The Republican Party Needs to Embrace Liberty: Thoughts on the GCGOP Convention

I attended the Greenville County Republican Convention as a delegate on Saturday, April 22. This was my first time serving as a delegate. I am grateful to the only other officer of my precinct for electing me delegate and to the party for allowing me to serve.

Why I went to the Convention

I went to the convention expecting to learn, but I also went to advocate for a party independent of our non-ideological and untrustworthy president. This is a time when President Trump is already campaigning for reelection. The 2018 elections will be a test of strength not only of the Republican Party, but of the various elements of the Republican Party. The President has threatened to primary the House Freedom Caucus for nothing more than making a serious effort to keep campaign promises to repeal Obamacare—an effort that President Trump should have supported, not opposed. Now is the time to support conservatives in the Republican Party and to build momentum for a presidential primary challenge to Donald Trump in 2020.

Do not suppose that I am unhappy or ungrateful for the victories against Planned Parenthood, for the successful nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, for the rollback of usurped government power, or for the other good things that have come out of Donald Trump’s presidency. These are significant policy gains, and I commend the president for all he has done. He is often a co-belligerent, and it is better to have the president as an ally than as an opponent. However, none of this can compensate for the serious doubts that President Trump continues to arouse of his loyalty to the conservative movement and to the Republican Party.

Positive Signs

There were encouraging signals that came out of the county convention. Jeff Duncan and Jim Bridenstine of the House Freedom Caucus were keynote speakers. Bridenstine gave encouraging updates on negotiations on Obamacare repeal, and he gave four reasons that he supports the current version of the repeal bill being discussed. Both men talked about liberty and advocating for Constitutional government. Both expressed a desire to help Donald Trump achieve his agenda, and neither criticized the president. It was not the time or the place for them to criticize him, and I think they knew it.

The election for party chairman was illuminating. One candidate whom I had concerns about finally came out in favor of closed primaries. His earlier failure to support protecting the free association of Republicans by restricting primary voting to registered Republicans was a major weakness in his campaign. I was glad to see him make that change.

Both candidates talked about the need for increased openness to diverse people who subscribe to the Republican platform. There seemed to be hints from Nathan Leupp and the outgoing chairman, who endorsed him, that Leupp would take a different direction than the previous administration on this. This is an important issue to watch.

Cause for Concern: Racism and Xenophobia

Something that no one wanted to talk about is the ignorant and inflammatory rhetoric on foreign religions and minority groups that comes from some in the county party, including from Mr. Leupp’s opponent. There was a draft resolution against Islam that was circulated among the delegates by someone running for state delegate. The party leadership chose to ignore this rather than address its ideas. There was only a vague reference to some proposed resolutions that did not follow the correct form or would have been illegal.

The party will not be able to ignore this kind of thing indefinitely. Islam and race relations are delicate subjects that require careful handling, and the Republican Party does not need bomb-throwers in its ranks undermining its commitment to religious liberty and equal rights for all before the law.

Measure of Opposition to President Trump: State EC Race

No one speaking at the convention explicitly addressed my concerns that I laid out in a campaign video and in a flyer that I distributed at the convention. The closest thing to a test of strength was in the race for State Executive Committeeman. Doug Wavle was the only candidate for any office to praise my state delegate campaign video before the convention. He did this enthusiastically in a comment on YouTube.

In his campaign speech, he never once mentioned President Trump. Instead, he spoke about how to hold leaders accountable and about who in particular needs to be held accountable in the state government. He talked about the ideals that should motivate us to be involved in politics, with religious liberty being first among them. He only briefly spoke about his very adequate qualifications for the office. His opponent, on the other hand, talked only about her record of service and her support for President Trump.

Of the two experienced candidates, Doug Wavle and Suzette Jordan, Jordan had the full support of the chairman and of the newly elected 1^st Vice Chairman. Jordan was singled out for special honor with the Chairman’s award for her service. She was the incumbent. Jordan won by only two votes, 114 to 112. While there was better messaging by Mr. Wavle, and there may have been other factors I am unaware of, this should cause the state and county GOP to sit up and take notice that opposition to President Trump in the party is already strong. The time to protect the party and the nation is now, not later.

