Party Planning to Promote From Within, and Ignore Voters?
Filed under: Dr. John McGoff for Congress — John McGoff @ 11:42 am
The following is the text from my press conference held at the Huntington County Courthouse on Thursday, July 9, 2009. The press conference was in response to a letter I received from a prominent Rupublican Party leader asking me to take part in political beauty-pageant with the other three challengers to Congressman Burton. The judges – selected by “the Party” – would give their approval to one candidate to challenge Dan Burton in the May primary. The remaining three would then be asked to walk away from their campaign, their donors, volunteers and supporters. Here are my remarks:
I’m here this morning to express my disdain, even outrage that some people in the Republican Party have for the democratic process.
Last week I received a letter from a well respected, Republican leader asking me to take part in a scheme to hand pick a challenger to Congressman Dan Burton in the 2010 primary race for Indiana’s Fifth Congressional seat…Thus, side-stepping the voters in the district.
The scheme that is being put forth is under the guise of “maintaining party unity.” Apparently it is the feeling of some in the Party’s hierarchy that four challengers to Congressman Dan Burton will cause lots of ill will and tear the party apart. The letter outlines – in detail – a beauty pageant-like scheme involving myself and the other three challengers to Congressman Burton, to take place around Thanksgiving, complete with a select panel of judges – judges selected by the same people putting forth this plan. This panel will review previous experience, character traits, fundraising results, political endorsements and determine the candidate’s level of charisma. During this competition, the panel will bestow the title of challenger by hand-picking one candidate who in their opinion they deem worthy to challenge Congressman Burton in the May primary, and exclude the other three candidates from competing. In essence this scheme is a pre-primary, before the actually primary, not in the interest of the voters, but in the interest in “maintaining party unity.”
We just celebrated the birth of our country this past weekend… Over 230 year of democracy… People elected by the people… Apparently those involved in the planning, writing and distribution of this letter must have been absent from school the day they taught that principle of our country’s founding, because this plan attempts to take the decision of representation away from the voters. And again, it is being justified to “maintain party unity.”
Some may say this is work of only one person with a genuine interest in “maintaining party unity.” But I am suspicious that this scheme stretches far beyond one man. First, the letters distribution has been well planned. Before I received a copy, a similar letter was sent to all of the Republican Party’s County Chairs seeking their approval. Second, the person that signed this letter has publicly endorsed and supported a candidate in this race, and has urged others to do so. Third, not one person in the party’s leadership has attempted to stop this charade to narrow the challengers down. These three simple facts should cause the voters to wonder that this just might be a scheme that many of the elite in the Republican Party, have developed, accepted and actually want to ensure that their candidate is chosen.
It’s just more politics as usual. It’s obvious that many in the Republican Party’s leadership ranks still don’t get it. This election is not just about the Party. It’s about the hard working voters of the 5th District being represented in Washington, by a person that they have selected. The voters are weary of Party politics. In 2006, through the voting booth, voters threw Republicans out in record numbers. Today, less than 25% of all Americans identify themselves as Republicans. It has become perceived as the Party of exclusion, not the party of inclusion; as in the days of Ronald Reagan. And this scheme is truly one of exclusion, not inclusion. It is intends to exclude people like myself from running for an elected office. But most notably, it excludes the voters of the Fifth District from being able to vote for the candidate that they want.
By shortcutting the American democratic process, I strongly believe this is nothing more than an attempt by some Republican leaders, past and present, to promote one of their own from within. A past state GOP chairman handpicks the state party’s former Executive Director as the candidate, who then garners endorsements and substantial financial support from many of the elite in the Republican Party’s past and present leadership. To no one’s surprise he was one of the first to agree to this scheme. On all accounts this seems totally disingenuous.
When I challenged Congressman Burton in 2008 I was asked by many party officials to abandon my campaign. They told me that the 5th District was in capable hands and that our incumbent Congressman was doing a great job in Washington. Not a one of them came out to endorse my candidacy. Now, less than five months after the November election, many of these same people are tripping all over themselves to endorse and fund a challenge to the same Congressman they so admired and respected last year. My question to all of them is… What’s changed?”
Let me answer that for them… They have finally heard the cry from the people that count in the 5th District… the voters. For many years there has been a growing dissatisfaction for Congressman Burton. The voters resented his carefree work-ethic and missing votes to play golf. The voters were angered by his numerous, and outrageous foibles that were picked up in the national media and proved to be embarrassing to the good people of the 5th District. The voters were screaming for a change… But the party leadership refused to listen. As I went around the District I was listening to them in their living rooms, around their kitchen tables, and by going door-to-door… and I am continuing to listen to them.
I question whether the people behind this letter are actually listening at all, or if they are nothing more than political opportunist who smell a wounded elected official. I believe it was the results of my primary challenge that has motivated many within the party to create a situation that will help guarantee that Dan Burton is defeated, and replaced with someone of their choosing …but made to look like the voters made the decision. I want to issue a warning to the voters of the 5th District to not be fooled by this plan to protect the Party’s unity.
If this truly is about party unity, why not ask Congressman Burton to participate. Let’s make it really easy for the voters and give them just one candidate. If the people behind this plan are so confident in their scheme, let’s eliminate the need for a real primary altogether. Subject all five candidates to this process and give the voters a single choice, just like they used to do in the former Soviet Union.
I’m running for Congress to offer a different perspective to the solutions that are being developed in Washington.
I am not a career politician.
I am not a lawyer.
I am not a lobbyist.
I am an emergency physician that can offer the best perspective to our health care problems.
I am a colonel in the Air National Guard and have recently returned from a tour in Iraq and will provide the freshest perspective on our country’s war on terror and it’s military.
I am a businessman and civic volunteer and can provide a unique perspective to the problems facing our economy.
I am in this race because the voters expressed their belief in me during the last primary in numbers unexpected by even the best of political analysts.
I am not seeking self-promotion. I intend to offer the voters a different perspective to express their concerns and represent the best of our Hoosier values in Washington.
So, I am here to affirm that I will not be participating in this scheme to limit the voters’ right to choose.
