I'm a Massachusetts Republican, and I Have a Problem

I spent my New Year's holiday with my Wife's family up in Chelmsford this weekend. I picked up today's version of the Lowell Sun to see one of the headline's reading "Tattered state GOP looking to rebuild". One of the major pieces of the article discussed the State GOP's newest Executive Director, a 28 year old former congressional aid, Brian Dodge.

Dodge, Minority Leader Senator Rich Tisei and some of the others were quoted in the article repeatedly talked about the importance of filling a ballot state-wide to rebuilding the party, which with the loss of the Corner Office, finds itself in shambles. To be blunt, I can't believe the denial we're experiencing within the state GOP despite the spanking we took in this year's elections. I am beginning to wonder if they get even the basics of what it's going to take to re-building the Massachusetts Republican Party.

The 'just run' philosophy has been a complete disaster for the state GOP and quite frankly, is irresponsible. Campaigns are about winning. If you don't win, you can't legislate, or at the very least, block bad legislation. Running random people for office in the name of, well, name recognition isn't the answer.

The problem with many of the candidates who run on the Republican ticket for state offices, is, well, that they've run too many times. In nearly every case, the fact is that they've been branded as losers. Regardless if those labels are fair or not, this perception should, by now, be a sobering reality state wide for Massachusetts Republicans. Name recognition is a two-way street. It can be great to have, but can also work against you. If you're running for the state legislature for the thirtieth time, you're labeled as the guy who runs for anything, no matter what. This reflects poorly on not only the candidate, but the party that's running them, as it shows a glaring weakness in the party's ability to recruit electable candidates.

This flaw makes me question whether or not State Party members really understand how serious running a campaign is as well as what the potential implications that come along with it once the votes have been counted are. Running for the legislature isn't tiddly-winks. It's not Coke and Pepsi. It's not a game. Political campaigns are incredibly costly financially as well as costly to one's reputation. If you run as a liberal or as a conservative, it can effect your business as well, causing long term issues.

Most damaging of all, it fosters a perpetual state of complacency and apathy that has infected the state party at the local level on an unprecedented scale. In Chelmsford, Susan Fargo's challenger Melly Martinez, lost by 22 points, yet folks at the state committee were lauding how the campaign 'resonated' with voters, this time. 22 points is a blow out. It didn't resonate with anything except losing. It's one thing to lose by 5 points and run again. A second try would be warranted then. However, when one is getting spanked that badly at the polls, you have to question the sanity of anyone that would deem a 22-point drubbing as anything but a massive failure.

When in the process of rebuilding, you lose site of the fact that sometimes we need to step back before we step forward, you doom yourself to this kind of perpetual futility, hopelessly digging for whatever fanatical delusion one can drum up to justify their failures to get the job done. In order to rebuild our party, we need to learn how to walk before we can run. The old saying that "All politics are local" should resonate deeply with those of us whom believe there CAN be a future in the commonwealth for the Republican party. However, we must also be willing to come to the table and run our candidates on principles that should be universally inherent within our current political climate.

Discontent with the Democratic majority on Beacon Hill is at an all time high. Several local municipalities have struggled with the challenges of a hamstrung economy due to high taxes and unprecedented government corruption. With a simple, universal conservative message driving fewer, targeted races, we can begin to make inroads. In counties like Hampden, where the gay marriage petition drew the second most opposition of anywhere in the state, where the trash tax in Springfield and taxes in general are loathed and has become a place where government corruption is deeply ingrained, we should be making inroads. It's places like Hampden, where the Mass GOP can build a small base with just by leading the discussion on issues that the voters already care about all the time, instead of when we're running for office, that the Republican party can grow.

Instead of running 60 candidates, why not run 10 well funded campaigns with messages that are guided by a universally appealing platform and solidified by sound local policy stances? If we lose 7 of those elections, that's fine. If we pick up three seats, we are closer to our greater long term goal of some day having a GOP majority in one or both houses in the legislature.

At the local level, state committees need to be held accountable for their continual dereliction of duty. At the same time, the state party needs to do a better job of providing these committees with the resources to succeed in candidate recruitment, the registration of new members and to increase visibility in their respective locals. Running a state party is a two way street. The local committees need to be willing to do the grunt work, the state party needs to be willing to be a guide. Both need to hold each other accountable for their successes and failures. Currently, these relationships don't exist on either level.

The opportunity is there for progress and for growth, yet those at the State GOP seem to be married to minor modifications to a plan that has failed on virtually every level since it's inception. The first step in beating any addiction is to admit one does in fact, have an addiction. Thus far, if the state party is addicted to alcohol, it's merely replacing dark lagers with a light draft. We are perilously close to extinction yet at the same time are staring a wide open door in the face. The time is now for action, however we must be willing to come to terms with what got us in this position in the first place before we figure out how to get out of it so that we don't find ourselves either here once again, or wiped out entirely. We need to look ourselves in the mirror and admit that "We are Massachusetts Republicans, and we have a problem".