Ron Paul and his rEVOLution
columnist: George Dance

Topic: Political Parties
Pure Bunk

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Because he walked out of his own convention after the Ron Paul Republicans showed up, Jackson County (MO) GOP chairman Bunk Farrington will not be a state convention delegate. So, naturally, he is trying to have the results invalidated.

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by George Dance
(Libertarian)
Thursday, April 17, 2008

Republican conventions in Jackson County, Missouri, are normally brief, business-like events attended by only a handful of party faithful: ward and township committeepersons, major contributors, and the like. One small reward these movers and shakers - known by some as the "Ward Parkway" Republicans (WPR) - enjoy for their faithrul service is to vote each other as delegates to the Missouri state convention (this year being held May 30-31 in Branson). As a bonus, state delegates also become delegates to the Congressional District convention. All at their own expense, not the party's, of course.

Not this year, though. As soon as the doors of William Chrisman High School were opened, in flowed a crowd of 135 unfamiliar, enthusiastic, mainly young new faces. In the words of conventioneer Hickman Mills (who sounds like a WPR): "One or two appeared to be dressed as patriotic leprechauns." (1) Well, it was two days before St. Patrick's Day.

County chairman Buford "Bunk" Farrington lost no time in sizing up the situation. It was not hard to tell who these new arrivals were; according to another conventioneer: "the parking lot was lined with Ron Paul signs. Almost every car in the parking lot had a Ron Paul sticker. There was a Ron Paul table in the entry staffed with people" Plus, "every single seat in the auditorium had upon it Ron Paul pamphlets outlining his stance on issues." (2) The Ron Paul Republicans (RPR) had come to Jackson County.

Farrington, not one to let unexpected events disrupt his convention, quickly took the situation in hand. First, he greeted the new arrrivals, and gave them a quick course in convention procedure; taking care to "explain the sign-in situation. In doing so, he said that those attending had to be Republicans for the day. Among other things, he explained being checked against the voter log and signing in" (4) (that last being a top priority: state rules require county conventions to submit the sign-in rosters and voters' lists along with the names of elected delegates.)

The next item of business was to delay the start of the meeting by a half-hour, so that Farrington could find someone in the RPR to make a deal with on the delegate elections. He was directed to Deborah Wells, the Paul campaign's Missouri State Field Coordinator, and the two hurriedly hammered out a "unity slate": 107 RPR delegates, 80 WPR.

That important business taken care of, it was time to call the convention to order. Things began smoothly enough. "Conciliatory long time Republican County Chairman and eminent Independence attorney Bunk Farrington" (as Mr. Mills describes him) assumed the chair; RPR Ralph Munyan filled in as secretary. Committees were struck, reflecting the RPR/WPR balance. Some RPR resolutions - like those opposing Real ID and Animal Registration - were quickly passed; more controversial ones - like those opposing the Iraq War and the Patriot Act - were quietly culled.

The first sign of trouble came with a resolution directing the state convention to unbind the National Delegates. Under current GOP rules Missouri's 55 National Delegates, elected at the state and CD conventions, are "bound" to primary winner John McCain: their votes must go to him on the first ballot. However, state party rules like that one can be changed at the Branson convention by a vote of the state delegates. County conventions, in turn, have the right to pass resolutions directing the state convention to make such rule changes, all well as to bind their own state delegates on those votes.

The RPR proposed a "controversial resolution to change the party rule that delegates to the national convention must vote according to the winner of the primary election, [so that] each delegate could vote their conscience. There was outrage and many red faces. That would make Missouri a caucus state for Republicans instead of a winner-take-all state. It passed , to the chagrin of the Ward Parkway crowd." (2) The vote was 130-74 in favor.

Alarm bells began going off in Bunk Farrington's head; he began to realise what actually was at stake in the room. "They're trying to pass a resolution that they don't have to vote for John McCain," he later breathlessly told the Kansas City Star. "Did they tell you that?" (3)

Despite his misgivings, Farrington pressed on. Moving on to delegate nominations, he began reading off all 187 names of the "unity slate." After all, a deal is a deal. It was not long, though, before he was interrupted.

The interrupter was one Michael Michelson, described in one account as "an 18 year old kid with zeal and a enough knowledge of Robert's Rules [of Order]" (2), and in another (Mills') as "a 20ish young man with a smattering of high school debate experience, who's [sic] name may actually have been "Point O'Information". As Mills tells it, Michelson "bounded to his feet demanding to debate the unity slate nomination with a cry of 'Ron Paul doesn't compromise!'" (1)

Bunk Farrington informed Michelson, in no uncertain terms, that he could not debate nominations. However, he added, the young man could, if he wished, nominate his own slate. Michelson proceeded to do just that, submitting his own slate of 175 Paul supporters -- an "all Paul" slate -- which was speedily seconded.

