A Bump On The Road To Unity

As a Blogger I am encouraged by the calls for unity from the NH-GOP leadership.  But I do not believe they have a clue about how to get there from here.  And blaming bloggers is clearly not the answer.  In fact, it is exactly the opposite of "the answer."  I make that quite clear in the status update I posted on Facebook this morning.

"...the NHGOP is very bad at messaging.  They are terrible at policy support during the session.  They are not aggressive at all when it comes to going after Democrats.  They never use the media resources at their disposal effectively.  And they do a poor job of supporting local candidates.  Meanwhile, 'Bloggers" are doing all of those things...for free.  But rather than thank me for the 1200 articles a year I might write attacking left wing policy, narrative, legislation, or commentary; or thanking me for supporting the platform, conservative principles, good legislation, or local Republican candidates, they piss and moan like children over the fifteen or so articles where I call out the GOP for acting like progressives."

The first step toward recovery is accepting that you have a problem.  The NH-GOP has a problem and it is not bloggers.

Until the NH-GOP accepts that it is bad at almost everything it is supposed to be good at, there can be no recovery.

Now I am more than willing to promote conservative and Republican principles, to provide policy support, promote small government, connect activists to local candidates, encourage discussion and debate, but let's be honest--I already do that.  I've been doing it for years and I do not need the good graces of the NH-GOP to continue doing it.  In fact, I will continue to do it regardless.  But I am willing to help them get on board with what we as bloggers already do and what we can offer.

We offer access and distribution of any message that we all support.  We provide an opportunity to get that message to rank better in search engines so that more people will see it.  We are adept at using social media and getting content on to upper level blogs with even larger, national audiences.  And we do not require a pound of flesh in return.  And the New Hampshire media...a lot of them check in to see what we are writing about.

But be warned. We are not the lefty media.

I, and I believe I can speak for everyone else at GraniteGrok,  am not going to report and support a candidate or idea simply because the party says so.  Principle comes before party.  If you can see your way past that bump in the road then there is hope.

But before we get there, the state Republican party had best give itself a thorough exam, top to bottom, and answer some questions honestly.  The most important of those is...who they are and why are they here?

I'm writing over 1000 articles a year attacking left wing policy, narrative, legislation, or progressive commentary while  supporting the ideas in the Republican platform, conservative principles, good legislation, and local Republican candidates--and I don't earn a dime or spend a dime to do it.

I know why I'm here.  I know why I blog.  Someone has to keep that message alive, try to reach out and share it in new and even entertaining ways.  And to do battle across the blogosphere for the heart and soul of the Live Free or Die State.

If you don't get up every morning and understand that the NH-GOP should be leading that charge in New Hampshire instead of a bunch of bloggers, then you are involved for some other purpose.  If that is true, fine, but have the spine to admit it--and then get the hell out of my way.

You are reading  "A Bump On The Road To Unity"   by  Steve Mac Donald originally posted at GraniteGrok.com (Home)

Steve has been recognized as the Americans For Prosperity Blogger of the month for December 2012

Wayne Mac Donald ..”People who blog are those who are “ruining” the party”

Kathy Benuck was a delegate at the GOP State party Convention Saturday and has a nice write-up here (LondonderryPatch).  She has some great observations and asks some good questions.  But what caught my attention (naturally) is this…

After the meeting had been adjourned, I approached the outgoing party chairman, and I related that I was highly disappointed that the election results were not disclosed. I asked why they had not been. He impatiently told me that for “unity” purposes, there was no need to give the results of the vote. I stated that it sounded more like “secrecy’ to me, and that perhaps such things had something to do with people losing faith in the NH Republican party. He told me that he was not going to waste his time discussing the vote with me. Oh yeah … and he also said that people who blog are those who are “ruining” the party.

emphasis mine

Note to departing Chairman Wayne Mac Donald…assuming Ms. Benuck got the quote right, and I expect she did, if what passes for your idea of a state party is what Bloggers are ruining, then may we accelerate its demise so that it may be reborn Phoenix-like as something for the good of all Republicans, not just the important ones whose turn it is or who happen to know which hands to shake and which cheeks to kiss.

I congratulate her on her victory but I do not envy Ms. Horn her task if the rest of the old guard is of a similar mind.  Wayne MacDonald just shot Unity.  It is now in critical condition, its chances of survival…unknown.