An Open Letter From Kyle Fisk

Bloggers get most interesting emails.  Here is an open letter from Kyle Fisk, resigning as president of the Colorado Springs chapter of the Coalition for a Conservative Majority.  We did receive permission in the email to reprint the letter:

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE CONSERVATIVES OF THE 5^th CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT

Re: Resignation of Kyle Fisk as President of the Coalition for a Conservative Majority, Colorado Springs Chapter

Monday, August 4, 2008 10:00 PM

At this evening’s membership meeting I submitted my resignation as President of Coalition for a Conservative Majority-Colorado Springs effective immediately. I firmly believed that an organization of this type had tremendous possibility.  Due to campaign finance laws, limited resources, and a focus on electing candidates, political parties can only do so much to advance the conservative debate. Third-party groups like CCM have an invaluable role in bringing today’s key issues to the forefront of the public discourse.

However, I will not stand idly by as this organization engages in partisan and biased politics. It is the right of the electorate in our community to be fully aware of what happens behind closed doors during this primary election season. CCM-National vetoed our plans to hold a “Conversation with the Candidates” event at our August membership meeting. They canceled our event because not all three candidates would confirm their participation in the event. Initially claiming that a 501c4 could not host this type of event, they retracted this position when confronted with the facts concerning 501c4 activities in Colorado.

The position of CCM-National in this case is unconscionable.  They claim that having a public forum with candidates in this primary would constitute a perception of support for Jeff Crank and Bentley Rayburn, the challengers in this race. Their reasoning is that Doug Lamborn has publicly stated his unwillingness to debate and therefore any open forum is thereby biased against him in favor of his opponents. This logic is terribly flawed. Doug Lamborn does not have the right to dictate anything to CCM-Colorado Springs. It is Congressman Lamborn’s prerogative not to attend our event. However, it was equally our prerogative to hold an event and I am extremely disappointed that we were forbidden to hold any townhall meeting.

Chris Perkins, the Executive Director of CCM in Washington, DC, expressly forbade our group from moving forward with our plans. CCM-National decided instead to protect the incumbent in this race and deny the voters a chance to have their questions answered.

By adopting this position, CCM-National placed the local chapter of CCM in an untenable position. By forcing us to cancel our plans once invitations had been sent to all three campaigns, canceling the event actually creates the perception that we are supporting the incumbent and shielding him from an open conversation with the voters, as well as denying his opponents the freedom to speak, simply because he declines to join them.

Our State Chairman Bob Beauprez, along with a majority of the CCM-Colorado Springs officers, supported the effort to host a neutral, fair, balanced townhall meeting of the candidates to discuss the issues. Among our officers we have supporters of all three Republican candidates in the 5^th CD. Our membership is composed of supporters from all three campaigns. This was not to be a partisan event.  We are a community group that wanted to talk about the issues.

To be forbidden by the national staff to proceed with these plans is preposterous. We would not have been violating any laws, we would not in any way have been compromising our 501c4 tax status, and we would not have been playing favorites. These rather ludicrous claims disguise what I can only assume is the deeper motivation of Tom DeLay and CCM-National to protect Doug Lamborn and deny his opponents the opportunity to be heard.

CCM-Colorado Springs should be a place that welcomes open, respectful, and sincere dialogue about the issues. Under my administration, we did everything possible to accommodate Congressman Lamborn and his conditions for a public forum. In fact, we were prepared to cancel tonight’s activities in lieu of a forum on Friday, August 8^th, which Lamborn’s campaign manager had requested. However, when pressed for a commitment, the Doug Lamborn campaign rapidly retreated and stated their intention not to attend any candidate townhall meting under any circumstance.

Doug Lamborn has the right to remain silent, but his opponents should not be forced to live by that code.  Candidates who wish to speak at our events should be allowed to do so, regardless of whether the opponents accept our invitations to join them.   Otherwise we renounce personal responsibility and freedom of opportunity, pillars without which our republic cannot stand.

Tom DeLay and CCM-National is, in my opinion, protecting Doug Lamborn.  CCM-Colorado Springs, a supposedly neutral third-party group, has crossed a very dangerous line. I can not remain part of an organization that elevates the preferences of any candidate or elected official above the good of our local chapter. Therefore, I must tender my resignation.

I look forward to serving with conservative activists throughout our community on these critical issues through other venues and organizations.

Respectfully,

Kyle Fisk

Former President of CCM-Colorado Springs

Comments

[Dan Lanotte]

The CCM-CS has agreed to the tenants under which the national organization was established. It is good that Kyle is passionate about putting together a head-to-head discussion between candidates. One question I would pose is why it was only the 5th CD race. We have a number of contentious races here in El Paso County that would be eligible for such a forum. None of these have been recommended.

I also know that Kyle is a very strong Jeff Crank supporter and I applaud him for that loyalty. However, I feel that it was inappropriate to use the proposed tactic and forum to promote Mr. Crank. As we have seen in previous “candidate forums,” they served to provide a platform for two candidates to levy unanswered questions and accusations as well as promote falsehoods against the candidate who was not in attendance. As we all know, just the utterance of a statement in a political campaign is to imply accuracy.

As the chairman of the Planning Committee for the Falcon Republican Club, we discussed having a series of candidate forums for the 5th CD, State House 15, and the District Attorney. In each of these races at least one of the candidates made it known that, for whatever reason, they would not be able to accept such an invitation. The Falcon Republican Club has the same obligation as the CCM-CS in that we cannot endorse or imply endorsement of any candidate before the primary. After the primary, we will endorse and work for the primary winner. Of course, the CCM-CS cannot endorse any candidate at any time. As stated above, providing a platform for one or two candidates to levy charges, lies, or accusations against a non-participating candidate would imply that the organization is proffering a negative endorsement on one candidate. For this reason, the Falcon Republican Club has rejected the idea of holding any candidate forums before the primary. We are still considering holding candidate forums before the general election between primary winners of both parties.

I support CCM National in their decision concerning the proposed candidate forum for the 5th CD. I also believe that it would be appropriate for CCM-CS to host candidate forums for all races between the party candidates leading up to the general election.
Dan