True North

A fundamental belief of Republicans is that individuals, not a centralized government, make the best decisions about how most effectively to manage their lives and local affairs. Given that belief, it would seem to be a no brainer that the Minnesota GOP would manage the affairs of the party from the bottom up, not the top down. And yet, clearly two conflicting views exist in the Minnesota Republican Party today about how the party should be run.

On the one hand there are those in the party who would have the Minnesota GOP be a top-down, command and control organization -- an organization where unity is achieved through exclusion, decisions are made at the top and passed down to the troops, and information is controlled not distributed.

On the other hand, there is a growing segment of the party that believes individuals acting at the local level are in the best position to make decisions effecting action. They believe in an open party, based on principles rather than platform, in which debate is regarded as healthy and diverse values are respected, but principle is never compromised.

Is it possible to integrate those two visions to create and effective Minnesota GOP? Or, like “managed capitalism,” is “managed local control” an oxymoronic combination.  Can a reformed Republican Party maintain integrity and win elections? What kind of leadership would it take to make it a reality? How might it be accomplished?

At the FaceBook page of Grassroots for an Open Republican Party, you can offer your opinion on the top-down, bottom-up approach to managing the Minnesota GOP. Background on the grassroots movement to reform the Minnesota GOP can be found here.

Comments welcome at Grassroots for an Open Minnesota Republican Party.