GOP result shocks McKasy
Karen Boothe, 6/3/96

The State Republican Party's convention in Duluth was full of surprises. Bert McKasy, who went INTO the convention looking to be a clear winner, left without an endorsement. He described the process as fickle as the weather....saying just as the warm sunny weather changed to cloudy and COLD over the weekend...so does POLITICS change.

Minnesota Public Radio's Karen-Louise Boothe takes a look at how the convention's outcome, might affect not only the campaigns of the contenders in the race, but the party itself:

When the convention opened Thursday night, it seemed like delegates were headed toward a quick endorsment of Bert McKasy....after all, the lines in the sand seemed to have already been drawn. But lines in the sand are easily SHIFTED and Senate CAndidate Monti Moreno was the main force behind it. Moreno, a hairstylist from Stillwater, delivered a speech which included sharp words against gays and lesbians, lawyers, liberals and lawmakers. He even raised a musket over his head symbolizing his belief in the second amendment and opposition to gun control:

#7702 monti: 15-secs "if you can't do it with ballots, do it with bullets...man, applause fades out."

Moreno was then shadowed by a boy dressed in a minuteman costume who tried to stay at Moreno's heels as he worked the floor rallying support by casting doubt over whether McKasy is a conservative's conservative.

When his OWN campaign collapsed after the first ballot, his supporters faithfully cast their ballots for Rudy Boschwtiz and NOT fellow conservative Bert McKasy. They were STRANGE bedfellows...but it worked. And McKasy's endorsement was blocked right thru the 14-ballot in 24-hours over the period of two days.

Even though McKasy consistently won the support of the majority of the delegates, the result was a clear repudiation of his candidacy and left him considering whether to leave the race. Without the endorsement, McKasy doesn't get the exclusive financial and political support from the Party.

AND...he'll be up against a well financed, well-entrenched, and well-known Rudy Boschwitz. McKasy says if he learned ANYTHING over the weekend, it was that in POLITICS can be as unpredictable as the weather:

#7707 Bite: 17-secs "don;t even know about."

McKasy says his grassroots support is growing.

As for Rudy Boschwitz...the weekend was a victory. It showed that despite his political absence since 1990, he's kept his party faithful. Boschwitz rejects the label of convention SPOILER that was overheard more than ONCE at the convention:

#7709 Rudy: :28-secs "for sure."

Boschwitz has encouraged ALL five candidates to run in the primary...a process he now believes is more open and representative of a collective Republican voice in the state.

But IS the Republican voice in Minnesota a UNIFIED one? After all, the delegates were clearly divided on their endorsement...and party leaders like Chairman Chris Georgacas had described them as reflective of ALL at-large republican voters in the state.

Georgacas, who was visibly displeased with the failure to endorse, rejects the notion that the party in Minnesota is a house divided. He says the delegates were simply faced with a difficult choice between two similar candidates, and in his effort to put the best possible spin on things, he called it an "embarassment of riches" if nothing else:

#7712 Chris: :27-secs "our great opportunities"

Georgacas says state Republicans are unified against Democrat Paul Wellstone....and THAT alone is enough of a tie to bind in this election year.

Even so, delegates on the floor were not as optimistic. As ONE delegate put it at the very end..."the party's not OVER, but it's in trouble."

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