Posted on 09/20/2005 6:37:39 PM PDT by EternalVigilance
Gilchrist is trying to wink-and-nod that he's a Republican, when he isn't.
What am I to make of a man who cannot candidly admit that he's a registered member of the American Independent Party?
IC thanks. As if whom is on the Central Committee means anything at all. What in heck do those folks do anyway? That was always and remains a mystery to me.
we now know why california has no leadership in the republican party.
WOW
Most local party committees have clear rules that if you support a non-party candidate against a party candidate, you will be removed from the party committee.
Gilchrist did not join the republican party, so republicans in the committee cannot support him without first resigning from the party.
It is a pretty good rule. You don't quit "the party", you quit the committee, which by charter exists to elect people of the party, not the people who best represent conservative views.
How many of the central committee endorsed Gilchrist anyway?
Key Question: Does this election have a runoff?
Is there a danger splitting as an Indie would lead to a Democrat winning, ie by splitting the vote??? That's the only legitimiate reason for Campbell to be pulling such a low stunt.
Since this is a special election, Gilchrist could deflect this effort by promising to vote to support the Republicans and seek GOP nomination, etc., in upcoming elections, should he win the election. (Actually checking the website, he's pretty much said that he's a 'Reagan Republican').
I found this blurb on Gilchrist's website ironic:
"Minuteman’ Jim Gilchrist, the only Independent Candidate running in the Oct. 4 election for California’s 48th Congressional District, will address the National Convention for the National Federation of Republican Assemblies (NFRA) on Saturday, September 3, 2005 at 3:25 p.m., in the Convention Center at the Chaparral Suites Hotel. Mr. Gilchrist will be speaking as the only candidate in the California race who truly espouses the principles of the Republican Party, and who has a proven record of uncompromised action advancing the policies and priorities of the Reagan Republican Platform."
The NFRA bills itself as a "Republican wing of the Republican party" ... so what we have here is a wimp-Republican trying to run off a self-styled Reagan Republican. A big mess, that Gilchrist could have avoided by simply being a Republican sooner.
I HAD to add that -- since that is the "required name" per the DNC!
Being a Republican meant (at one time) you were a conservative, you were against a strong centralized govt which also translated into against a strong centralized dictatorial party. If you were conservative you did not necessarily believe in everything another conservative believed in and that was the way it was.
Only the democrat socialists walked in lock-step with their party line.
Of course back then, you did not ALLOW a socialist (or worse) to run as a republican (see NYC for one).
What was a conservative a couple decades ago (Reagan era) you are now calling a Libertarian. What the RNC is now, would have been a called knee-jerk liberal then!
True Conservatives believe in the Republic - toady those who call themselves republicans (little r) believe in democracy. So did Stalin and Lenin.
And in related news:
http://www.dailypilot.com/news/story/24701p-35306c.html
BRIEFLY IN THE NEWS
California Republicans endorse state senator
State Sen. John Campbell announced late Thursday he has been endorsed by the California Republican Party in his bid for the 48th District Congressional seat.
It's rare that the party endorses before a primary election, and the Oct. 4 special primary will be a big one, with 10 GOP candidates among the 17 congressional hopefuls on the ballot.
The state GOP endorsement tops a list of supporters that includes Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and local Republican fundraising groups the New Majority and the Lincoln Club.
"Key Question: Does this election have a runoff?"
No. The most votes takes the seat.
I am not certain, I was unable to make the convention this past weekend.
Although I am at the moment not a member of the CRP state central committee I sure have endorsed Gilchrist. I imagine that Campbell's ploy was to try to scare other Republicans into silence.
Only if the guy with the most votes gets 50% or more. Otherwise, the top two have a December runoff.
"True Conservatives believe in the Republic"
So when did you get put in charge of determining who is and isn't a "True Conservative?"
The rules are weird for special elections in California. If any one candidate wins 50% plus one of the total vote in the "primary," and in special elections, anyone can vote for anyone of any party, the election is over. That won't happen here. The GOP has two candidates spending substantial money. Assuming as is most likely to almost certainly the case, that Campbell won't win 50% in the "primary," the "winners" in all parties go to the General Election, and the first past the post rule applies. If Gilchrist can get about 20% of the vote in the General, the Dem has a good chance of winning, and even 15% may be just enough, with the GOP at a low ebb.
"Only if the guy with the most votes gets 50% or more. Otherwise, the top two have a December runoff."
That was not the version I heard.
I already did - I'm a man without a party ...
On the central committee presumably, about which nobody cares. As I said, it seems just a way to give Gilchrist free publicity, if the media picks up on it, and thus a dunderheaded move.
Wrong.
The election is only decided on October 4th if one candidate (of the seventeen on the ballot) wins at least 50% plus one vote.
Unlikely.
So, in all likelihood, there will be a runoff election on December 6th between the five winners of their party's nominations.
ping
Uh, that's the way it's been in every special election I can remember going back to the Horcher recall...
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