Former GOP Chair: Say No to Trump

Wayne Woodman

Wayne Woodman is the former Lehigh County GOP Chair, and was the architect behind a push for more conservative Commissioners and Scott Ott's Executive races. He and I were on opposite sides then and remain that way on most issues. But guess what? We agree about Trump. The Morning Call has published his op-ed in opposition to Orange Crush. What you see below is a longer version. (No Republicans were injured in the drafting of this op-ed.)

I have been a Republican for over fifty years. Before I was old enough to vote, at age 8, I went door to door in my Los Angeles neighborhood for Barry Goldwater. I graduated high school early and worked for the Los Angeles County Party as an intern and coordinator. Ronald Reagan inspired me after Watergate. In my fifteen years in the Lehigh Valley, I have served as a committee person, finance chair and two term Party chair. My parents were immigrants and I was taught early and often how rare a commodity freedom is and how a growing and ever more influential government could suffocate it and stifle ordinary citizens' pursuit of their own ambitions.

I have lived through the elevating experience of a visionary President Reagan, who appealed to the best aspirations in all of us. I have experienced the well intended but rudderless leadership of George W Bush. After 8 years of Barack Obama I was hopeful and hungry for a Republican presidential candidate who could recapture the imagination of voters; whose vision and leadership could heal the partisan divide of the last fifteen years and unite the nation behind an aspirational vision that would establish a constructive course for the future. Sixteen candidates stepped forward, the best crop in a generation, and each offered their ideas and policies. I was optimistic that one would rise to the nomination and the others would unite behind him to retake the White House. And then Donald Trump entered the fray and very quickly the nominating process took on all the ugliness of a reality TV show.

Mr. Trump is now my Party’s front runner. He has achieved that status, not by appealing to the better angels of our natures with an aspirational vision but, rather, with a blinding ambition that caters to the lowest impulses that human beings harbor. His leadership, such as it is, is characterized by his narcissism, his amorality and his prevarication. He leads in the same way as Huey Long, George Wallace or Father Coughlin; he appeals to fears without basis in fact, and to emotions grounded in anger.

That anger and frustration is understandable if not constructive. Under fifteen years of George W Bush and Barack Obama, we have had historically low economic growth. Republican politicians did not reform the growth of the federal government under Bush and Republican voters' expectations were raised again when we began to retake majorities in the House and Senate in 2010. Rather than speak unpleasant truths, they told comforting lies about what was possible and how long it would take to accomplish. The GOP as an institution needs to recognize its own role in the morphing of Donald Trump from a crony capitalist narcissist to a Presidential front runner. Trump is a channel for that anger and large numbers of Republican voters are more motivated by the potential to destroy the Party that elevated their hopes than they are of elevating the state of our Party’s politics.

I respect the will of the voters if Trump is chosen as the Republican nominee. I believe in competitive primaries and the governing power of market forces. However, there is a prerequisite that supersedes even that. My first judgement of any candidate is character. Without character, there is no integrity, and without integrity, it doesn't matter what a candidate says he stands for. Flexibility is not a principle. It is a tactic and a useful one in politics. But without principles that can be counted on, a candidate is nothing more than a sapling in the wind and his supporters are nothing more than his saps.

Mr. Trump’s character is deeply flawed. My assessment is based on a close following of his businesses career from his Casino days in Atlantic City to his use of his name to deceive people into parting with their money for products from failed condo projects to phony University curriculums. His principles seem to begin and end in his narcissism. His vision ends in the mirror. His behavior is reflective of an authoritarian rather than an American President. He wishes to “loosen” libel laws so he can use the judiciary to threaten a free press. He says he can get along with Paul Ryan but if not, Ryan will have big problems. That is not the vision that unites the Party or the country. It is, rather, the language of a mob boss running a protection racket. “Nice Speaker's chair ya got there Mr. Ryan. Be a shame if anything happened to it.” The anger of his supporters seems to make all this meaningless. New York may once again have another Teflon Don. However this one will have the potential to do much more damage than a Queens Mafia boss once did.

