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Arizona convention
By punch bowl | April 22, 2008
I must start out with an apology and a clarification.
First, an apology to the Arizona CRs for taking so damn long to post the recap of your convention. I have been busy, so busy that I think I have talked Sage, Rawhide and Cement Mixer into bringing on another writer.
Second, I must clarify that in no way was the different treatment Arizona has received meant to reflect preference or discrimination.
With that said, let’s move on to discussion of Arizona’s convention. To begin, remember the antecedant situation.
Going into convention all elections were uncontested because the two tickets that were competing eventually merged into one because neither was competent enough to run by itself. The combined ticket included:
Matt Wharton (ASU-W): Chairman
Ben Stewart (ASU): Vice-Chair of Chapter Relations
Blake Rebling (U of A): Vice-Chair of Finance
Ry Ellison (U of A): Vice-Chair of Communications
Jordan Demos (GCU): Secretary
Dan Parsons (ASU): Treasurer
Blake Rebling and Jordan Demos are immediately going to resign because they are only filler candidates. The original people who were running on the ticket for those spots (Cody Newport [NAU] for VC of Finance, and Jessica Bender [ASU] for Secretary) were deemed ineligible to run by the Credentials Committee for failing to provide the necessary information a candidate must submit to run as laid-out by the AZCR Federation Constitution.
The ruling was challenged, but upheld by a vote of 6-4.
So instead Matt Wharton is running Blake Rebling and Jordan Demos because he doesn’t want to be embarrassed at the convention by not having a full ticket.
Upset, Mr. Wharton has told people that once he is elected he is going to amend the Constitution to loosen the requirements set forth for someone to be a candidate for the State Board, and member of the organization. If he does that though, he is eliminating the requirements set forth by the CRNC. So when Wharton goes to turn-in membership lists for the CR National Convention in 2009, it is likely that the CRNC Credentials Committee is going to throw all of them out…
At convention, all invited speakers attended, and gave a great talk. Those speakers included:
Ray Carrol: Pima County Supervisor
Bruce Ash: AZ Republican National Committeeman
Blake Harris: CRNC
Beth Ford: Pima County Treasurer
Randy Pullen: AZGOP Chairman
Jonathan Paton: AZ State Representative, LD30
Tim Bee (keynote speaker): AZ Senate President, candidate for Congress, CD-8
Special Guest Call-In: Jon Kyl: AZ U.S. Senator and Senate Minority Whip
In his out-going speech as Co-Chairman, Mikey Sistak addressed how it is in the CRs that one learns the values of Conservatism.
In his farewell address as Chairman, TJ Shope spoke of the success of his board in returning power of decision making to the chapters (in my opinion: where they belong!), and reducing the authority of the state board.
This portion of the speech, I am told, was largely a response to comments made by Matt Wharton and his team about the State Board not taking a strong centralized role in chapter activities. (I hate it when Republicans “centralize things…)
So with all this conflict, where does it leave the Arizona federation? Painting a picture of the organization going forward, one AZ CR had this to say:
Frankly, Senator McCain should be thankful that he does not need a large operation in Arizona and he will carry it hands down in November, because if Matt Wharton was responsible for organizing that grassroots operation, McCain would be in for heartburn. Unfortunately, with four (4) contested Congressional races it will be interesting to see how the CRs respond.
ARIZONA CRs: What are your feelings on the state of your federation?
Topics: CR gossip, CR federation elections, CR events, CR elections |
April 23rd, 2008 at 12:49 pm
The AZ convention in the eyes of a general member.
It is my opinion the well being of the federation will improve now that Mr. Wharton is in charge. He seems to be running a great chapter at ASU West and I see no reason why he is not up for the job. In fact, no one else even bothered to run against him. So why the mudslinging? Why not rally behind Mr. Wharton, and encourage him to be successful. Instead you sound like a democrat, assuming Mr. Wharton would not be able to handle a McCain campaign.
Nice job draining the account for this year, but at least we had AC at this convention. I would prefer not to go to Grandma Hyde’s house ever again (Which was also a waste of money.)
I noticed during the Arizona Stateboard convention there was little to no mention of accomplishments of the stateboard for 2007-2008. What exactly did you guys do for one year? No golf tournament? You seemed so proud of that last year and wouldn’t even shut up about it this year.
As a member of the College Republicans I have no clue what you did for one year.
