WATERLOO - As energized state Republicans prepare to attend this week's national convention, snubbed party faithful are crying foul over a delegate selection process they say was mired by an evangelical Christian litmus test.

Most Republicans acknowledge the choice of delegates signals a shift to the political right for the state party, though they disagree on what it means for the future of the party.

Critics say the most glaring omissions to the convention are state Republican Party co-chair Leon Mosley of Waterloo and five-term Sen. Charles Grassley of New Hartford. Until this year, the state's senior U.S. senator had attended every convention as a delegate since 1980.

Though both men have stated little on the issue in public, people close to them say they have complained about the their omission from the four-day event.

Party leaders argue Grassley was not snubbed. They noted he retains floor privileges, which allow him to walk the floor but not vote. It is a status he shares with the state's other leading elected Republicans - Rep. Steve King and Rep. Tom Latham.

However, delegate Bill Ramsey of Cedar Falls said Grassley told him he was miffed about the exclusion. The two men spoke about the issue last week at Prairie Lakes Church, where both men regularly attend worship.

The senator has earned a reputation of bipartisanship in the Senate. He also upset some in the evangelical community when he opened an investigation last year into six televangelists known for lavish personal spending.

"He was giving me a little lip about it. (Grassley) said he guesses he wasn't Christian enough," Ramsey said.

Lack of diversity

Other party leaders passed over this year say an ideologically driven selection process shut most Iowa minorities out of the delegation. The result - a less-diverse group representing the state than in past years.

Waterloo's Mosley was one of the most prominent African-American Republicans passed over for this year's event. He made national headlines four years ago at the New York City convention when he rang the opening bell for the NASDAQ stock exchange, and was quoted in the New York Times.

Mosley, who regularly appears in public decked out in cowboy hats and boots, eventually received an invitation to the convention last week as an at-large delegate. Iowa Christian Alliance president Steve Scheffler said Mosley's exclusion was the result of a miscommunication.

Mosley, who had originally planned to attend as a delegate this year, said he declined the invitation because he had made other plans. The Republican declined to elaborate on why he was not selected.

"I'm not on the committee to pick delegates. Evidently whoever did it don't know what I do, or don't care," he said.

Another prominent black Republican not selected for the delegation was Mary Ann Spicer, president of the Polk County Republican Women. She does not believe, she said, the moves were part of a deliberate effort to exclude African Americans from the event.

Rather, she said, she believes it was merely a by-product of an effort to vet delegates for their evangelical bona fides.

The result, she said, is a delegation monolithic in its ideology and racial make-up. She also said it is a "slap in the face" to Mosley, one of the state's leading African-American Republicans.

Spicer noted that party activists on the floor during the state convention removed an Iowa Christian Alliance officer from the original delegate list to install the only Hispanic attending the event.

"The ones controlling the list is a group of white, gray-haired males, which you gotta kiss their butt to get on the list," she said.

A shift to the right

Under the leadership of Scheffler, the Iowa Christian Alliance has molded a more vocal and aggressive Republican party in Iowa. After recent electoral losses, Scheffler said, the GOP needs to stand more firmly on spending, taxes and social issues.

He suggested those who disagree should fall in line anyway and support the Republican party's candidates this fall.

"You always have a small minority that like to complain and don't like to have solutions in getting our candidates elected," he said. "They're counterproductive and divisive."

Those voicing concerns may be in the minority, but they hold prominent positions. The group includes former Iowa governor Robert Ray, former Lt. Gov. Joy Corning and Republican Party of Iowa chairman Stewart Iverson.

"Leon Mosley has been a great advocate for the Republican Party. It was disappointing to me to see he was not a a delegate. It was disappointing to me to see Sen. Chuck Grassley not be a delegate," said Iverson, who will be part of Iowa's delegation this week in St. Paul.

Iverson said he believes party leaders pushing a more aggressive and ideological Iowa Republican Party are making an error in judgement. The party did not lose elections in 2006 because of a lack of conservatism, he said; they lost because of excess spending in Washington and the war in Iraq.

"Sometimes they want to fire the quarterback, so they fire the team," he said.

Some Republican up-and-comers cautioned it wise to show deference to the political veterans. Matt Reisetter of Cedar Falls said it would be an honor to give up his delegate spot to either Mosley or Grassley. The 32-year-old lost a bid for a House seat two years ago in his first run for public office.

But many in the new guard, like first-time Iowa delegate Stephanie Laudner, sees things differently. The campaign manager for Christopher Reed's Senate run against Tom Harkin said the complaints are sour grapes from party veterans who have lost control of the Iowa GOP because of ineffectiveness.

"How many times to I have to bang my head against this brick wall? It's a new time, it's a new era," she said. "Change is not bad."

Contact Jens Manuel Krogstad at (319) 291-1580 or jens.krogstad@wcfcourier.com.