A Blacklash Against A Mass. GOP McCain Endorsement
Yesterday, we reported the endorsement of Sen. John McCain by a handful of prominent College Republicans in Massachusetts, home of Gov. Mitt Romney.
Now there's a backlash. One Mass. Alliance of College Republican board member wants chair Michael Miltenberger to resign, citing a litany of alleged misdeeds. The McCain endorsement, in the view of these board members, was the final straw.
A board member e-mailed hundreds of Mass. Republicans a broadside against Miltenberger , but at the end, refused to identify him or herself "due to fear of retribution," the letter said.
A spokesperson for Romney's PAC said they have nothing to do with the letter.
Here's the letter:
I write to you today about a very important situation of concern relating to Massachuetts College Republicans. As a member of its Executive Board, I learned with profound dissapointment today that Massachusetts Alliance of College Republicans (MACR) State Chairman Michael Miltenberger, a Florida native, unilaterally decided that the MACR should prematurely endorse the presidential aspirations of U.S. Senator John McCain, a decision that was covered in today's edition of "The Hotline," a major national political news website (http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com).Endorsing one presumptive GOP presidential candidate over another when the race for our Party's presidential nomination is still more than eighteen months in the future is premature at best. However, the most dissapointing part of this endorsement is its snide tone and the perception it disingenuously offers. While he has not yet officially announced his intentions, many expect our Governor, Mitt Romney, to announce soon that he will seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2008. Governor Romney has faced unfair and unwarranted criticism in recent weeks over the authenticity of his conservative beliefs. So you can imagine why national news outlets picked up on Governor Romney's homestate College Republican federation endorsing a likely presidential nomination opponent, Senator McCain, and noting his "authenticity" and "straight talk" - in a subtle but clear jab at the Governor.
The MACR represents hundreds of College Republicans on scores of campuses from the Berkshires to Cape Cod, most of whom understand the importance of prudent leadership. Most importantly, almost all of these College Republicans understand the importance of political loyalty. Governor Mitt Romney has been an amazing asset to Massachusetts Republicans of all ages these last four years, and many of our members are excited and eager to assist him with his likely presidential bid. But with Miltenberger's unilateral endorsement of Senator McCain today, I speak on behalf of many MACR members concerned that top Massachusetts Republicans supporting Governor Romney's presidential bid would look unfavorably on MACR members because of the imprudence of the current MACR State Chairman.
It is important to understand, however, that Miltenberger's unilateral endorsement of Senator McCain is yet another example of his imprudent and self-serving style of leadership, at the expense of the MACR and its members. Since becoming MACR State Chairman in the spring of 2005, Miltenberger has consistently placed his own personal ambitions above our statewide organization's reputation and legitimacy in the eyes of top Massachusetts Republicans. In September 2005, Miltenberger began to effectively ignore his MACR leadership responsibilities in order to seek the chairmanship of the College Republican Northeast Caucus. Around this time, many MACR Executive Board members called for his impeachment due to negligence of duties, a show of disunity that soured the reputation of our statewide organization in the eyes of top Massachusetts Republican leaders.
When elections for the Northeast Caucus position were delayed until June 2006, Miltenberger spent almost all of the remaining weeks and months leading up to those elections traveling to other states in New England and across the nation attempting to build support for his national ambitions from other state College Republican leaders. While Miltenberger criss-crossed the country campaigning for a meaningless title, the MACR's membership strength withered in the absence of any statewide recruiting effort during the
2005-2006 academic year. And when they could have been most useful in helping our local and statewide Republican candidates gather nominating signatures this past spring, MACR members, and especially Miltenberger, were nowhere to be found. It is no surprise then that the MACR currently has no legitimacy in the eyes of top Massachusetts Republican leaders, as evidenced by the fact that not one top state party official spoke at our State Convention in Boston last spring.
The last straw for many came just last month when Miltenberger forced the impeachment of Jo Jensen, who has worked tirelessly for the Republican Party both as MACR Co-Chair and Deputy Director of Students for Saving Social Security, a national student organization advocating for Social Security reform.
For the sake of the future of the MACR, the final straw must be today's imprudent act of profound disrespect towards Governor Romney by Michael Miltenberger.
The Massachusetts Alliance of College Republicans desperately cries for new leadership.
This being the case, I submit the following requests:
*I call upon members of the MACR Executive Board and State Committee to join me in demanding Michael Miltenberger's resignation as State Chairman, effective immediately.
*I urge Massachusetts Republican Party leaders to do whatever is in their power publicly and/or behind the scenes to provide the MACR new statewide leadership.
This past election cycle was an extremely difficult and dissapointing one for Massachusetts Republicans. We need to regroup and refocus on the grassroots now more than ever to improve our electoral standing from its current untenable status. If we do not do this, the GOP will soon face extinction in the Bay State. I am confident Massachusetts College Republicans will contribute significant time and human resources towards this important goal in the future, but only with a new State Chairman at the helm of the MACR.
I appreciate your attention to this important message, and your efforts on behalf of the MACR.
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