Membership Committee

Comment

Comment by Stephen A. Gagne on September 27, 2009 at 2:24pm

This is not a fully-formed thought, only a suggestion for further discussion.

Here in Indian River County, I am on the Republican Exeutive Committee, as a Committeman for Precinct 401. A while back at an IRC-REC meeting, I nominated Carole Jean Jordan as Tax Collector. Afterward, Carole Jean told me that Jim Greer, as the RPOF chair, was considered ***an honorary member of every subsidiary Republican group in the state***, and that I should have allowed him the honor of nominating her, as that was his reason for attending the meeting that night in the first place. Oops.

At least I didn't get "purged" for it, but I am thinking, are we giving proper credit and support to those who are supposed to be our allies, to those whom we expect to help fight our battles?

And regarding the "purges", Jim Greer is greatly maligned, and at times rightly so, for his actions, but turning this into a pissing contest with him or the Republican establishment strikes me as more a psychological problem than a rational judgment.

Have we looked at his actions from HIS point of view? He has been allowed the use of the ***limited*** resources of the RPOF, and has been charged with getting the largest number of Republicans elected to office. From that vantage point, he has to consider ***political electability*** (responding to the inconsistent, irrational, fickle electorate), NOT philosophical purity, as his guiding principle. I mean, THAT IS WHAT WE PAY HIM FOR!

And if we consider his required "loyalty oath" in that context, we have to realize that all he is saying is, "Hey guys, you asked me to do a job. Don't pull the rug out from underneath me when I'm doing it; don't stab me in the back!"

What I am saying is that we need the support of Jim Greer & the Republican establishment just as much as they need ours. For this reason, I suggest we make nice, offer them all honorary memberships here, and welcome them as "friends of liberty".

This may seem contrary to our aims, but I assure you it is not. I have no interest in running for office, and I am not willing to hold my breath till the ideal candidate comes along. Though ideology said I should support Frank Z. in the last congressional election, I made the same political calculation Jim Greer did, and was an active supporter of Bill Posey. He has turned out to be one of the most active allies Ron Paul has in the House of Representatives; he has done NOTHING to make me embarrassed for supporting him. And that is the calculation of the political horse race: if you are not going to have the balls to run for office yourself (like Frank Z. did), find the most ***successful*** candidate you can get, and ride him to the finish. The philosophical calculation? Just make sure you keep him running for you.

In light of this, I'm thinking that, rather than barrage Jim Greer & the other RPOF regulars who seem bent on gutting the RLC, we should consider a tit-for-tat. We want them to include us in their tent, let's offer the same to them. We want the establishment to do our bidding, let's explain our hyperbole to them before they hear it on the TV, out of context. Invite them to meetings, either as guests or speakers. Use Q&A sessions to help guide them into a more reasonable way of thinking.

Otherwise, I can't see our efforts as being anything but as futile as those of the John Birch Society.