by Lisa Beightol Gray
The word RINO is thrown around like confetti at a party and as a general rule I don’t use it for various reasons. However, we all know what it means -- Republican In Name Only.
If our County Chairman is helping to grow and educate another political party, wouldn’t he be considered a Republican In Name Only -- RINO?
I received an email highlighting the fact that our County Chairman works for an organization called Turning Point USA
( http://tinyurl.com/zkrcqzc ). This organization claims to be non-partisan, but wait, isn’t the Maricopa County Chairman a Republican?
( http://tinyurl.com/zkrcqzc ). This organization claims to be non-partisan, but wait, isn’t the Maricopa County Chairman a Republican?
In May of THIS year, a conference advertised as LPEX (LIBERTARIAN POLITICAL EXPO) was held in Nevada. It was surprising to learn that our REPUBLICAN County Chairman was listed as a “TRAINER” at this expo.
( http://lpex.org/training/trainers )
( http://lpex.org/training/trainers )
So what exactly is LPEX? In a nutshell, according to their website, LPEX develops LIBERTARIAN leaders. ( http://lpex.org/about)
And why should people attend LPEX? Again, according to their website people should attend who want to “Shape the future of the Liberty movement,” AND “LPEX develops individuals into leaders so they can build effective libertarian organizations.”
Don’t believe me? Read it for yourself: http://lpex.org/about
Here’s a couple questions for the leaders of the Maricopa County GOP and my fellow Precinct Committeemen/women:
What party is the Republican Party County Chairman elected to lead? Obviously, it’s the REPUBLICAN party. So why is he TRAINING LIBERTARIANS?
I’m not aware of him holding any “training” for Republican PCs. In fact, while he was away training Libertarians, we were less than 60 days away from early ballots being mailed to Phoenix voters. Only a mere 20.81% of Phoenix voters showed up to vote! And this is TOTAL VOTERS, not GOP voters. What could have been accomplished if there was a more concerted effort by the county Chairman to get out the vote? Because of the lack of GOTV efforts by the county party, a liberal mayor was reelected and a MULTI-BILLION dollar, light rail expansion was passed.
So, are we going to look the other way, again, or do we want a REPUBLICAN Chairman leading us? Someone who would actually help to get REPUBLICANS elected. These actions are fully in opposition to all that the grassroots do and are doing to get conservative Republicans elected.
I believe the County Chairman needs to resign. This is a HUGE conflict of interest and it’s evident that he doesn’t have the best interest of our County Party at heart.
How exactly does helping members from another party get elected, align with our mission, platform and values?
Last December, was he one of the yes votes who voted to strip PCs of their voting rights and/or censure them for supporting a candidate in another party? If so, wouldn’t “training” members of another political party how to grow their influence and win elections be worthy of the same fate? Shouldn’t the County Chairman be held to a higher standard? Or does the County Chairman get to lead by the motto, “Do as I say, not as I do”?
Will others call for his resignation? I guess we’ll find out.
