Guest Column By David BaldingerThe grassroots have awakened.
Scott Brown carries the day in Massachusetts by a solid margin. Chris Christie prevails in New Jersey’s governor race. Bob McDonnell wins in Virginia’s governor race. Florida Republican Chairman Jim Greer is ousted by activists infuriated by his endorsement of an insider candidate for the state’s Senate seat.
These were not necessarily victories for any political party as pundits are eager to claim but, rather, for ordinary citizens who are frustrated and angry with machine politics and the political elite who anoint candidates for their party loyalty rather than for their principles.
The caring, decent people of our country have only just begun to demonstrate their displeasure with the pompous party bosses who control the electoral process.
Now the activists have established a new beachhead in Pennsylvania in their fight for electoral freedom, with the Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman as the target of their resentment.
In a newspaper account of Congressman Jim Gerlach’s withdrawal from the Governor’s race, an obviously gratified Republican Chairman Rob Gleason said that now candidate Tom Corbett “doesn't need a primary" to establish himself and that he is pleased that Corbett would be able to "husband his resources."
With this pronouncement Gleason effectively dismissed the candidacy of State Representative Sam Rohrer and crowned Corbett as the party’s gubernatorial candidate. Six weeks before party delegates meet to vote, Gleason had already written off Representative Rohrer without giving him adequate opportunity to make his views known or gauging the support of the electorate.
The protesters regard Rohrer as an honest, common-sense candidate whose message and principles resonate with a grassroots movement hungry for a rejection of the status quo. Gleason’s unbridled arrogance and his blatant attempt to marginalize Rohrer by ignoring him has provoked the ire of activists and Rohrer proponents from across the state who are now demanding an open primary election that is free of bias and unfettered by political favoritism.
And well they should. Republican Party endorsements have included Lynn Swann, Mike Fisher, Rick Santorum, and others who were chosen for their purported name recognition and “electability” but were decisively rejected at the polls. The party and the people would undoubtedly be better served by allowing the voters to select their candidate rather than forcing upon them someone chosen by power-hungry party bosses who crown their royalty in furtive backroom deals.
Those chosen by the party elite prior to the primary election have a decided advantage over rival candidates by allowing them the use of party resources such as databases, research, and funding. This practice immediately tilts the playing field in favor of the endorsed candidate and will go far toward assuring their success. This must end if we are to restore the open electoral process that has been taken from us by those who have no desire to risk placing candidate selection in the hands of the people.
The coronation of candidates taints the integrity of those contenders by making them beholden to the powers that choose them and the special interests that finance their campaigns. It is sordid politics like this that ultimately leads to the pervasive corruption that is so prevalent in Pennsylvania government today.
Gleason and the Pennsylvania Republican leaders have completely lost touch with their base and are misreading the mood of the Pennsylvania electorate and, indeed, that of the nation. At the party meeting in February they will again order their delegates to march in lockstep with the party powers to endorse their hand-picked candidate. But this time that edict will become a liability for those who are chosen.
Patriot organizations, taxpayer advocates, tea party, 9/12, and similar grassroots groups have come together and will speak with one voice to repudiate the power of the political elite who would strip us of our liberty. We have had enough of the party powers dictating candidates and policy to us and we will regain control of the process that is guaranteed to us by the Constitution. The Governor’s seat belongs to the people, not the party; it is time for all citizens to demand of the Republican bosses an open, transparent primary election so that we, the people of Pennsylvania, may choose who will lead us.
David Baldinger is a taxpayer advocate and a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Coalition of Taxpayer Associations, an organization of thirty-six taxpayer groups that is working for school property tax elimination and education finance reform.
The Tea Party Movement is a part of the American tradition. It is what the elite few who want to rule the many, as the current Democrat Party and many old-line Republicans, would oppose. It comes from a unique tradition of local home rule, where government was no further from the governed than one day’s horseback ride, and individual interests were more important than are community interests. That led to the more involved citizen, the town hall meetings and even the vigilante movement. From the early days, the Tea Party Movement is but an extension of American traditions and perfectly correct. Surely, the Old World, such as England and France, would never permit such a thing, as their traditions were inclined to be bloody conflicts, not peaceful demonstrations. The differences are cited in the Changing Face of Democrats, Our Libertarian Roots Lost, on Amazon and claysamerica.com.
ReplyDeleteI agree. You would think that our PA Republican party leadership would have learned from their past failures by now with Lynn Swann and Mike Fisher ending up loosing in the General election! I plan on helping Sam Rohrer with his campaign for governor in whatever way I can!
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