This writer has for many years decried the “tolerance” and inclusiveness of RINOs in the Republican Party, not only in our own state but in other states and nationally. Their presence in the party dilutes the GOP brand, makes it much less meaningful and is damaging to other true Republican candidates.
Related: Former NHGOP State Party Chair Jennifer Horn Endorses Joe Biden for President
So, we are faced with the spectacle of a former chair of the NHGOP co-sponsoring an organization seeking to defeat President Trump and openly endorsing Joe Biden for President. And we have a former governor of Ohio, supposedly a dyed-in-the-wool Republican, speaking at the national convention of the Democrats and urging defeat of President Trump.
We should consider ourselves incredibly lucky that we now have a different chair of the NHGOP and that the former Governor of Ohio did not gain any traction in his prior run for the presidency.
One’s political party identification is self-declared. There is no blood test or loyalty oath required in order to call oneself a Republican and to run for elections under the Republican Party brand.
The GOP has a state platform and a national platform clearly articulating the essential principles that make one a Republican. Agreement by everyone claiming to be a Republican with 100% of the principles in the party platform is probably unrealistic and unattainable. But is it unreasonable to expect a true Republican to agree with at least 80% of the principles in the platform? If you do not like 80%, just pick a number greater than 50%.
If you do not agree with at least the minimum percentage of principles in the party platform, you should voluntarily change your party registration to another party, but do not hold yourself out as a Republican when in reality you are not.
It is not enough simply to hold yourself out as a Republican. You must be a real Republican.
It would be nice if the Republican Party could successfully trademark the Republican brand, thereby acquiring the right to police its usage and to prohibit those who are not true Republicans from using the brand. But that is unlikely to happen.
So, we end up relying on the party “elites” to police the brand, and, if they are diligent, to call out RINOs for what they are. And to refuse them positions of authority within the party. But that seldom happens in the real world.
Stories abound of party elites trying to recruit candidates to run on the Republican Party brand by telling them that if they get elected, they do not even have to show up to participate actively in the positions to which they will be elected. Just as long as they carry an “R” next to their name seems to be enough of a qualifier. But that is absurd.
This situation contains the seeds of rebellion by those who genuinely believe in the Republican Party and its principles. And sometimes, just sometimes, we see some light at the end of this very dark tunnel.
Yesterday, Tuesday, August 18, was the election for Florida GOP state committeewoman from Collier County (Naples). Naples is reportedly the location of vacation homes of some of the NH GOP party elites.
Jan Glassman, the spouse of the chair of the Belknap County Republican Committee and Assistant Treasurer of the NHGOP (he claims to reside in NH while she claims to reside in Collier County, Florida- cute!), the longtime holder of that position, was defeated overwhelmingly by JoAnn deBartolo, a very avid & active supporter of President Trump.
The vote totals, with all precincts reporting, showed that the voters went for deBartolo against Glassman 70% to 30%.
JoAnn is from the fairly famous deBartolo family of major shopping center developers and owners of professional sports teams, so she had the gumption and wherewithal to wage a vigorous campaign.
JoAnn was opposed by many of the state party elites/RINOs in Florida, for whom the voters have now expressed their views.
The Glassman campaign was certainly not helped by wide circulation of a photo of her posing with a group of women wearing burkas, or by her endorsement by terror-linked State Attorney Amira Dajani Fox, who was reportedly exposed in 2018 for her links to radical Islam and even terrorist linked propaganda. Fox’s family reportedly has deep ties to the extremely anti-Semitic PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization), with her Uncle being one of its co-founders; and her father is also a known bigot who hates the Jewish people and Israel, our only ally in the Middle East.
But if a political revolution of sorts can happen in Southwest Florida yesterday, it can happen anywhere, even here in NH and even in Belknap County.
As a native Floridian who formerly resided there for many years before escaping to New Hampshire, this writer was proud to have endorsed JoAnn deBartolo.
