SELL-OUT!
No,
no, no. This is a GOOD Republican sell-out for a change!
The Southern
Nevada Republican Women’s PAC gala at the Venetian Saturday night was a
sell-out and enormously successful despite (because of?) MSNBC cackler Rachel Maddow’s 15-minute on-air rant
against the event earlier in the week.
Congratulations
to event organizer Daryll Ann Carter
and her team for pulling off such a great event!
Kudos
also to the Nevada Republican Party which featured U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) at a fundraising event earlier in the
afternoon at the Golden Nugget. I was
only able to attend the VIP reception before the public rally, but the room was
packed with folks who paid $1,000 or $250 for the opportunity to meet Sen. Paul
and have their photo taken with him.
It
seems “establishment” efforts to bleed the party dry have been less than
successful. Not that the party’s flush
with cash now, but it’s not standing on street corners with “Will Register
Voters for Food” signs either.
Congratulations
to Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald,
National Committeeman James Smack
and National Committeewoman Diana Orrock
for pulling off such a great event!
FORK THE GOP: EASY STREET
VS. ROCKY ROAD
Former
Clark County GOP Chairman Dave Gibbs
has written a letter to members of the Clark County Republican Central
Committee urging a vote to oust incumbent Chairman Cindy Lake – who was elected to replace Gibbs after he resigned
mid-term last year to go work for the Romney campaign at Team Nevada – at this
Wednesday night’s election.
It’s
a thoughtful piece with many legitimate points…unlike the drivel-and-rant
emails we’ve been subjected to lately by the “Y’All Queen,” Cathie Lynn Profant-Gisi-Johnson-Martinez-Boudreau…so
I’ve posted it here
on Nevada News & Views even
though I disagree on some key points.
Where
we agree, however, is that this election really should be about the direction the
Clark County GOP goes from here. Challenger
Dave McKeon’s “sleazy” past that he
hid from everybody for the last six months, while relevant, is an unfortunate side
show.
So let’s
focus on where former County GOP Chairman Gibbs and former County GOP Chairman
Muth agree; that what we should be talking about is the direction the party
should take, not the relative short-comings of the two candidates who, like
Chairman Gibbs and me, were foolish enough to seek this thankless, unpaid office
in the first place.
As
you may recall, a couple years ago Dave and I debated the merits of the Central
Committee adopting a pre-primary endorsement policy…similar to the pre-primary
endorsement policy embraced by Gov. Brian
Sandoval and Senate Minority Leader Michael
Roberson, but where the endorsements are made by, you know, the elected
members of the party’s Central Committee rather than by high-priced political
consultants in the proverbial smoke-filled back rooms.
In that
debate, Dave made strong arguments against the party taking such a pro-active
leadership role in the nominating process, whereas I’ve been arguing in favor
of it for almost 20 years. But Dave’s
side won the vote.
This fall a new proposal for pre-primary endorsements will be debated and voted upon, and incumbent Chairman Cindy
Lake is in favor of it while her challenger Dave McKeon is opposed. This
is a clear contrast related to the direction the party will go in the upcoming
election cycle.
But
that issue isn’t at the heart of Mr. Gibbs’ letter and arguments for ousting
Lake.
Instead,
the former Chairman makes the absolutely valid argument that political victories
are won by addition, not subtraction. And
he points to two important numbers, 11 and 22.
Those are the numbers of Republicans needed to be elected to the state
senate and assembly respectively to attain a GOP majority of both houses.
And
majorities get to lead.
So
Mr. Gibbs’ point is valid. However…
The
point raised by the Lake side of the party, which is equally valid, is that
just having the majority isn’t much of a victory if the Republican majority
leads us in the same direction as the Democrat majority!
Indeed,
how is it better to have Republican Senate Leader Mike Roberson and Republican Assembly Leader Pat Hickey leading the Legislature in voting for Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval’s $620 million extension
of the “temporary” tax hikes rather than Democrat Senate Leader Mo Dennis and Democrat Assembly Speaker
Marilyn Kirkpatrick?
