The Key to Winning Back the Florida GOP: RECs and their Resolutions
If you don't like the Republican Party direction, change it.
You know how politicians talk about their support of conservative issues while they are begging you for your vote, but tell you why they can’t support it once in office?
Even if you are a newly active Republican (active as in more than just a “GOP voter”) you’ve probably been concerned with the words versus actions of Florida elected Republican politicians from the state level all the way down to county Commissioner of Mosquito Control (we are not kidding).
Blah, blah, blah. Words. It is just words.
Disappointingly many of Florida Republicans fell for the empty talking points to gin up their enthusiasm for the Republican Party and their fear of the Left, all the while, the Florida Legislature Republican supermajority failed to find its way during the Constitutional Carry bill, which was so watered down by it’s final version that it became “Permitless Carry.”
Permitless Carry. Constitutional Carry.
These things are not the same.
Constitutional Carry would protect my right to carry a firearm however is best for me with no governmental control.
Florida Permitless Carry limits me to only carry concealed or face the legal consequences of violating a gun control law. That, my friends, is not protecting my right.
And despite the distinction between the two, Florida Republican lawmakers (taking a cue from the Left which likes to call things names that aren’t accurate) high fived themselves all over the Media about their big win for gun rights.
And as they continued to refer to Permitless Carry as “Constitutional Carry.”
Action, local action.
Last year, across the State in County Republican Executive Committees, resolutions were put forward to demand the Florida Legislature protect Florida gun rights by passing Constitutional Carry. In almost every single county that brought a CC Resolution to a floor vote, it was passed. Constitutional Carry in those counties has overwhelming support within county RECs.
The Republican Party of Florida was originally designed to be county membership driven, not the top-down organization it has become. And county RECs that are now under the control of America First Republican leadership understand that and that is why they took it back. As more and more Republicans get involved at the county level, the less control the Republican Establishment will have over America First Republicans and county RECs.
In our article titled:
We explained how Party leadership can look like standup Republican conservatives who hold up the Party principles…..but only to a point. And consider, because party leadership is elected, they are still politicians:
“A politician can be both a RINO and an Establishment politician–and often they are.
But it’s critical to recognize there’s difference between the two.
In fact, until you do, you won’t understand why “our guys” continue to betray us. “But he’s a conservative like us,” you’ll say. Not realizing he or she may espouse Party principles, but only up until a principled vote or Party edict empowers individuals rather than protects the status quo–the Establishment.
RINOs are easy for us to identify. The Republican Establishment is not. Many of the Republican Establishment espouse the same ideology as us–Conservatives who believe in the Party Platform–but they only support that ideology until the Republican Establishment is threatened.
Then they will protect the entity instead of the ideology.
It’s easier to get rid of the “Liz Cheneys” in the GOP, right? She let the mask drop and showed her true allegiance and it wasn’t with us or the Party.”
Local Control of the Republican Party
We believe that the control of the Republican Party should be by the membership of the Party, not leadership. The membership has no lobbyists trying to sway them to support the insurance industry or for gun control…. but the leadership does.
95% of registered Republicans support term limits. But that 5% that doesn’t? Those are Republicans holding office. This is why you cannot trust the leadership to make decisions or drive policies. They are working in THEIR best interest, not yours. And frankly they haven’t been working even in the Party’s best interest by strengthening election integrity issues. They have given us some protections since 2020, but not enough… not nearly enough.
If you left strengthening election integrity up to the county level Republicans, they would have it done within 30 days. Not only does almost every single Florida county REC have an election integrity committee, the people who are members of those committees are smart, motivated, and invested in seeing elections protected from fraud. They want that for the good of the voters, for the good of their county, for the good of their state, and the good of their nation, not to advance themselves or for some outside influence that could benefit. That’s what county level involvement is - it’s the real party being active.
2023 - The Year of Reckoning
So 2022 brought us Constitutional Carry Resolutions around the state, 2023 brought us the dissolution of the Republican Party of Florida’s 2nd Committee.
Poof!
It’s gone. So much for moving forward in the right direction.
But be encouraged by the county level Republicans who have started presenting resolutions - even despite their own REC Chair’s desires and wishes - and getting them passed by the county membership …… exercising their direction of the Republican Party. The “Ban the Jab” Resolution was first passed by the Lee County REC and when other counties RECs saw the media coverage, they obtained the Lee County version and copied it. This quickly led to other REC level Resolutions ranging on election integrity to a resolution calling for Governor DeSantis to remove the D.C. Capitol Police, currently housed in Hillsborough County by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, from the State of Florida because they have no jurisdiction to police this state. BTW, that resolution passed UNANIMOUSLY by the Hillsborough County REC.
But what exactly does this accomplish? It shows whether the Republican Party of Florida leadership respects the counties and the counties’ intended direction of THEIR party. It forces the conversation between Republican voters and election volunteers with their elected representatives or those Republican candidates for office. When the membership supports Republican Party platform issues publicly and by voting for these resolutions, you can be sure the members will be asking those people running for office— the ones begging for the members’ votes—to support the issues addressed in the resolutions passed.
Do elected Republicans want county level party members passing Resolutions? Probably not. Does the Republican Party of Florida want county level party members passing Resolutions? Probably not.
The reason is pretty clear, but if you are struggling to see the point, here it is:
Passing resolutions flushes out RINOs and the Republican Establishment like quail on hunting day.
It is a direct pressure put on both RINOs and the Republican Establishment to either submit to the will of the membership or overtly or covertly oppose the membership. The Florida leadership can try to stop resolutions from being passed, but that action really shows their hand…. and their true ideology. It’s a great way to find out where the leadership REALLY stands, not where they say they stand.
ACTIONS > WORDS.
County level Republican membership is action-oriented to restore the Party, it’s principles and platform. It’s the purest version of Republicanism. These are “our people.” These are real Patriots and they are moving in the right direction by putting forth resolutions. Keep them coming.
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