Does a Republican Precinct Committeeman Have to Support All GOP Candidates?

This is a very useful piece from my good friend, John Biver, who is doing outstanding work along with Jack Roeser and the guys at Champion News in holding Illinois’ consistently dysfunctional Illinois Republican Party leaders accountable. Of course, a similar principle might apply to pro-life and pro-family Democrats who are fed up with their party’s lock-step support of the homosexualist and abortion-on-demand agendas, with one key difference: the Democrat Party platform promotes government support for abortion and homosexuality, whereas the GOP’s, as John writes, does not. — Peter LaBarbera, Americans For Truth About Homosexuality

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Does a Republican Precinct Committeeman have to support all GOP candidates?

By John Biver, Editor of Champion News; posted4-27-09

Last week a good friend who is newly involved in his township GOP organization asked me if I thought he was obligated to work for Republican candidates he felt he couldn’t support. As an example, he said he can’t support Republican Congresswoman Judy Biggert because of her co-sponsoring of Republican Mark Kirk’s dangerous and wrong-headed H.R. 1913 [the “Thought Crimes” bill].

It’s a good question, since there seems to be some misunderstanding about the role of precinct committeemen, the party itself, and the people it elects.

Many Republicans hold the view that we owe a blind fealty to those who appear on our party’s ballot line. I disagree. The party is the servant to the principles, nothing more. The party has no purpose outside of that service.

Those principles are outlined nicely in the state and national platforms. Simply stated, those principles are: limited government, traditional values, and a strong national defense policy.

It has long been the position of those of us at Champion News that there are some actions taken by our GOP candidates and elected officials that disqualify them from the support of platform supporting Republicans.

The evidence is abundant that our party’s problem isn’t the Democrats – it’s liberal or incompetent “Republicans” that misuse the GOP brand. Often, it’s better to have a lousy Republican candidate lose and a Democrat win. Why? Republicans are the only people who can do lasting damage to the public’s perception of the Grand Old Party. Democrats can’t.

Click here to read the rest of the article on Champion News: http://www.championnews.net/article.php?sid=1841