And
how is it better to have Republicans leading the charge to single out one
industry with a new $600 million tax hike on mining than to have the Democrats
doing it?
And how
is it better to have Republicans leading the charge to give non-citizens
drivers licenses rather than Democrats?
And how
is it better to have Republicans leading efforts to dump more money into our
failed public schools than Democrats?
And how
is it better to have Republicans kill a much-needed “parent trigger” education
reform bill than having Democrats kill it?
And how
is it better to have Republicans proposing to grow government and increase
spending…just not quite as much as the Democrats?
You
see, the thing establishment Republicans are missing here is that a lot of us
believe it’s not just enough to elect more
Republicans; we need to elect BETTER ones, as well.
Seriously,
I understand the point Chairman Gibbs made that the party should be issuing
resolutions criticizing the actions of Democrats rather than Republicans. But
two counter-points:
1.) How can Republicans, with a straight face,
criticize Democrats for raising taxes and increasing government spending when
Republican legislators are voting right along with them to raise taxes and
increase spending? Wouldn’t that be
hypocritical?
2.) Republican activists at the grassroots level –
who work hard to draft a party platform every two years – expect Democrats to
raise taxes and increase spending. That’s
just what Democrats do. Shouldn’t we
expect better from Republicans?
Well
before McKeon’s dirty laundry came tumbling out of the closet, these areas of
concern are what caused me to oppose the direction he wants the party to go. I want the elected Central Committee members -
who do the grunt work, with no pay or public approbation - to have a
significant, leadership role in selecting the party’s nominees. McKeon doesn’t.
That’s
not to say there’s no seat at the table for liberal tax-and-spend Republicans
like Assemblyman Lynn “Bug Man”Stewart
in the GOP tent; only that the Stewarts of the party shouldn’t be seated at the
HEAD of the table. Indeed, their
proper place in the big tent is at the kiddie table with former Ass. Mark SureWould.
And
for those who are making the argument that conservatives shouldn’t be challenging
RINO Gumby incumbents like Stewart and Roberson in primaries, I have two words and one year
for you:
Ronald
Reagan, 1976.
Case
closed.
I
also want the party to hold elected Republicans’ feet to the fire when said
elected officials wander too far off the reservation. If the Central Committee adopts a platform
that says “We oppose raising taxes” and a GOP legislator votes to raise taxes…then
it’s absolutely appropriate for the Central Committee to take said legislator
to the woodshed.
Indeed,
I’d argue it’s their obligation. As any
parent will tell you, if you let your child continuously get away with telling
little white lies and stealing pennies, sooner or later they’re gonna graduate
to even bigger and far worse transgressions.
For far
too long the see-no-evil attitude in the GOP here has been “My Republican,
right or wrong.” Well, under Chairman
Lake those days came to an end.
Republicans in Carson City and elsewhere are no longer getting away with
the political murder of various planks in the party’s platform.
They
are being held accountable…and they hate it.
Just
like how the convenience store thief hates getting caught by the cops.
So
what we have here is a serious difference of opinion as to the proper role of
the Central Committee.
My
position is that the Central Committee should serve as the chief enforcement
arm of the party, and where called for, the lead prosecutor.
The
other side’s position is that of chief enabler of bad political behavior by
serving as the public defender of wayward Republicans.
So
forget for a minute all the negative information that’s come out about McKeon’s
personal and financial past. Yes, that
information and supporting documents will be wrapped around the necks of every
GOP candidate next year like a cobra if he’s elected. But aside from that, here’s the choice his
candidacy against Lake provides…
Does
the Central Committee return to institutional irrelevance; where elected
moderates like Gov. Brian Sandoval and Gov. Kenny Guinn before him; or Senate Leader Mike
Roberson and Senate Leader Bill Raggio before him: or Assembly Leader Pat Hickey
and Assembly Leaders Pete Goicoechea, Heidi Gansert and Garn Mabey before him,
call the shots, pick the nominees and lead the party to higher taxes and bigger
government (just maybe not as high and big as the Democrats would)…
Or
do we continue down the rocky, contentious road of principle chaotically
ushered in by the election of Chairman Lake a year ago?
