Report from the RNC Convention (Prepare to be shocked!)

August 8, 2024

As you all know, Vicki Keen was elected to serve as Idaho’s National Committeewoman, and I was elected to serve as Idaho’s National Committeeman, at the Idaho GOP Convention in June. We are sending you this joint report updating you on our recent experiences at the Republican National Convention and Republican National Committee Summer Meeting.

IDGOP National Committeewoman Report

RNC Convention

It was my honor and pleasure to attend the 2024 RNC convention in Milwaukee as a delegate and member of the Platform Committee. It was estimated that there were 50,000 delegates and guests in attendance. The enthusiasm and support for Donald J Trump was indescribable, especially considering the recent assassination attempt. What an amazing experience it was to be in Milwaukee for such a historic moment with so many fellow patriotic Americans.

RNC Summer Meeting

Although I wasn’t officially a member of the RNC until July 19th, I attended the Rules Committee Meeting and the general session. Of particular interest in the general session was the emphasis placed on getting out the vote, protecting the ballot, and “swamping the vote” to ensure there are enough legitimate ballots to counteract the inevitable election fraud. Half of the votes cast will be before election day. We need to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat. The RNC currently has 94 lawsuits in five states: Arizona, Michigan, Florida, North Carolina, and Nevada for election integrity violations.

The RNC Convention Platform Committee

My experience on the Platform Committee was disheartening and frustrating. Before entering the meeting room, we had to surrender all electronic devices and they were locked in a bag to prevent any outgoing or incoming transmissions. We delegates sat at our designated spots and the normal formalities were carried out before individually we were called up to get our numbered copy of the pre-written, Platform. We were told it was personally drafted by Donald Trump and his policy advisors.

Without anyone having had a chance to read it, a motion was made to accept the Platform as presented. The motion was seconded and then debate was opened with only 1 minute of debate allowed. Barely had debate started when someone “called the question”. A vote was taken, and the Platform was approved by a majority vote with no deliberation or consideration of amendments. Rather than the delegates from the states and territories drafting the Platform as is customary, the entire process was over and done within less than two and a half hours as opposed to the normal meeting schedule which allowed for at least two days. Here is an article that describes what happened.

You can decide for yourselves what you think of the Platform, because there are certainly good things in it. The various policy advisors whose expertise helped shape the planks of the Platform explained their particular section to all of us, but the one topic that was not addressed at all was Chapter 9, item #4, the issue of life. It is limited now to one paragraph at the bottom of page 20 in a 22-page document.

Many Republicans are angry and appalled at such a drastic change in the party’s longstanding conservative stances on life and marriage. You can decide for yourself. https://prod-static.gop.com/media/RNC2024-Platform.pdf While I fully support the re-election of Donald Trump to be our next president, the abysmal way in which the Platform Committee Meeting was conducted was something I never would have expected to see in the Republican Party, and I hope the negative feedback will prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future.

IDGOP National Committeeman Report

The RNC Pre-Convention Committees

From August 11-16, I was in Milwaukee as one of Idaho’s 32 delegates attending the Republican National Convention. A lot of people do not know that the week before the convention, several convention committees convene to do their work preparatory to the convention to be held the following week. These committees include the rules committee, the credentials committee, and the Committee on Permanent Organization of the Convention.

Each state sends two representatives to participate in each of the committee meetings. Idaho sent the following to serve on these committees:

Credentials — Doyle Beck and Vicki Purdy
Platform — Dan McKnight and Vicki Keen
Rules and Order of Business — Brent Regan and Machelle Hamilton
Committee on Permanent Organization of the Convention — Beverly Guenette and Clinton Daniels

I want to thank each of these individuals for taking part in the pre-convention committee assignments.

The RNC Convention Rules Committee

One of the rules passed in the Convention Rules Committee was a minority report provision increasing the threshold from 25% to 35% to file a minority report. There are 105 people who sit on the Rules and Platform committees. Now, if someone wants to file a minority report, the person must have 37 signatures on a minority report petition (instead of 27) before the minority report can be taken up at the convention.

