Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right
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| Our CTGOP candidates need Party support. They don't need to be yanked around by our short-sighted leaders |
Today's email appeal by our Republican Chairman Jerry Labriola, Jr. is certainly warranted, and I applaud his efforts for reaching out to the party faithful 30 days before Primary Day to rally the base, and ask for financial support for a Statewide GOP victory in November (I'll add a link to his statement when the party webpage is eventually updated).
But I'm unhappy to report that beyond the fanfare for a REPUBLICAN victory in November, there is a practice being advocated which is far more damaging to our brand than spirited public debate. I'm talking about the decision by some Republican leaders to encourage many Republican candidates to file paperwork to seek endorsements from outside our Party, or worse - run as Independents.
We are alleged to be Republicans for a reason. We are supposed to stand on a set of established principles that make us Republicans , and not anything else (free markets, strong foreign policy, lower taxes, less Government intrusion, traditional family values, etc) . There are reasons that we aren't members of the Libertarian Party, or the Independent Party, or the Constitution Party, or any other political group. Like so many others, I'm proud of our lineage dating back to Abraham Lincoln (and perhaps earlier by some records), and still believe that we don't need to beg and barter for support from fringe groups who we wouldn't ordinarily be associated for any reason beyond comic relief.
Republicans aren't Independents, they are Republicans. Period.
I don't really care what Democrats do. It's a fact that they are so weak in their own ideology that they have to go out and establish front groups like the Working Families Party and others to give the false impression that their Democrat Candidate is somehow being supported by a whole separate constituency. The practice is deceitful, and in poor taste - and should be banned altogether - so God knows why instead of standing on our own laurels and selling our own principles as Republicans, why we would run out an emulate the shady practices of our enemies.
Remember when your mother made a teaching point by asking you .... "If little Johnny next door jumped off a bridge, would you?". Well I guess when it comes to some of our leaders, the answer is "yes".
Below is an email which is being duplicated in form and is being distributed to many of our statewide Republican candidates. In my view it shows that our leaders are once again going down the wrong path. If you haven't noticed, we excel at poorly executing the schemes of our opponents - which is why they spend half their time mocking us all the way up through and beyond the election. And - they clean our clocks pretty good!
| Subject: | HURRY XXXX INDEPENDENT PARTY ENDORSEMENT! |
|---|---|
| Date: | Wed, 18 July |
| From: | M. Boughton <ctgopwin@ |
| To: | XXXX |
Dear XXXX ,
Congratulations on your recent nomination! As a Republican, I am proud that we have fielded such a strong team for the November elections.
I am writing to you today to notify you, if you haven’t done so already, of an important opportunity for your campaign. For many years I have been working with the Independent Party and have used their support as a cross endorsement.
If you are to be successful in November, being on the ballot in two locations can make the difference in whether you win or lose - as you are aware, many of the Democratic candidates for office have accepted cross endorsements from the Working Families Party.
I have taken the liberty of including the necessary petitions and the paperwork required to access the ballot for the Independent Party. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Time is of the essence so if you decide to pursue the nomination, you must act quickly.
As always, I am available to help you and your campaign in anyway. Good luck!
Sincerely,
Mark Boughton
Instructions:
- Print and fill carefully and completely ASAP the Certification of Nomination and FEDEX to:
c/o 79 ½ North Street
Danbury, CT 06810
- Print and fill carefully and completely ASAP the Application for Nominating Petition and FEDEX to:
Pearl Williams
State Elections Division30 Trinity Street
Hartford, CT 06106
After Ms. Williams receives your Application, she will then send you a petition for you to obtain signatures. There are a required number of signatures for each district and Ms. Williams will provide that number with the petition. You should make copies of the petition package when you receive it so your campaign can garner signatures quickly! Please follow the directions provided with the petition page carefully.
ALL FORMS MUST BE RECEIVED, DATE STAMPED by the Town Clerk by AUGUST 8, 4pm.