Sure,
the easy way is to return to go-along-to-get-along. Indeed, that’s the road our elected Republican
officials have taken in Carson City for the last thirty years or so.
On
that yellow brick road, everybody loves everybody. And even though Central Committee members
have no real say whatsoever in the policy direction of the party, every two
years they are invited to work their arses off for free and maybe, if they’re
lucky, get their tummies rubbed on Election Night.
The
much more difficult path, on the other hand, is to get angry with those who
tell us they’re conservatives on the campaign trail and then sell us out once
firmly ensconced in office and (hyperbole
alert!) sleeping on mattresses stuffed with cash from lobbyists and special
interests.
Republicans,
by their very nature, tend to avoid controversy. But there comes a time when it’s wholly
appropriate to get angry as Hades and declare, “We’re not going to take it any
longer!”
Just
ask John Hancock and his fellow travelers
in 1776.
Last
year a majority of members of the Central Committee chose to fight rather than
appease. Naturally those who prefer to
let RINOs like Roberson and Stewart get away with their complete and total
sell-out of everything the Republican Party supposedly stands for, stand in opposition.
So
yes, the Clark County Central Committee indeed faces a fork in the road.
One
path is smooth sailing; where never is heard a discouraging word for any
Republican no matter how badly he or she votes.
The
other path is littered with rocks, boulders and fallen trees. The slog will be extremely difficult, especially
with establishment-types sniping from the bushes and high-priced consultants
without a principled bone in their bodies trying to steal our food and water.
The choice
is stark and crystal clear.
Dave McKeon,
with all of his faults, wants to lead the party back down the well-worn garden
path; the safe path; the easy path. The
path of standing for nothing and falling for anything. In fact, getting McKeon to take a firm stand
on almost any tough, controversial issue is even tougher than getting a
two-year-old to take a nap or eat his peas.
Or…
Cindy Lake,
with all of her faults, has chosen to lead the party down the much more
difficult path; the narrow path where practical politics is counter-weighed by
principle; where people on the sidelines who would prefer to remain in their
comfort zone get agitated and start taking shots at you.
Me,
with all of my faults – and boy, are they legion! – I rarely take Easy
Street. But after suffering the slings
and arrows and cuts and bruises that come with taking the road less traveled
every day…I sleep very well at night and awaken each morning ready to mount up
again.
And
regardless of how the Clark County Central Committee votes on Wednesday night, I’ll
be right back on the conservative Rocky Road Thursday morning…just where I’ve been the last
20-some years. And I’ll either have a
partner joining me, or I’ll be waving sayonara to friends who instead opted to
return to the path of least resistance.
Either
way, political life will go on. It
always does.
I
can’t tell you which path is right for you. I can only tell you which path is right for
me. But I will tell you this…
Chairman
Gibbs is absolutely right that majorities get to lead. And it will be the majority of Central
Committee members who will determine which path the Clark County Republican
Central Committee takes in the 2014 election cycle.
So whichever path is your preferred path,
please show up to vote Wednesday night.
Speaking
of which, a huge turnout is expected for this highly contentious election,
which will likely result in very, very, very long lines at the voting
booths. As such, please be advised that staggered
voting procedures have been put in place to alleviate the congestion.
Lake
supporters will be voting between 7:00 pm and 9:00 pm. McKeon supporters will be voting between 9:00
pm and 11:00 pm.
That
should go a long way towards shortening the lines, avoiding potential problems
and making sure everything goes smoothly.
See
you Wednesday!
Chuck
P.S. No, Cathie Lynn, I’m only kidding. That staggered vote gag is an old joke we
used to play on mush-headed Democrats on real Election Days. Hope “y’all” didn’t fall it.
But in
case you did, the truth is the Lake supporters are to show up and vote on Wednesday
night at the regular time. You and your
supporters can vote at the same time, but on THURSDAY night, not
Wednesday night.
We
didn’t think it was right to keep you up past your milk-and-cookies bedtime.
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
“Top
preventable death of young black men is homicide--usually by another black.” – Larry Elder
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