Greetings From Mississippi

After having served on the Republican National Committee and as State Republican Chairman for Mississippi for almost eight years (and as a County Chairman for several years prior to that), I am pleased that the internet allows me to stay in touch with so many wonderful Republicans across the United States that I have come to know and have genuine affection for, as well my other friends and associates locally. Hopefully, many new friends will read this blog and share their thoughts with me as we begin the process of rejuvenating our Republican Party and rescuing our great nation from the downward socialistic spiral that it is now taking under the leadership of the Democrats and others who have lost their way. They wish to transform America into something similar to a European- style democracy that has an economy heavily dependent upon government, and we see evidence of this fact occurring before our very eyes with every daily newscast.

The purpose of this blog is to share with you my views and conclusions on how to rejuvenate our great Party; and to develop a dialogue with you on the subject. I support no candidate for national office at this time and am more interested in finding ways to rejuvenate the Party, because I know that is the key to winning elections in the years ahead. After many years of service to the Party, I have some concerns.

Perhaps a dialogue between ordinary Republicans, such as you and me, can also save us from the intrigues and destructive tactics of those special interest groups, lobbyists, “advisors”, and staff operatives within our own Party that have also lost their focus – those who would seek to destroy fellow Republicans who are perceived to stand in their way, and prevent them from gaining more power, access or financial reward. Theirs is the politics of destruction. Ours should be the politics of rejuvenation of the Republican Party. They act like Democrats, whereas we should be focusing on what is best for our country.

I am reminded of the comments a few years back of a great Mississippi Republican Governor who, on the occasion when our State Party had formally paid off the debt on our State Party Headquarters Building, said: “Governors come and go, but the Party is there forever.” What he meant, of course, was that the key to our political successes in the past has been the principles our Party stands for, and our unity of purpose. Once we regain our unity of purpose and once again embrace and publicly define our core beliefs, candidates such as Ronald Reagan with great personal magnetism will be encouraged that we have our act together and will appear once again to effectively communicate our values to others. I have found that the best candidates are not chosen. THEY APPEAR.

We rank and file Republicans must make clear to our existing Republican leaders that we will no longer tolerate ugly Republican Primaries, but are interested in what the candidates stand for. When this happens, destructive “leaks” to the press by campaign operatives against a Republican opponent or rival and general infighting among Republicans will diminish, just as surely as roadside bombings diminished in Iraq when General Petraeus instituted the “surge”. For example, we should never again tolerate the kind of treatment Sarah Palin received from operatives within her own Party after the last Presidential election. Whatever we might think of her as a future candidate for President, there should be no place in our Party for those who would commit such blatant violations of Reagan’s Eleventh Commandment. Our job is to compete with the Democrats, not fight among ourselves.

In the spirit of full disclosure, you should know that although I am no longer a member of the RNC, I publicly supported Mike Duncan for re-election as our National Chairman. However, that election is over, and we must help our new Chairman, Michael Steele, succeed.

It was my privilege to host Chairman Steele a few years ago, when he was Lieutenant Governor of Maryland and was in Mississippi campaigning for Haley Barbour when Haley first ran for Governor of our State. We spent a day together, had a nice luncheon in his honor, visited several talk-radio venues, and wound up the evening at the Clear Channel radio show of Charles Evers, a member of our State Executive Committee; where Michael made a great pitch to Mississippi African- Americans on the virtues of the Mississippi Republican Party and its candidate for Governor. Working together, we won that election, and we can win again across this great nation.

I look forward to visiting again with you soon, and please let me have your comments.