In May, after I was elected as Treasurer of the Cabarrus County Republican Men’s Club, I made this statement:
If people like Harold Smith ran things - we’d live in a world of loyalty oaths, rigged elections, and mob rule.
Y’all might have thought that statement was a bit hyperbolic when I said it.
Well…
The loyalty pledge to the Republican Party that Virginia voters will be required to sign if they vote in the state’s GOP presidential primary on Feb. 12 is another attempt by the party to police the open primary system.
On Feb. 12, a GOP primary voter will have to sign a piece of paper that says, “I, the undersigned, pledge that I intend to support the nominee of the Republican Party for President.”
Scared yet? Oh, and before you non-GOPers get too sanctimonious, VA Democrats are doing the same thing.
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7 responses so far ↓
1 Aaron // Dec 2, 2007 at 10:31 pm
What’s next? Forced marches through the streets with armed guards forcing the GOP-er’s to chant “Heil Guilinani” over and over again…
Wow, I just got inspired to give a new quote: “The American Political System: Sit down ,shut up, stay in line and for Gods sake, don’t ask questions…”
2 Thierry Wernaers // Dec 2, 2007 at 11:48 pm
You’re not being totally honest when you say that “VA Democrats are doing the same thing.” If your readers don’t check out the link you provide, they might think that Democrats in the whole state of VA are asking their primary voters to also sign a pledge.
In fact, as the Washington Post article clearly states: “The Democrats do not plan to ask voters to sign a similar pledge.”
The Democratic Party in one city (Roanoke) asked to sign a pledge in their city elections. Wrong as this may be, it’s quite a difference to asking voters in the whole state to do such a thing.
3 Aaron // Dec 3, 2007 at 6:12 am
Splitting hairs aren’t we? One’s state wide the other’s local. It’s still happening on both sides of the coin. It’s like you’re saying: “Well your guys suck and mine…don’t suck as bad…yet.
4 Justin Thibault // Dec 3, 2007 at 8:18 am
Thierry-
Which is why they should check the link.
I wrote it in such a way to cause the 5% of people who are interested to actually check the link and read the article.
The point that I was trying to make is that loyalty oaths don’t spring from some fascist tendency in Republicans and/or Conservatives - that comes from an authoritarian view that exists on both the right and the left. Smart people are going to read the link, smart people are going to make that conclusion without me having to preach that at them.
I know a certain variety of Dems that would do the same thing if VA were a Blue state and subject to Republican primary infiltration. Things like loyalty oaths are what happen when people on the right or left rule from fear.
5 Aaron // Dec 3, 2007 at 12:30 pm
“Things like loyalty oaths are what happen when people on the right or left rule from fear.”
Geez, you just described 98% of all politicians in the United States…
6 Justin Thibault // Dec 3, 2007 at 1:00 pm
Aaron - Well, I used fearful rhetoric when I said “If people like Harold Smith ran things - we’d live in a world of loyalty oaths, rigged elections, and mob rule” and as the speaker in one of my favorite videos said:
“They have a right to be scared”
The issue is that the VAGOP is going this to reduce “infiltration” and they are operating out of fear of this “infiltration”. So, instead of recruiting more appealing candidates that will actually get people out to the polls, or promoting a platform that will excite people - they will make people take oaths that they “intend” to support the yet unnamed GOP Presidential Candidate because they don’t care if more people participate just as long as their people participate.
This isn’t limited to the GOP OR the Democrats. Look back in the 90s at the Reform Party. I’m sure New Hampshire politics over the next 10 years will change because of the Free State Project and you’ll see similar behavior from Libertarians.
The issue is that it’s important for those who’ve decided to be in leadership to be aware of why they are there, what they hope to accomplish, and what would make them step down. To just try to stay in power to maintain the status quo leads to bad behavior like this.
7 Aaron // Dec 3, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Well, that all goes back to my points since I started blogging over a year and a half ago: Folks need to stop voting for parties and start voting for principles.
My pops is the worlds worst at choosing the lesser of two evils. He and millions of other folks do the same thing even though no one precisely meets their true criterion.
The status quo is all we’ll ever get as long as we continue supporting it at the ballot box.
Ron Paul is a good example: I hate his isolationist foreign policy and his trade policy is somewhat vague to me. (He supports it and complains about losing jobs at the same time)
((Now your site is going to get flamed by a million Ron Paul computer nerds, don’t forget to thank me for the extra hits))
But his domestic policies of constitutional government appeal to me more than any other of the more statist candidates…
The point is, that there will be alot of folks who will vote for him in the primaries that wont write him in, or vote for him as an independent in the general election because they don’t wanna “split the ticket” and let the “other guy” win.
What’s the point of having any principles like your favorite candidate if you’re just gonna abandon them to support someone who just happens to have and “R” or a “D” at the end of his/her name and has support from the blue bloods or labor unions?
Fear is always there, in everything you do but your principles must be able to rise above it.
As far as the republicans go, I’ll come back over to the “R” side when they give me a candidate that isn’t a “compassionate conservative.” The current one hasn’t been able to balance the conservative with the “compassionate…”