Keeping Republicans Republican

Hooray to Raymond McKay, president of the Rhode Island Republican Assembly, and the other members of the State Central Committee who insisted that conservatives should still be able to call the RIGOP their political home:

Most glaring to some was a final paragraph that says the party, in “the long-standing tradition of New England Republicans,” respects “the right of all of our candidates to hold and express their own considered views on social issues.”
“If you take a look at the Moderate Party’s platform and you take a look at our platform, they’re pretty much one and the same,” said McKay, who made the motion to send the statement back for further review. “If we’re going to be a party and we’re going to differentiate ourselves, we should stand apart from the others and not be a Democratic-light, or something like that.”

In opposition, Platform Committee Chairman Robert Manning notes that “a large percentage of the voting population are registered as independents,” but there’s no reason to believe that group to be made up of fiscally conservative social liberals. The fact that the Democrat Party, for example, is increasingly exclusive of pro-lifers could mean that pro-life Democrats have changed their minds about being Democrats, not about being pro-life.
Indeed, a platform that cuts out social issues under the presumption that conservatives are wrong may very well result in fewer registered Republicans. (I can think of at least one.)

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Sean Gately
Sean Gately
14 years ago

As a memeber of the committee that drafted the platform I have a few comments. 1. The conservatives members ended up not attending the last 4-5 meetings. 2. Their should be a statement on the social issues.
I would ask all of you here to please send your suggestions to lvargas@rigop.org . They will then be distributed to the committee.
We need a platform that is reflective of our values as a party. But it should also reflect the Rhode Island Republicans. As some suggested at the meeting that the document should have refelected the RNC one. I disagree. The RNC has abandoned us. With the smallest percentage of registered voters, we need to do more to attract a broader base to our core fiscally conservative values.
I am pro life, pro civil union, anti big government fiscally conservative candidate for Senate District 26. I will stay out of your business and you should stay out of mine.
I have a rule in life. If you want to talk a bout a problem, Then make sure you have a solution in mind.
Should we continue the path of a super minority in the GA? Should we have a litmus test test in place for candidates?
I think not.
Sean P. Gately

Patrick
Patrick
14 years ago

>>Robert Manning notes that “a large percentage of the voting population are registered as independents,”<<
Yeah, and there is also a large percentage of the voting population that is registered as Democrats. Should we try to attract them too? This is the REPUBLICAN party. Try to keep what you got, or even try to woo back some of the more recent members who have drifted away, exactly because of this mentality. The platform should tell what the party and and what it stands for. Not every Republican has to agree with all parts of the platform, and not every plank needs to be contrary to the other parties, but it should be definitive of what Republicans are. Even New England Republicans.

Mike Cappelli
Mike Cappelli
14 years ago

Here’s a novel thought – maybe the Republicans have had such a meager showing precisely because they try to be this “big tent” and real Republicans don’t want any part of it. In this state, if you want to act like a Democrat, they’ll vote for the real thing every time.
Maybe if the Republican party started to act like real conservatives, they’d get people to step up.
You know something – it’s worth a shot. Can it get much worse??

Raymond T McKay
Raymond T McKay
14 years ago

I would like to thank Sean P. Gately for making a most accurate and telling observation – That without the Republican Conservatives present, the Platform Committee’s remaining members abandoned or provided contradictory support for the Social Issues and brought forth a document that could have been printed from the Moderate Party’s website. Issues such as Life are supported in the opening paragraph and then in the closing paragraph the proposed platform stated there is no Party view on Social Issues. Well, if you are trying to run with that as a Platform, we will continue to be pummeled by the electorate for being incompetent. Other issues like costly Social Service systems and illegal aliens never made it to the Platform. Other items like Voter Initiative were shot down. The proposed Platform looked more like the Moderate Party – If that is indeed what the RIGOP wants to put forth, why have a Republican Party. If you are Pro-Abortion, Pro-Big Government, Pro-Socialism, Pro-Big Government Health Care, and Pro-Fascism now that we own two car companies and an Insurance Company, there is a Party for you called the Democrat Party. If you wish to have no opinion on Social issues, even though they cost Rhode Islanders and businesses in Rhode Island hundreds of millions of dollars per year, then there is the Moderate Party for you to tag along with. I hear the soft-spine opinions that why should I push my beliefs on someone else. The answer is simple. We are a society of rules and laws that places someone’s opinion on the backs of another. Without such opinions in place (The Constitution), we would live in Anarchy. Our Country is supposed to be based on the rule of law of the majority, not the Politically Correct. It is time for politicians… Read more »

BobN
BobN
14 years ago

I am also a Committee member. I was at every meeting except the last in November (due to illness).
I thought it was unfortunate that the discussion of this unfinished draft platform was made public, and still do.
I am confident that we will successfully produce a high quality document that expresses the principles of the RIGOP. If we do our job well, the platform will clearly demonstrate that Republican principles are the ones that are truly populist, and that the Republicans are the party of liberty and equality under the law as defined by an originalist interpretation of our Constitution (as opposed to the special-interest subsidizing, fat-cat favoring, Marxism of today’s Democrats).
I also expect that the finished platform will demonstrate that the Republican Party has real programs that will work to restore business opportunities, jobs, and a higher quality of life to Rhode Islanders.
We want Rhode Island to succeed. The best way to do that is to get this heavy-handed state government off peoples’ backs. Only the Republicans are willing to do that. Perpetuation of the present financially and morally bankrupt system is the goal of the RI Democratic Party.