Really it was a waste of time for me to go to the meeting. I heard a few people speak. Saw an election of people running unopposed. And did Jon Kyl ever call in?
Explain how power was returned to the chapters?
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:07 pm
The AZCR’s took a huge step in the right direction by electing Matt Wharton as Chair. For the first time in at least two years, the Federation is going to have leadership that actually leads. It’s not hard to figure out who is giving CR nation the info about the circumstances surrounding the convention. Without naming names, it’s the people who are angry and bitter that for the first time in a long time the state board is going to be controlled by people other than the cronies and hand-picked successors of the previous board. While the former state board may be proud of themselves for what they call “reducing the authority of the state board,” the truth is that they left the chapters hanging and the new state board with a financial mess. To my knowledge, not a single dime was raised by the former state board over the past year and it was reported at the convention that there is about $100 our account. I think it’s important to note that the AZCR constitution explicitly states in Article XI, Section 7 that “The AZCR Budget shall have a “Mandatory Surplus” of no less than $2000.00 in a Budget Year as defined in the AZCR Constitution.” This, of course, coming from a state board who claimed to adhere to the constitution so strictly that they disqualified two perfectly good candidates for putting the wrong address on their form. So, to answer the question of how I feel about the state of the Arizona Federation, I’d say that now that a new board is in place under the leadership of Matt Wharton, we’re in a hell of a lot better position than we were a week ago.
April 23rd, 2008 at 1:55 pm
I am very upset with this article. I was at the convention and have been very involved with the AZ CR’s this last year. Some of the facts in this article are not just exaggerated, but plain lies. Such as the Matt Wharton would be embarrassed to run with two empty seats. He added the two to his ticket, because there were rumors that the old administration was going to try to find people to run against Mr. Wharton’s ticket. Being a savvy politician Mr. Wharton stacked his ticket to make this infiltration impossible. The third lie was that the two tickets combined. Mr. Wharton and Mr. Newport started a ticket and Mr. Stewart was thinking about starting a ticket as well. But after talking to Mr. Wharton agreed to join the ticket.. Another lie is despite the four or five promises that Senator Jon Kyl would be calling in, he never did. It was almost as much political rhetoric as an Obama rally, all talk no true action.
TJ Shope had no accomplishments as the Federation Chairman. I saw TJ Shope three times in the last year, in which twice he was required to be there. The first time that I met him was at a Federation Meeting in which he was rude. Second time was during the Tucson City Council elections, where I was quite upset. The Federation was supposed to set us up with Hotel Room and have a place for phone banking. When we showed up we were told that they forgot to get our hotel rooms and they could not find enough rooms at members houses for us. So I had to find us our own place to stay and the next morning was not too much better. They did not set up the phone banking so the only event we had was to stand in the back of a truck and driving around for two hours waving signs. This was the extent of the planning for our three-hour trip down to Tucson. The last time I saw TJ Shope was when he came to our first meeting since we were Federated in which he took ten minutes to take our election and then left.
The previous state board was a joke, there was not one fundraising event, only one training in which there were only 10 people at, and not a single event to unify the campuses. They did however; get a new chapter to join. This chapter has been quite active in the last year and had more people at the convention then any other. This campus also had three large-scale events with Trent Franks and JD Hayworth, has shaken hands with Senator John McCain and Senator Jon Kyl, and has volunteered on campaigns and at the GOP Headquarters more times than could be counted. The Federation did little work with this chapter’s success because Matt Wharton did not need their help. He started the chapter, got the chapter federated, planned events with John McCain, and brought more people to the Convention than any other traveling chapter and just as many as the UofA chapter.
However, this chapter did not receive a single award, and TJ Shope personally attacked them at the meeting. This was tasteless and purely juvenile. Anyone who heard the chapter report from Matt Wharton could tell that ASU West was given the shaft. I am excited to have a State Board without the likes of TJ Shope and his lack of leadership. TJ Shope has been the worst of the worst, and a new leaf has been turned. I cannot see how the previous board would help John McCain when board did not even show up at the McCain rally a couple weeks ago. Yet Matt Wharton set up a meeting for his chapter and anyone who met up with them, to shake hands and take pictures with McCain. Who I feel bad for is not Matt Wharton, who will make a great Chairman, but whoever hires TJ with his impressive resume that consists of lies just like this article.
