The Oregon GOP: Criticism and the Path Forward

The Oregon Republican Party has some serious thinking to do after the 2018 election rout. Our party has been relegated to practical uselessness in Salem and we are forced to ask ourselves does the Republican Party have a future in Oregon?

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.