Iowa GOP still sinking, says party treasurer

The Republican Party of Iowa has yet to hit bottom, and the upcoming election of a new chairman will do nothing to stop it’s descent, according to Gopal Krishna, the party’s treasurer and a member of its State Central Committee.

“I don’t think the party has seen the bottom,” he said. “We are waiting for others to fail so that we can succeed. That’s not the way it’s supposed to be, but that’s the way it’s working right now.”

Krishna told the Iowa Independent that in spite of rumors to the contrary he is not and has never been a candidate for chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa. This despite the fact that several members of the party’s State Central Committee view him as the favorite to win the position when the group meets on Saturday.

“I am not a candidate. I have never been a candidate,” he said.  “Talk to State Central Committee members. They cannot show a single e-mail or letter from me saying that I wanted their support or that I am a candidate. It’s just not true.”

Krishna said that while the position of chair is an important one, the way in which the State Central Committee is going about picking a chair is a disaster.

“The Central Committee has to have the spine to elect the best person they can,” he said. “They don’t.”

The race has deteriorated into a popularity contest, Krishna said.

“If we wanted to elect a chair on a popularity basis, we should elect the chair at the state convention,” he said. “The problem has been how the Central Committee thinks they have to pick from whoever wants to run. It should be the opposite. It is the responsibility of the Central Committee to go out and recruit the best person they can. It’s just like the board of directors of a corporation picking a new CEO. They go and get the best CEO they think can address the needs of the organization.”

Krishna also called into question the commitment of several Central Committee members, saying the seven members elected in April rarely ever come to meetings.

“How can they realize what needs to be done when they don’t even come to meetings? That makes a mockery of all the people who have been there before,” he said.

The Central Committee’s “lack of maturity” is one of the main reasons he is not running for chair, Krishna said.

Krishna also pointed the finger at Iowa’s conservative bloggers. He said they do little except “spew hatred” and spread lies. Krishna has been the target of attack from several conservative bloggers saying his time serving in RPI leadership during the 90s caused too much turmoil, a factor they believe disqualified him from taking the reins of the party again.

“How many good people are not running for office anymore because of the character assassination? Why would anyone who wants to do good subject themselves to all this harassment?” he said.

Ultimately, Krishna said he feels like he’s watching the party he’s worked to build since 1990, when he was first elected to the State Central Committee, being destroyed from within.

“You invest a lot of time and energy in something and you see it’s getting destroyed, you get mad,” he said. “A lot of people feel the way I do but are afraid to speak up. I’m not afraid. I will say what needs to be said.”