S.C. Republicans allege intraparty spying by GOP good ole boys

S.C. Republicans allege intraparty spying by GOP good ole boys

The RINO's are listening in.

Allegedly GOP staffers listened in on activists.

John O’Connor

COLUMBIA --

State Republican Party staff members eavesdropped on a conference call organized by party activists to strategize ways to convince GOP candidates adopt more of the party platform, according to several people who participated in the meeting.

Republican activists have been critical of chairman Karen Floyd's tenure, arguing the party is spending too much money on consultants at the expense of promoting conservative ideas and candidates.

S.C. GOP 1st Vice Chairman Patrick Haddon organized the early September call with party activists including Randy Page, Chad Connelly and Justin Evans. Organizers said the call was intended as brainstorming session for fall campaigns, and not to discuss party leadership or direction.

But when the call ended, the list of participants contained an unknown number. Organizers called the number and reached a phone within Republican Party offices.

State party officials declined to discuss the conference call.

"No comment," S.C. GOP executive director Joel Sawyer said. "I'm not confirming or denying anything."

Haddon said the organizers are concerned about the impact on November elections.

"It's about getting our candidates elected," Haddon said of the discussion. "This is a family deal. We're not going to do anything until" after Nov. 2.

Joining a conference call uninvited can have serious legal consequences. A former director of the Virginia Republican Party, Ed Matricardi, was convicted of a felony in 2003 for listening in on two Democratic Party conference calls discussing redistricting.

The conference call is also the latest evidence of the uneasy relationship between activists affiliated with the tea party movement and more traditional party members. After the S.C. GOP and tea party activists struck a deal to work together last spring, tea party groups criticized Floyd for subsequent national media appearances and attempting to co-opt their movement. A similar debate played out in the GOP gubernatorial primary, where nominee Nikki Haley defeated three more established rivals.

Tuesday, House Republican leadership held a press conference with Floyd to reassure voters of their conservative beliefs and that GOP leadership in Columbia - the S.C. House majority since 1994 - "isn't anything like Washington," as Speaker Bobby Harrell said.

(The good ole boys in SC are very similar to obama scum. They will do anything to gain and stay in power. These are the people who "We The people" must remove from elected and unelected offices.) Story Reports


S.C. Republicans allege intraparty spying by GOP good ole boys