Republicans Need Clarity

Yes, the Goal is Achievable

The Nebraska Republican Party has closed primaries, and for this reason, the Party should rethink endorsing candidates in primary partisan races. I am not part of the Douglas County Republican Central Committee or part of the Nebraska GOP organization. So I post this to those who know the members of these organizations to share these thoughts. My concerns rose when Republican candidate for Congressional District 2, Steve Kuehl, was merely trying to be mentioned by the local county party.

Candidates should be recruited to expand the party base and therefore recruit Republican voters. During a closed primary, the Party should not bother with endorsing candidates at all and merely list who is running and encourage them to register more Republicans. If the primaries were open, I can understand why the Party felt compelled to have a support line to some Republicans but with a closed primary, this problem has largely been mitigated.

Yes, some of you will complain saying “you’re just a Libertarian whining.” Yes, I was a Libertarian. I support individual rights and capitalism without apology. Yet, in running a party, as I have, rules have to be followed and made clear and resolutions must bring people to focus on goals.

For the Douglas County Republican Party (DCRP), there are no clear rules on endorsements listed in the DCRP Constitution at https://www.dcrponline.com/constitution The DCRP referred me to the Nebraska GOP rules on endorsements at https://www.ne.gop/constitution yet the DCRP Constitution makes zero reference to the state GOP Constitution. From anyone outside the DCRP, this looks like the organization is picking up rules out of thin air and ignoring explicit rules. This needs to be changed.

The role of the Central Committee seems obscure as well. You have to go to the County Convention to get on the Central Committee. However, once on the Committee, many simply do not show up to Committee events. When people talked about the Convention, no one explained to me this was the way to get on the Central Committee, but why would I want to be on the Central Committee when so many simply fail to show up? Nonetheless, the Central Committee endorsed Don Bacon which according to rules of the State party, must have been done at his request.

I seriously think parties should avoid endorsements in a primary. Sure, state who you favor or what your bias is or who you support but party endorsements are a ball and chain for a political party. It can lead to blow back. The State Republican Party should change the rules on primary endorsements in partisan races. The Party should focus on preserving the framework of the Party.

Doug Kagan runs Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom (NTF) at https://www.netaxpayers.org. The organization endorsed Steve Kuehl because Bacon is endorsed by the Nebraska State Education Association which dominates liberal politics in Nebraska. In fact, NTF opposes Brett Lindstrom for the same reason. NTF has a valid point in countering leftists. So does Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom encourage people to vote Republican or vote independently when the DCRP endorses candidates prematurely in a primary and without much transparency?

This is why DCRP needs to clarify and change the rules and why the Nebraska GOP needs to revise their rules on primaries as well. Partisan primaries should not have endorsements. Again, I am fine with announcing favor or bias, but not endorsements which lock candidates out with very little reason. The Central Committee can still state they favor Bacon but it should list Kuehl also.  Corporations do it with shareholder ballots all the time.

There is also one other issue in need of discussion: sexual harassment. Since the news media has turned such scandals into political commodities, these organizations need to state at their events: we oppose sexual harassment and expect upon you to report it to someone, at least the organizers, if you see it happen. These scandals are not just damaging to the political party but to the political process as a whole. Republicans should encourage all political organizations to adopt similar policies. This will remove the media from politicizing such abuse and result in good reforms.

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