Despite its being out of order, a heated debate immediately ensued. "Ross Perot was mentioned, tempers flared, someone who was out of order said it was time for the real Republicans to stand up. And everyone in the room stood." (2)

By then, Bunk Farrington had had enough. Stepping from the podium, he looked Ms Wells in the eye and intoned: ""In politics, your word is your bond;" then stormed from the room. A "diminishing group of seventy Republicans regulars" (most of the Ward Parkway crowd) followed him out. (1)

Farrington later told the KC Star that he left because "he was angry" that the RPR supporters reneged on their agreement to the unity slate. "We had a compromise," he told the paper. "They broke the deal." (3)

However, had Farrington stayed on, he would have seen something different. After a brief hiatus to consult Robert's Rules -- what is the proper procedure when the chairman walks out of the meeting? -- Mr. Menyan took the chair, a new secretary and a parliamentarian were elected, and regular business resumed.

Then it was discovered that the nomination slates were missing. So were the voters' lists. So were the sign-up rosters (which are required to be submitted to the state party). Apparently, Farrington had taken all of the paperwork with him.

Debate ensued about whether the first slate could be voted on, as the list of names (and many of the candidates) had just walked out; but that challenge was voted down.

Then the local police showed up (summoned by Bunk Farrington?). However, "they said nothing and did not interrupt the proceedings in any way, and then left without incident." (4)

The unity slate was moved "as read," but voted down by only 10 votes. The all-Paul slate was approved by a second close vote (72-62).

Look again at that vote total. Only 134 voters -- almost all of them Ron Paul supporters -- remained in the room. Yet the unity slate almost passed, and the Paul slate almost failed. Though the ballot was secret, it looks like Ms Wells and her faction held to their original deal. Had Farrington and the WPR gang stayed and voted, in other words, the unity slate would have passed; they defeated it themselves by walking out. By leaving, they helped to send a slate of 175 Ron Paul delegates to the state convention.

The RPR will undoubtedly view the results as a triumph. To some, though, they reflect a sad state of affairs:

There was a lot of institutional G.O.P knowledge and experience in that room who took a big slap in the face when the mixed slate was not just immediately accepted. There are people who almost always go to the state convention who now cannot, including some sitting politicians. Now, because of a poorly attended caucus, all of the Jackson county delegates will be Ron Paul supporters. And it wouldn't have been so, if the Jackson County Republican mainstays hadn't acted like juveniles and walked out before voting. (2)

There is a sequel.

On Mar. 27, successful delegates were informed that "We finally have confirmation that the names filed by us are the only ones accepted by the state for Jackson County. Thus, you are a delegate." (4)

However, on Apr. 8, Ohio newsblog ConnieTalk reported that "a challenge of the entire caucus" has been filed with the state party. "One of the complaints made is that the filings should not be accepted because they were missing the sign-in rosters." (5) The man behind the challenge? None other than Bunk Farrington, the very man who appears to have absconded with those rosters in the first place.

That news, and reports of other caucus challenges coming out of Missouri, prompted this statement from Ron Paul's campaign: "The Paul campaign believes that a handful of GOP officials are playing machine politics and breaking their own rules to disenfranchise Paul supporters." (6)

We will report further developments as they occur. On the other hand, maybe we won't; there has been far too much Bunk reported here already.

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(1) Hickman Mills, "Saturday in Jackson County Republican caucus wonderland," Prime Buzz, Mar. 17, 2008.
http://primebuzz.kcstar.com/?q=node/10514#comment-15893

(2) rrchill, "Parade skipping and G.O.P. juvenile conduct," The Unique Thing About Today ..., Mar. 18, 2008.
http://journals.aol.com/rrchill/unique/entries/2008/03/15/parade-skipping-and-g.o.p.-juvenile-conduct./2533

(3) Dave Helling, "Ron Paul's Missouri supporters take charge of weekend county caucuses," Kansas City Star, Mar. 17, 2008.
http://www.kansascity.com/153/story/535453.html

(4) More Details Regarding the Jackson County Caucus," American by Birth ..., Myspace, Mar. 27, 2008. http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=38430171&blogID=371455754

(5) "The Fight Over Ron Paul, John McCain Delegates," ConnieTalk, Apr. 8, 2008. http://www.connietalk.com/paul_mccain_delegates_040808.html

(6) "Missouri GOP Playing Machine Politics with Ron Paul Delegates," Business Wire, March 25, 2008. http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20080325006318&newsLang=en

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2008 George Dance, all rights reserved.
Published: Thursday, April 17, 2008
Last modified: Thursday, April 17, 2008

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