Friends,I suppose I could dissect this chapter and verse, starting with the mistaken salutation "Friends."
John McCain doesn't know me from Adam... but neither did George W. Bush in 2004 when I rallied over 80,000 Vets4Bush plus their friends and families. I did this "on my own nickel" and I'm doing it again for John McCain. I'm doing it because McCain is an honorable man and he is head and shoulders above the Democrat candidates. He is the ONLY candidate fit to be Commander in Chief. I don't agree with him on all issues, and it's likely that you don't either.
I know you all agree with me that we REALLY NEED to elect another Republican President this year - that's why you're attending this Convention. I would like to represent you - the grassroots Republican Activists - at the RNC National Convention in Minneapolis, MN on Sept 1. I would greatly appreciate your vote.
I hope to meet you at the 11th District Convention tomorrow. Registration opens at 9:00 a.m. and the convention is scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m.
Suggestion: You might consider bringing snacks, because I've been told there will be no food for sale in the School.
O. P. Ditch
Candidate for RNC National Convention Delegate
But what would be the point? Suffice it to say that Ditch was part of Julie Lucas' charitably-named "Brain Trust" in last year's 51st District Delegate race for the GOP nomination, and when he didn't get his way at the Convention, either opted out entirely or, more probably, gave aid and comfort to Democrat Paul Nichols in his narrow victory in the General Election.
My response was more succinct than usual:
It seems to me that we need a National Delegate who works for all Republican nominees.
Not a prayer.
2 comments:
I agree with the main thrust regarding unity and loyalty, but I do not expect leaders in any political party to blindly support all nominees of that Party, all of the time.
I was here in Virginia and served on Ollie North's campaign. John Warner went so far as to sponsor a third candidate, Marshall Coleman to split the conservative vote and give the Senate seat to the Democrats. When I asked Warner, a few years ago at the Shad Planking, why he torpedoed Ollie, Warner explained that he had very strong advice from his cadre of trusted advisors (whom I call multinational corporate interests) who told him that Ollie would have spelled disaster for the Party and possibly for our nation.
I disagreed with Senator Warner, but I believe he has the right to make his own, informed decision, then publicly stand by the choices that he makes.
I lived in Louisiana back when David Duke won the GOP nomination for Governor of that hopelessly corrupt state. Duke actually looked great compared to the notoriously corrupt Democrat, Edwin Edwards, but many of our GOP members just could not openly support a supposedly reformed Nazi. This same formerly fractured Party has recently come together and elected a very promising young Governor, Bobby Jindal.
Here in Virginia, our citizens have a long tradition of liking their politics blended. The same family will vote for Democrats locally while supporting Republicans at the national level. At the same time, local Democrats often sound a lot like Republicans and have turned out to be more fiscally responsible than some of their Republican counterparts.
We will have a far stronger Party if the GOP sticks to being the best advocate for our citizens and spends its efforts finding the best possible candidates, and not wasting time with fascist-like loyalty oaths or litmus tests hoping to find 100% purity among Republican supporters.
Successful politics requires the building of coalitions. The person who opposes you on one issue, may prove to be your best friend on another issue. This is another reason why we should foster civil and thoughtful debate of issues and make the case for our point of view without rancor for those who differ on a particular point.
Well, Tyler, I suppose your point is a good one. However, I don't think you intended to imply that Ollie North or Faisal Gill is comparable to David Duke (about whom I also agree, obviously; I was Chairman of the Committee that drafted the County Party Plan while Duke was active, and that was much on our minds).
And I agree that Warner had "the right to make his own, [mis]informed decision," though I believe it to have been borne out of the desperate fear that Virginia would elect someone who would have outshown him more than any abiding interest in the long-term health of the GOP.
However, I vehemently disagree with your characterization of the oath for participation --- necessitated by the despicable failure to allow for registration by Party --- as a "fascist-like loyalty oaths or litmus tests." It is the only method available to us to provide some impediment to having Democrats participate in Republican nominating contests. It may, indeed, by imperfect but "fascist" or a "litmus test" it is not. Those strike me as characterizations to condemn the pledge which are an effort to avoid "civil and thoughtful debate" over the legitimate reasons for its usage.
This isn't about any of those issues. This is about someone who helped to torpedo a good Republican candidate for no reason other than: (1) his own personal pique that his candidate lost; and/or (2) motivations which, if not racist, are so close to racist as to be virtually indistinguishable. Moreover, his opposition was not "civil and thoughtful debate of issues," and had nothing to do with "mak[ing] the case for our point of view without rancor for those who differ on a particular point."
Nevertheless, thanks for commenting.
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