Kansas GOP Insider (wannabe): Leaving the GOP

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Leaving the GOP

I am leaving the Kansas Republican Party. While I will continue to work for candidates I like, and continue to be a registered Republican -- you don't get a choice in most of the elections otherwise -- I'm out.

My disillusion with the party can not be overstated, and I simply see no reason to stay.

This fall, I will be volunteering for the Libertarian candidate, Keen Umbehr.  Do I agree whole-heartedly with Keen? No.  In word only, my values more closely align with what Gov. Brownback says his values are. (His actions suggest otherwise.)

I can no longer spend my time or money for a party that actively works against the people -- specifically the grassroots people.

I am fairly certain I'm not the only person who has had enough of it. There's an extraordinarily unusual lack of decorum among what I would call the Establishment of the Kansas Republican Party.

Take, for example, Gavin Ellzey, vice chair of the Third District Republican Party. A few days ago, he locked down his Twitter account, but prior to that he made numerous posts about "offending Muslims with a .45," "only attractive women need equality," and posts essentially calling Milton Wolf a piece of sh!t.

This is what passes for respectful discourse in Kansas politics these days. I was disgusted by his tweets, but that's just the most public tip of the iceberg.

There were widespread rumors of many candidates making threats to individuals if they didn't get onboard and offer their full support. 

While not a huge Wolf fan, I continue to be disturbed by the way he was treated by what I would call the Kansas Establishment. He was ostracized, called names and I heard that he was uninvited to county and state GOP events. 

Every Republican candidate in Johnson County attended an election night party at the Marriott Hotel in Overland Park. Wolf's party was across the street at a different hotel. Was he not invited to participate  in the county party? 

I am not for one minute saying that everyone in the Republican Party has to be in lock step. But party members should welcome new faces, new candidates and fresh ideas -- even if they don't personally support some of the new people or their ideas.

That's acceptable. It is not acceptable to act like the Republican Party is a locked boys club, where only certain people need apply.

I'm sure the Kansas Republican Party is simply a microcosm of what goes on in other states, but I don't have the heart for it anymore.

The things I heard people say last night at the Marriott, the things I saw and heard people say in social media over the course of this campaign, I am out.

I blame our current crop of Republican politicians for this discourse. A gentle word here and there from them about Reagan's 11th Commandment would go a long way. But those words are left unsaid, and I have to assume it's because our most of our Republican politicians think winning is more important than anything. It baffles me that these self-professed Christians appear to believe that the ends justify the means.

They don't. 



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