For quite some time, as a lifelong Republican who lived for more than forty years in Montgomery County, Bala Cynwyd, I have been hoping that the GOP would begin the long, hard road back to political sanity and focus on winning elections, not on following the disastrous path of former President Donald John Trump that leads to losing elections.
The recent announcement by the Montgomery County Republican Committee, the MCRC, that Congressman Scott Perry will be their “Special Guest” at the August 28th Summer Picnic is a visible statement as to how difficult the road back to winning elections will be. This is so for several reasons.
First, for decades the Montco Republican Party was a thoughtful, responsible party whose moderate candidates won elections. Today, the county Board of Commissioners has a Democratic majority (the Republican is there because the law requires minority party representation), the Congressional delegation is Democratic, except for the small piece represented by moderate Republican Brian Fitzpatrick, the county’s row officers are Democratic, candidate Joe Biden’s margin exceeded that of Hillary Clinton’s tally in 2016 by 63,000, and was double that of Barack Obama’s tally in 2012. Biden garnered a historic 60% of the votes. AND, Montco’s citizens turnout to vote; 82 percent voted in 2020 compared to 71% across the Commonwealth. With significant population growth in Montco, its relevance to winning state-wide elections increases. The conclusion is that a Trumpian Montco will lose elections and lose badly. That could well cost the Republicans elections in Pennsylvania.
Second, and the stimulant for this article is the invitation to Representative Scott Perry, who represents Pennsylvania’s Fourth District that includes Dauphin, Cumberland (where I lived for a year when teaching at the Dickinson Law School), and York counties. Mr. Perry, who had a distinguished Army career, is the only Pennsylvania Representative in Congress who is a member of the House Freedom Caucus, the furthest right wing of Republican House Members, that includes Jim Jordan of Ohio. The small, but influential, Freedom Caucus gave us the Trump sycophant Mark Meadows, who served as Trump’s Chief of Staff in the disastrous last year, the caucus was instrumental in forcing out truth speaking Representative Liz Cheney from the House leadership, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. This is not someone who should be the “Special Guest” of the MCRC. I say this as someone who served in the Nixon and Ford Administrations and was Governor Dick Thornburgh’s Secretary of Revenue.
Third, and of real importance, is the constant reference to Republicans who do not support Donald Trump and Trumpism as RINOs, Republicans In Name Only. Former President Trump and his followers are not the sole deciders of who is or is not a Republican. It borders on the irrational that Liz Cheney and Pat Toomey are RINOs as some Republicans say. They both have outstanding rock-ribbed conservative voting records and both voted more than 80% in support of Trump policies.
Political parties are not fraternities or sororities where members select their colleagues. American political parties have a singular purpose: to elect candidates to public office to help winners govern well. Thus, members who register to join a party in our United States volunteer to select, elect, and helps winners of elections.
A county Republican committee should not invite or support a leader whose affiliations are with those who tarnish others within the party at RINOs, a derogatory term. As former President Ronald Reagan said when he proclaimed the Eleventh Commandment-“Thou shalt not speak ill of another Republican.”
One of my personal political rules is-“Politics is addition, not subtraction.”
Our America needs, as even liberal New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman admits, a responsible right-of center political party, a truly Conservative party, not a Trump-only Republican Party. To my fellow Republicans, do not wallow in the 2020 failure to re-elect President Trump. Do not support unsubstantiated audits of that election, especially when the election was considered legitimate in courts of law, including by Republican appointed judges. Build a party in Montgomery County and in our Commonwealth that can nominate and win general elections. A member of the Freedom Caucus as your “Special Guest” does not help that effort.