Certainly, I expected a lot more from Mayor Mark Boughton who aspires to be Governor of Connecticut one day. But first, to make a fool of himself endorsing Linda McMahon, then Lisa Wilson-Foley (after the controversy), and now to get caught up in this "hogging the line" strategy is ridiculous. Whatever happened to campaigning openly and honestly on the issues, and helping to re-brand the Connecticut Republican Party into a viable entity?
Frankly, I'm embarrassed by the whole affair. It can't be understated - with the prospect of Linda McMahon at the top of our ticket as a sort-of clown candidate, and Lisa Wilson-Foley riddled with scandals and impropriety, and another woman down in the Second District who is nearly certifiable - I'm surprised we amass over 30% in total at the polls.
Let's stop acting like Democrats, and start acting like Republicans - honest, fair, principled, and hard-working. We don't need trickery and smoke and mirrors to win elections - we just need to get out there and tell our story. And given President Barack Obama's failures, we aught to have an easy job doing just that.
I AM
THE KING
This original blog entry can be found at http://www.thekingsview.blogspot.com/
Disclaimer: This entry and others will be modified/updated at a future date. All entries are for the sole purpose of entertainment. This article does not imply endorsement of the candidate mentioned above, nor has this article been solicited for publication by any political candidate, campaign, or PAC.
Disclaimer: This entry and others will be modified/updated at a future date. All entries are for the sole purpose of entertainment. This article does not imply endorsement of the candidate mentioned above, nor has this article been solicited for publication by any political candidate, campaign, or PAC.
9 comments:
Unbelievable that Linda has Boughton doing this to cover her. The fact is Linda is taking heat for getting signatures to be on the ticket as an Independent so she's got stooge Boughton to make it look like a Republican movement for all candidates to get signatures. I will be calling Chairman Labriola tomorrow to ask him to addres this move by Boughton and denounce it publicly or shit will be hitting the fan. Why the hell do we have conventions and spend tens of thousands of CTGOP donor dollars on holding them to then go destroy our Brand by promoting another. Why? Ill tell you why, to cover Linda McMahons selfish , greedy, egotistical blunder of a move to run as an Independent. And you wonder why Rove, McCain, Schiff, McKinney and Cafero are backing Shays? They're backing him because he is RNC, she's DNC, and we know this by her donations to the DNC. If this activity of running on two lines continues then look for the CTGOP to be burnt to the ground by us Republican Activists.
Another blunder by Healys helpers.
I am one of those who definitely support Republicans getting on the Independent Party line (Row 5B). My reasoning, though you and others may consider it flawed, is as follows.
First, today Republican voters represent only about 22% of all voters in CT. Where are so many of those swing Republicans hiding? Amongst the unaffiliated voters. Thus a Republican candidate to win must attract a significant block of unaffiliated voters.
Second, the unaffiliated—which is NOT a recognized party in CT—are very often confused themselves as to the difference between being unaffiliated and Independent. In fact, how often when you speak with an unaffiliated voter do they refer to themselves as being independent? I often find myself arguing with unaffiliated voters to explain they are NOT Independent voters. In 2012, I certainly hope many of the unaffiliated—which is the largest voting block in CT—will vote for my “Independent Party” Republican candidate.
Third, many Democrats will run on the Working Families Party line—a major liberal union backed party—which is a recognized party in CT. It is also significantly responsible for the Republican loss in the Governor’s race in 2010.
In 2010, the Working Families Party [in Connecticut] endorsed 93 candidates in the state —mostly Democrats. In total, 73 WFP candidates (78%) were victorious, including four who—like Malloy—would have lost their race without the votes cast on the Working Families line. Per the SOS results, in 2010 there were 26,308 and not one WFP vote for Foley.
In our District we have a strong incumbent to beat and I believe there is an advantage to any Republican candidate on the Independent Party if it can help us pull votes to victory. As for your mother teaching you the point by asking you "If little Johnny next door jumped off a bridge, would you?," I can only further assume that you live your life – and your political life – according to your coaches who told you “It’s not about winning, it’s about how you played the game.”
