In her weekly column, Nancy Churchill discusses the current dilemma for Republicans

Nancy Churchill
Dangerous Rhetoric

Within the Republican Party, at both the Washington state and national level, frustration is at an all-time high. Because of the obvious failures of the Democratic party, many new people have become involved as precinct officers and volunteers. They want to elect Republicans and save America. These political neophytes are a breath of fresh air and bring much needed energy and enthusiasm to their county and state committees.

Those of us who have been active volunteers in the Republican committees are thankful to have their support. We feel like Bruce Willis’ character in the movie “Die Hard” when backup finally arrives: “Welcome to the party, Pal!”

Unfortunately, some new precinct committee officers (PCOs) are angry at their current leadership. They think the experienced county leaders are the reason for so many election losses. Instead of rolling up their sleeves and asking how to help, newcomers are often taking control of county committees and showing their most experienced and knowledgeable volunteers the door. That attitude is going to cause more harm than good.

Should we throw the bums out?

At the recent WSRP state committee reorganizational meeting, Chairman Caleb Heimlich was reelected as the chair after winning about two-thirds of the vote of the state committee. The same vote split happened at the national committee, where Chairman Ronna McDaniel also won about two-thirds of the votes to retain her seat. In both situations, frustrated armchair quarterbacks and new activists blame “the party” or “the leadership” for election losses. People often ask me, “Why don’t they DO SOMETHING?” Please remember, everyday people like you and me ARE “the party”. The volunteers who donate their time, energy, and attention are the one percent who are willing to do something more than just complain. Unfortunately, in most cases, Republican losses are not from easy-to-solve problems such as a lack of good candidates or a lack of funding, or lack of get-out-the-vote efforts. Those are relatively “easy” problems to address because those elements are within our control to fix at the national, state and local level.

It’s a culture war

Republicans are losing races in Washington state because we have failed to fight back against the Marxist/socialist takeover of our educational system which began more that 50 years ago. Rather than have tough conversations, conservatives go along to get along; we “live and let live”. I’ve done this myself.

Today’s younger leaders often don’t believe in American exceptionalism, capitalism, free markets, personal responsibility or objective truth. Many are narcissistic, nihilistic and even anti-human.

Conservatives ignored the culture war, and now we are facing a cultural holocaust similar to what happened to the Kulaks during the Russian Revolution (tinyurl.com/2p8x3rns). State and national government agencies, the media, the educational system, and even medicine has all been weaponized against anyone who believes in the Constitution, personal freedom and responsibility, the rule of law and objective truth.

Hang together or hang separately. 

The founding fathers were a contentious group, with many disagreements. During the talks which formed the United States, Benjamin Franklin noted “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”

Today’s Republicans need to remember Franklin’s words of wisdom. If “MAGA Republicans” attack the “mainstream republicans”; if the pro-life Republicans refuse to compromise with the pro-choice Republicans; if conservative Christians refuse to work alongside non-Christian conservatives, America is surely lost. 

We must focus on preserving the American ideals we all believe in. The authoritarian left is trying to destroy our democracy. Now is not the time to abandon the Republican Party. 

Now is the time to come together and join the fight for the American dream. Do whatever you can to share your beliefs and values with your friends and neighbors. We’ll win the culture war one positive conversation at a time.

Nancy Churchill is the state committeewoman for the Ferry County Republican Party. She may be reached at DangerousRhetoric@pm.me. The opinions expressed in Dangerous Rhetoric are her own.