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Tuesday, May 18th, my name is on the ballot for Republican State Committee. Why would I run for this obscure, no-pay post?

I run because I’m just sick of the political manipulation which is carried out in our name.

In February, I attended the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania State Republican Committee, held ostensibly to decide whether, and whom, to endorse in the primary races for U.S. Senate, Governor and Lt. Governor. I carried proxy ballots on behalf of two committee members who could not attend. Since I was not there to express my own opinion, I had the liberty to observe the proceedings.

What I saw alarmed me — as a Republican, and as a citizen of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Quick background: Republican State Committee is composed of hundreds of elected representatives, serving four year terms, who have the following duties..

• Represent all registered Republicans from their county or district at meetings of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania and vote on official party business on behalf of their constituencies.

• Communicate all relevant Republican Party information to county leaders and precinct committee people.
• Take an active role in their county party and local campaigns.
• Serve as a contact and resource for all statewide campaigns in their county.
• Attend all Republican Party of Pennsylvania Meetings and local party events.

The manipulation started before the meeting in Harrisburg. The state party held regional caucuses, one of which I attended. We heard from almost all of the candidates for statewide office, face to face, and prepared to vote on the endorsement question. But just before the balloting, a representative from the state party said he was going to announce the vote results from other regional caucuses. Several committee members immediately protested, noting that they had heard from the candidates themselves, and did not need to be swayed by others’ opinions. Dismissing their concerns, the party official announced those results anyway.

Then in Harrisburg, on Saturday morning a regional breakfast was held, at which the same party official said he wanted to announced how the “leadership committee” had voted Friday night. Again, protests erupted from committee members who had spent nearly a year vetting these candidates, often in person, and didn’t want to be told how to vote. Their protest fell on deaf ears, but they were assured that in the general meeting, this tactic would not be repeated and we would have full debate, particularly over the issue of whether to endorse at all.

Yet when the time came, party chairman Rob Gleason began the general session by announcing again how the leadership committee had voted. No discussion period was allowed before the question of whether to endorse, and the roll call began. Ultimately, the state committee chose to issue the following endorsements: Pat Toomey for Senate, Tom Corbett for Governor and Jim Cawley for Lt. Governor.

I’m not concerned at the moment about who was endorsed, or even that the state committee chose to endorse. Although I oppose the concept, in general, and I’ll explain my views on that in a moment.

No, what alarmed me was the successful effort by Chairman Gleason and others to “build momentum,” making not only endorsement seem inevitable, but the choice of whom to endorse a foregone conclusion.

It was political manipulation of a sort I associated with old stories of machine politics in big cities, in which a handful of elitists decide in advance what will happen, and then work to make it look like legitimate consensus. Walking out of that room, I felt dirty. This is MY Republican party, and what they did was, therefore, done in MY name…and yours.

Should the Party Do Endorsements?
In general, no.

There was a time when endorsements were a valuable service. Before the internet and ubiquitous radio and video, and multimillion dollar campaign coffers, and cheap air transportation, it was hard for the average Republican voter to get to know the candidates. Having a group of elected officials review the candidate qualifications and pronounce its collective opinion may have served a useful purpose. No longer.

Today, the Republican State Committee should endorse only when not doing so would represent tacit approval of a candidate who is either demonstrably not a Republican, or who has ethical or legal issues that would sully the name of the party were he allowed to parade about wearing the GOP sash.

In all other circumstances, the party bosses and the state committee persons should let the voters make up their own minds in the May primary elections.

Some have argued that if the party does not endorse, then state committee persons have no function. But as you saw from the list of duties above, that’s just not true.

I would have no quarrel, by the way, if the state committee voted to “approve” statewide candidates. In other words, committee persons would still meet the candidates, research their qualifications and sound them out on their views. But then they would grant the stamp of approval to any and all candidates who met the baseline qualifications of principle and integrity set out by the party.

In that scenario, the 2010 meeting would have resulted in “approval” of Pat Toomey and Peg Luksik, of Tom Corbett and Sam Rohrer, and of most, or perhaps all, of the 18 or so Lt. Governor candidates.

In other words, the state committee would say, “All of these folks are legitimate Republican candidates. Now, let’s let them fight it out in an open, civil and vibrant primary process. Let the Republican voters decide, and then the party comes together behind the people’s choice and works to ensure Republican victory in the general election.”

I’m running for the Lehigh County seat on the Republican State Committee. Near the name Scott Ott, you’ll also see County Commissioner Glenn Eckhart and incumbent state committee person Ron Young. You can vote for only two of us. I respect both Glenn and Ron. They are qualified for the position.

Whether I win this election or not, I will continue to work for a Republican party that represents liberty and justice for all, limited and truly-representative government and free markets. If we want our Commonwealth and our country to be like that, we should start by living out those values in the governance of our own Republican party.

I’m Scott Ott, candidate for Republican State Committee on Tuesday May 18th, and if this message had cost anything other than my own time, I would have paid for it.

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