Blue Ridge native Aaron Tippin launched his musical career with a song titled: If You Don’t Stand for Something, You Will Fall for Anything. The common-sense song was very popular during the Gulf War.
It is also instructive to recognize that “the people perish for lack of knowledge.” Our nation is in jeopardy and Americans are in danger of losing their freedom for lack of knowledge and unwillingness to take a stand against evil. Thousands of young adults voted for Barack Obama twice because of a lack of truthful knowledge. Thousands of Conservatives and Christians failed to vote in the presidential election due to lack of knowledge of the impact of their actions.
Only an electorate armed with truth can be expected to cast an informed ballot and preserve the constitutional republic. A case in point is the debate ongoing currently regarding the South Carolina Republican Party and selection of candidates to represent the party in general elections.
Last month a hastily created, well-funded organization began running radio commercials urging people to attend Republican precinct reorganization meetings to “save primary elections” from those who allegedly want to do away with them. The commercials urged people to get involved or they may never get to vote in a Republican Primary election again. They alleged that a group within the party wanted to keep the people from voting and have nominations made by a hand-full of people in a smoke-filled room.
A number of individuals who had previously been uninvolved for whatever reason turned out at their precinct ready to take on the allegedly evil group that wanted to deprive them of their vote. Most of these new delegates to the Greenville County Republican Convention can probably be armed with truth and become effective participants. The truth is that the misleading commercials simply distracted attention from the documented truth of the real problem.
The good news is that the sponsors of the misleading ads created a public interest in the real problem that they have tried to keep hidden from the public since the Republican Party became the choice for a majority of South Carolinians.
The truth is that the South Carolina Legislature does not allow Republicans to select their candidates in a primary. They must hold open primaries so that Democrats, Libertarians, Socialists, Greens and any other registered voter may participate in selecting Republican candidates in an open primary.
To understand the current situation, it is helpful to know that Democrats had a “Jim Crow death grip” on both white and black citizens of South Carolina for almost 100 years. When Strom Thurmond switched parties and Goldwater and Reagan became popular, a legitimate two-party system became possible.
Ambitious Republicans in the legislature saw the potential to gain majority power. Career Democrats who wanted to keep their powerful committee chairmanships (a privilege of the majority), were more than happy to add to the Republican numbers by putting an “R” behind their name and being elected by the same constituency as before. Most never accepted the Republican Platform and continued to support the Democrat agenda. Sen. J. Verne Smith of Greer was a prime example.
The Greenville County Republican Party and the State Party Platform have favored “closed primaries” or “registration by party” for several years. Closed primaries would allow Republicans to have “freedom of association” as a private organization as exists in many states and is guaranteed by the Constitution.
When a Republican Attorney from Greenville suggested that, without a closed primary, in order for the Republican Party to select their own candidates for U. S. Senate and Governor in the 2014 election cycle 75 percent of the state delegates must agree, the beneficiaries of the status-quo “went ballistic,” and began the misleading ad campaign.
The real problem for the future of the state and the GOP is that people who have supported the Republican Party are becoming discouraged and angry. They say there is no difference in Republicans and Democrats. They have stumbled upon the truth. A significant number of so-called Republicans in leadership positions in Columbia are Democrats using the “R” to deceive voters and retain power. Unless they are replaced, South Carolina will not have a two-party system. Only truth will keep us free. Let’s try it one more time.
