The NHGOP recently held scheduled an event at a venue owned by a notorious Democrat donor. Skip took them to the woodshed. They didn’t care for that. In one email exchange he forwarded to me from someone who sounds like they are inside the State Republican Party (or carry their water) we got this response.
I really try to wrap my head around the circular firing squad we so often engage. I get we like to fight for what’s right, but instead of just fighting for fighting’s sake, I wish it were channeled against our common foe.
Help me out here? Who exactly is this common foe? How do we recognize them?
The simplest Establishment Party answer (be it the GOPe or the NHGOPe) is “look at party registration.”
If they have a (D) they are probably The Common Foe™, if they have an (R) then let’s just leave that alone.
I think we can guess where this is headed so let me begin with the most obvious and recent problem with this formula.
Based on The Common Foe™ theory as I’ve outlined it, I shouldn’t be questioning the judgment of Sullivan County Commissioner Jeffrey Barrett, who is an admitted lifelong Democrat accidentally running as a Republican in a Republican Primary. A fact you’d never know outside smalltown media if we didn’t report it GraniteGrok.com.
This September Republican Primary voters in Sullivan County have to choose between an actual Republican (Jeremy Herrell) and a Democrat (Jeffrey Barrette) who is “accidentally” registered as a Republican in their primary. I kid you not.
… There is no Democrat challenger in the general election. Whoever wins the “Republican” primary will win the office.
The NHGOP can’t technically get involved in the primary even though The Common Foe™ could get elected by Republicans because he is running as one.
We know he is still going to advance Democrat priorities. But hey, he has that R-thingy next to his name. Mitts off you conservative principle-pimping knuckle-draggers.
While that example may be unusual the problem is not unique. There are a significant number of individuals registered as Republicans who are deliberately advancing the Democrat party agenda to varying degrees. Some are Democrats who can’t get elected to office in their district unless they register Republican. Others are just lazy or lack the courage. A few are good on most things but bad on key issues that are considered deal breakers.
The Democrats have those too. But over on the left, every issue is a deal breaker. You step out of line and the party leaders “call you into the office.” On the right the “office” is a tent, it is supposed to be BIG, but discipline only appears to come when you don’t drop your principles to advance the Democrat agenda.
We get that all the time. It makes us wonder if principled Republicans are The Common Foe™.
We do have our fair share of courageous Republicans. One recent Republican House Speaker with the proper pedigree lined them up in the House chamber in what became nicknamed murderers row.
And not for nothing but with the abrupt departure of Jeannie Forrester as GOP chair a past Chairman, who is now the current chairman, (the guy with the same last name as me – or maybe I have that backward) once referred to Conservative bloggers (speaking up about who is abandoning their Republican principles) as “those who are “ruining” the party.”
Newsflash!
We’re not here for the party, the conventions, or even the events at facilities owned by progressives who would just as soon take our rights. You are here for us.
And we want to discuss the principles you may not be following outlined in your own party platform. Things that are in documents that restrain government. And we do that because there are plenty of “Republicans” of the not quite courageous enough pedigree who can be reminded or persuaded to remember why they are Republicans.
But none of that matters to the folks plying The Common Foe™ narrative. They defend the folks who are at some point (based on their votes) no longer Republican enough to warrant our support. And while everyone’s tolerance for that will vary by degrees if you don’t draw lines then you might as well wave white flags. Because voting Republican just because of the (R) can get you Democrats, and not just in Sullivan County.
Lines matter. They have to. If they don’t then what’s the difference between that and the no-borders left? If we can’t draw lines to define that for which we stand, and defend those lines, then why draw lines to define a nation?
And if we can’t have a nation, there is no point in having laws.
And if we don’t need laws, we certainly don’t need lawmakers regardless of what they say they believe.
Update: The event mentioned in paragraph one was and still is scheduled not held, as originally noted. I corrected the text.
And while I’m at it, rumor has it that a more Republican-friendly venue was found and available but the NHGOP refused to change the location. In one sense that’s good: honoring your commitment no matter what the cost. It’s an unusual trait for the NHGOPe but at least it still exists. But it another, not so much. Why wasn’t that location vetted prior to committing sparse party dollars to an establishment run by a raving, left-wing, gun-hating liberal donor?