Stifled Debate

There was a policy matter put to the convention that I want to make a public statement on. A resolution was proposed to commend our Republican legislators for their service. One of the delegates proposed an amendment to the resolution that would have removed mention of Lindsey Graham. She did not feel it was appropriate for the convention to give a general commendation of Graham in view of a prior censure of Graham for positions he had taken. The chairman, speaking as chairman of the previous convention, said that it would be a mistake to not commend Graham.

A motion was made by opponents of the amendment to end debate. A vote was taken, although it became immediately clear that some of the delegates did not understand what they were voting for. The motion carried, and its supporters never had the opportunity to defend their motion against the criticisms that the chairman and Nate Leupp made. The motion was voted on, and it lost the vote.

So to be clear, there were two things that the convention voted on: it voted to shut down debate, and it voted to keep the commendation of Lindsey Graham in its resolution, which also passed. I voted against shutting down the debate, but I also voted against the motion to remove Graham from the resolution. I actually do not remember whether I voted for the Convention’s resolution itself or not. The key for me is that, though I was not persuaded by the argument for removing Graham from the list of commendations, I would have supported further debate. I will not say how others voted, because that is for them to say if they choose to. That is all that I have on that at this time.

Extraordinary Challenges in the Race for State Delegate

The last issue I want to tell you about has to do with the freedom of ordinary citizens to have a voice in a Republican Party convention. One of the primary reasons I went to the county convention was to run for delegate to the state convention. I went into the convention with few connections. I had refused to endorse either candidate for chairman, so I was not going to receive support from either of them. That was a consequence I willingly accepted. The few I met who already knew and agreed with my message had other business to conduct than to distribute my flyers or to ask people to vote for me. They did help as they were able, and for that I am grateful.

Beyond the expected disadvantages, however, I had to contend with the publicity given to candidates who had signed a statement I never had the opportunity to consider. Doug Wavle was on the list of signees along with others he was able to personally recommend to me, but it was not his list. Others whose names I knew were not on the list.

The sheet of signees was handed to every delegate before he or she entered the room.  At the top, it said “GCGOP/SCGOP Unity Delegates: The following State Delegate Candidates ask for your vote. These Candidates desire to have a good working relationship with the SCGOP for the benefit of Greenville County as well as the Conservative Cause.” There were 74 names on the list, and we were allowed to nominate as many as 79 state delegates.

Would I have signed this statement? Well, I certainly do not want to have a bad working relationship with the SCGOP. But I know very little about the SCGOP, and some of what I know is reason for concern. I am unsure of the state party’s commitment to obtaining closed primaries to keep Democrats and other non-Republicans from interfering in family business. I would be hesitant to sign a statement like that. But again, I was not asked.

This was the only list of candidates that we received with information about their positions. Every delegate in the room received the names on this list. In contrast, I was only able to distribute flyers to fewer than half the delegates at the convention. As a new delegate, I was not given the opportunity that at least 74 others had to have my name put before the convention. If I had received that opportunity, the statement I would have had to sign was arguably inappropriate to ask of a new delegate unfamiliar with the state party.

I would argue that the right to free speech, particularly for new delegates, is impaired by an arrangement like this. If there is only going to be one list of candidates for the Convention to consider, there should at least be equal opportunity for all delegates to gain a place on that list. Ideally, there should be multiple lists for groups with different interests and priorities, with every eligible delegate having the opportunity to be on at least one of the lists.

I did not make state delegate, but I was elected as one of 79 alternates to the convention. I received 31 votes. I am happy to say that Mr. Wavle did very well, and that others I supported were chosen as delegates or alternates, as well. I look forward to reporting on and perhaps participating in the state convention.

In Conclusion

In summary, the Greenville County Republican Party is doing some things to promote liberty, particularly at the national level. However, there is still work to be done. I congratulate the winning candidates on their success, and I hope they will use the opportunity they have been given to repair and protect the liberty that is the right of every American. I commend all of the candidates who ran, and I can assure Doug Wavle that if he runs again, he will have my vote as he did this time. I am grateful for the opportunity to be part of the civic life of our nation and our county in this way. I hope to gain more friends and partners in the party and to be able to work with the Republican Party in the future for the cause of liberty. I will continue following the activities of other political parties with interest, as well.