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Fingerpointing continues over chaos at Denver Republican Assembly

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Denver GOP

More than a week after the Denver County GOP Assembly, it’s still difficult to sort out what led to what one Republican called a “descent into madness.”

said she unwittingly sparked the brouhaha that led to claims that supporters were trying to take over when she approached a floor microphone to ask that the assembly adopt a calendar that included taking a lunch break.

She said the group Denver Republican Women had arranged for five businesses to sell food to the 650 or so Republicans expected to show up at the assembly because a lunch break had been planned.

But district captain Steve Brown argued what happened was a “militant minority attempt to take control of the assembly through use of these tactics of disruption, accusation and intimidation.”

“The argument was that the new rules should be adopted so we could have a lunch hour, but the real reason was not that at all,” he said. “It seems rather that it was designed to draw out the assembly meeting time out so long that most other delegates would leave either in disgust or out of boredom, leaving the remaining assembly to go onto elections which would feature mostly their own supporters.”

The Denver GOP met March 10 at West High School in what was the liveliest and most controversial county assembly so far this election season — although the El Paso GOP assembly this weekend could be mighty interesting.

The county Republican and Democratic parties have different rules on how to handle assemblies, but generally delegates are chosen for congressional assemblies and the state conventions. Platform resolutions are considered.

Sebern said she approached a floor microphone to talk about the lunch hour, but it was not turned on. She said she kept raising her hand and saying “point of information.”

“It was not rude. It was not disruptive,” she said. “It was my 21-year-old son who first started yelling. Colin was a delegate and he was the first one to shout out, ‘Let her be heard!’”

Others joined in, including Republicans who support , Sebern said.

She said she later talked to her son, a Paul supporter, about his behavior. “When you’re 21 your sense of justice is very fresh,” she said. “I can’t chide him too much.”

, a former officer with the county GOP, posted a video on YouTube that night of the chaos that ensued when Sebern tried to speak.

“I stand by my commentary that the meeting descended into madness, and that if the behavior exhibited was a harbinger for the future this story will continue to develop,” Maher said.

“I truly appreciate all the hard work of Ms. Sebern and others, and look forward to pulling together to defeat Barack Obama in November,” she added.

Denver GOP party officials said some Republicans, mostly Paul supporters, wanted to elect delegates from countywide instead of electing them from House district boundaries. They also wanted to change how the results were counted.

“A small, loud group attempted to hijack the assembly and trample on the rights of those who took time out of their busy lives to participate in the political process,” , chairman of the Denver County GOP said.

He said the rules for choosing delegates were in place before he took over as county chair in February 2011.


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