Friday, July 13, 2012

Why Party Loyalty Matters

In doing research the last few days on a variety of issues pertaining to this election, I have come across the guidelines for the TN GOP for candidates to run as a Republican.  One of the requirements to be a Republican candidate in the state of Tennessee is to be a “bona fide” Republican.  What this means is that an individual must prove his loyalty to the Republican Party. The most objective way is “Any individual who has voted in at least two (2) of the four (4) most recent state and/or local Republican primary elections. “   One might ask again; why is this so important?  Loyalty is very important in life.  What an individual calls themselves is important for people to understand what they stand for.  For an individual to call themselves a Republican means that they identify with the Republican values and platform.

I suppose this means I'm a "bona fide Republican".  

I have never considered myself a Republican Party loyalist.  I have always looked at the individual candidates and voted for whomever I felt best matched my values and would live up to the Constitution.  It just so happens that I rarely have voted for a Democrat.  I say rarely because I started my voting in Eastern Arkansas where there really were no Republicans in local government so I probably have voted for a Democrat.  

The first Presidential Election that I remember is of Daddy Bush vs. Dukakis in 1988.  I was in New York City on business with my boss.  She was a staunch Democrat and I wasn’t really aware of politics that much, ~being the young lass that I was~ but I did know my values didn’t match up to my boss’ values.  I voted absentee for Bush and she voted absentee for Dukakis.  Neither one of us wanted to be watching the election returns that night, so we went to Broadway play.  When we got back to our hotel, thankfully, it was over and Bush had won.

 I got married and moved to another town in Eastern Arkansas which is where I started my political education and journey in earnest.  I lived in Arkansas during the Clinton years and remember watching the returns with our good friends and being sick when Clinton won.  I also remember witnessing the rout in 1994 when the Republicans under the brilliant leadership of Newt took control of the House of Representatives in response to what the Democrats did and tried to do under Clinton.  I remember well the House banking scandal.  Our Democrat Rep, Bill Alexander, was replaced in the Democrat Primary by Blanche Lambert Lincoln.  Alexander had written 487 checks totaling $208,546 in bad checks. 

In 2000, I was working in an accountant’s office.  Our receptionist was a grandmother who raised her boys about the same as I was raised.  The one thing that was different was that her husband was a union rep.  Because of that, she would not vote for a Republican.  She joked that even if her son ran as a Republican, she wouldn’t vote for him.  We didn’t talk politics much in the office, but Grammy Lou would make positive comments about Al Gore and how wonderful he was.  Finally, a couple of days before the election, I responded to one of her comments about Gore with the fact that he was a Pantheist and that he worshipped trees.  She was a Christian and replied that when I had kids, I would teach them what Gore believed; that God was in everything.  My answer was that God created everything, he wasn’t in everything.  I remember well the look on her face.  I had never seen her look so hostile.  Needless to say for the next couple of days, it was tense around the office.  I couldn’t wait for Election Day; but then it wasn’t over and dragged on and on while the Democrats tried every trick in the book to steal the election for Gore.  Thankfully, they weren’t successful.  With what we know about Gore now, could you imagine what our country would have been like with him for POTUS?  I shudder to think. 

As I have grown in my understanding of politics and the Constitution and history, my loyalty to the Republican Party has grown.   The Republican Party stands for Life, Free Markets, Individual Liberty and the Constitution.  Republicans understand the rule of law.  Are all Republicans honorable?  No, but while some Republicans are power hungry, the percentage of Democrats that are power hungry is much higher.  The events of the last couple of years bear this out; what the Democrats under the leadership of BO/BS, Pelosi and Reid have done to our Liberty and Freedom is astounding.  They must be defeated in November or it will be near impossible to save this country for our kids and grandkids.  The best chance that we have to defeat them is stand together as Republicans in opposition to them.

In doing research the last few days on a variety of issues pertaining to this election, I have come across the guidelines for the TN GOP for candidates to run as a Republican.  One of the requirements to be a Republican candidate in the state of Tennessee is to be a “bona fide” Republican.  What this means is that an individual must prove his loyalty to the Republican Party. The most objective way is “Any individual who has voted in at least two (2) of the four (4) most recent state and/or local Republican primary elections. “   One might ask again; why is this so important?  Loyalty is very important in life.  What an individual calls themselves is important for people to understand what they stand for.  For an individual to call themselves a Republican means that they identify with the Republican values and platform.

 What comes to mind when you hear someone is a Democrat?  I think of pro-abortion, big government, high taxes and most recently, the undermining of the rule of law ~especially the Constitution~. 

What comes to mind when you hear someone is a Republican?  The Republican Party stands for Life; Constitutional Limited Government; Equality for everyone; Low taxes; and Less Interference from Government into businesses and private lives.

I think it’s very important ~especially in this political climate~ to identify with whom best represents your personal values.  Hiding and apathy is not an option if you really believe that the future of our country is in jeopardy.  We can’t wait for “some else” to act.  It’s time we take responsibility and make a difference ourselves. 

It’s time to choose.

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