Note: I wrote this ten days ago and presented it to a group of reform minded Republicans here in Washington State. I am mainly circulating the petition in my own county, but encourage the use of this as a blueprint around Washington state. I also invite conservative Republicans around the country to adopt these measures that best apply to their own states.
I believe the Republican Party is in for a rude awakening on Election Day. If the election goes how I expect it will, the pundits, consultants and party leaders will begin assessing what happened. And like usual, they’ll conclude that conservative ideas don’t sell anymore with the American people, and that is why we need to alter our message, and move to the “middle” (read: left). But we know they’re wrong. In their analysis, they will fail to recognize the disaffected conservative voters, who just weren’t excited about a candidate who fails to stand for conservative principles, and therefore not inspired to go about convincing their neighbors.
But in party meetings, the incumbent leaders won’t fail to scold the grassroots Republicans for not “getting out the vote.” Actually—we didn’t like the product we were being asked to sell, but still, they’ll want to blame us, the salesmen.
The truth is, we’ve been letting these pundits, consultants and party leaders determine the direction of our party, giving cover to Republican office holders who ignore the will of grassroots Republicans as expressed in our party platform—or worse, in many cases, dictating from their position of power, what our platform will say—in order to provide cover for incumbent Republicans who disregard Republican principles.
We’ve also allowed party leaders to mettle into the job of grassroots Republicans of choosing our nominees for public office, well before the official nomination takes place.
We need to take back this party and place it in the hands of grassroots Republicans. And when we elect our county chairs and our one state committee man and one state committee woman in each county, we need to remind them that they work for us—not the other way around.
We need A Contract with Grassroots Republicans.
That’s why I’ve drafted one….and I hope this can be used as a blueprint across the state of Washington. As a candidate for State Committee Woman, I will be the first to sign it, adopt it and implement it—and I encourage all Republican PCOs to insist that their prospective county chairs and prospective state committee members sign it, adopt it and implement it.
A Contract with Grassroots Republicans
Presented by Michelle McIntyre
We demand change at all levels of leadership. We seek party leaders who will think of their role as servants to the will of the grassroots Republicans, not as elites who know better than us.
We therefore demand that the leaders we elect at the local level use their vote to elect this change at the next higher level: from county central committee, through state central committee, to the national committee. We demand our leaders implement the following 8 Step Plan:
1. The Republican Party shall hold nominating caucuses and conventions to select their nominees for all public offices. The nominees chosen at such conventions shall hold exclusive rights to the name “Republican” and will be considered endorsed by the Republican Party.
2. Neither the Executive Board of this county or state, nor the State Committee shall give pre-convention endorsements. The grassroots Republicans shall choose their nominees through the caucus and convention process.
3. To restore the proper role of grassroots Republicans, in selecting candidates who represent us, we demand that all Republican candidates for office be given equal access to the party's resources, facilities, meetings, and events before grassroots Republicans make their choice through the caucus/convention process.
4. We also encourage debate among Republican primary candidates on the issues, and demand that those debates be made widely accessible to grassroots Republicans.
5. We recognize the need to have a longer period between the nominating caucus/convention and the general election, so that once the nominee for each race is determined, Republicans can unite behind and campaign for their nominee. Therefore, party leaders shall work to hold the nominating convention in the spring. This will help us avoid the pressure from the RNC to give pre-primary endorsements.
6. We call on the RNC to stop seeking pre-primary and pre-convention endorsements from State Party Executive Boards and State Committees. This stifles the debate and steals the right from the grassroots Republicans to make these decisions. We call on the State Party to resist this and any other attempt by the national Party to control or manipulate our State process.
7. When the grassroots Republicans have made their choice in the nominating convention, party resources shall go to help the nominee.
8. We call on our national committee to encourage all state parties to hold their state conventions in presidential years, on the same date, to ensure that all Republicans can freely vote for the candidate of their choice based on principles, rather than the candidate they believe can win an election, based on who did well in another state. This will also ensure more equity among the states.
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Between December and January, each county central committee—that’s all the newly elected PCOs in each county—will elect a new county chair, as well as one state committee man and one state committee woman to represent them. In late January, the newly elected state committee members will come together to elect new statewide party leaders.
Along with this Contract with the Grassroots Republicans, I am circulating a petition for PCOs to sign, calling on our prospective new leaders to sign it, adopt it and implement it. Please join me in signing this petition, and let’s take back the Republican Party and put it back in the hands of Grassroots Republicans.