April 23rd, 2008 at 3:30 pm
First off I would like to congratulate the new state board on their victory and to our new state chairman MATT WHARTON, finally some competence and leadership we can count on, unlike that of a pseudo cowboy buckaroo TJ Shope. Where do I begin, this state board has led the movement of conservatism right into the ground and bankrupted the federation, you know the state constitution says that there needs to be a MINIMUM OF $2000 IN THE ACCOUNT upon turning it over at the end of the year, you know how much they left us with???? less than $200!!! Wow way to follow your own constitution, especially when you ostrasize Mr. Cody Newport and MS. Jessica Bender for a simple credentialing error. At least they didnt steal about $1900 from a state fund and leave it dry. You should be ashamed TJ, you are retired now, thank god, you should go back to teaching girls high school basketball in coolidge. Then maybe there you can finally find love. But in this year of blunders and mistakes TJ was not all to blame, he had a cast of characters including his sidekick (the cigar wielding Mike Sistak. Their friendship reminded me of Gilligan and Skipper on “Gilligans Island”, TJ being Gilligan of course. Mike Sistak was almost a bigger joke, the guy was cockier than the day is long, and seemed to loved smoking cigars…He headed a Constitutional Committee that was corrupted and went for the boards own special interest, and was TJs minion, this guy is one of the fakest people you will ever meet and likes to think he is king of the world. Then there is good old sean butler, all I Have to say about him, is he didnt really have a mind of his own and went along with whatever papa TJ said, he did this because the college republicans were like his only friends in the world, now thats sad, o and he kinda talked like daffy duck when he spoke. O and just to pay tribute to one more person….former chair Troy Hyde, OMG just the sight of this ape makes my laugh. I still remember last years convention in his Grandmothers back yard, well I see now who TJ’s mentor was. So now the jokesters are out the door and it is time for a new beginning, and this federation under the leadership of Matthew Wharton is ready to help MCcain win Arizona and The Presidency.
April 23rd, 2008 at 6:26 pm
I could not have depicted the previous board in better words than shared above by Michael McKitterick. I am just an outsider looking in however, have had many years experience with the AZCRs as well as the former board members. And TJ is every bit the fake as described. The original post referenced “filler candidates” and my immediate thought was, at least these “filler candidates” may step aside and let true leaders lead. Whereas, TJ was a filler Chairman who chose to feed his ego and resume by remaining an inactive, unproductive disappointment of a Chrairman for a year.
Hoping next year is a step in a better direction.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Seriously, how old are we? Trying to make the new board sound bad is not something you should be proud of. We should all be supporting them. They are very much competent of running things, much more so than the last group who got nothing done. Matt Wharton has created a very active club that has been working hard on campaigns and going to many different political events in Arizona including dinners and rallies. What has the previous board done? NOTHING.
About the convention, the turn out was just plain embarrassing, did it even occur to anyone that the amount of people should have been a lot higher? The West campus had just as many attendees as U of A and they were the one’s hosting! Also, Jon Kyl never even called in. Also, the West campus was not recognized at all until Matt Wharton gave his chapter report. West has come a long way this year..from nothing to a very active state federated chapter, that’s an accomplishment in my opinion!
Why don’t we stop acting like we’re in high school with our cliques and groups and just start standing by one another. I think the one’s to be embarrassed are not the new board members but the old.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:23 pm
I agree almost entirely with the criticism of the previous state board, as few Arizona CRs would be surprised to hear. With that being said, and with it being accepted that this CRNation post obviously is extremely biased towards the former establishment, it is important to recognize that some people on the previous state board did work diligently, principally that being the former Co-Chairman, Mike Sistak, who seemed to be the driving force trying to get the rest of the board moving throughout the entire year. It is unfortunate that other elements of the board did not join him in those efforts, and especially disappointing that the board violated its own constitution by spending funds beyond the legal limit, but we must move on.
I look forward to having a strong and revitalized Federation. I have great feelings of respect for Mr. Wharton, and am confident that he and the other recently elected leaders (or soon to be appointed leaders) will restore the federation to a status of being a useful organization that will help channel volunteers into helping Republicans in Arizona win this November.
April 24th, 2008 at 9:50 am
When it comes to state events, it’s not unusual for a host chapter to turn out the same # of CRs as a chapter two hours away.
Carry on.
