Promoting high ethics and principles in politicians and bureaucrats is a key objective of ClarkCounty.info. In doing so we spend most of our time writing about local corruption and incompetence. Interestingly, most of the subjects of our attention are nominally Republicans. We’re not sure if this means Republicans are more corrupt, or if we’ve just become desensitized to the idea of corrupt Democrats.
The National Republican Party seems to operate with a priority to protect its power. The State and local party has followed the example with this corrupt and destructive cabal. In Clark County this was reversed about four years ago when concerned citizens stepped up and reset the Clark County Republican Party to promote conservative values and anti-corruption activism, instead of the prior state in which local party leaders just bowed down to the corrupt Republican establishment. Conservative activists became organized and elected many new Precinct Committee Officers (PCOs) in 2012. They then elected conservatives to lead the party. This reset created tension with establishment Republicans, corrupt politicians, and handlers who have been howling ever since. As expected, most of these people have worked against the local party in the last few years, as they focused on their priority of self-interest, including some who simply wanted to reclaim the cozy little social club they enjoyed before.
A few recent examples of apparent ‘Republicans’ trying to manipulate or damage the local Republican Party:
- Sam Kim (Candidate for 17th District State Rep. Position #1): Said he was a Republican in a run for a state representative seat. Kim came to the 2016 Republican county convention to speak. He asked the party for its data on voters. Then a few weeks later filed to run as a Democrat.
- Julie Olson (current Clark County Councilor): Olson told many local conservatives she was a solid conservative and an independent thinker in 2015 while running for her county councilor seat. Her actions since being elected are 180 degrees from the false image she projected.
- Carolyn Crain (candidate for 49th State Rep. Position #2): Crain formed an organization called Republicans of Clark County in early 2015 and ever since she and a small group of people parade around town clearly trying to fool voters that they are representing the official, elected, Republican Party’s point of view. She also tried to lead a boycott of the party’s key fundraiser in 2015.
Last week the Clark County Republican Chairman Kenny Smith released a questionnaire intended to determine Republican candidates alignment with (1) the Republican Party platform passed at the 2016 Clark County Republican convention, and (2) core principles that had been approved by Precinct Committee Officers (PCOs) by a super-majority (75% plus of attending PCOs voting yes). This questionnaire concept was brought up by one of the Clark County Republican board members and approved by a majority of the board. This is exceedingly reasonable, considering the examples above of people trying to hurt or use the Party and its resources.
Some in the local establishment Republicans didn’t like this at all–as they resent any efforts by the earnest conservatives to shine light on their true status. After years of watching these ‘political people,’ it’s clear they’re so consumed with self-interest and loyalty to the corrupt political machine that they cannot think properly. How else to explain people objecting to something so obviously reasonable? Protecting their power and social club is cultural. They don’t have to think to do it, and they don’t notice when they make themselves look utterly foolish with their incoherent actions and statements.
Who in their right mind would suggest a private organization should have no rules to resist the efforts of saboteurs and enemies? Such an organization would not survive long – nor should it. In our view any politicians that objects to such a basic process to better determine the politician’s status should be watched carefully. Or better, just rejected.
People should want a political party to project the participant’s values, tied to an earnest effort to benefit the citizens and country. Citizens can disagree on policy and strategy, but if the altruistic values are reasonably present, those with differing opinions can have are reasonably civil interaction. But when political parties are run by a small ruling class with only feigned interest in the member’s point of view, it will eventually blow up. And this destruction is now well underway in both major political parties in the United States.
Toward the key mission to project principles and anti-corruption ethics, it makes perfect sense that the local Republican Party have a responsibility to promote candidates who reasonably reflect these values. NOT JUST WHO EVER SHOWS UP AND CLAIMS TO BE A REPUBLICAN.
ClarkCounty.info commends the local Republican Party for having standards. We hope the Democrat Party does the same toward their principles and be diligent to weed out the self-serving and corrupt politicians and ideologues in their ranks. If they have, we commend them too.