So while I respect the will of my Party’s electorate I ask for that same respect in return. If Mr. Trump is elevated to my Party’s nominee I will not support him. If Mr. Trump defines what it means to be a Republican then I cannot be a Republican. I will leave the Republican Party to become an Independent. I will not lend my name and reputation to the GOP under his leadership. I will fight for those candidates in the House and the Senate who do have vision and character in the hopes that they will rise to the occasion to defeat the policies of the left that have so damaged this country for so long. I will support those who are willing to resist and oppose a President Clinton or a President Trump, despite his being of their Party. Profiles in Courage is great book but also a thin one; and thin for a reason. Let's hope, like Senator Sasse, more leaders rise to the occasion. I searched my heart and my conscience to reach my decision. I hope I have motivated you to search yours.

Lehigh GOP Boss Woodman Wants to Purge Latina Committee Woman

Back in 2011, Lehigh County GOP Chair Wayne Woodman told me he is all about "free market politics", under which local party machinery shies away from endorsements and in favor of making races more exciting by attracting numerous candidates. That sounded exciting, to be honest.but in practice, Woodman has been more like exactly what he condemned - a closed club in which the "game is rigged" in favor of party boss favorites. Nowhere has this been more clear than with his treatment of Wanda Mercado-Arroyo, one of two Hispanic state committeewomen. He's running his wife against her, not in some egalitarian expression of democracy, but for revenge.

Mercado-Arroyo committed an unpardonable sin. She disobeyed Woodman. In 2011, she dared to run for State Rep Doug Reichley's seat after he was anointed a judge and was carried away by angels. In addition to telling Wanda she had no name recognition, the California transplant also told her the area just isn't ready for a Latina. Woodman would rather see Harvard man Ryan Mackenzie run than a graduate of the University of Puerto Rico.

Mackenzie went on to win. Maybe Woodman was right. But it was "free market politics", which we Democrats refer to as democracy.

For defying Woodman, he is running his wife, Lisa Scheller, against Wanda.

So much for reaching out to Hispanics.

I don't mean to suggest Woodman is a bigot, just that he plays favorites.

Through his wife, Woodman has funneled money to the following candidates:

Scott Aquila raised $8,510 in the primary against Percy Dougherty. $5,000, or 59% of that, came form Lisa.

Mike Schware raised $10,600 in the primary against Norma Cusick, Nate Brown and Kevin Ryan. $5,000, or 47% of that, came form Lisa.

Scott Ott raised $86,760 in the primary against Dean Browning. $30,000, or 35% of that, came from Lisa.

So in the free market primary of 2013, Wayne and Lisa contributed $40,000 to their preferred candidates while their Republican opponents received zero. This sounds an awful lot like a party boss rigging the game in favor of his candidates.

Ron Beitler Calls Own Party Boss For Cheap Shot

This morning, Lehigh County GOP Chairman Wayne Woodman sent a lengthy missive to the party faithful, which was designed to rebuild confidence after Scott Ott's loss in the Executive race. He also thanked some of the volunteers who helped in their recent races. But along the way, he managed to piss off a newly elected Lower Commissioner.

Here's what Woodman wrote about that race.

In Lower Macungie Township, two gentlemen who had previously been registered as Democrats, changed their registration to Republican because they knew they could not win running as Democrats in the township. They both secured victories on Election Night. We are certainly looking to draw individuals to the Republican Party, but we want them to come because they agree with our rationale and principles, not because they view it as a way to win a municipal election.

in effect, Woodman is calling these dudes RINOs, or Republicans of convenience.

One of these Republicans, Ron Beitler, is unhappy at the slur. He sent his own lengthy missive to Woodman, with copies to numerous others.

Chairman Woodman,

This morning seeing your email in writing I felt your words came off a little more harsh than I expected regarding Brian Higgins and myself based on our conversation last night. Problem is, as I see it my character was called out publicly. Because of that I feel a response is warranted. An entire paragraph of your email was devoted to insinuating Brian Higgins and I mis-represented ourselves to "win an election".

