Thursday, January 31, 2013

Whoever Wins, We Must Support

     This evening, members of the Massachusetts republican State Committee will vote on who is to be the next part chairperson of the party. Both candidates, Kristen Hughes and RickGgreen are well qualified for the job. I for one am not able to endorse either candidate at this time, not because I am not happy with the choices, but rather due to a lack of knowledge about either one. My knowledge of both, and what they stand for, have been formed from the media coverage and from people whom I do know and who have shared their opinion. Many of those people, for whom I have a ton of respect, have come out in favor of both candidates.
     This campaign is exposing once again the differences in our party at this time. Conventional wisdom is that Mr. Green is more sympathetic to the Tea Party members of the party and the Ms. Hughes is more of an establishment candidate. Both of those things may or may not be true. After the election tonight, I hope those things no longer matter.
     If Mr. Green wins, I want to see all members of the party rally behind him. No games. No long drawn out battles over the vote simply because you can, no public statements of regret or subliminal messages that he is too far right.
     The same should hold true if Ms. Hughes wins. Within an hour of the final results, every single Tea Party Group and RTC in Massachusetts should immediately join hands behind her and give the full support of the party by publicly announcing their support.
     In short, our differences need to be put aside after the vote and compromises made. To my friends in the Tea Party Groups, if your guy loses, do not go away, or worse, fight against the party. Same goes for my more moderate Republican friends. If you win and then do not include some of the new ideas or strategies being brought about by those more conservative than you, we are all doomed to failure for a long time to come.
     Tonight is not the time to show the voters how divided we are. It is the time to show everyone how strong we are when we come together. I for one will start by saying this. Whoever emerges victorious tonight, I will vehemently support until or unless there come a time when they no longer deserve that support. Good luck to both of you.