McCulloch Makes His Move To Chair NM GOP.

Doctor Allen McCulloch, from Farmington, is making his move to take over leadership of The Republican Party of New Mexico.

He says "it’s time for a dramatic change in the leadership and direction" of the GOP.

We received a copy of a letter he sent to editors at the ABQJournal.

Speculation has been brewing that he wants to take over the chairmanship of the GOP in New Mexico after Allen Weh's term expires early next year.

McCulloch, if you don't recall, was the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate and lost in a statewide election to Democrat Jeff Bingaman in 2006.

In the Letter to the Editor, McCulloch criticizes Weh, the lack of resources for losing candidates, and says it will take "dedicated leadership" to rebuild the party.

If this utter electoral disaster has taught us anything, it is that our state party is in desperate need to new leadership and vision. Our party needs the kind of change that does not pit Republican against Republican, retaliate against its own members in the Legislature, or turn a deaf ear and blind eye toward building strong county organizations.

We must now start a process of rebuilding – so we have the ability to not only defendexisting Republican turf, but also pick up what ground has been lost. We must all come together to achieve this vision.

McCulloch pulls no punches when writing about the party's current organization:

When we lose sight of the grassroots, as our current leadership has, we become out of touch with the thoughts and needs of everyday New Mexicans. Before we can even consider the 2010 election, the Republican Party of New Mexico must make a critical decision as it chooses its leaders in 2009 – will we stay with the same failed leadership of the past four years, or will we embrace change?

He also lays down his vision for rebuilding the party at a grassroots level, a strategy implented by Democrats in all 33 counties:

Over the past several years, the state Republican Party has turned its focus away from building an effective ground game and has become far too content with stagnation at the grassroots level. This must come to an end. A strong grassroots base for our party is the only way we can facilitate the registration of new voters, the
recruitment of solid candidates, and the engineering of an effective get out the vote effort.

They say “all politics is local,” and a major aspect of strengthening the grassroots will be getting our party engaged at every level. The state GOP must also interface more with our legislators, mayors, commissioners and city councilors – from Farmington to Hobbs, Reserve to Santa Rosa.

McCulloch finishes his letter with an optimistic note:

With hard work, dedicated leadership, and a strong vision, the Republican Party can move forward and again rise up as a relevant player in New Mexico’s political discourse. But we must first embrace significant, across-the-board change to move our party forward – regaining the ground that was lost this year, and leading us to victory in 2010 and beyond.