I can assure you and other esteemed members of the committee that "Strategy" played no part in decision making about my political identity. My party affiliation over the last 15 years has been a personal decision. I came to it organically over time. On the national level I believe President Obama’s ACA circumvents the 10th amendment and related federalism principles. Philosophically I am a staunch supporter of states rights and bottom up Government. I have written about and spoke to these concerns in public for years. While it was my take on ACA that solidified my conversion to the Republican party around 2008 the change was the culmination of a much lengthier realization that began around 2005 after graduating from College.

While in College the the early 2000's yes, I was a Democrat but even than I associated with the Blue Dog coalition identifying as a fiscally Conservative Democrat. In summary, I can assure you I wasn't thinking about the Lower Macungie Township Commissioner race in 2008-09 and certainly not when coming to grips with my personal political identity more than a decade ago.

Also I wanted to bring to the attention of the Committee what I see as a flaw in your reasoning. Specifically that I changed registration "because I viewed it as a way to win a municipal election." Here is a fact. In 2011 a fairly weak candidate who put in very little work Bob Sharpe (D) lost to Doug Brown (R) by a very slim margin here in LMT.

This is germane to this conversation because when I said (as I have consistently for over a year) that I could have won as a Democrat in Lower Macungie I believe it. I know my township inside and out right down to the individual neighborhoods and voting precincts. No one knows this township better than me and no one was going to out-work me in this campaign. I would have been competitive either party.

This is important because were I in the business of misrepresenting myself to voters I would have [run] as a Democrat.

Why? Because one school of though is it would have been the path of least resistance. Obviously I predicted "party switcher" would be used against me. And of course it was ad nauseam. Both by all 3 of our opponents and the LC Republican party in a well funded campaign based on that premise. Because I chose not to mis-represent myself and run as a Republican since those are the values that line up with my own I set myself up for criticism. I did this knowingly.

Lastly, no single candidate in the entire Lehigh Valley wrote publicly more about the issues surrounding their particular race than I have. As I said to you last night, I challenge anyone to find an issue where I am ideologically apart from the Republican party. www.ronbeitler.com

This is my single response. In short, I’m uninterested in engaging in a debate about this. I've copied those in the party whose contact information I have. I felt compelled to respond since in my eyes the email came off as an attack on my character. I would be remiss if I didn't defend myself.

I believe that when campaigns are over, it's then time to govern effectively. And that's what I plan to do. I look forward to joining what will now be on average one of the youngest Republican controlled municipal boards in the Lehigh Valley. I think that is reason to be excited about Lower Macungie.

I felt the paragraph about Brian and I was unnecessary, counter productive and distracting. Moving on I look forward to doing what is right for the residents of Lower Macungie Township who elected me in both the primary and general.

I am never shy about talking about any issue. I welcome any emails with any concerns about anything I've written about on my blog over the last two years.

Respectfully,
Ron Beitler

Muller's Margin

In the chart below, you can see the votes by municipality/township in the Lehigh county Exec race between Tom Muller and Scott Ott. Muller's margin of victory came from Allentown and Bethlehem, which gave him a very big cushion. Political consultant Michael Fleck concentrated resources on increasing turnout there. It does not sound complicated, but a failure to do that in Northampton County resulted in a Democratic loss.

Muller also did better than expected against Ott in the outlying areas. For example, he won South Whitehall and came within 133 votes in Lower Macungie.

Tom Muller Scott Ott Exec Race Numbers

In the meantime, Lehigh County party boss Wayne Woodman is blowin' oil. He refused to go on a taping of Business Matters about the local races unless host Tony Iannelli would agree in advance to play a tape of a Fleck phone call to him the weekend before the election. In it, Fleck had told Woodman he was looking forward to kicking his ass on election day.

Fleck's call was prompted by a radio show that Woodman had broadcast that weekend, in which the supposed positivve campaign of Scott Ott claimed that Fleck is a "thug" and that Muller is corrupt.

Iannelli refused to get into the tape game, and Woodman went on the air, but apparently insisted that Fleck could not participate.

