Gary Glenn of the American Family Association won MI4SC (Michigan for a Conservative Senator) Straw Poll today. The question is will Freedom Works which was working with MI4SC now help fund his campaign or or will that money go to a more viable candidate? If that money goes to a more viable candidate, will Glenn's campaign manager follow that money? He has already switched campaigns once already.
There has been much controversey over this process. Many have thought this process to be rigged for Gary Glenn from the beginning especially since one of the MI4CS decision makers was Randy Bishop who was heavily involved with the Gary Glenn for Senate campaign. Mr. Bishop issued a statement that he was officially withdrawing from MI4CS late last year. However through out a good portion of 2011 he worked with many other members of MI4CS including Cindy Gamrat a recent transplant from Indiana, who is the leader of MI4CS. It appears Ms. Gamrat changed her views of what the responsiblities of the Tea Party were once she moved to Michigan.
In June of 2010 Ms. Gamrat was quoted by Indiana News Center Now "I don't know if it can get any more grass roots than what it is," says Huntington Tea Party founding member Cindy Gamrat. "There's no hierarchy, there's no one paying us or telling us to do every tea party."
Indiana News Center Now also went on to report:
While Gamrat does not see the movement becoming a serious alternative to the established political scene, she does see it has a way to encourage political awareness and debate. Two American values she considers crucial to democracy.
"If you asked me a year ago where we'd be today, I would never have dreamed that," said Gamrat. "
In addition some of MI4CS’s members it appears have resorted to dirty politics to move forward their agenda at any cost. Members associated with the group have misused the organization for their own political purposes. The leaders of MI4CS originally claimed that they would be transparent in the affairs of MI4CS, but they have been much less than transparent, keeping the names of participating groups a secret, and not disclosing other pertinent information pertaining to the groups activities. Some groups are not taking part; while other groups in the state were told that they were not allowed too participate in MI4CS, because they did not fit the "criteria" set forth by the leadership of MI4CS.
One group called ACES, or Americans for Constitutional Enforcement was not allowed to take part due to the fact that they had members in Wisconsin, as well as in Michigan. MI4CS requires groups to be solely based in Michigan. ACES is based in Iron Mountain, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
ACES has been is existence for sixteen years, and this may be because they do not endorse any particular candidate, and would not have served MI4Cs's cause.
The MI4CS list of criteria to join the organization and take part in their vetting, and straw poll was never made public by MI4CS, it was leaked by an unknown source. MI4CS purportedly only notified certain groups that met their so-called requirements for membership, and participation in their process. Other groups were left in clueless as to MI4CS's requirements, and not given any options for joining.
Exactly what is MI4CS’s criteria?
In a letter sent out some tea party members MI4CS revealed its criteria.
“MI4CS TEA Party Involvement TEA Party groups participating in Michigan4ConservativeSenate must meet the following qualifications unless otherwise approved by the MI4CS District Communication Representatives:
A TEA Party/912/ Liberty group with a mission or purpose of promoting the Constitution of the United States and/or Conservative Principles through various avenues such as rallies, meetings, education, projects, and activities.
-A TEA Party/912/Liberty group which was started in a grassroots manner by local people who have local decision making control over all aspects of the group and is not influenced or controlled or regulated by a state or national organization.
-A group that is not affiliated in membership with any current political party such as Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, etc.
-An Active TEA Party/912 or liberty group which is active through meetings, rallies, events, projects, or group activities
-An active group for at least 3 months by Nov. 12th, 2011 (the meeting at Dewitt). -A group with at least 10 active members.
-A group that is not a chapter of a national organization separate from the TEA Parties such as but not limited to American’s for Prosperity, Campaign for Liberty, Ace, etc.
- A group that has an avenue of members holding leadership of the TEA Party group accountable through such ways as annual voting, communication at general meetings or events, etc”
The reports are that certain individual members affiliated with MI4CS have resorted to unlawful harassment of persons who have spoken out in disagreement MI4CS‘s methods, or simply have opposed the candidate of choice, chosen by MI4CS’s members. These members then chose to spread the personal information of those who oppose them across Facebook, information like personal phone numbers, maybe even addresses of those in opposition to the groups agenda. This so other MI4CS activists can take part in the harassment also.
Some of the victims of this harassment have been looking into getting personal protective orders against theses MI4CS members engaged in this unlawful activity. One person who shall remain nameless, reports receiving harassing and even threatening phone calls at his/her private home phone. These incidents have been referred to the State of Michigan Attorney Generals office for investigation.
MI4CS has been losing members for some time as Tea Party groups have decided not to aid MI4CS in the coronation of their chosen candidate, or over other matters. Membership numbers are estimated at aprox. 50, but due to the lack of transparency coming from MI4CS leaders, no one knows for sure how many groups are still in MI4CS, and it appears they don’t want people to know how many, or what groups are still in MI4CS.
Could it be that MI4CS does not want people to know what groups are in, and what groups are out?
It appears that MI4CS is a tool created by a few people in order too co-opt other Tea Party groups for their own political agendas. Many of the people associated with MI4CS are supporting Gary Glenn. Gary Glenn is also the Director of the American Family Association of Michigan. It is unknown if Gary Glenn was involved or aware of the shenanigans of some of the MI4CS members or not, but there was a failure to react and take action to stop them.
MI4CS may have been originally formed with honest intentions, but it is clear now that those involved with it have corrupted it beyond hope, and it might be in everyone’s best interest that the group be shut down for good.
MI4CS claims that their mission is to “To ensure the United States senatorial representation of Michigan reflects conservative values and strict adherence with the Constitution of the United States as worded and originally intended by the writers of this sacred document.”
Should a small handful of MI4CS’s members/groups choose and candidate for every Patriot and Tea Party group in Michigan? What about the voices of ‘We the People‘? That what the Tea Party is supposed to be about in the first place? A little yeast spoils the whole batch, and in the case of MI4CS, it appears this is the case. It is a shame that people have to take a perfectly good idea and ruin it because of their own selfish intentions.
Hoekstra finished in the top three of Saturday's poll but wasn't in the final round. That was whittled down to Glenn and Clark Durant. The other candidates in the race include Randy Heckmann, Peter Konetchy, Scott Bowman and Chuck Marino.
The Republican winner of the August primary will face Stabenow in November.
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