I think it does but only if the party is willing to make
some changes and address the issues put forward by its members. With the end of
the election we have seen the return of Sam Carpenter who has brought fresh
criticism about the party.
The Carpenter
Criticism
Sam Carpenter, like him or not, is addressing something that
the Republican Party is not. The current prevailing wisdom is that Republicans
need to be more moderate in order to win in Oregon.
If we learned anything from Knute’s campaign it is that is
absolutely not true. You might be able to gain some support, but at what cost?
Let’s take this strategy to its logical conclusion. Even if
you are 100% exactly the same as the Democratic candidate on every issue and
the only thing that separate’s you from them is a letter next to your name, you
will not win. In the end some people will believe you are a bad person simply
because you are a Republican.
Carpenter is unapologetically Republican and that is why
people like him. All too often individual Republicans feel like they have to
hide the fact that they support the Republican Party. I even had someone once
tell me my neighbor was brave because he had a Trump bumper sticker on his car.
Is it now an act of bravery to put a political bumper
sticker on your car? Sadly yes. That is not a criticism of the current state of
politics but rather of the current state of cowardice among Republicans. Let me
be clear, this is not an insult. I have been guilty of this personally. Rather
it is a call to action on an individual level.
Carpenter’s solution is to burn everything down and rebuild
it. Only he wants to rebuild it in his image. This might seem to work in the
short term but in the long run it will fail. Sam will one day leave the party
and we will be left with an empty shell that will collapse in on itself.
I do agree we need to start the fire but we cannot allow it
to burn down everything. Instead we need to burn off the dead wood. It is going
to be a painful process, change always is, but a necessary one if the Oregon
Republican Party is to remain viable in the future.
Stop Trying to Appeal
to the Left
On the surface it would seem like appealing to those on the
left would increase the Republican Parties chances of getting elected in a left
leaning state. Except we have tried this already and it has only resulted in
the Republican Party becoming the minority party in the state to the point of
becoming a non-entity.
I am not saying we cannot try to win over those on the left,
rather stop trying to BE the left. It seems disingenuous, like we are afraid to
be ourselves. This disingenuousness comes across to the voters, even if it is
not clear that is what it is.
This type of appeal feels like the person who is trying too
hard to get others to like him but only comes across as annoying. They lack
confidence in who they are and they try to be someone else. The falsehood
ultimately comes through and forms into the negative feedback loop.
They believe they are disliked because too much of who they
truly are is showing, so they try harder to be someone they are not and only
making the problem worse. This is the negative feedback loop in which the party
has been stuck.
How can we expect anyone else to believe in our values and
the truth of our message if we are constantly trying to distance ourselves from
them? Never apologize for being Republican or holding Republican values. If you
feel like you need to apologize for holding a Republican value then you need to
ask yourself if you really believe in that value.
Our leadership is not appointed or chosen from on high but
is a reflection of our choices as individuals who are members of a larger
group. Our leaders reflect us and if we do not like our leaders we need to
start by taking an honest look at ourselves.
Deadwood
Sam Carpenter is not the problem, rather he is simply a
symptom of the greater problem. We can try to ignore him or say we do not like
how he does things but we still need to address what he represents.
Carpenter represents those in the party who feel like they
are not listened to and who are told the only way to win in Oregon is to become
more moderate. If they are ignored people like Sam Carpenter will continue to
gain support.
These people need to be taken seriously because their
concerns are serious. The way things have been done for the last 30 years is
not working and it is a time for a change. We are the minority party, we need
to start acting like it.
One of the benefits of being in the minority is that we can
take risks as we have little to lose. We can try new things, bring in new
people and become a contending party once again. Yes our party might be in
chaos now, but it is in chaos that we find opportunity. Do we allow this chaos
to get worse until we fade away into obscurity or do we trim the deadwood
regardless of the pain and become stronger for the experience?
The choice is one we all need to make as individuals. It is
a choice that requires acting out in the world, for a choice that is not acted
upon might as well not have been made at all.
