Lincoln County Republicans were left reeling last week from the fallout from the party’s tumultuous state convention in Augusta May 5 and 6.
Locally, the collateral damage included the resignation of Lincoln County Republican Committee Chairman Jim Carlton, who quit on the second day of the convention in the face of a determined revolt by supporters of Ron Paul and members of the self-proclaimed Liberty Campaign.
Carlton quit in disgust as the convention entered the second day, refusing to return to Augusta May 6 and postponing the county committee’s monthly meeting scheduled for May 9.
The meeting would have been the county committee’s last formal meeting until after the primary, June 12.
Acting in accordance with the committee’s by-laws, Lincoln County Republican Committee Vice Chair Earl Inman has assumed the chairmanship. Inman also preceded Carlton who became committee chair after Inman stepped down in 2010.
Inman said the postponed May meeting was not entirely crucial to the campaign effort because, while several Republican candidates have primaries, the real drive is to go “toe-to-toe with our competition,” Inman said.
The LC Republican Committee elects officers in January, but Inman said he is not focused that far ahead. For the moment he is focusing on the ongoing campaign, he said.
“We are just moving ahead,” Inman said. “Obviously we have a big hole with the loss of Jim Carleton because he was such a dynamo, but we have a lot of great people, a lot of new people. We have a full slate of candidates this fall, thanks to Jim. We have primaries for several, so we are in good shape candidate-wise.”
Carlton’s exit was accompanied by some incendiary comments reported in The Lincoln County News last week. Inman said it remains to be seen whether Carlton would want to work with the county committee again, or whether the opportunity would exist for him to do so.
“We are sorry to lose him,” Inman said. “I have to let him speak for himself as to what he wants to do… It depends on him as well as everybody else. I think we have done an amazing job these last few days.”
For his part, reached at his Damariscotta home last Friday, Carlton stood by his comments, which included calling supporters of Presidential Candidate Ron Paul “programmed robots,” and “zealots.”
“Those were strong words, but I felt they needed to be said,” Carlton said.
“Jim Carlton did a super job as chairman,” Inman said. “He set a standard for the state. People throughout the Republican Party looked to Jim Carlton on what to do, how to run things.”
Inman declined to comment in detail on the convention, pointing out that he did not attend the event this year.
“I think if you step back, it was the biggest ever as far as I know,” Inman said. “There was a lot of enthusiasm. There was a lot of enthusiasm, lots of new blood, which is good. Change is not always easy and dealing with differences of opinion is not always easy.”
Inman stressed that many people at the convention, despite whatever differences they may have with each other, are united in their core beliefs, which include defeating President Barack Obama in November.
“We are not going to label people and we will give everybody a chance to be heard,” Inman said. “We have a fairly big tent and we have a range of view points. No matter who these people are we have a lot in common: reduce the size of government, help the private sector create jobs for people, protect the individual’s rights and we feel all those are under attack.”