Will
14 years ago

To state the obvious, I’m with Ray on this one… However, a few points of clarification re Sean’s perspective on the process, and I very much think it is about perspective, which understandably is subjective. Although I am not on the platform committee, as a member of the executive committee, and the state central committee, I am certainly very familiar with the process. I was told that the reasons why some meetings were more poorly attended than others was that in several cases, it was basically done as a “here’s when we’re meeting, be there,” regardless of the ability of some to fit that into their pre-existing work or family schedules. As Mr. Manning is semi-retired, it may not have been as much of a consideration for him, as it was for others. In other cases, certain individuals were simply not notified of the meetings, whether intentionally or not; or they were not notified in a timely enough manner. Remember, not everyone has lawyer schedules that can be changed on a dime (that’s not a dig against Sean!). At the meeting of the platform committee which occured prior to it’s meeting on Tuesday night, only 5 people were present. On Tuesday, 17 people were present. There are 19 committee members. How could anyone reasonably expect that a document “approved” by 5 people would be representative of the committee, nevermind the RIGOP? I think most of us, including those of us who are conservative Republicans, agree that in order to win elections, that we need to appeal to some people who are not necessarily registered Republicans, especially those who are unaffiliated. However, there does appear to be considerable disagreement as to how one goes about that. Conservative Republicans would propose that there are a good number of conservatives and center-right individuals… Read more »

Jay
Jay
14 years ago

Justin,
My only comment is that RI Democrats are increasingly pro-life. As one of them, I will continue to be a member of the Democratic Party & try to convert from within. We are not always your father’s or mother’s Democrats.
Jay

rhody
rhody
14 years ago

For a long time, Republicans won elections because they focused on what UNITED them instead of what divided them. This is the same kind of debate the Democrats had in the ’80s and ’90s, and how many elections did they lose as a result? It took a lonnnng time for Dems to learn that lesson.
The Democrats are vulnerable, and eminently beatable right now. If you want to focus on the economy, you have an excellent chance of winning. But as long as you keep pointing fingers at each other and proclaiming yourselves more pro-life and anti-gay than thou, the Dems keep winning, and you’ve got nobody to blame but yourselves.

joe bernstein
joe bernstein
14 years ago

The Republicans have to be wary of the “family values” issue.It’s a nebulous term connoting better morality than the opponents.Well,when the proponents of it can’t walk the walk,it really rebounds in an ugly way.Just let me mentio a few names-Hyde(my former rep and a great guy on pro-life);Vitter;That guy in South Carolina(I can’t recall his name);Gingrich;Livingston;Hastert;and some others.
When they get caught being hypocrites it just gives a lot of ammo to the Nancy Green types at Kmareka who can point and cackle with glee.And it’s hard to answer.
Better to zero in on specifics like taking a stand against abortion;for traditional marriage;firearms rights;a curb to wasteful spending NO MATTER WHO BENEFITS;and try to avoid any “holier than thou” pronouncements when you can’t live up to them.I know I sure wouldn’t be making any.But I’m not running for office and I’m not a Republican-although I most often vote for them,but not always by any means.
When you acknowledge up front that you have feet of clay,then it’s hard to be called out as a phony.
Like those liberal “green”creeps who tool around in gas guzzlers or private jets and have air conditioning in every rtoom.

Matt
Matt
14 years ago

The Rhode Island Republican Party is a total joke, and a failure.Even in the
most conservative states like Utah, the
Democrats are more sucsesfull than the RI GOP.
The majority of folks in RI are moderates, like 70% ,the Dems know this, and the RightWingNuts do not

Patrick
Patrick
14 years ago

Why do I get the sense that “Matt” was sent over by Bob Walsh to just see how far he can push before he gets under people’s skin and gets people throwing bombs that way.
Can I make a suggestion that unless people like “Matt” have something of substance, they just get completely ignored. Otherwise it becomes a juvenile p***ing contest.
Ok, I’ll start….now!

Monique
Editor
14 years ago

“the Democrats are more sucsesfull than the RI GOP.”
Yes. That’s why Rhode Island has high taxes, a poor education system (“it’s for the children”), 13% unemployment, a lousy business climate (who needs jobs, anyway), dangerously neglected bridges and a very generous public pension plan that Democrats were happy to promise but did not see fit to fund.
Go, RI Dems!

Pat Crowley
Pat Crowley
14 years ago

Hooray indeed! Thanks Ray. Keep up the good work. Glad to have you working on our side.

joe bernstein
joe bernstein
14 years ago

Pat-why don’t you stick to giving zeros to anyone you disagree with on RIF?

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