Sunday, August 30, 2015

The oddness of the "will of the voter" argument applied by opponents of the write-in campaign

So, over the past few days, I've been taking note of the bruhaha by those opposed to conservatives in government hiding behind a rather peculiar notion involving something like, well, as they put it, "the will of the voter."

On the right, part of it is driven by the RINO segment who dislikes/hates the current GOP leadership and David Madore... something I call the Crain Faction.

On the left, most of that is driven by the same.

I suspect that the response to all of this is a long way from political or strategic and has long since cannon-balled into a pool of emotional upheaval and those opposed are acting accordingly.

A few are claiming the GOP's position on the write-in and humiliating defeat of Boldt's efforts to become a "born-again" Republican are, in fact, based on hatred of Boldt personally, as if he was just beamed down to the planet's surface and has no history of local governance... and that we are somehow stricken from the desire... and even the right... to draw our own conclusions as to the difference between what Boldt once was (A conservative to the bone) to what he ultimately became (A tool of the democrats and downtown special interests, based on his actual voting record as a commissioner.)

We are told, at the start of this, that the GOP's actions "handed this election to Dalesandrio."  There's absolutely nothing, politically, that supports that conclusion, but those whining that way are not doing so out of any political consideration; they're doing so because they typically support one or the other of those on the ballot and they are doing anything they can to justify the unjustifiable:  They are trying to self-justify their opposition to a perfectly legal, perfectly political solution to a GOP problem that doesn't involve their guy.

The GOP has no candidate on the ballot.  That is the natural result of the demands by both the democrats and the Republicans for closed primaries, where only party membership determined eligibility to vote for someone in the primary... which was an idiotic move that I oppose/opposed in this open primary state... and which resulted in the people coming up with the top-two solution, a version of Louisiana's system.

Does that mean the GOP should fold up it's collective tent and skulk away into the night, leaving the election of county chair in this GOP county to two democrats?

Or do they at first examine and then implement the only remaining option left to them to address the lack of a GOP candidate being on the printed ballot?

On the left, they just want one of the two leftists on the ballot to win the job, as they view this as some sort of justification for their anti-voter positions on the issues confronting us.

All the defeats of the local left notwithstanding, the election of Boldt under these circumstances becomes their political "see, I told you so!" moment... THE moment that proves those of us opposed to the CRC Scam to be "wrong."  Those of us opposed to tax increases, expansion of government and higher fees... to be "wrong."

And the write-in effort threatens that.

Those opposed to this frequently claim that the GOP has now "lost the election," or "handed it to Dalesandro" (Big whoop) or that "Boldt will win in the general," inferring, if not coming out right and saying that the GOP should have done nothing and just allowed the vote to play out.

Their thought, as flawed as it is, is that Boldt is, in fact, Republican.  Boldt made the following claim in his email to the PCO's begging for their support in an effort to stop a GOP endorsement of this write-in campaign:
I am a lifelong Republican, and I will never believe that the truths we hold dear should be used as a weapon to injure others. When the new leadership of the county party decided to throw me out because I wasn’t “Republican enough,” I’ll be honest with you: it hurt. But it didn’t change what I believe or who I am at my core.
First of all, I seriously doubt that Marc wrote any of this, having viewed his writing for 6 years as his legislative front office.

Secondly, "lifelong Republicans" would not routinely jack up our taxes year after year, not oppose the will of the people on a multi-billion dollar boondoggle like the CRC Scam, not vote to set up a CTran taxing district that cut out tens of thousands of voters from having any say, but not from having to pay for those who do.

Third... the fact is that his effort to blame the current leadership of the GOP for his own predicament... that is, blame them for the "not Republican enough" gambit is both a lie... and merely shows that the Marc Boldt that so many remember... or want to remember... has long since been replaced by a rather prevaricating political animal.  (As a reminder, Boldt was sanctioned in 2011, beforte the current GOP leadership took over.)

Fourth, while an elected PCO, Boldt merely uses that position as a place-maker, an in-your-face to the GOP who threw him out years ago for being what he is: anything but Republican.  In the years he's had that position, until this past week, Boldt had never shown up to any GOP function.

So, why is he a PCO in an organization who has thrown him out and which he refuses to participate in or with?  Petulance.

He's not doing it to be a Republican.  He's doing it because he can.

Boldt was smacked by the local GOP long before the current local GOP leadership came into being.

So, what's the point of attempting to claim otherwise?

When I worked for Marc, the man lived and died with the truth.

Now?

Not so much.

But all of that merely sets the table for this: those whining about the write-in, opposed to the write-in, are making an effort to stop (which they actually know they can't stop) this effort.  They claim the "will of the people" is somehow being ignored (As if that will ever made any difference to them in so many other issues...) by offering a 3rd choice.

The lack of logic in all of this goes to the emotional motive behind the opposition.

Offering a legitimate, well-organized write-in campaign by no means serves to silence the "will of the people," although while a commissioner, Marc Boldt certainly did all he could to accomplish that very thing.

The people, ultimately, will decide.  And no one... no where... can explain how on one hand, this effort that will result in an articulation of the will of the people simultaneously manages to ignore it.

And while desperation causes anyone to grasp at any straw floating by... this one won't keep those opposed to this effort because of their support of one of two leftists... from sinking themselves.

Write-in campaigns are the ultimate in the "will of the people" indicators.  With the built-in difficulties of such an effort, they are, when successful, the ULTIMATE expression of the Will of the People outside a successful revolution.

And that is why I support this effort.

The GOP has nothing to lose; I have nothing to lose; the options were to do this with a good chance a conservative could win, or do nothing, with a guaranteed victory to a leftist... and neither one would make any difference.

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