Then, instead of talking about the local races, Woodman began talking about Virginia.

LC GOP Boss Repudiates Fellow Republican Seeking District Judge Seat

Just as Northampton County GOP Acting Chair Craig DeFranco has publicly repudiated the County Council  candidate Tricia Mezzacappa, Lehigh County Chairman Wayne Woodman has rebuked another Republican seeking a District Judge seat in Allentown. Lehigh County's Election Board has revoked Attorney Joseph Maher's voter registration after finding that he falsely claimed to live within the magisterial district. But though he can't vote, the Board has no authority to throw him off the ballot because the deadline for nomination challenges has long passed.

Though Maher has cross-filed, he is a Republican, and Woodman has issued the following statement:

The [Morning Call] article explains that a Republican Candidate for the MDJ position, Attorney Joseph Maher, used a former client's address to register himself to vote in the election district of the MDJ seat. According to his former client's testimony to the Lehigh County Board of Elections, Mr. Maher placed his name on one of her utility bills without her knowledge in order to maintain residency in the MDJ district. PA Election law requires that Magisterial District Justices must live in their respective district for at least one year prior to them taking office. The Lehigh County Board of Elections ruled that Mr. Maher did not live at the address in which he was registered to vote, and invalidated his voter registration. All of this was confirmed by Timothy Benyo, Chief Clerk to the Election Board of Lehigh County.

From time to time, leaders are required to make difficult decisions in order to maintain the integrity of their organization. Since I have been Chairman, I have been an advocate for free market politics in Lehigh County by urging the LCRC not to endorse candidates during the primary elections. However, I believe it is most important that we elect judges who have the highest moral character since they are charged with the responsibility for providing a fair and impartial courtroom within their respective election district. It is also incumbent upon us, as Republicans, to condemn any person who uses the Republican name and does not represent themselves or their candidacy with an excellent moral character. Therefore, I find that this is a rare circumstance in which it is my obligation to publicly support a candidate during a contested Primary Election.

Based upon the factual evidence presented to the Lehigh County Board of Elections and after consulting with the Executive Committee, the LCRC condemns Mr. Maher’s behavior as unbecoming of a candidate for a Magisterial District Justice position. Per Rule IX in the LCRC By-Laws, I personally endorse Attorney Christy Schlottman, who is the only other Republican candidate in that particular Magisterial District Justice race. I would urge each of you to do the same thing. Ms. Schlottman has a proven track record of excellent moral character and understanding of the law.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me via email at waynewoodman@gmail.com.

Sincerely


Wayne Woodman

Chairman LCRC

Wayne's World: LC GOP Chair on Tuesday Election

Lehigh County GOP Chair Wayne Woodman has penned a rather thoughtful missive to fellow Republicans, in the aftermath of Tuesday's largely Democratic victory on Tuesday:

"It is stating the obvious that Tuesday’s national and statewide election results were very disappointing. As a nation we spent several billion dollars and many
millions of hours of our time to essentially wind up where we started. While we had a status quo election it does not mean we must accept the status quo. The problems we face—runaway government spending, massive deficits and borrowing to finance them, an ideological divide which strains our ability to work together, a tax code in desperate need of reform and the continuing centralization of the country at the expense of states –remain and must be addressed. We must hope that President Obama will shoulder the mantle of leadership and do the hard work of incorporating our concerns into his policy proposals so that the work of resolving the many problems we face can proceed. Our Republican leaders must do the same and do it without sacrificing our principled message that it is high time for government to be restructured and reformed.

"Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan ran as good a campaign as I have seen in some time. Despite the outcome, I am proud to have been a part of their effort and have no regrets. I am very pleased we will have Paul Ryan back in the house as our leading expert on the budget. I am certain his leadership will continue to solidly represent our principles, his policy proposals will be grounded in his deep understanding of the budget’s structure and his nature will cause people of differing points of view to come together in support.

