As the NEGOP Chairman, I also serve as one of Nebraska's three voting members on the Republican National Committee. In the aftermath of the November 2009 special election in New York's 23rd Congressional District, an internal debate has raged among RNC members about whether a candidate should support certain Republican principles as a precondition to receiving funding the national Republican organizations. One RNC member, Jim Bopp, Jr.--the national committeeman from Indiana and the 2009 Republican Lawyer of the Year--has proposed a resolution that sets forth ten principles; candidates are expected to support at least eight of these principles if they want to run and receive funding as Republicans. This debate has now gone public, with the expected gnashing of teeth from liberals and the press. One example from Politico can be found here.
The resolution:
Proposed RNC Resolution on Reagan's Unity Principle for Support of Candidates
WHEREAS, President Ronald Reagan believed that the Republican Party should support and espouse conservative principles and public policies; and
WHEREAS, President Ronald Reagan also believed the Republican Party should welcome those with diverse views; and
WHEREAS, President Ronald Reagan believed, as a result, that someone who agreed with him 8 out of 10 times was his friend, not his opponent; and
WHEREAS, Republican faithfulness to its conservative principles and public policies and Republican solidarity in opposition to Obama's socialist agenda is necessary to preserve the security of our country, our economic and political freedoms, and our way of life; and
WHEREAS, Republican faithfulness to its conservative principles and public policies is necessary to restore the trust of the American people in the Republican Party and to lead to Republican electoral victories; and
WHEREAS, the Republican National Committee shares President Ronald Reagan's belief that the Republican Party should espouse conservative principles and public policies and welcome persons of diverse views; and
WHEREAS, the Republican National Committee desires to implement President Reagan's Unity Principle for Support of Candidates; and
WHEREAS, in addition to supporting candidates, the Republican National Committee provides financial support for Republican state and local parties for party building and federal election activities, which benefits all candidates and is not affected by this resolution; and
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Republican National Committee identifies ten (10) key public policy positions for the 2010 election cycle, which the Republican National Committee expects its public officials and candidates to support:
(1) We support smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama's “stimulus” bill;
(2) We support market-based health care reform and oppose Obama-style government run healthcare;
(3) We support market-based energy reforms by opposing cap and trade legislation;
(4) We support workers' right to secret ballot by opposing card check;
(5) We support legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants;
(6) We support victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges;
(7) We support containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat;
(8) We support retention of the Defense of Marriage Act;
(9) We support protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing health care rationing, denial of health care and government funding of abortion; and
(10) We support the right to keep and bear arms by opposing government restrictions on gun ownership; and be further
RESOLVED, that a candidate who disagrees with three or more of the above stated public policy positions of the Republican National Committee, as identified by the voting record, public statements and/or signed questionnaire of the candidate, shall not be eligible for financial support and endorsement by the Republican National Committee; and be further
RESOLVED, that upon the approval of this resolution the Republican National Committee shall deliver a copy of this resolution to each of Republican members of Congress, all Republican candidates for Congress, as they become known, and to each Republican state and territorial party office.
Although I will not be able to attend the January RNC meeting in Hawaii (I'll be in McCook playing host to Republicans who want to replace Sen. Ben Nelson), I'll be proxying my vote to National Committeeman Pete Ricketts.
