Smith County GOP chair Oravetz to resign; saying party 'beyond repair' [TX]'

Tylerpaper.com ^ | 1/14/2013 | ADAM RUSSEll

[DangerZone]

Smith County Republican Chairman Ashton Oravetz announced he will resign as of Friday because the GOP is “beyond repair.”

“I can no longer in good conscience tell individuals to give any more money to the National or State Republican parties or vote straight Republican,” he said.

After 33 years supporting the GOP, Oravetz said he will become more involved with Grassroots America – We the People, a local conservative political action committee, and other “liberty movement” groups, including the Tea Party, Constitutionalists and Ron Paul supporters.

Oravetz said he expects an exodus by other GOP county chairmen.

“I am not retiring,” he said. “Instead I will double-down and work to elect conservatives with principle who want to save this country.”

Oravetz said the final straw was the re-election of both U.S. House Speaker John Boehner and Texas House Speaker Joe Straus. He said the Republican Party is “at war.” He said the party’s base, the party workers and ardent conservatives, are incensed with the GOP establishment which is driven by money, power and crony capitalists.

“The party doesn’t stand for anything anymore. It has a good platform but the establishment doesn’t stand for its principles,” he said. “The long-term goal will be to replace the Republican Party.”

Oravetz said the election of Ted Cruz to the U.S. Senate was a message to the national and statewide GOP that the conservative base and liberty movement is growing rather than fading.

[DangerZone]

I'm particularly interested in what Texas Freepers think about this. What kind of man is Oravetz?

[Christie at the beach]

Certainly a public blow to the establishment, I would think. The republican party will continue to be punished for being on the wrong track from their supporters over time. There's no debate that they have left the platform of the party (which is a strong platform). Not many people will ever fully trust nor support either party due to the corrupt behavior and crony lobbyist ties to the banking institutions to their government. Huge issue. Both parties have corrupt ties. I think what few good people are in the system are silenced or moved off of a committee role who have the power to stop some of Obama’s unlawful actions. This current speaker is the face of what is wrong with the party.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Straus getting reelected TX House Speaker is a travesty worse than Boehner.

[absalom01]

What’s his FR screen name?

[SaxxonWoods]

It begins. Good.

[X-spurt]

If his Tyler GOP headquarters was any reflection, NOT MUCH, very amateurish. It was always hard to find and rarely had any campaign materials.

This “Grassroots America – We the People” is the bunch that threw cold water on Tea Party here for most of us with their wild-eyed leadership trying to commandeer Tea Party “control”. Seemed to be more or less a Ron Paul type libertarian thinking group that most Tea Party folks (here) do not identify with.