Or “What ever happened to that pair we saw Wayne MacDonald with when he debated NH Dem Chair Ray Buckley on Close-up“?
Or “Leadership by cowering“?
Or “See no evil, hear no evil, speak pablum”
Problem outlined and question posited here. Well, I got my requested answer (credit for that, anyways) and Tory Mazolla, the Executive Director of the NH GOP sent the response by NH GOP Chairman Wayne MacDonald along to me:
“We’re disappointed anytime a Republican doesn’t support the entire GOP ticket and all of its candidates. That said, I understand that there are always Republicans who fail to close ranks as we would like. We will support the full ticket in November as determined by our Republican voters, but we’re not supporting any candidates in a contested primary. All of our nominees in the general election will be supported, but the normal practice of the Party doesn’t include direct financial support to candidates.” – NHGOP Chairman Wayne MacDonald
I read it once. I read it twice. I started to read it a third and said “screw this” and fingers went to keyboard to fisk it:
Hi Tory,
Thanks for getting that back to me – truly, I am.
Now, on to the actual statement, for clarification (I am an engineer, and words MUST be precise and precisely known, otherwise bad things happen with products):
“We’re disappointed anytime a Republican doesn’t support the entire GOP ticket and all of its candidates.
That’s it? That’s all of a reaction? Isn’t this like the State Department stating “we strongly condemn the actions” as in Syria (with the undertones of “sheesh, won’t this just go away?”)?
That said, I understand that there are always Republicans who fail to close ranks as we would like.
Milquetoast is far too strong of a word for this.
All of our nominees in the general election will be supported
So if Burton wins the primary, even thought he is support Democrats, the NH GOP will support him organizationally and financially (at least in theory – doubtful he really needs any help in practical terms)????
Tory, forgive me if I sound irritable, but this isn’t even a slap on the wrist – this is a “we’re turning around and playing make-believe”. You know, when Wayne had that Closeup debate with Buckley, it sounded like he had finally gone on the offensive against anti-Republican stances. Sadly, when a Republican does it, he goes all “church mouse” again.
This has “if you’ve got political juice, I’m backing down and going to my corner even if it means abandoning doing the right thing and defending other Republicans” written all over it. Political courage, this ain’t. Ditto for leadership.
Ask him for me – what’s the message this sends to the rank and file when he refuses to call out a High and Mighty? I’ll give him one for free:”the Rules don’t matter if you are a Somebody”; others are low-hanging fruit that he can pick.
Deeply Saddened,
-Skip
They don’t ever want to face up to the fact that they are constantly doing “Do what I say, not as I do” mode. They are self-destructive when they allow the brand to get sullied like this. People notice when standards are bent for some but not for all and they notice when Leadership turns a blind eye away from it (“move along…nothing to see here”). The resulting reaction is predictable (“and I should bother to play this rigged game…..why?”).
A good comment from an emailer:
Whacking 20%….I’d be ok with that. Can we start with those self-identified RINOs that Grokster Rick brings up in his series, The RINO Report? Please? Consistency does count – and in this case Leadership has chosen to make it irrelevant. So why should voters trust the NH GOP / Republican brand? And from another solid emailer:
Does the platform mean anything or is it just a scrap of paper? I consider it false advertising if Republican incumbents are not expected to legislate and execute consistent with the platform a significant majority of the time … 80% minimum.
Or in this case, the Spirit of the By-Laws.
Once again, the monniker of “The Stupid Party” reigns supreme in handing the club to the Democrats with which to get beat. Great example, dudes, great example of how to lead and inspire people. The stale old rationalization of “Vote for us, we’re better than the Democrats!” just took several hits below the waterline and the NH GOP Leadership is still playing “Nearer My God To Thee” on the foredeck…
Burton must be laughing his ass off….