"The Lehigh County Republican Committee has much to be proud of and as their Chair I must acknowledge that none of our effectiveness could have been realized without you and your dedication to our cause. We were very successful in reelecting all of our state house members and sending Charlie Dent back to Congress for a fifth term. While we lost the Presidential in Lehigh, our margin over 2008 improved dramatically from 25000 to 10000 votes. Our ground game was effective. In the townships and suburbs we had very high turnout in some cases over 85% thanks to all of you who stood the polls, acted as strikers and as poll watchers.

"We are up against substantial demographic shifts. The city of Allentown, particularly the center city polls, are stark examples of this with many going 90/10 against us. It is my commitment to begin to learn from those residents why they will not consider us. We are failing not just ourselves but those voters as well by not giving them a choice. I don’t think the answers here are simple and I think we need to be deliberate in how we go about finding solutions.

"In that regard though, I think we need to make a concerted effort to reconnect and establish real ongoing relationships within this community so that we are known not just as Republicans but as neighbors who understand the concerns and values of center city residents. We must find a way to translate our values and principles into an attractive proposition worthy of their vote. Any of you interested in helping this effort should contact Bob Toth or me.

"I would like to congratulate President Obama and wish him well in his 2nd term. I pray that he rises to the task of resolving the very difficult problems we face. I also want to acknowledge the Democrat Party’s ground operation and urge all of us to take note of their ongoing tactics to get their vote out.

"Finally, I would like to urge all of our Republican elected officials to do all they can to propose policies and support legislation that is both consistent with our principles and values while at the same time capable of gaining enough support to become law and cure the failing state of our governments at all levels. I pray that they will.

"Thanks again to all of you for your dedication, time and money for our cause. God bless you and God bless the United States of America."

GOP's Woodman: Ethnicity Plays No Role in Reichley Successor Quest

I took LC GOP Bossman Wayne Woodman to task on Wednesday for discouraging Wanda Mercado Arroyo from seeking Doug Reichley's state house seat in the special election. She, along with eight to ten other people, have met with Woodman. According to Arroyo, Woodman was abusive and questioned whether voters in Reichley's district would even know her. In addition, Woodman reportedly added that the people there just aren't ready for a Latina.

I never contacted Woodman for his side of the story because, a few months before, I believe he was dishonest with me about remaining neutral in last May's Republican primary. I don't trust him. But as a result, you only had one side of the story.

To his credit, Woodman contacted me. To be fair, I really should provide his explanation.

Woodman provided me a copy of his response to Arroyo, in which tells her the questions he asked, including the question about name recognition, are identical to the interrogatories posed to other hopefuls. He denies having a favorite, and claims to have set up a conference process to make the process as open as possible. He also disputes asking her to resign her position as state committee chair. He explains that he would resign himself, but she is free to do whatever she wants.

To me, he insists that Arroyo's ethnicity is irrelevant. "I never said that and I do not believe it. I do not see that statement in her letter either so I am not sure where you drew that from."

I drew that inference because that is what I was told he said. Since she was angry enough to fire off an email to several prominent Republicans, something obviously bothered her. But is is possible that there was some sort of misunderstanding.

Although you all know I'm a bottom feeder, I owe it to you to share what Woodman told me. You can decide for yourself whom to believe.

GOP Boss Woodman: Reichley District Not Ready For Latina

Last week, I told you that LC GOP boss Wayne Woodman is pulling out all the stops to have his protege, Scott Ott, installed as the next Chair of Lehigh County's Board of Commissioners. Never mind that Ott has absolutely no experience in serving in any elective office. Now comes word that he is stacking the deck for the race in the 134th State House seat that will soon be vacated by newly elected Judge Doug Reichley.

Once Reichley steps down, a "special election" will be scheduled, probably one that coincides with next year's primary. Instead of electing party nominees who will square off in the General election, voters will choose between candidates who have already been pre-selected by their parties.

Who will Democrats nominate? That doesn't matter because whoever is chosen is going to lose. In this heavily Republican district, the GOP will essentially be choosing Reichley's successor.

This is where GOP Bossman Wayne Woodman flexes his muscle. You see, he's already picked Reichley's successor. He's a Harvard man, too, having just graduated from its Business School with an MBA. His name is Ryan MacKenzie, and he's currently employed as "Policy Director" at Pennsylvania's Department of Labor and Industry.

