Dear Cindy Gamrat and other fellow Patriots,
In full disclosure and in an effort to provide full transparency,...I will no longer volunteer to participate in the MI4CS decision making process, effective immediately. Please remove me from any future e-mails and phone conference calls regarding those committees that I have previously volunteered to work on.
I totally support MI4CS completely, and will have my groups the Traverse City TEA Party Patriots and Northern Michigan Patriots, participate in both the Jan. 14th Candidate Forum and the Feb. 25th Straw Poll. I will register the two (2) voting members from each group upon receiving your registration e-mail.
However, as many folks in the TEA Party movement know, I endorsed Peter Konetchy back in February, 2011. I met with him and his wife at a restaurant in Kalkaska, along with Charlevoix Republican County Chairman and former candidate for the 105th District State House - Tim Boyko, and political consultant Tony Cutler.
After 3 hours of discussion, I decided to help Peter Konetchy and his candidacy to become our next U.S. Senator from Michigan. I made my endorsement public on our groups' websites and posted it on Facebook, in order to give Peter some creditability among other TEA Party groups across the state.
I believe in the mission statement and effort of MI4CS so much, that it's with a heavy heart that I can no longer support Peter Konetchy in anyway,...due to his blatant lack of respect for this MI4CS effort and (in my opinion) the TEA Party movement in general contained in his press release.
Since Mr. Konetchy's press release stating he would not participate along with his other words,...I have made the decision to now FULLY support and endorse Gary Glenn for the U.S. Senate, and will volunteer to help his campaign.
Like many others who are participating in MI4CS, who have already decided to support and volunteer for other candidates running in this race, I respect their decision to do both. Additionally, I totally respect those TEA Party folks that are not participating in the MI4CS effort, and who are supporting and volunteering for their candidates.
I now fully support and will volunteer for Gary Glenn's campaign in order to help him win the MI4CS Straw Poll and become their endorsed candidate. With the support of those participating in MI4CS' effort Gary Glenn can win the Republican nomination in the August primary, and then go on to defeat Debbie Stabenow in the November general election.
However, due to my total commitment to this MI4CS effort I will support their endorsed candidate,...even if it turns out not to be Gary Glenn.
Please forward this e-mail to everyone and forward it to the media as a press release. I have been contacted by the media numerous times for my personal comments about MI4CS and it has been misconstrued by many observing this effort, that I am "one of the organizers of MI4CS", which I am not and never have been.
I simply stepped forward to volunteer like you and many other TEA Party folks, in order to UNITE behind a truly conservative candidate who believes in our Constitution as the basis to run our federal government with limited intrusions into our lives, less spending and free-market/private sector solutions to fix our State's and our Country's problems.
I will continue to be involved in the TEA Party movement until I die,...and will try to motivate others to do the same!!!
Respectfully submitted,
Randy Bishop
