The South Dakota Republican Party has new state leadership.
There are also new leaders in counties around the state. Will this new leadership bring unity to the party?
The new state leader, Craig Lawrence is the former owner/partner of Lawrence and Schiller is saying he wants to “listen”. He and other leaders are suggesting they want to bring unity to the Republican Party.
Taken at face value, those leaders who are launching their “unity tours” could go a lot farther in a hurry if they “put their money where their mouth is”, so to speak (no disrespect intended).
A quick look at some recent history could give some cause for skepticism:
The firm in which Mr. Lawrence was a partner/owner is the firm that received millions of dollars from the state over the past few years. That doesn’t necessarily disqualify him even though many are suspicious of the relationship between his political contributions and the lucrative contracts with the state. It’s just history that makes some people a bit apprehensive.
Sara Frankenstein is the new secretary. Ms. Frankenstein is the attorney who represents Speaker of the House, Brian Gosh and the Pennington County Republican Party, who are suing fellow Republican Stephanie Strong. Conservatives who have watched this suit agree that it is an action of vindictiveness, revenge and harassment because Strong DARED to hold Gosh accountable to the rule of law.
Elected Treasurer is Justin Bell, is an attorney/lobbyist. His firm represents, among many others, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Inc. who manufactures the “morning after” pill. They also Lobby for the South Dakota State Medical Association, who stood side by side with abortion doctor, Marvin Buehner to support abortion in South Dakota. That’s not exactly the kind of resume that excites conservatives.
The new Pennington County Republican leadership team has been promoting unity in the party as well. All of this talk about unity is a good thing. Unity would be a good thing… IF it is based on the principles clearly expounded in the State Republican Party Platform.
So what could make conservatives believe that “unity” means gathering together around the Republican Platform, rather than a nice way to tell conservatives to “sit down and shut up”?
I have a great idea!!
The State leadership team and the Pennington County Republican leadership team should join together and make a clear, formal, written request to Speaker Gosh and his attorney to withdraw their motion against Stephanie Strong. That might make their cries for unity a bit more believable.
If State and County Republican leaders are serious about unity, they need to end the harrassment and disenfranchisement of conservatives. The dismissal of the action against Strong is where they need to start.
***Gordon Howie is a nationally syndicated author, host of Liberty Today TV and CEO of Life and Liberty Media***
Get DAILY updates… Friend me on Facebook or join me at www.teapartycommunity.com
Help spread the message by sharing with your email list, facebook and Tea Party friends… and why not pitch in $10 or $20??? Click the Donate button on this page NOW!!
After leaving my previous comment, I watched this video discussing Iranian negotiating behavior: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km29HywEKnI&feature=youtube_gdata
It’s very enlightening. There are many things Iranians and American liberals do NOT have in common, but they DO have in common the fact that (whether they know it or not) they are working for “the dark side.” Evil always has a consistent way of dealing with things. WHen they lack absolute power, they will obfuscate, lie and stall until they DO have absolute power. They will pretend to “dialogue” in order to allow themselves time to consolidate, advance and win. In the end, any “dialogue” they engage in has nothing whatsoever to do with “listening” or “understanding” but rather is simply another tactic to ensure a WIN.
Would that our side would pull its head out, quit playing around and get determined to WIN. The Lord said to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Instead of being as wise as serpents (like the other side is), we’re mostly as dumb as a box of rocks.
Mr. Howie,
I am one of those Republicans who is frustrated. I’m frustrated with Jason Gant in many ways.
I wanted to know what you think of him as our Secretary of State. If you think he is ok then I will give it some thought but I’m concerned by many of his actions over his first 2 years.
Got any advice?
Thanks for the comments… My advise is that you (all of us) evaluate elected officials by their performance. We should not be to quick to “kill our friends”, but we need to hold them all accountable and follow some advise that Reagan gave… “If you can’t make them see the light, make them feel the heat.”
Then it’s time he felt the heat. Because I don’t think he’s seeing the light. Having a double standard for Gosch and Johnson because they have different parties is absolutely wrong. Endorsing candidates is wrong for the SOS. Being Chairman of a presidential campaign is wrong. Taking PAC money from someone doing election business from the state is wrong. Having an elections worker creating campaign materials for those his boss is endorsing is wrong. The list goes on and on.
Thank you for your wisdom. We will all need to stand together and do what’s right come next year.
Very interesting Mr. Howie.
It will be interesting to see what happens with the party over the next few months.
I guarantee, as long as there are groups adamant in attacking follow Republicans, there will be no unity. As former President Reagan said, “Someone with whom I agree with 80% is not 20% my enemy but 80% my friend.” I firmly believe some bloggers, activists, and others dearly need to take this to heart.
Have you evaluated the performance of Republicans? If only your math was accurate. Most Republicans serving in the SD Legislature can’t make that 80% grade. Yet you vilify bloggers and activists for exposing the actual voting records of Republicans that were elected to support the principles set forth in the SD Republican platform. Do your homework JHinkley.
I’m not vilifying bloggers. I’m just saying there are those that attack, attack and attack. They cry foul when they get called out on it. Yet people wonder why constituents get so frustrated with the process and people involved. Then people leave the party. All I’m saying is if you want to promote unity and strength do it through dialogue, not attacks and mudslinging. But unfortunately, that would put a lot of bloggers out of business.
Exposing the truth is not mudslinging……….it’s exposing the truth. Recent Party leaders have used their influence to protect their power, not the principles expressed clearly and excellently in the SD Party platform.
The RINOs have proven over and over and over and over that “dialogue” doesn’t catch their attention.
If someone who should be doing better but isn’t, won’t respond to reasonable dialogue, you have to turn up the heat.