According to MacKenzie's LinkedIn, he's a "self starter" who is able to handle "multiple, high priority tasks." That must explain how he's able to maintain two residences simultaneously. He works in Harrisburg and has an apartment there, but uses his parents' address so he can pretend he still lives in Reichley-land .

Those Harvard dudes are pretty smart!

Woodman, himself a Californian, is unfazed by petty little things like residency. In fact, he was downright abusive to a woman who has expressed interest in the party's nomination.

Her name is Wanda Mercado Arroyo. She's President and CEO at AM International Consultants, Inc. But she has a problem. Instead of graduating from Harvard, she attended the University of Puerto Rico.  Woodman told Arroyo that Reichley country just isn't ready for a Latina.

Kinda' like the country was not ready for Obama.

In fact, in a meeting that Arroyo describes as "abusive," Woodman instructed her to resign her position as a Republican State Committee person. Maybe they're unready for a Latina, too.

Woodman also told Arroyo she has no name recognition. I see. A person who has served on the Board of Casa Guadalue for 8 years and has operated a business in this area for the past 6, has no name recognition. And a recent college grad who lives in Harrisburg does?

"[Y]our methods and approach are counterproductive to the vital goal of expanding the Republican Party and conservative ideals here in the Lehigh Valley," Arroyo claims in a letter to Woodman. She also complains that the Rolex-wearin' party boss impugned her character and integrity.

Actually, he impugned every person who votes in Reichley's district.

Lehigh County GOP Broke? - Thank Scott Ott, Wayne Woodman

"Approachable, warm, family, kid friendly, pro." That's how Lehigh County GOP Commissioner candidate Scott Ott describes himself at Voice123, where he promotes himself as a voice over artist for commercials, documentaries and even answering machine messages. You can listen to his riveting rendition if "The Land Before Time" here. But is Ott really all that approachable, warm and kid friendly, especially when nobody is looking?

I called him once with a question during his County Exec race against Don Cunningham, and he nearly took my head off. Then, last September, he nearly threw me into the lion's den at The Great Allentown Fair for not calling him about a story questioning the amount of money being paid to him as the GOP's brand new Executive Director. After he lost to Cunningham, this new position was created just for him. Grateful Lehigh Republicans were paying him a nice salary, but couldn't afford the $900 fee for a stand at the Allentown Fair, something that both Democrats and even the tea party managed.

I may be a Democrat and I read every day that I'm lower than whale shit, but I thought the decision to hire Ott was fiscally irresponsible. As I said at the time, "It's a total waste of money that should be used to promote candidates and drive up registration."

Now the Lehigh County GOP may be broke. It's unable to meet payroll and may be unable to pay taxes or rent. And the reason is because it wasted its money on Scott Ott.

During his brief tenure as Executive Director (he was paid from 12/22/09 to 12/29/10), Lehigh County Republicans paid Ott $37,635 for "professional services." Once he bled the party dry, Scrappleface was out the door.

Bossman Wayne Woodman, elected to chair Lehigh Republicans precisely because of his prodigious fundraising abilities, has suddenly decided that's not his job. He now thinks new Exec Director Steve Ramos, who comes from Chester County, can raise the money. But when Woodman announced Ramos' appointment, he claimed Ramos would recruit and "expand our outreach to demonstrate the Republican Party represents common-sense ideals for people in every community." Translated, what that means is that Ramos might draw some of Allentown's Hispanic vote.

Scott Ott's appeal was basically to the religious right, the hard line and intolerant Republicans. He and Woodman have actually managed to drive people away at a time when Republicans were on the rise everywhere else. They managed to drive Dr. Bob Romancheck out as Chair of the Allentown GOP. Another party stalwart, Scott Armstrong, has resigned as an area captain.

In addition to losing leaders, the party has lost numbers, too. In November 2009, there were 76,803 registered Republicans under former Chair Bill Platt. But in November 2010, that number has already dropped to 75,457 with Woodman and Ott at the helm.

