Based on what the NH GOP Elite are saying about us - is it time to withdraw support and work on alternatives? - Granite Grok

Based on what the NH GOP Elite are saying about us – is it time to withdraw support and work on alternatives?

bumped and updated:  Paul Jacob who puts out Common Sense on a regular basis, had these bon mots concerning this (emphasis mine):

Though it may be that “it’s only a matter of time” before Tea Party folks run the GOP (as “the longtime national committeeman” from my state put it), the price of admission to the higher ranks seems calculated in the abandonment of principle. Hohmann quotes one old party hand as saying that Tea Partyers need to learn “that everybody who is in government is not evil, that we’ve got some really good people in government. Let’s don’t burn the barn down to get rid of the rats.”

And here you have the real problem.

Real change isn’t about putting “better people” in office. It’s changing the principles by which anyone in government — good, bad, or indifferent — must operate.

The founders knew this. Today’s Republican insiders do not.

*****

In the same post where James Pindell asked “how many is enough to be successful?” concerning the turnout of the Granite State Patriot Liberty PAC’s TEA Party , he also had this to say (emphasis mine):

The Republican Establishment: While Jack Kimball tries to mount a comeback, the fact of the matter is that the Republican Party is being run by establishment types like Wayne McDonald, Steve Duprey, Juliana Bergeron, Kelly Ayotte, Charlie Bass, Frank Guinta and Peter Bragdon. Yes, Bill O’Brien is the exception.

Now, as Grokster Mike pointed out, I did launch a stealth campaign to run against Steve Duprey for the RNC Committeeman on the idea that no one should run unopposed; when I heard that no one else had put up their hand, I did.  Given that I spent no money on campaigning, no time spent on campaigning (except a select few words whispered before the vote that evoked “WHAT?” responses followed by smiles), I figure that I had a decent ROI.  Now, I had no illusions about winning  against a multiple time NH GOP Chair / RNC Committeeman.  But my takeaway were these:

  • standing on the auditorium floor looking upwards at the crowd, it was amusing to listen to the gasps and looks when it was announced that there were TWO contested races for the RNC representation
  • I receive 68 votes just by showing up.  It showed that a sizable number of folks were open to an alternative to the status quo.  How will this be received going forward by the Establishment?

That should be a message – but from this piece from Politico, it seems that the NH GOP Leadership is not all that in love with those of us that made 2010 possible

For this post, I refer back to this and this and this as background.  Now adding in this article makes it rather clear that it is a rareified club atmosphere and that only the “right kinds” of people are allowed.  No, not the usual Democrat / Socialist / Political Correct blather about diversity, enforced interest group quotas, and a willingness to use other peoples’ money as a trough at which favored groups can grow fat, dumb, and dependent. No, this article does make it clear (and being Politico, it is obvious that one can hear the grenade pin being pulled and hitting the floor) that there is that aspect of ‘sniffiness‘ – as well as more than a massive dose of snobbiness.  The message wafting in is “be the good shock troops, we thank you in the end – but the moat bridge will be pulled up when you approach”.  It’s their ball and they are making it plainly understood.  One again, we see the overall attitude of “Shut up – we know better than you how this thing should work.  Let us administer this governance for your better outcome“.

My;  if anyone has been reading my writings, how close is that bolded statement to another political philosophy?

And then the NH GOP Leadership opened their mouths:

“The important thing for any group in the party to understand…is that you need experience to govern,” said New Hampshire Republican Chairman Wayne MacDonald. “Everybody has to start somewhere. It’s just important they learn the mechanics of how the party operates…”

Really? I’ve watched Republicans walk lockstep with Democrats at the national level – and how much is that national debt, sir?  It takes “experience to govern” in order to run up a $16 Trillion dollar debt?  My, I just look at all those “long beards” down in DC and I do NOT wonder why the freshman class in Congress was so large this time!  And people noticed and agreed – and tossed a lot of those folks out.   And make no mistake, there is a lot of back and forth in the GOP with that level of elected politicians back at States.  And I also ask – was it that “vast experience” that won the latest special election…oh wait! The NH GOP LOST that election!

