Hijacking the Primaries (part 2)

In February of 2010, the Pa Republican Committee (RSC) met in Harrisburg for their scheduled meeting. Prior to that, the 6 regional caucuses also had meetings and conducted “straw polls” to see which candidates for statewide offices were preferred.

The RSC first voted whether or not to endorse, yes or no. We know they voted Yes, but by how much and who voted how, we do not know, because our party does not keep us in the loop of how our party operates. Yes, these are the people who are making decisions for us, the Republican rank-and-file.

So after the Yes vote, they voted on which candidates would be the Annointed Ones that would get Party support, even before the nomination petitions were filed on March 9! Hypothetically, they could be voting on candidates who had no intention of filing the necessary paperwork even to get on the Primary ballot.

So the anointed Ones will get access to party resources that the others will not. And county GOP Chairmen are instructed NOT to circulate petitions for (or God-forbid mention the names of) non-endorsed candidates and basically not to help them keep a level playing field before the voters’ Primary Election.

The Primary Election is the most sacred of elections where the party voters select their candidates in a democratic process. But the party elite apparently does not believe in the democratic process. Apparently we could not possibly be smart enough to make the wisest of choices on who we want to represent our party and our values in the General Election, the election where we face-off against all kinds of philosophical lunacy from which we are trying to save our nation.

No, because it is better to be “moderate” and “pragmatic” and think about all the money and all the Independent voters and compromising those principles we hold near and dear.

Don’t you wonder when are we allowed to get a candidate who we really believe in? If not the Primary, then when?

Remember that Ronald Reagan, the icon of conservatism and the lost Republican way, was not the “chosen one” of the party elite. Ronald Reagan was the people’s candidate.

Who is the people’s candidate now? Will we ever know?

Not with the current system. The system must promote competition within the political arena, not stifle it and shut it out. Competition. I thought that was a Republican value? Was I wrong?

Perhaps the Republican elite has forgotten what the core principles of the party are. Perhaps the Republican rank-and-file needs to remind them?

You want to know how we do that?

We take back our party through the political committees, elected in the precincts in almost every county in Pennsylvania. We take it back by keeping our state committee representatives accountable and by demanding transparency in the party as follows:

• The RSC will post the minutes of meetings on the web site within 2 weeks of party meetings.
• The RSC will post its by-laws on its web site.
• The RSC will post the names of all state committee members by county with contact information for each member.
• The RSC will post meeting dates for committee meetings and regional caucus meetings no later than 2 weeks prior to the meetings on its web site.
• The RSC will send no fund raising letters or emails without including the above information.

Only when these conditions are satisfied will we come close to bringing our party back to the Republican voters, where it belongs!

Lois Kaneshiki
Pennsylvania Precinct Project