This article is in two parts. This part covers general comments and observations about the by-law proposal. The second one will lay out a formal analysis of the arguments, pro and con.
Ben Proto, chairman of the Connecticut GOP, is off to the races. Now, we don’t mean to be mean, but the proposal his party has put forth for changing the party by-laws on primaries is the kind of destructive conduct that kills parties. By stealing primaries, he hopes the inner circle and their chosen candidates get to stay in power. Maybe not, Ben. Let’s go through this.
It has long been an article of faith that parties stay out of primaries. It only when a candidate has been chosen by the party, that the leadership steps up and provides needed election support. This is logical, reasonable, and it is the policy that prevents real in-fighting, acrimony and lingering resentments. Mr. Proto seems to have forgotten these lessons. Nor has he offered any kind of logical explanation for this proposal.
There is another element Proto & Co. need to consider carefully. This by-law change is a way to centralize party power. Regardless of any conversations about conservative versus RINO in the party, this by-law change disenfranchises the party base. So long as the state central committee is empowered to back a chosen candidate, then any primary is a sham.
Sorry, Ben, like it or not, your by-law change is in the same spirit as the insular politics practiced by communists. Controlling the primary is like creating a rubber stamp body in the form of the state central committee.
So, what is to be done? Everyone who reads this article, needs to spread the word as well as contact the guilty parties and explain to them why they need to drop this proposal. The consequences will be dire and long lasting if they go through with this.
The Continental Tribune has put together exactly the information needed to pressure state central and the party leadership to abandon this dangerous folly. The key vote is on March 14th. It is up to the people in the Republican party who respect the democratic process, and who understand how that process can be subverted to spread the word and get others to put pressure on those who made this proposal to instead drop this proposal.
The article also suggest three bad things are going to happen if this by-law change is made: 1) Donations will drop, 2) People will leave the party, and 3) The Bush Dinner in May will be an “epic fail”. All of this suggests that Mr. Proto could be suffering from a type of myopia that comes with being the top guy. You lose perspective because you assume the rest of the party is like those in the room with you. That would be wrong. More, Ben, bad optics there dude when you are having fun with Lamont.
The members of the Republican party are supposed to work together, but not when it looks like you are about to do some political cross-dressing. Stop thinking like Ned Lamont, and start thinking like a Republican.
The next article looks at the claims over campaign seasons, funding, and sneaky Democrats.