Merrimack County Republican Committee – My ‘discussion’ Part 3: "The Schism" - Granite Grok

Merrimack County Republican Committee – My ‘discussion’ Part 3: “The Schism”

OK, I get distracted from time to time.  Sometimes, I get distracted a LOT!  I did say a while back:

…As my talk to the MCRC said (another part to go up tonite), their is an irreconcilable void between the two types of Republicans and the two types of philosophies…

And then I never did (Parts I and II here and here).  So, time to get back to work.  And post the video (again, I have to start practicing public speaking more).

 WHY IS THE GOP / NH GOP IN TROUBLE?

Let’s get to the Nitty Gritty of this “discussion”:  There is a tremendous split in the Republican Party – and especially in the NH GOP.  And for three extremely binary reasons – each this or that and never the twain they’ll meet.

1. Don’t Talk About it

And we never ever discuss it when we all get together in these groups or understand why it is there.  Oh, I do – very well.  After all, I have been thinking about this for a long time and writing about it for a long time.

It’s  like “Hey, we found this important tin can we’ve been looking for – but only keep scratching the surface – but thinking we’re done.  The can never gets opened to see the void inside, that dark place where few are fearless in treading.  Instead of trying to figure out “what is this chasm”, the can scratch seems to be enough and then victory is always declared and “We must unite because we’re Republicans!”

Ditto for the rest of the Groksters…but a lot of times, we are seen as the agitators… simply because we don’t toe the line.  We air out the dirty laundry because it just seems that a lot Republicans just don’t believe that there is any.  Be honest – you cannot manage a problem unless you enable yourself to SEE the problem, and you cannot fix a problem unless you are will to both name the problem and understand its root causes.  Since the November election, a lot of electrons have been martyred in a lot of dancing-around it – but in our opinion, not a lot of (or, certainly not enough of it) has happened with NH.  “We should unite!” simply because it sounds like and makes it sound like we are doing something constructive?

Balderdash.  We have a massive case of “let’s not talk about it”.  Well, like I said, I/we say stuff other people can’t or won’t or can’t be bothered.  Let me add another – those that are afraid that if we did, they would lose power.  Make no mistake – there are many power struggles inside the NH GOP.

2. Two Types of Republicans

There are serious differences that, by definition,  prevent that faux sense of “united” for being the real thing.  In watching these last few years, in listening these last few years, there are two kinds of Republicans:  What say YOU what they are?

  • There are some that are Republicans because, well, they are Republicans. Thus, Party first and always so what is the problem with the rest of you “getting with the program”?  Minority Leader (NH House) Gene Chandler said at a Belknap County Republican: “any person with an R next to their name is a good Republican”.  Really? Let me tell you about Alida Milham, Peter Bolster, and Doc Pilliod a bit later not to denigrate them but as object lessons).
  • There are others, like me, that are Republicans only because its stated philosophy best matches mine – so the problem is “Why do you Republican Republicans not support the Platform and the Constitution”? And that is one of the major problem and the platitudes “big tent” and “we all must unite” doesn’t cut it.

This is the enmity between the groups – the former expects the votes and to fall in line simply because, well, if you attach an R after your name, that’s what you have to do.  The latter holds “wait, hold on here – this is a VOLUNTARY association here and not a “sign up once and then Foreverville”.  The former needs no further reason and the latter requires not just the reasoning but see a solid attachment to that reasoning from the former leading to actions congruent with that philosophy.  In other words – if you talk the talk (the Platform), then walk that talk – constantly.  The Platform, the guiding philosophy IS the brand.  Acting as if it doesn’t exist, or it exists only when it it convenient drives the base nuts – and tarnishes that brand.  You see, we actually believe its values hold the key.  It becomes very frustrating to the point of rendering one’s clothes to work to get what appears to be “one of our thinkers” elected and then see them not abide by their promises.

Do we expect 100% compliance?  Well, it certainly would be nice – and make life far easier (and I wouldn’t have blog so often).  But if you campaign on the Platform or on Conservative values, you’ve made a promise.  We, the “voluntary Republicans” expect those promises to be kept – especially the major ones.  The major Pillars of those philosophies.

In fact, if elected Republians  Representatives actually followed it, the TEA Party would never have come into existence.

3. Two sets of Political Philosophy (or 3 – the clueless)

Actually, this has gone long enough….we’ll pick this up later.

Previous Parts:

 

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