Here's the comment from Shawn Olson, for those that might have missed it buried deep:
One thing is clear, whoever the Chairperson may be, they need to posses a few basic traits. They need to be dedicated. They need to be a referee, a mediator, a fundraiser, an organizer, and most of all a leader.
I see a lot of good names on this list. I feel, most of them would make a great Chairperson.
Let’s start with Susan. Susan is a wonderful and honest person. I feel she would be a great candidate for the position as she has done a lot with the GROW group and is, in my humble opinion, under appreciated. This may be due to her hesitation to brag about her accomplishments.
Chuck, I feel, did a fine job. I am slightly surprised he isn’t running again, but I do understand the amount work that comes along with having children.
I don’t have enough experience with Bruce to comment but would likely agree with RR regarding his aspirations and intentions.
Murphy has good morals but, like Bruce, I don’t have enough information to form an intelligent opinion.
I know Cannon’s heart is in a good place but it seems he has been rather busy with work since I haven’t seen him around the meetings. I would question his eagerness to hold the position.
I think Wichlinski is another good choice as it seems to me that he posses a “go-getter” type mentality and isn’t afraid to get the job done. In fact, I can find some similarities between him and I. Based on his previous campaign speeches, we seem to share a passion to further our understanding of our constitutional form of government and we both want our leaders to rule in a constitutional manner and not by the will of a small group of people or their political colleagues
I am in full support of a Ralph Ayres campaign as he was one of the few politicians I respect whole-heartedly. Even though Ralph and I agree 65% of the time regarding political matters, I strongly appreciate the fact that when I called his office (not during school hours, or when the house was in session), I was greeted by a warm “hello, this is Ralph Ayres. How may I help you?” He was the most easily reached politician I have ever attempted to contact. He understands that there will be constituents that do not agree with him. In fact, he would even take the time to explain, in detail if you let him, why he was voting the way he was. I have even left messages at his office and within a day he would call me back personally. In my opinion, having open dialogue with your constituents is one of the main responsibilities of being a representative of the People. So yes, I do have great respect for Ralph. But if Ralph has future political aspirations, that maybe a better place for him.
As for me running for Chairman, I don’t know if I should laugh or be honored. Maybe it was like in high school you always picked on one of the outsiders just so the “cool” kids can laugh at them for thinking they just might be one of them. Between all of the rumors and lies, I am beginning to wonder if we are all in high school again. Looks to be we have some “cool” kids in our organization.
And then there was one, Dave Bengs, whom I feel would make a great choice for county chairman. I will go ahead and take this opportunity to publically throw my support behind Mr. Bengs, as I feel he possess the basic traits I have previously described.
Now RR, if I may add one more thing.
Quote: “Joel I am not going to get into the whole Olson thing again”
If you didn’t feel like discussing “the whole Olson thing,” then my only option is to question your motives in mentioning it to begin with.
But since you did here are my thoughts.
I stood by everything I said about Ed during my campaign, including my mailers. I stand by them today, and I will continue to stand by them well into tomorrow.
Ed was not the determining factor in my decision to run for State Rep in the 4th district. I have stated previously and I will state this again. The main reason I decided to run was because I saw an impending financial explosion(was I wrong?). At the same time, all I heard from the politicians was spend, spend, and spend some more. I ran because I believe the people of the 4th district deserve a statesman, not a politician. They deserve a statesman that understood what was happening to our economy, and understands how our economy will pan out in the future. They deserve a statesman who doesn’t cater to the idea of printing more money in hopes that it will fill the hole in the sinking boat. The same boat that began sinking because of that very nature.
I started off my campaign by not even mentioning Ed. I felt at the time, and even now, that the race between Ed and I was not about who is a “more cool” or “more accomplished” man, even though many GOP insiders made it so. I hold the position that stating their voting record or public comments is fair game and is in no way “slinging mud.” It’s simply stating the differences between the two of you. I mean c’mon, if you can’t stand up for what you believe in or how you voted, then you are in the wrong business! Ralph Ayres would not approve!
Ed and I talked a couple of times during the State Convention and I felt that, overall, we were fine with everything and we both held the position of moving forward.
You can handle criticism in a few ways. You can ignore it, deny it, or you can learn from it. Which is what I feel Ed ended up doing in the end. He learned from what I was saying and started to change his approach. By listening to the voters he is a stronger candidate today. The November results proved that. He was one of two main Republican candidates to actually win in Porter County. Ed even swept his Lake County territory, an area that is traditionally difficult to pull R votes.
So RR, like Ed and I, let’s move forward. 2010 is but a short time away however it will be ample time to get those seats filled with a big “R’s”, if we work together.