Why?  They didn’t even bother to show up.  The article talks about Jack Kimball losing specials – no mention of THAT one, eh Wayne?  Is that “…how the party operates…” by not bothering and handing Ray Buckley yet another club with a nail in it to with which whack the NH GOP.  Yeah, experience.

I will say this – I was very disappointed to read this:

“He was over his head, inexperienced and not qualified for the leadership role in an organization in which he never had participated,” said Phyllis Woods, New Hampshire’s outgoing national committeewoman. “It broke my heart. I knew when he was elected, he would need to network with a lot of people and get a lot of input. But egos get in the way, and it was just too steep a learning curve for him too soon.”

“He was very well-intentioned…right on the issues…but lacking any historical perspective for the party, lacking the organizational skills, lacking the knowledge of the mechanics of the party,” she added. “In other words, you can have the message. You have to have the network. You have to have the facility to get out the message.”

Very.  Especially as this was making the rounds – the optics are horrible if for no better reason is that a lot of TEA Party peoples’ backsides are still rubbed raw over what they perceive as a raw deal.  There is an enmity as it is; the words may be true (and there are those that agree with them) but when when supporters read them, the past comes back and the perception returns: “shock troops only – leave the governance to us”.

And while this was meant to be “nice”:

South Carolina committeeman Glenn McCall said he believes tea-party elements will unite with Republicans to defeat President Barack Obama. But he stressed the two movements were not one and the same.

It’s been our goal not to co-opt the tea-party movement,” he said. “We’re happy that they support Republican candidates.”

Really?  Many of us remember this:

 A 35-year veteran of Congress, former Senate majority leader, and now partner at K Street’s most storied lobbying firm, Trent Lott knows the system. And the system has rewarded him richly — as when Patton Boggs recently wrote a multimillion-dollar check to buy his firm, the Breaux-Lott Leadership Group.

So the last thing Lott needs is a bunch of unwashed, Tea-Partying right-wingers coming to Washington on a wave of anti-establishment, free-market populism, and messing up the good thing he has going.

“We don’t need a lot of Jim DeMint disciples,” Lott told the Washington Post, referring to the conservative South Carolina senator who has been a gadfly for party leadership and a champion for upstart conservative candidates. “As soon as they get here, we need to co-opt them.

Sadly, I can think of a few TEA Party supported Congressmen (one in particular) that seemingly have been co-opted by DC Establishment types like Lott.  And at least one person in the article agrees, and brings up another point:

“They’re pretty independent in Iowa. You’ll see a lot of them at our state conventions. But that doesn’t mean they’re just going to blindly vote the party label,” he said. “I’m not a member, per se, but I’ve gone to a lot of their events and I’m very, very sympathetic and think they’re one of the few entities that hold the Republicans’ feet to the fire. Quite frankly, a lot of Republicans just plain walked off the reservation.”

If words like those uttered by NH GOP Leadership above keeps up much longer, the NH GOP IS going to get what it wants.  Indeed, “that doesn’t mean they’re just going to blindly vote the party label“.  In fact, I had a long email conversation with someone that is saying exactly that – and is planning on doing exactly that.

Now, does the NH GOP need the L&F grassroots to succeed? Some would say no – I say otherwise, as I am listening to the rumblings starting up all around.  Hey Wayne, what was the percentage win by Charlie Bass?  Not all that big from what I remember.  What happens if 2-4% of his 2010 voters stay home?    Frank Guinta crushed Carol Shea-Porter last time out – and I know a lot of the folks that worked on his campaign.  With the Dems / Socialists / unions all fired up, that ain’t likely to repeat.  Once again, a few percentage points may make a difference.

I can’t say that the “Law of Unintended Consequences” will kick in when this Politico article goes wider here in NH (and yes, I have already emailed it out to a number of folks), only due to the fact that it doesn’t seem to be all that unintended.

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