Where Has Our GOP Pride Gone?
We used to be proud to call ourselves Republicans. Now we refuse to even sign a piece of paper acknowledging it.
While I appreciate the concern that some of my fellow writers here at Bearing Drift have about RPV’s statement of affiliation requirement for voting in the Republican Primary next year, I feel compelled to set the record straight on this issue. Jim raised concerns about the potential loyalty oath weeks ago before RPV’s State Central Committee met and approved the form. After it was approved, DJ Spiker, Andrew Schwartz and Rollin Reisinger have written scathing pieces about their concerns with signing the form and its efficacy. An informal poll of our Editorial Board indicates widespread dislike of the idea of loyalty oaths.
Personally, I’m not a fan of loyalty oaths either. But this whole line of argument is ignoring a couple of fundamental things. Namely,
1.) There is no loyalty oath.
2.) A statement of affiliation is not a loyalty oath.
3.) Anybody voting in the Republican primary is already bound to support our nominees through their participation in the process itself.
As a result, I’m having a hard time understanding the anger aroused by RPV’s decision in this regard. It’s just not that big a deal.
We don’t have party registration in Virginia. You know that, I know that. You can immediately tell a non-Virginian when they use the phrase “I’m a registered Republican” or “I’ve been a registered Democrat my whole life.” For a variety of reasons that we have discussed ad infinitum on Bearing Drift, there is no party registration in Virginia. As a result of our open primary system, both political parties have long tried to come up with creative ways to keep the opposing party from mucking up their nominations process.
Democrats have strict rules on participating in Republican nominating contests. Their party plan stipulates that “No person shall participate in a Democratic primary, convention or caucus who intends to support a candidate opposed to any Democratic nominee in that general or special election.” They also go so far as to require the party officials to encourage all Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents to participate in their primaries: “It shall be the affirmative duty of each officer and member of county or city, district and state Democratic Committees to encourage Democrats and voters who may favor Democratic nominees in general elections to participate in primary elections used to select such nominees.” They also include requirements for a written confirmation of someone’s Democratic loyalty before participating in a convention or mass meeting.
Having served as Secretary of the Electoral Board in Fairfax County, and working closely with the leadership of both local units (the two largest units for each Party in Virginia), it became clear to me that the Democrats closely track and monitor who they consider to be Democrats. I recall one conversation where an Election Officer was rejected as a potential Democratic Election Officer because they were on record years ago as publicly supporting a Republican in a general election. They still had that data years later. The Officer had to reapply as an independent to serve.
The GOP has similar rules in our Party Plan. Literally, the first thing included in our Party Plan is the definition of who is a member of the Republican Party and it reads: “All legal and qualified voters … who are in accord with the principles of the Republican Party, and who, if requested, express in open meeting either orally or in writing as may be required their intent to support all of its nominees for public office in the ensuing election may participate as members of the Republican Party of Virginia in its mass meetings, party canvasses, conventions, or primaries …” We also prohibit those who have participated in other party process from participating in Republican processes for five years, unless they renounce in writing their previous affiliation and confirm they are in accord with the Party and will support its nominees in the ensuing election.
Those are strict rules designed to ensure that only Republicans vote in Republican primaries and only Democrats vote in Democratic primaries. To call oneself a Republican or a Democrat, under the party plans adopted by both parties, means that you are in accord with the principles of that party, and intend to support that party’s nominee in the general election. That is what being a Republican or a Democrat is in Virginia.
As noted in DJ’s piece, the form that RPV is requiring Republican Primary Voters to sign is not a loyalty pledge – it is merely a statement of affiliation. The entire operative text reads: “My signature below indicates that I am a Republican.”
That’s it.
That’s all. Nothing draconian. No “under penalty of perjury” nonsense. No statements listing all the things you have to do in order to be a Republican under the Party Plan or listing of the rest of the rules and regulations. It is nothing more than an acknowledgment that you call yourself a Republican.
That, at an absolute minimum, is the smallest, most trivial of all things anybody can do in politics – choosing a side. It doesn’t restrict you from changing your mind, it doesn’t force you to support a nominee (the Party Plan does that, not this piece of paper), and it doesn’t require you to pledge your undying loyalty to the GOP, RPV, your local Republican unit, Ronald Reagan, Zombie Nixon, Rush Limbaugh or the Chamber of Commerce. It’s simply an acknowledgement of the most basic choice in politics, a party affiliation. How many times have we all said “I’m a Republican” in our lifetimes? It used to be something people were proud of. Now we’re afraid to whisper it. I’m not, and you shouldn’t be either. I’m proud of our history, our traditions and the ideals that we espouse. I’m not afraid to tell anybody where I stand. I wish more people felt as I do about our party.
Yes, our party is fractured, and the idea of “unity” is roundly seen as a joke these days. And yes, it seems as if we spend more time fighting amongst each other than we do the Democrats. We argue over policies, personalities, and ideology. We argue over everything. But regardless of where you are on the ideological spectrum, the one thing that we all should be able to come together and say is that we are still Republicans. You can be whatever flavor or whatever ideology you want to be, but at the end of the day, the nomination process for determining who will be carrying the banner of the GOP next November should be a process of Republicans, by Republicans and for Republicans. If you cannot accept that, you should not be voting in our nominating process. Your decision comes next November, not next March.
Bottom line – this is statement is not a loyalty oath. It’s the simplest, fastest and most basic statement of party affiliation I’ve seen. And there is little reason why anybody who wants a say in who our GOP nominee should be can’t sign their name on that line.
Where has our pride in our party gone?
