008 at 5:26 pm
It would probably be a good idea for the next CR state chairman in the largest swing state in the country to be a supporter of John McCain. This political grandstanding that decays party cohesion could likely draw so much attention as the year progresses that College Republicans in states other than Ohio will be hurt by it.
February 27th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Lipian must be an idiot
February 27th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
I’ll echo Ryan on this one. John McCain has his detractors and that’s fine but to hear one of our own say and do something like this is reprehensible. Many of you know that the Senator wasn’t my first choice even though I’m a life-long resident of Arizona and the AZ CR Chairman but the time has come for us to get behind him as he carries the mantle for our party. Anyone who doesn’t get behind him in that position of leadership is most likely in violation of their own constitutions if they’re anything like the constitution that governs the AZCR Federation.
February 28th, 2008 at 12:52 am
At the time when Lipian was quoted, only hours had passed since Mitt Romney dropped out of the race. I would much rather, knowing Dan like I do, have had him say what he said than simply saying what was politically expedient at the time. It is hardly political grandstanding, but rather a small display of courage to say what he thought correct. Do we have to elect CR leaders who support every single Republican candidate? Can they not express an opinion in a primary? By this logic, Rhode Island CRs should throw out Ryan Bilodeau for being an ardent supporter of Mitt Romney. This is ridiculous, and if it were a big deal, then it would have been reported here when it was news.
February 28th, 2008 at 9:34 am
People like Dan Lipian have what few of you have - balls.
February 28th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Jonathon, the timing of his comments aren’t the issue I have, because I can sympathize.
My issue is that he was making his comments to Time Magazine, which he should have realized would manipulate his words, both in editing and timing of publication, to their own benefit.
But I think this entire subject should serve as a reminder to all CRs that we can hold whatever views we want personally, as long as they’re disassociated from the organization or titles we hold.
March 3rd, 2008 at 2:31 am
Lipian remembers what everyone here has forgotten. This party has a platform. When you deviate from it as much as McCain does it is understandable that people will have problems with it. Does anyone remember the platform of our party, or is everyone just blind sheep?