April 24th, 2008 at 10:03 am
A lot of people have these funny ideas about what a state convention’s turnout should be. Mind you that the primary objective of a state convention is to elect new leadership, and by itself, that’s not a good reason for an ordinary CR to show up.
April 24th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Cody,
As a member of the NAUCR chapter, I am embarassed to call you one of our own. Your contribution to the chapter and federation have been lackluster, at best. Being involved in CRs, I have seen previous boards on our chapter and state level come and go. I long for the days the so-called “establishment” was at the helm. The previous state board had their faults, undeniably so. But your harsh criticism is clearly a personal attack as opposed to one of substance. Let’s back track and take a look at where the surplus of funds came from - the year Troy Hyde and Michael Huston were leading this federation. Chapters were thriving and money was flowing into the federation because the efforts that board made - Michael Sistak included. At least that board left the College Republicans in a position to grow and move forward in the election year whereas this year’s board did nothing to increase those funds, let alone maintain them. If anything, that was due to TJ’s lack of leadership on the board, lack of ambition and lack of respect for the organization.
A word of advice, step back and take a look at yourself and what your era of College Republicans - Andrew Muessen, Blake Rebling, Ry Elison, etc. - have accomplished or contributed before you crticize others - the answer to that would be, nothing. The only reason you all have a platform to say anything is because the “establishment” has moved on and you are able to “win” elections by default as opposed to being elected because members actually desire your sad attempts at leadership. Aside from Matt Wharton, next year’s board will be no better. It is now comprised of bitter, anti-establishment members who finally have their time in the spotlight and will do nothing with it aside from complain about how the previous board made mistakes. As the original post said, thankful for McCain, he doesn’t need Arizona. Needless to say, you won’t be seeing me at the meetings next year.
April 24th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
NAUCR:
First of all, if you are really a member of the NAUCRs, you ought to know how to spell people’s names. It’s Meeusen, thanks.
Secondly, as a former member of the NAUCR board and former member of Troy Hyde’s “establishment” campaign and administration as Communications Director, I can say with strong conviction that a lot actually was established in the last few years. Some of that thanks to Troy Hyde, some of that thanks to Blake Rebling, and some of that thanks to Melanie Dodson and Cody Newport.
If you are curious, here are just some of the things “my era” of College Republicans accomplished:
- Increased the size of the federation from three chapters to seven.
- During the 2006 election cycle, the NAUCR chapter made more phone-banking dials than the ASU and UA chapters COMBINED (a pretty damn good feat, you ask me).
- During my administration with Melanie Dodson, the NAUCRs were mentioned or featured in no less than 42 separate blog, newspaper, or television/radio pieces over the course of the year, including seven for the NAUCR Conservative Week, Matthew Christensen and my appearance as panelists at a Prop. 107 forum, four as a result of the Renzi parades on the Navajo Nation, and my appearance on KJACK radio and two separate Arizona news stations (Fox 10 and 3TV) regarding Jim Pederson and Barack Obama. I think you’ll agree that for Uber-liberal Flagstaff, this is commendable.
- And let’s not forget, as a direct result of “my generation’s” assistance with grassroots work, we re-elected Jon Kyl, Rick Renzi, and other Republicans back into office in 2006. This is the mission of the College Republicans.
While every chapter and administration has its own faults, please attempt to sound less ignorant of the fact that people are simply apathetic in an off-year, and you won’t see as much getting done. But trust me, it’s there, and the people who are putting ideas out there and trying to get stuff done are the ones who are successful, including Cody, Blake, Troy, Mike Sistak (even though he and I were never the best of friends, he got shit done), Sean, Matt Wharton, Melanie, Chelsea Lett, and others.
Perhaps its best you won’t be coming back to join with the NAUCRs in the 2008 election cycle. It doesn’t seem like you have much to contribute anyway.
April 24th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
The reason the so-called “anti-establishment” won is because the so-called “establishment” knew they didn’t have a chance… I like that post that says TJ was going to run for a 2nd term out of concern for the federation. Aside from MAYBE asu, he would’ve been laughed out of office! Aside from current board members, he wouldn’t have gotten a single vote at any of the other chapters!
And it’s news to me that money was “flowing” into the federation under Hyde. Yeah, that golf tournament sure brought in a lot of money…NOT!!! I honestly do give Sistak kudos for at least trying. Also, THERE WERE NO SURPLUSES under Hyde and Shope inherited a money situation from Hyde that was not much better than the one he’s passing on to Wharton! Don’t even get me started on that HORRIBLE convention that Hyde put on in his backyard! What a waste of money that was.