The resolution:
Proposed RNC Resolution on Reagan's Unity Principle for Support of Candidates
WHEREAS, President Ronald Reagan believed that the Republican Party should support and espouse conservative principles and public policies; and
WHEREAS, President Ronald Reagan also believed the Republican Party should welcome those with diverse views; and
WHEREAS, President Ronald Reagan believed, as a result, that someone who agreed with him 8 out of 10 times was his friend, not his opponent; and
WHEREAS, Republican faithfulness to its conservative principles and public policies and Republican solidarity in opposition to Obama's socialist agenda is necessary to preserve the security of our country, our economic and political freedoms, and our way of life; and
WHEREAS, Republican faithfulness to its conservative principles and public policies is necessary to restore the trust of the American people in the Republican Party and to lead to Republican electoral victories; and
WHEREAS, the Republican National Committee shares President Ronald Reagan's belief that the Republican Party should espouse conservative principles and public policies and welcome persons of diverse views; and
WHEREAS, the Republican National Committee desires to implement President Reagan's Unity Principle for Support of Candidates; and
WHEREAS, in addition to supporting candidates, the Republican National Committee provides financial support for Republican state and local parties for party building and federal election activities, which benefits all candidates and is not affected by this resolution; and
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Republican National Committee identifies ten (10) key public policy positions for the 2010 election cycle, which the Republican National Committee expects its public officials and candidates to support:
(1) We support smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama's “stimulus” bill;
(2) We support market-based health care reform and oppose Obama-style government run healthcare;
(3) We support market-based energy reforms by opposing cap and trade legislation;
(4) We support workers' right to secret ballot by opposing card check;
(5) We support legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants;
(6) We support victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges;
(7) We support containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat;
(8) We support retention of the Defense of Marriage Act;
(9) We support protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing health care rationing, denial of health care and government funding of abortion; and
(10) We support the right to keep and bear arms by opposing government restrictions on gun ownership; and be further
RESOLVED, that a candidate who disagrees with three or more of the above stated public policy positions of the Republican National Committee, as identified by the voting record, public statements and/or signed questionnaire of the candidate, shall not be eligible for financial support and endorsement by the Republican National Committee; and be further
RESOLVED, that upon the approval of this resolution the Republican National Committee shall deliver a copy of this resolution to each of Republican members of Congress, all Republican candidates for Congress, as they become known, and to each Republican state and territorial party office.
Although I will not be able to attend the January RNC meeting in Hawaii (I'll be in McCook playing host to Republicans who want to replace Sen. Ben Nelson), I'll be proxying my vote to National Committeeman Pete Ricketts.
How should I vote? In favor or against the resolution? If against, why?
Vote for it. I was ready to tell the National Republicans to take a hike after the NY-23 debacle. This gives me a renewed faith that there is sanity in the party.
ReplyDeleteMark, I strongly support this resolution in principle. It is not just the right of the party to put a litmus test to candidate financing but a responsibility to ensure that funds support candidates who share the values of its members.
ReplyDeleteHowever ....
First, although I support all ten items in this resolution, are these ten points the very top priority points of the Republican Party? Are there other points which would serve as a better test of party identity?
Second, are these points too specific? As written, would these points need to be re-written every couple of years to address the specific issues of the day? Should the ten points be more general in nature? Or is it better to address the specific topics of the day and re-write the resolution on a semi-annual basis?
Third, although every point begins with "We support ..", seven of the ten points include "by opposing ..." We have already been labeled as the party of opposition and obstruction. Is the language of this resolution going to help us identify ourselves as a party of ideas and solutions?
Regardless of the questions above, I would definately support this resolution, with or without ammendments.
These "principles" are absolutely hilarious. "We support X by opposing Y." My favorit one is No. 6 - "We support ceding the president's role as civilian commander-in-chief to the military commanders." Just wow on that. LOL.
ReplyDeleteMark, over the past two decades, your Republican party has moved so far to the right that your beloved, mythical "Reagan" could not win the Iowa caucuses if he ran last year. Spin it any way you want, but your base would be calling him a liberal based on the views he actually held. That's simply a fact.
You know you'll vote for the resolution. It's OK, the Republican party will still be lost either way.
/s NE Voter
TO: jessephred
ReplyDeletehttp://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/chief-sponsor-of-gop-defends-test/
The above link may answer some of your questions. The 10 points are not set in stone but can be refined. Basically they are policy and legislature issues (Republican Platform still governs the fundamentally principles). Life issue is the cornerstone of our platform but it probably will not be on the legislative agenda next year. This resolution asking candidates embrace at least eight of 10 conservative principles if they hope to receive financial support and an official endorsement from the RNC. These comments are for Republicans only.
