Below is an email received from Pat Carl. I am posting this email with Pat's permission. Pat is the Regional Vice Chair of the Davidson County Republican Party for the South East Region. TRA is the Tennessee Republican Assembly, a group that claims to be the only real Republicans in the Republican Party. The rest of us are all RINOs (Republican in Name Only), according to TRA. Matt Collins is the person who four years ago came within one vote of defeating Kathleen Starnes for the chairmanship of the Party. He was elected First Vice Chair at that time, but after much controversy, the Party removed him from that position. Matt is a Ron Paul supporter and is Chairman (I think) of the Tennessee chapter of Campaign for Liberty. Dan Davis is the current First Vice Chair of the Party and is running for Chair in the upcoming elections. Tony Roberts is currently the Second Vice Chair and is running for reelection for that position. "Robert" is Metro Councilman Robert Duvall who is running for Chair of the Davidson County Republican Party. "Sharon" is Sharon Ford the Vice Chair of the TRA.
In other TRA news, current chairman Glen Hughes is leaving Nashville moving to New Orleans for a job. Rod
From: Pat
Carl <hhtpat@aol.com>
Date: Sat, Feb 9, 2013 at 6:48 PM
Subject: Tennnessee Republican Assembly
To: xxxx
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This is simply not how it happened.
ReplyDeleteSo far as I could tell, there were almost only TRA members, several like-minded guests of TRA members and me (and I am not a TRA member, nor did I vote). Here are the factual errors in the above email:
1) Sharon did NOT say what the requirements for voting were, she pulled out a copy of the relevant TCA on election laws and said those laws and/ or the bylaws would be posted. My understanding is that qualification to be a delegate is a matter of local bylaws, but it might have been in the TCA too. Her quote was "You look up the rules and bring a copy. Don't let anyone tell you what the rules are."
2) So far as I could tell, most of the attendees were long time TRA members (except for two youngish guests, one white and one black).. Many attendees appeared to be TRA leaders from out of county. I did not recognize any of the libertarians who come to the Conservative Groups meetings.
3) Matt Collins did not attend so far as I know. I have never been introduced to Matt Collins, but have been very interested in meeting this person who is so vilified because he must be a reasonably interesting person (I have since been told he was in Florida)
.
4) Dan did not say "just show up and people will vouch for you". He did list the alternative ways to qualify to vote as a delegate, which were the same qualifications I was told applied when I came to the last DCRP convention at the request of my friends Kathleen Starnes & Tony Roberts, who were running for reelection. I assume those are in the Bylaws. That is what Sharon said they would list on their website and that people should look at the rules and not take anything for granted (Sharon, not Dan, was running the meeting).
4) Dan made an aggressive speech, but it was not "combative". It was appropriate for him to make a strong speech. The radio clip was NOT played out of context, Dan played the early part which made it clear that Carl Boyd was trying to convince Bob to run for Congress, and Bob said "No, I live in a Congressional District that is unwinnable". Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t, but that was what was said by Bob in the radio clip. Bob spoke after Dan and did not question or take issue with the clip at that time.
5) The woman who was later identified to me as Pat did indeed leave the meeting early before the discussion so she did not witness the discussion. She did not seem to participate in anything either. SHE COULD NOT POSSIBLY HAVE WITNESSED OR REPORTED ON EITHER THE DISCUSSION OR ANYTHING THAT HAPPENED AFTER THE MEETING.
6) The TRA voted NOT to endorse either candidate. It was clear from the discussion after that vote that people were impressed with Dan's speech and his well-articulated future plan. It was also clear that everyone liked Bob but did not hear a growth message in his speech (or at least, no one who spoke up did). One TRA member in particular was a candidate/ future candidate who said very bluntly "My district is heavily minority. If Dan is Party Chair, those people will come out to vote for me and I can win."
7) Dan sounded like a candidate. Period. He had a message, carried himself well and was skilled and passionate, and THAT is why he was persuasive and carried the room.
If anyone wants to contact me further, I will be happy to share what I remember.
Connie Allison
Law Office of Connie Allison
533 Church Street, Suite 166
Nashville, TN 37219
(615) 254-7115
Connie, I too attended the meeting, my first. I have been following TRA on Facebook and wanted to meet some of the people. Your accounting of what happened, in my opinion, is very accurate. Pat Carl, whom I don't know, appeared to be having an emotional personal reaction instead of fair reporting. I was pleased that the group decided to not endorse either candidate. People attending articulated their reactions to the speeches that Dan and Robert made. I felt it was very fair. Most agreed that both were positive conservative candidates.
DeleteI say to Pat, if you want to do reporting on a meeting, at least attend the entire event, otherwise, you don't sound authentic and won’t be considered a good resource for information.
BJ Zeagler
LOLz, this is hilarious... getting blamed for something when I was 500 miles away ha ha ha.
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, the alleged author (which I've never met and don't know) is either a liar, or so ignorant as to be completely untrustworthy.
I was in Florida the last few days engineering a concert for actor Gary Sinise's band at Hurlburt Air Force Base. I've got the pictures and sunburn to prove it.
I am not a member of the Libertarian Party, I am a Republican and have been most of my life. I am also not a member of the TRA, I've never been to a TRA meeting, although I tend to be sympathetic to many of their objectives.
I've worked on Republican Presidential campaigns, US Republican Senate campaigns, Republican State House and Republican State Senate campaigns. I was an officer of the Party in 2009 and I am not planning any sort of grab for power in the DCRP this go around; I have other more important projects to focus on.
Nothing against Bob, but if this person represents him, he needs to get better people.
I was also present at the TRA. It's amazing how low the establishment will go to keep their power, it seems at any cost. I concur with Connie Allison's description of the meeting. Proof of the RINO mentality is the adoption of left wing techniques to attack in an attempt to minimize the opposition with half truths or outright lies if need be. America does not need politicians or party leaders that put their own power and position above that of citizens well being. These kind of people are the reason why the TRA is so important and why I travel more than an hour to get to meetings every month. Every TRA member I know is NOT involved for power but rather to serve and restore America to what it is capable of being. It consists of strong constitutionally conservative leaders who love God and their nation and make no excuses for it.
ReplyDeleteThis email is a complete fabrication of what happened at this meeting. Connie Allusion’s comments are pretty much the way the meeting progressed. The TRA is a statewide organization that only wants to bring the Republican Party back to its conservative roots. For that we are attacked and maligned on a regular basis.
ReplyDeleteWe count among our membership State Senators, State Representative’s, State Executive Board Members, County Party Chairmen, and various members of county GOP boards across the state. One must ask why we are attacked when our goals should be the same as any county or state GOP organization. If those goals are not the same, and we have stated our goals, then what is the goal of those who strive to tear us down?
Much has been said about Republicans can’t win in Davidson County because it is a Democrat County. I think that is wrong, I think Republicans can't win in Davidson County because of Republicans and their actions to hold on the status quo at any cost.
The TRA PAC donated to Bob Duvall last election cycle and I personally have opened funding doors to him that were otherwise closed. We choose to not endorse in this race because both candidates are members of the TRA. Personally I am appalled at the actions of Pat Carl the campaign manager of Bob Duvall and demand a rectraction.
Glen Hughes, CPA CFE
President Tennessee Republican Assembly.
I don't know Pat Carl, but it is interesting that she feels qualified to comment in part on events that she claims happened after she left the meeting. The credibility of those remarks is questionable. People whose opinions I DO value, who stayed through the WHOLE MEETING, rather than leaving early in a huff, corroborate the account of Connie Allison, above.
ReplyDelete