In a story that has received very little attention in the national media that tends to take its marching order from the well-funded major parties, the Republican National Committee has spent much of this past week trying to unseat duly elected delegates to the national convention because they are supporters of Congressman Ron Paul. The final blow came yesterday when the RNC, unable to get the Maine delegation to comply with a series of so-called compromises, simply decided to nullify the entire Maine delegation and replace them with their own hand-picked delegates. In effect, the Republican National Committee has said that Maine does not exist. In response to this perceived abuse of power, Republican Governor Paul LePage from Maine quickly made a statement that he will follow through with his promise to boycott the National Convention because he believes his citizens are being disenfranchised.
Later in the day, the RNC passed a new rule, giving itself power to change any rule without a delegate vote. Grass roots Republicans have reacted by calling this a power-grab designed to stifle dissent. They believe the GOP is consolidating power in an attempt to override grass roots intentions that may run counter to their top-down agenda. Grass roots activists believe Governor Romney is either behind this top down assault or he is a perpetrator by omission. In either scenario, many are seeing this as a harbinger of what would come if the Governor were elected President of the United States. On the surface it looks like a management style that would be a threat to representative democracy.
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