Douglas County’s GOP Blocks GA Black Republican Chair from being a County Delegate

[RBE MODERATOR]

It’s not often I get to write about happenings in my old neck of the woods, but that’s a fact of life when you were born and raised in a relatively sleepy suburban county of metro Atlanta. Still, don’t let the “sleepy” bit fool you; once you peel back that layer, you find the same kinds of political gamesmanship and good ol’ boy network shenanigans that exist everywhere else.

This story comes to us courtesy of Erick’s old stomping grounds at Peach Pundit. Apparently, 1st Vice Chair of the Douglas County Republican Part Michael McNeely, who is also the Chairman of the Georgia Black Republican Council, has been blocked from being a delegate to the county’s GOP Convention by county GOP Board Member Jack Gamel. Peach Pundit links to this post from Constant Contact, where Bryan Tolar, 3rd Vice Chairman of the DCGOP, tells us:

At the Mirror Lake precinct table today, Douglas County GOP Board Member Jack Gamel led an effort to refuse Michael McNeely (a strong conservative and 1st Vice-Chair of the Douglas County GOP) a precinct delegate spot. There were 15 delegate slots available and only five people present, yet Jack insisted in his action. Jack’s petty old white man politics targeted one of the rising African American stars of Georgia and National GOP leaders. By a 3-2 vote, Jack’s efforts were successful.

Charlie from Peach Pundit, meanwhile, adds this:

I spoke to Michael McNeely today by phone.  He told me that Mr. Gamel told him that his exclusion was because McNeely ran against Gamel’s friend Terry Baggett last term for First Vice-Chair of the Douglas County Party – a position that Mr. McNeely won.  So, in the pettyness that is county party politics, we have a man at the precinct level who chose to block his county’s First Vice Chairman from being a delegate to his county’s convention out of what appears to be a petty act of revenge.

As Peach Pundit notes, none of this was against the rules, but this nevertheless is establishment politics at its worst. A conservative candidate (McNeely) dares to run against the guy hand-picked by a party boss, and as a consequence, the conservative gets hit with payback and shut out of the process.

Mr. McNeely’s race should be irrelevant to this discussion, but the optics here are not good nevertheless. The GOP already has enough of a problem with its reputation as the party of “old white men”, so what better way for us to live up to that image than by excluding a conservative black man from a county convention! It only looks worse when you consider the fact that McNeely is the Chairman of the Georgia Black Republican Council!

Nice job, guys.

More here: http://www.redstate.com/2013/02/11/douglas-countys-gop-blocks-ga-bl...

[Karl Smith]

Why not start a petition to get Douglas County GOP Board Member Jack Gamel removed? I agree with you that we do have an image problem and if Douglas County GOP Board Member Jack Gamel doesn't recognize that, then he's part of the problem. Get some signatures. Based on what you presented, you shouldn't have any problem finding many that disagree with his vote and the circumstances of that vote against McNeely. 

We have mid-term elections coming up and we cannot afford to wait for the next Presidential election to get a clue. We can send a powerful message of the validity and synergy of the Republican Party during the midterm and the fight should not be with each other. The simple changes to our party would make a world of difference.

[jack thomas]

Why not ignore it like you ignore so many other acts of racism by the GOP....???

Since the GOP ADMITTED to voter suppression against Black people and other minorites , why should any Black person vote for a party that  does that....???...Pray on that if you have to...

By the way , CPAC invited white supremacists AGAIN to spread racism at the next CPAC conference does that bother you...???

When you are man enough to address this let me know...

Karl Smith said:

Why not start a petition to get Douglas County GOP Board Member Jack Gamel removed? I agree with you that we do have an image problem and if Douglas County GOP Board Member Jack Gamel doesn't recognize that, then he's part of the problem. Get some signatures. Based on what you presented, you shouldn't have any problem finding many that disagree with his vote and the circumstances of that vote against McNeely. 

We have mid-term elections coming up and we cannot afford to wait for the next Presidential election to get a clue. We can send a powerful message of the validity and synergy of the Republican Party during the midterm and the fight should not be with each other. The simple changes to our party would make a world of difference.