Exactly what did Ott do as Executive Director? Nobody really knows. He did re-design the web page, a job that should cost $2 or 3 thousand. It appears that he spent the rest of his time building up contacts and networking for his own Commissioner race against Dean Browning.

Given this financial disarray, you'd think that Lehigh Republicans would be massing for their April 26 meeting. But guess what? That meeting has been canceled. It happens to be the same night as a $500 per person fundraiser being hosted for the Gang of Four by Buddy Lesavoy.

The Gang of Four - Scott Ott, Dave Najarian, Lisa Scheller (Woodman's wife) and Vic Mazziotti - are essentially running against Dean Browning. They've circulated an email, supposedly signed by Buddy Lesavoy, claiming that both Browning and Don Cunningham have lost touch with the people. I see. A lawyer hosting a $500 per person fundraiser knows all about the people.

It turns out Lesavoy never even sent that part of the email. He ended up calling Cunningham to "apologize to him for forwarding the propagandized portion of my email. ... . I also told Don that I respect his fiscal management and the hard work he has done especially under these most challenging economic circumstances."

Apparently, the transparent Gang of Four is not above distorting another person's words, even when that person is a supporter.

Scott Ott took a fiscally stable organization, ran it into the ground, then walked away. We also know that someone among the Gang of Four distorted what Buddy Lesavoy had written. Does this "advance the cause of accountability, transparency and reform in Lehigh County government?"

The Gang of Four complains that "spending has outstripped revenues for years" in Lehigh County, "leading to painful tax hikes." Looks like that's exactly what has happened to the Lehigh County GOP, thanks to Scott Ott and Wayne Woodman.

Woodman has the resources to write a check bailing the party out, and perhaps he should.

"Neutral" GOP Boss Has Gang of Four Sign In His Yard

When I had lunch with Lehigh County GOP Boss Wayne Woodman in early March, he insisted he would remain neutral in the LC Commissioners' race, even though one of those candidates happens to be his wife and another, Scott Ott, happens to be his "good friend" and protege. He denied he was out to punish Commissioner Dean Browning for following his conscience on the budget vote, instead of Woodman's orders.

But as I soon learned, what Woodman says and what he does are two different things. Right after a conversation claiming he was Switzerland, Woodman began circulating petitions on behalf of the Gang of Four. He obtained signatures for Vic Mazziotti, David Najarian, Scott Ott and Lisa Scheller. Since there are only four seats up for grabs, this was an implied endorsement, especially among the rank-and-file Republicans whose signatures were solicited.

Now he's got a sign endorsing the Gang of Four in the front yard of his home on Benner Street. This is yet another indication, and a very public one, that the party boss has made his choice in spite of all his protests to the contrary.

LC GOP Boss Wayne Woodman & His Gang of Four

Not all that long ago, I posted a blog calling Lehigh County GOP Boss Wayne Woodman a "Joe Long on steroids," referring to a recent Dem Boss in Northampton County who played favorites and made sure the rest of his party followed. Woodman reached out to me, but instead of threatening to work me over as Long once did, he invited me to a lunch in which he insisted he'd be Switzerland in the primary. Did I have Wayne figured out all wrong? Nope. I called it right the first time.

Shocking, isn't it?

During my lunch meeting with Woodman, he denied he was forging a slate of County Comm'r candidates to knock off GOP incumbent Dean Browning, as Bossman Long tried to do to Dem incumbent John Stoffa. Woodman claimed he was trying to empower rank and file voters to make those decisions themselves. With the understandable exception of his wife, a Commissioner candidate, he would avoid making any statements or doing anything that favored one Republican over another. For him, the important thing was to create interest by attracting full slates of candidates, and he would support the people's choice.

But actions speak louder than mere words. If you look at the four circulator affidavits I've attached below, you'll see that Bossman Woodman is notarized as the circulator on four different petitions as follows:

Lisa Scheller (that's his wife, and domestic tranquility trumps party politics)
Scott Ott
Vic Mazziotti
David Najarian

This is a de facto endorsement of this gang of four. According to statements Scott Ott has made to Browning, the above four may claim to be running individually, but are in fact running against Dean as an anti-Browning slate.

