Despite its decades long support for him, Arlen Specter’s recent abandonment of the Republican Party has ignited the punditocracy’s explanations of what this means for the state of the GOP. In his resignation, Specter gave us the main reason for his partisan switch; he analyzed the political playing field and found his prospects for success in a GOP primary bleak.
What this means for the national state of the GOP, I can’t fully answer. However, as Chairman of the Loudoun County Republican Committee (LCRC), I have some thoughts on our GOP state of affairs here in Loudoun.
If you look at the GOP through a local lens, you see a story of strength and vitality. While it is a book’s title that grabs shoppers’ attention, it is the substance contained within the chapters and pages that actually tells the story.
In March of 2008, the LCRC, the arm of the GOP entrusted with running the day-to-day affairs of the GOP in Loudoun, reformed as is required. At this meeting, I was elected Chair and we began our reorganization. Fast forward slightly more than a year, and our membership has increased 64%!
While not every election went the way we would have hoped in November 2008, again, when one views the ’08 elections through the prism of Loudoun County, the picture is one of vibrancy and vitality.
In arguably the worst year ever for a Republican to run for office, U.S. Representative Frank Wolf trounced his Democrat opponent, garnering almost 60% of the vote; a larger margin than his victory against the same opponent two years earlier. The LCRC was the only political party in Loudoun to take a principled and public stand in opposition to the meals tax ballot question. That misguided taxpayer grab went down in flames 31%-69%.
A party’s vitality is often judged not only by membership numbers, and won-loss records, but also by grassroots intensity.
While the Obama campaign had a large presence in Loudoun, much of it came from outside our county’s (and state’s) boundaries. All across the county, we saw and heard of Obama supporters pouring out of vehicles adorned with license plates from Maryland, D.C., North Carolina, and elsewhere.
By contrast, our GOP grassroots efforts in Loudoun were entirely homegrown. We had nearly 400 Loudouners volunteer on Election Day to cover polling locations across the county from open to close.
More recently, the LCRC once again stood up for Loudoun taxpayers, passing a resolution urging the Board of Supervisors and local governments to not only hold the line on tax increases, but also cut spending as is required in the face of a budget deficit greater than $200 million. The resolution further called for assurances that the needed reductions in spending be fair and proportionate to ensure that no one agency of the Loudoun County or Town governments is exempt from providing equitable reductions in spending. This local position was bolstered by “tea parties” in the area and around the country demonstrating a rejection of Obama’s and the Democrats’ economic and tax and spend policies.
With the Specter defection and likely seating of Al Franken in Minnesota, Obama and the Democrats now have what they want—total and uncontested control of Congress. However, with that control comes something equally important—responsibility and accountability.
With many Loudouners soured on the Democrats’ eye-popping stimulus package, which at the end of the day will cost American taxpayers trillions of dollars, coupled with us looking at our regional neighbors to find that, thanks to our Democrat-controlled Board of Supervisors, we are paying the highest tax rate of anyone, voters are going to question whether this is the direction they want our county and our country to go.
That question will first be answered this November when Virginians go to the polls to elect a governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and the entire House of Delegates.
While Democrats will be forced to accept responsibility for the current state of affairs, we as Republicans know we simply can’t just count on Democrat failures to propel us to victory. It will once again take proper messaging of our commonsense solutions, strong candidates, and a labor intensive grassroots operation.
We are committed to being sure that we, as civic-minded Republicans, educate voters on Republican solutions. We will also work in the trenches to elect seasoned candidates like Bob McDonnell as our next Governor and energetic, fresh, up-and-comers like Tag Greason in the 32nd District.
Currently 3 of the 5 delegates representing parts of Loudoun County are Republicans, as is one of our two state senators. That means of our 7 elected officials in Richmond, 4 are currently Republicans, a number we plan on increasing this November!
In speaking with thousands of citizens over the past year, Republican, Democrat, and Independent alike, some things have begun to crystallize about the state of our party, both here in Loudoun and across the country.
First and foremost, our Republican principles and solutions are not to blame for our recent election losses (again, witness Frank Wolf and the thumping of the meals tax). In fact, a compelling case can be made that we have lost precisely because we have strayed too far from those tenets that united and defined us as Republicans.
Like any group or organization, unanimity on any given issue is an impossibly high standard to reach. However, there is major consensus among Republicans on myriad and diverse issues, including taxes, spending, public safety, illegal aliens, defense, education, freedom, entrepreneurship, marriage, life, guns, transportation, etc.
The problem is not our core values and GOP principles.
Rather, we as Republicans need to do a better job marketing our values and solutions to the electorate. We need to ensure we have the right messengers telling our story. And we need to stop letting our opponents define us and our philosophy.
The LCRC is writing a good, positive story here in Loudoun County, but our success will only be maximized by a growing base of support. To join our efforts, or to learn more about the LCRC, please visit www.loudoungop.com.
Glen Caroline serves as the Chairman of the Loudoun County Republican Committee
This morning I read the following from the NationalJournal.com, "The Republican Party is in deep trouble," [Colin] Powell told corporate security executives at a conference in Washington sponsored by Fortify Software Inc. The party must realize that the country has changed, he said. "Americans do want to pay taxes for services," he said. "Americans are looking for more government in their life, not less."
Mr. Powell is way off base. I believe most conservatives, if they voted for Mr. McCain, did so rather reluctantly, as there was very little difference between him and Mr. Obama. The last thing a conservative wants is more government in their lives. If the GOP listens to pundits like Mr. Powell, it will continue to lose seats. I agree with Mr. Caroline that Republicans have strayed too far from its core tenets of fiscal conservativism.