Hedlund: Reflections of a Deplorable

by Ron Hedlund

I sit here at my desk; two days after the election, pondering the last sixteen months of a life lived with purpose, and contemplating the next four years, for what it may hold for our Commonwealth and our republic.

Like 99% of all Republican activists, Donald J. Trump was not my first choice for the GOP nomination. Just so you know, I hate hearing everyone say that. I unabashedly supported Sen. Ted Cruz to lead the GOP out of our malaise of ineffectiveness and irrelevance.  I knew in my heart, he never stood a chance of withstanding the onslaught from the secular media and country club stalwarts of the GOPe donor class.

Nevertheless, I wanted to use his campaign to make a statement that the Tea Party wing of the GOP was not going to dry up and blow away, in spite of incessant claims the Tea Party was already dead.

I knew Mr. Trump had thrown his hat in the ring, and I admired him for doing so. I liked his no-nonsense business background and ignored his celebrity status as not having any relevance to a political campaign, other than initial name recognition. Boy, was I wrong about THAT!

What kept me in the Cruz camp was my belief that Mr. Trump was not a serious candidate. I knew he had run before and prematurely dropped out. I just was not sure he was in it for the long run. After all, he had no paid staff on the ground in Virginia at that time.

And then, just like that, I received a call from a friend and Trump volunteer, asking if I would consider supporting Mr. Trump and meet with the newly hired Virginia Field Director. Turns out, she was a former Cruz supporter. We met at my shop and I was hooked.

Eventually, my good friend and now, campaign rock star, Mike Rubino, was hired by the campaign as the State Director. He continued filling out a lean staff and the primary campaign took off like nobody’s business last fall.

The AIS shop became a central warehouse for all Trump collateral. Pallets and boxes of yard signs, posters, shirts, hats, bumper stickers, etc. were stacked among motors, pumps and gearboxes. Folks came out of the woodwork picking up, and distributing tons of materials. Even folks from as far away as West Virginia and Maryland made regular pickups. Though business took a back seat, customers supported our endeavors and work continued to flow in.

The first major roadblock in the primary campaign came when the State Central Committee (SCC) voted, in a split decision, to institute a mandatory, state-enforced, statement of party affiliation. All voters in the Republican primary would be required to sign a pledge before they would be allowed to cast their ballot. This was a major blow to turning out independent Trump supporters who had abandoned the GOP due to years of broken promises and outright betrayals.

Eventually, a candidate filed to run against the incumbent chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia (RPV), running on a platform in opposition to the mandatory statement of party affiliation. Mind you, this pledge was previously approved by the State Board of Elections and was already being printed. Within two weeks of there being a contested race for party chairman, the SCC unanimously voted to rescind the pledge with no public discussion. The fix was in.

Mr. Trump went on to win the Virginia primary by a slim 3 percentage points. The other outcome of the mandatory party pledge debacle was my determined decision to run for a contested seat on the SCC. I was motivated by a NeverTrumper, Delegate David Ramadan. I was listening to him on the John Fredericks (another Trump rock star) radio show, when he said, “If you don’t like the way things are being run, you need to get involved.” I decided, right then and there, to get involved like never before.

Anger is a truly motivating force, and I was angry AND motivated!

After being publically ridiculed and opposed by the party chairman (he even went so far as to fund the delegate recruitment efforts of my opponents), I went on to win by a 2:1 margin. I ran as a Trump supporter and grass roots, Tea Party activist.

As a party insider now, I grew even more skeptical of leadership and the antics being employed at the state convention to thwart the chairman’s race and the Trump campaign at any and all costs. When Mr. Trump says the system is rigged, I know firsthand, he knows what he is talking about.

Even after Mr. Trump prevailed in the national GOP nomination, many of us on the ground, back home, were dismayed at the lack of support for his campaign across the Commonwealth among party leadership and electeds. Only once it became clear the Trump campaign was gaining ground and surging late, did elected officials start turning out for rallies.

In the end, it turned out to be too little, too late, for Virginia. Fortunately, the rest of the country carried our water. If Pennsylvania can turn red, it was certainly within the realm of possibility for Virginia to do the same with some high-profile, organized effort and outreach.  It is not the time or place now, to resort to finger pointing.

So where do we go forward from here?

Mr. Trump ran against the establishment of the party and the media, and he won hands down. Nerves are raw and folks who supported Mr. Trump through hell and high water are burned out after months of enduring pointed ridicule and public shaming. Mr. Trump provides us with a model to proceed now that the nation has spoken loud and clear. “Can you hear me now?” His late night/early morning acceptance speech is a concrete example for me and others to follow.

As Mr. Trump walked to the podium to address the nation, he was truly humbled and modestly overcome with emotion. This was a first. His speech was one of respect for, and recognition of, the nationwide movement that brought him to this point in world history.

After our time of deserved celebration, and in some cases of forgivably spiking the ball, it is now our time to govern. Time to govern our nation and time to govern our party. In doing so, as a member of State Central Committee, I pledge to follow the lead of our Commander-in-Chief-elect, and act with humility, graciousness, and resolve. We have longstanding, deep wounds to heal in our party, and Mr. Trump displayed clearly for us, a path to rebuilding and strengthening the GOP.

At the podium, Mr. Trump recognized our Republican National Committee Chairman, Reince Priebus, for his genuine support for the campaign and encouraged him to speak. This left an impression on me that I felt was crucial to showing the party faithful that national GOP leadership is now fully on board, and that it is time to get on to the next chapter in the business of reconciliation.

For my part, I will seek to rebuild relationships in our party, with the goal of supporting this new administration and advancing conservative leadership. I ask you to put the past behind us and strive to conduct oneself with respect for our fellow activists. If you know me well, you will know this has been a move outside my comfort zone.

My pledge to you is to work with anyone, on any side, from any faction, toward a common vision and goal of making our party great again. Not that we must agree on all issues or all candidates, but we can agree to disagree without being disagreeable all the while striving to conduct ourselves with integrity in an environment of transparency and accountability.

That is how we build winning coalitions and campaigns.

Will you join with me and help Make Virginia Great Again? What do we have to lose, besides the next Governor’s Mansion?

Ron Hedlund represents the 7th Congressional District on the Republican Party of Virginia’s State Central Committee.