Sire, if I may speak so boldly. I have watched how the Republicans have played the game for the past several years. I have watched your so called Republicans switch their voter registrations. I have watched how the remaining Republicans go at each other – “we divide, they conquer” – and frankly I am more than willing to watch our “do it as usual” GOP hang itself on assumed shared principles as the Democrats keep marching onward to victory.
In the 2012 election, winning isn’t everything – IT’S THE ONLY THING for CT and the Nation. So if I need to make an “ungodly” alliance with the Independent Party to attract unaffiliated voters who, for whatever reason, can bring themselves to vote for a Republican who has the Independent Party endorsement, then so be it.
Chris Janelli, Chairman, Salisbury Republican Town Committee
Chris, thanks for your reply. I appreciate your points.
Of major concern is that indeed - we Republicans only represent 22% of all voters in Connecticut. So let me ask you - at what point would we lose majority Party status - isn't there a threshold of 20% during a Gubernatorial election year? My understanding is that if we lost MPS we would no longer have automatic placement on the ballot. Helping the Independent Party to expand its base isn't in the best interest of the CTGOP; we are in direct competition with them for members.
The Independent Party would be all too eager to siphon off registered Republicans to expand their influence in Connecticut Politics, or increase its staying power to recruit future potential members from the small "Republican" pool.
I argue that we should be focused on expanding the Republican Party and promoting our candidates soley through the GOP, and not working to encourage people (who can't stomach our name) to support the same candidates through an alternative Party - which BTW boasts to be the third largest Party in Connecticut.
The Democrats with over 700,000 members can afford to play this game via the Working Families Party which they created to placate the extreme left wing of their constituency. We do not have that luxury. (And the quality of our candidates is likely part of the problem - starting with unqualified characters who donate money to the opposition like Linda McMahon).
Further, I have a hard time believing that Tom Foley would have won the inner cities in 2010 if the Independent Party has cross endorsed him. We ignored the cities, and paid the price.
I agree that defeating the Democrats in November is our first priority, but I also believe we should do this straight-laced and without the chicanery. When you mention that its "how you play the game" - I don't think that playing dirty because our opponents do it is in our best interest now or in the future. Working with and promoting the Independent Party is clearly not a GOP recruitment tool.
Mr. King -
Mr. Fand is not the chair of the Independent Party. Mike Telesca is.
The GOP candidates attempting to do this are going to have an unholy amount of legal trouble petitioning the way they are.
The way to play the game is to run a solid race, work hard, do doors, raise funds, and attack your opponents pathetic record of higher taxes, frivolous spending, and self serving policy. Too many Republicans are submissive little wimps who cater to the other side. They'd rather eat crumbs instead of baking the break and they are in bed with the baker. Connecticut Republicans need to grow our brand with a plan that states our goals, do not cower like a pussy when they are refuted, but fights back with Brave Heart like vigor. We don't have that in our leadership today. We have cowering pussies.
I often go back and forth on this issue but I am honestly now on the side of The King. Like Janelli I have thought that we need to compete is by playing the game in order to win. However, my main concern now is that the GOP , assisted by Mark Boughton will assist the Independent Party in gaining automatic ballot access going forward through this scheme. What will happen when the Independents decide to nominate a non Republican candidate who is well financed and funded?
The Independent Party run in the first district confirms Mark Boughton, Linda McMahon, and Lisa Wilson-Foley's short-sighted stratagy. Divide the CTGOP race by race, killing the brand in November.
My concern with the independent party is the dramatic drop in real campaigning by all staffs in an allout push to collect signatures. And they're EXCITED about it. I've never seen these campaigns so excited, getting their people mobilized to garner John Hancocks with every bit of care. How come they're not so excited about handing out flyers, knocking on doors, and other normal vote canvassing objectives? Are they convinced a signature drive in August is REALLY the key to victory in November? And what's to stop the Democrats from getting the same and securing a third line on the ballot? If the independents are really independent, then they can choose someone other than a republican, right?
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