Forwarding a reply from one of the co-sponsor-
ReplyDeleteIt is not a litmus test, it is an accountability act.
First, GOP has a very conservative platform to tell the public who we are and what we stand for as a party.
Second, those ten points in our Accountability Act are based on 1) our platform principles and 2) the current battlefield situation. Obama's march to socialism is a frontal assail on those ten positions. We need every elected Republican official to hold the line for our freedom.
Third, every four years, GOP convention delegates elected by GOP grassroots rewrite our platform. We can do the same kind of resolution every year or two base on platform principles and what issues we are fighting for.
You made a good point about being positive and not being seen as a party of no. I am not afraid of being called a party of no for two reasons: 1) if we are the party of freedom and free market, I have no problem to say no to tyranny and socialism and 2) when Democrats control the House, the Senate, and the White House, we are playing defense. As a result, we worded those ten points as what we stand for first. For those reasons, we oppose those Democrat legislations. As you may know, House Republicans have a market based healthcare reform proposal, which was not allowed by the Democrat Speaker to bring it forward for a debate.
Our goal is to earn the trust of the voters back by holding our party and our candidates accountable to the voters in order to become a majority party again. By then, we will be in a position to advance positive conservative agenda. Thank you for this opportunity. Solomon Yue NCM OR, Co-Sponsor
Forwarding a reply from one of the co-sponsor:
ReplyDeleteIt is not a litmus test, it is an accountability act.
First, GOP has a very conservative platform to tell the public who we are and what we stand for as a party.
Second, those ten points in our Accountability Act are based on 1) our platform principles and 2) the current battlefield situation. Obama's march to socialism is a frontal assail on those ten positions. We need every elected Republican official to hold the line for our freedom.
Third, every four years, GOP convention delegates elected by GOP grassroots rewrite our platform. We can do the same kind of resolution every year or two base on platform principles and what issues we are fighting for.
You made a good point about being positive and not being seen as a party of no. I am not afraid of being called a party of no for two reasons: 1) if we are the party of freedom and free market, I have no problem to say no to tyranny and socialism and 2) when Democrats control the House, the Senate, and the White House, we are playing defense. As a result, we worded those ten points as what we stand for first. For those reasons, we oppose those Democrat legislations. As you may know, House Republicans have a market based healthcare reform proposal, which was not allowed by the Democrat Speaker to bring it forward for a debate.
Our goal is to earn the trust of the voters back by holding our party and our candidates accountable to the voters in order to become a majority party again. By then, we will be in a position to advance positive conservative agenda.
Thank you for this opportunity. Solomon Yue NCM OR, Co-Sponsor
Vote in favor. This is a great start and it's simplicity is the key to future victories. What the party may be lacking most are fighters. Facts, in an assertive, confident tone and argue principles passionately. Too many allow the debate to continue rather than reject an outrageous premise. The party doesn't need candidates who want to be liked by Sunday morning talk show anchors and the party needs to stop letting talk radio carrying the water.
ReplyDeleteCan I assume that this list will be used not only for those seeking initial public office, but also for incumbents? The voting record for each elected official should be documented and made available to all voters during their term in office. We republicans should police our own officials, and call them on their support for issues that go against our core principles (if we can really even state what those are anymore). What's in a name or label? Judge them solely by their actions.
ReplyDeleteVote for it. I'll talk to you next Monday at the Open House in Lincoln. A couple C.O.s like to talk the Reagan talk, but not walk the walk.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteVote for the resolution. This isn't just a list for funding candidates, it should be viewed as a list for winning elections and governing effectively.
ReplyDeleteI would suggest voting in favor of this. I feel like this list presents a very well-rounded example of both the social and economic issues that the Republican Party should be concerned with at the present time.
ReplyDelete