You might also be interested to know there are additional requirements that must be met before a minority report can be heard at the convention seeking to change the Platform or Rules coming out of a convention committee. Specifically, in addition to the 37 signatures from 105 committee members, a person must submit the signatures in a petition to the appropriate person, i.e., the chair or vice chair of the committee passing the platform provision or rule or the secretary of the convention. Importantly, the petition containing the 37 signatures and the minority report must be submitted within one hour of the vote held in the committee.

Let me explain what this means in the context of the newly adopted platform. Nobody saw the new proposed platform before the meeting began. This means no committee member had a chance to review it before the meeting commenced. If a person wanted to challenge changes in the newly adopted platform, he would need to get 37 signatures on a petition within 60 minutes of the vote challenging the adoption of the new platform and submit the petition within those 60 minutes to the appropriate person. If these requirements are not satisfied, then the minority report could not be considered at the convention.

In short, the rules make it practically impossible to oppose at the convention platform or rules changes coming out of the respective committees.

The RNC Convention Credentials Committee

The State of Missouri held a convention and elected their delegates to the Republican National Convention. The State Party Chairwoman claimed the party secretary lost the list of those people elected at the convention. So, the Chairwoman appointed her own delegates to attend the Republican National Convention. These appointed delegates were not the same ones elected at the convention.

Those delegates who had been elected at the convention but were not appointed filed a grievance with the Republican National Committee who upheld the Chairwoman’s actions. These delegates then appealed to the “Committee on Contests,” i.e., the Credentials Committee, where the matter was “litigated.”

The evidence was that the convention voted in their delegates but somehow the original list of delegates was lost. The Missouri GOP had a professional videographer who videoed the entire convention and could have provided video footage of the votes and the names of those delegates elected at the convention. However, the Chairwoman would not approve payment to the videographer so that he would produce the footage. So, there was “no evidence” of the names of the elected delegates.

Fortunately, an individual at the convention recorded the votes of the delegates and their names on his phone. As it turns out, the vote at the convention for the delegates was unanimous. The names on the video footage were reduced to a list that recreated the original delegates approved at the convention. The video footage was played for the committee who voted to reinstate the original Missouri delegates elected at the convention. I heard that nobody in recent memory can recall where the Committee on Contests exercised such broad-sweeping authority to right an obvious wrong. Usually, the committee addresses a narrow issue pertaining to a single delegate.

You’ll be proud that Doyle Beck and Vicki Purdy participated in this matter and voted to reinstate the original delegates. Doyle even asked a few questions to establish that the convention vote was unanimous.

Fun at the National Convention

You might find it interesting that Idaho was seated towards the rear of the convention seating. However, as it turned out, these were the best seats in the house because President Trump and other dignitaries were forced to walk right next to the Idaho delegates every night of the convention. Here is a video of President Trump blowing Beverly Guenette a kiss.

And here is a video of President Trump pointing to the Idaho delegates and saying, “Potatoes, I want some potatoes!”

Final Comments

I’ve explained in previous reports the purpose of the Republican National Committee and who attends its meetings. So, if you’ve read this before, feel free to skip it. However, a lot of new people are now involved in the Idaho GOP. For you who feel the need to know more about the Republican National Committee, please feel free to read on!

The Republican National Committee’s main function is to assist the Republican Party of the United States. It helps to promote the Republican political platform and the “party brand” or image. It helps coordinate fundraising and election strategy. It is also responsible for organizing and running the Republican National Convention.

The RNC is comprised of every Republican State Committee Chair, State Committeeman, and State Committeewoman from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the United States territories of the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Guam, America Samoa, and the Marieta Islands. All told, this makes for 168 members of the RNC who serve as a vital liaison between the state party leadership and the national party.

There are typically three annual gatherings of the RNC where members meet. These meetings are the Winter Meeting (typically held in January), the Spring Training, (typically held in April or May) and the Summer Meeting (typically held in late July or in early August). The Winter and Summer Meeting focus on committee business. The Spring Training is focused on educational sessions and allows members to share best practices.

Bryan Smith and Vicki Keen, respectively your Idaho National Committeeman and National Committeewoman.