Browning, you may recall, refused to bow to Bossman Woody and vote with the rest of Republicans to send Executive Don Cunningham's budget back to the drawing board last year.

How dare Dean follow his own conscience as opposed to the edicts of a recent California transplant with gobs of money!

Woodman circulated no petitions for GOP Comm'r candidates Dean Browning, Brad Osborne, Norma Cusick or Mike Welsh.

Can Bossman Woody brush this off by saying he was circulating as a private citizen? No. He can buy property, execute a will or do any number of items requiring a signature and that is nobody's business but his own. But nothing is more germane to the function of the Lehigh County Republican Committee than getting names on the ballot for the primary. By participating in the signature process for the candidates he has obviously handpicked, Wayne has given them his endorsement as the Chair of that Committee.

He was also less than forthright with me and my readers.

On a bright note for Browning, he's still got the canine vote. Despite Bossman Woody's doggie treats and scrapple, Dean was just elected Treasurer of the German Shorthaired Pointer Club of America. Apparently, dogs get indigestion from Scrapplefaces.

Woodman's Circulator Affidavits

Wayne Woodman's All About "Free Market" Politics

Last week, I took a shot at Lehigh County GOP Bossman Wayne Woodman, calling him a "Joe Long on steroids." I claimed he was putting together a team for the express purpose of knocking off LC Comm'r Chairman Dean Browning, who apparently committed a mortal sin last year when he voted his conscience - fancy that! - and supported Don Cunningham's budget. I asked how long it would be before State Senator Pat Browne was not conservative enough. Or Charlie Dent.

Instead of slicing at least one of my tires, Woodman invited me to lunch. He even agreed to act as food taster. He must have slipped me something. He is, after all from California, an Auslander. Anyway, in complete violation of the unfairness vow I've taken as a bottom-feeding blogger, I'll tell you his side of the story.

Woodman tells me local party machines were originally a way to reward committeemen with jobs and other favors under a spoils system of government first made famous by Andrew Jackson. But as cronyism has faded and candidates have learned they can raise their own funds, local parties have become somewhat anachronistic. They've also become closed clubs where the "game is rigged" in favor of party boss favorites.

Like he's done with failed businesses in the private sector, Woodman wants to reinvent the Lehigh County GOP. He calls it "free market politics," under which local party machinery shies away from endorsements and in favor of making races more exciting by attracting numerous candidates. He proudly points to a full slate of candidates in the Bethlehem City Council race, and tells me there will be a full slate in Allentown, too. He's delighted to see twelve Democrats and Republicans duke it out for four seats on the Lehigh County Board of Commissioners.

One of those candidates happens to be his wife. While he will obviously support his wife privately, he has no plans to inject himself into the primary battle, except to ensure there are numerous candidates giving voters a choice.

And that's the answer to my question, he claims. Pat Browne and Charlie Dent, will no longer be "conservative enough" when the voters say so. He also questioned just what litmus test should be applied. He calls himself a libertarian who wants government to just leave him alone. But that might be too liberal for fiscal hawks who want governments to eliminate core services. Libertarians and fiscal conservatives might be too liberal for social conservatives, who want to regulate personal behavior. It's best to let the voters, and not party bosses, decide.

"My ambition is to make voters the party bosses, to bring transparency to this organization," he claims. His hope is to generate enough interest in local races and issues to attract many independents back to the GOP banner.

"That will moderate the base," Woodman claims, pointing out that local committees in both parties tend to be full of extremists who do not reflect the views of rank and file members.

What about the rift with Dean Browning? Woodman told me that, no matter the candidate, he will take a hands off approach in primaries, and will do his best to support the people's choice after the primary.

Woodman also denies that he has any personal political ambition, claiming he can do more good by improving the process. He acknowledges that, as a relative newcomer form California, he needs to build trust. "That should only take me about thirty years," he deadpanned.