NAUCR… it’s a good thing you’re not coming to meetings next year because you’re obviously out of touch with what’s actually going on.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
Arizona College Republicans,
Recently, an article on “CR Nation”, a popular College Republicans blog, cast the 2008-2009 Arizona Federation of College Republicans State Board in a negative light. This article proceeded to ask Arizona CR’s to respond with “[their] feelings on the state of [their] federation”. Several Arizona College Republicans responded in disagreement to the article and in support of the new administration.
As your newly-elected Chairman, I must say I am humbled by your support, and I thank you for the kind words and quick action. When I launched my campaign with Cody Newport and Ben Stewart, we came up with “Unify Arizona” as our team name. It was the vision of the ticket to bring leaders from each campus together in order to unite the federated chapters and encourage the formation of nearby chapters. We were uncontested in our election not due to a lack of interest, but because the right people stepped up to the plate. It is now up to all of us to move on from what may or may not have happened in previous days/months/years and make this year count. As was mentioned at convention, 2008 means much more than who will be answering phones at 3am. It means Supreme Court appointments that could affect the fate of conservative ideals for generations to come.
With less than 200 days before the Nov. 4th election, we have a lot to do for our federal, state, and local candidates. Our original vision of unity is more essential now than ever before in the organization, and with your cooperation, it will become a reality.
With all of that being said, I would like to apologize on behalf of the current State Board for any personal attacks made against members of the previous administration. The views expressed are not representative of the sentiment felt by the new administration.
We must now live by President Ronald Reagan’s 11th Commandment, “Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican,” because in the end, we’re all on the same side. Please join me in honoring our generation’s greatest president and let’s unite against the Democrats and roll to victory in November.
Yours in Conservatism,
Matt Wharton
Chairman, Arizona Federation of College Republicans
April 24th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
I could not have said it better myself, thank you Matt. It is now time for all of us to move forward and stand together. We are all fellow college students, fellow Republicans, and most important of all, fellow Americans. Let us not forget the reasons why we are passionate about politics in the first place. We believe that Republican ideals are best for our country and unlike the Democrats we believe that America is truly, “the last best hope of man on earth.” It is now time to put silly arguments behind us and begin to prepare for a very critical election year. We have many doors to knock on, a lot of phone calls to make, and a Senator that we need to get elected as President. I look forward to working with all of the Arizona CR’s in the coming year!
April 24th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
I agree with Mr. Wharton. TJ is a good guy, and even though I’ve only met him a couple times, it seems as though the main problem lies within the money situation. In the constitution, isn’t the first-vice chair Sean Butler supposed to be in charge of the fundraising?
Why isn’t he to blame? It is his fault for the defect. There is alot of bashing on TJ, when it really seems like the former first vice-chair didn’t step up to the task at hand and do what he was supposed to.
With that said, we have a new board and a new opportunity to look up. And even though TJ led and was the spokesperson of it all, let’s not forget that all in all it is Sean Butler who was responsible this year for not bringing anymore money and allowing the AZ CR’s run the budget into the ground.
April 24th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
I think we can all appreciate Matt’s letter. Hopefully, now that we have all aired our differences, we can come together for the good of the party and for the sake of the common bond of conservatism that we all share. The comments between us became heated and, unfortunately, devolved into a less-than-civil discourse. Being one that sometimes acts upon impulse and despite my effort to avoid personal attacks, I put my two cents in and if I offended anyone I hope that you will accept my sincere apology.
I came across a quote that I thought would be appropriate to share with my fellow AZCR’s. “Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” I am optimistic that with this bump in the road behind us, we can come together and work towards our goal of success, which means getting John McCain and all our Republican candidates elected this fall. I look forward to working with Matt Wharton, Ben Stewart, and the rest of the new state board, with my counterpart Sean Butler at ASU, and with Mike Sistak on the Tim Bee campaign in CD-8.
April 24th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
At least we know these guys will defend each other to the death, no matter what is said or happens.
I suppose there’s something commendable in that.
April 25th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Budget…actual, ask any accountant and they can explain the difference. Or… You could look it up.
April 25th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
Perhaps we should ask an accountant from Arthur Anderson?
April 25th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
so what do people outside Az think about the previous and newly elected state boards?