Monday, June 4, 2007

We've never been the fanatic types when it comes to science; in fact, we're just not good at it. Theories of relativity and objects in motion - it can get dizzying after a while. But if you're looking for parables that pertain to real-life situations, then science is a great predictor of what will happen in the future.

Stars are always growing. Like the sun. It's constantly getting bigger and bigger and always bigger. The only difference between stars is how fast they expand. In a way, its all about how much initiatve they have - sort of like snowballs down a mountain. It starts out slow, but as it picks up more snow, its gets bigger and thus, faster. Why the science lesson? Think of the Keep the Team committee as an ever-growing star or a rolling snowball. But think back. Start with Bob Gwin, the former GOP county chair. And more recently, Mary Lewis, who's relationship with current chair Vic Stabile was, well, let's say less than amicable. The ball is rolling down the hill now. Throw in some folks like Matt Best, who spoke out against the general direction of the committee and paid the price. Now toss in some folks who have a growing interest in politics throughout the county, but aren't involved in the committee itself. Now its 2006 and the snowball is chugging along. Throw in Frank Rankin, who is the party outsider's party outsider, who bucks the system and narrowly loses to Will Gabig (thanks a lot, Keith Naughton). You've got one hell of a snowball now. The coup de grace? Gary Eichelberger. Here's the point where the star gets so big that it actually consumes itself.

We're at a point where the minority is actually bigger than the majority. Those on the outside outnumber those on the inside. The result? The party consumes itself. The inner circle has no choice but to give way to the outer circle and allow change.

We're getting pretty good at this, so here's what we expect to see over the next few weeks. While Keep the Team is going to be a cyclone of change, its not exactly going to be a revolution. From what we've heard, there are plenty of old ideas that are coming back around the bend. 1) Expect to see LOTS more of Bruce Barclay, who has been kept at bay by idle threats from the committee itself. The Spruce Bruce has a lot of great ideas for the committee we think, and now is his time to shine. 2) Here's comes the integration. Short of Pol Pot, we can't remember anyone who has ruled a group with such an Iron Fist as the current chairman. As we know, there are no atheists in foxholes, and Stabile has seen his own demise. Expect him to have a "change of heart" and appoint plenty of "reformers" to ranking positions. 3) Keep the money in the bank. With a little help from his friends, the chairman will realize how much money is wasted on in-fighting and push for the abolition of endorsements, which will fail before the committee.

Keeping the Team is an interesting concept and frankly, we see unlimited potential, but you've got to change hearts before you change minds and that committee needs a lot of work.