Post Apocalyptic Iowa GOP

And so it begins.  I warned of the fallout of Matt Strawn’s resignation and already my point is being proven.  Yes, Strawn screwed himself and the Iowa Caucuses by doing irreparable harm to the Ames Straw Poll and the Caucuses themselves by his involvement with a special interest group and of course his abysmal handling of the caucus vote tally certification.  I get all that.  Oh and he was a high profile chairman who was never shy about getting in front of a camera and many started calling the state GOP, the Republican Party of Strawn.  Ok, I don’t think I’ve left anything out.

The void in question is the things that Matt Strawn did very well.  Organization and fundraising are tools that were sorely missing before Strawn took the helm of the state party.  I do feel he should have implemented a legitimate candidate training program the likes we haven’t seen since Chairman Kayne Robinson’s leadership for example.

So who can or will fill the leadership void?  The first to throw his hat into the ring is a familiar name, Dave Funk.  Funk, who got throttled in his bid for the GOP nomination for Congress by both Sen. Brad Zahn and Jim Gibbons is not that guy in my opinion.

Following his standard operating campaign procedure, Funk is playing the “I’m the first to declare my candidacy so nobody else needs to run” or “I called shotgun” game.  It did not work out too well when he ran for Congress in 2010 nor when he ran for Polk County Supervisor.  No organization or fundraising is a recipe for failure and Funk takes that with him in his bid to be state GOP chairman.

We need a candidate that is well versed in organization and party building (Strike 1 for Funk).  We need a chairman who has the ability to energize the GOP donor base and give a reason for new donors to get involved (Strike 2 for Funk).  We need a chairman candidate that is either high profile enough to be synonymous with leadership and success or low profile enough to not make the party an apparatus to promote themselves en route to a run for elected office (Strike 3 for Funk).

George Clinton may want the Funk, but I and the Iowa Republican Party do not.