Late last week I received a letter from the Republican National Committee. It contained an exit interview because I had returned their last half dozen contribution requests disguised as surveys with comment but no money. I shredded their final notice weeks before. I did not feel that the questions they were asking would truly reveal why I have not renewed my membership in spite of the fact that I have supported many of their candidates with direct contributions. For that reason, I included the following letter.

An open letter to the Republican National Committee

9/30/2013

Reince Priebus

Republican National Committee

PO Box 96994

Washington, DC 20077-7556

Dear Mr. Priebus:

The US Constitution. Photo: National Archives of the United States

I received your exit interview today and began attempting to fill it out in a way that I hoped would be helpful to you on the off chance that you really wanted to know how it was possible that you have lost the confidence of a person 69 years of age who has participated off and on for 63 years. My parents were Republicans who hosted many very large political picnics at our home in North Plainfield. The first political event I remember was at the age of  6 when Dad gave me my own “I Like Ike” button which I wore proudly.

Many years later my wife and I repeated history hosting political picnics at our home in East Amwell where we supported Republican candidates, some of whom eventually ended up in Washington, and where as a Republican I ran for and won a seat on our mostly Democrat Township Committee.

I have been self employed since my early twenties and remain so today. I have lived through all of the Federal Government’s wonderful ideas including the EEOC, OSHA, EPA and the rest and have survived in spite of them. My wife and I have survived countless recessions and seen elections and Presidents come and go. I know what the purpose of a Presidential convention was and what it is today.  There have been changes and to some extent, this is to be expected but other changes are the result of a Party that has forgotten what it was about.  Pardon my lifting this line but, in this relationship, I have not left you. The Republican Party has left me.

19 Republican Senators abandon Ted Cruz

I was encouraged the other day when you said that you were with Ted Cruz. For a moment I thought I saw hope but it was fleeting because the echo of your words was still ringing as 19 Republican Senators voted to remove the defunding language and pass the continuing resolution.

The problem is big government. There are still a lot of people alive who understand what being an American means.  We know where the Federal Government came from and what its purpose was intended to be. We know what powers the States gave up in the formation of These United States of America and we know what powers untrustworthy elected officials have bestowed upon themselves. We are not stupid and recognize blatant lawlessness in our own government when we see it.

The Republican establishment complains a lot about the “Tea Party” but this is not a new group. These people are the ones Nixon called the silent majority but they are no longer silent and they are no longer sitting still.  Most of these people consider themselves Republicans but the establishment calls them trouble makers because they will no longer sit down, shut up and do as they are told. They want their country back because they realize it has been stolen from them. Democrats take the majority of the blame but the silent majority blames the political class which includes the long time established members of both parties.

Address the real problem!

Your interview form asks whether I am a conservative, moderate or a liberal Republican.  This question indicates that you do not understand the problem – the reason the silent majority is no longer controllable and why Republicans lost the White House.  Those terms apply mostly to a person’s attitude about social issues but anyone familiar with the Constitution understands that these issues should have nothing to do with national politics; they were intended to be matters for the States to deal with. Politicians gin up these issues to divide people into artificial constituencies so that they can pander to them for their support. A major reason for your loss in the 2012 election is that so many did not vote because they felt the Republican Candidates were chosen by the political establishment, the very people they blame for our current condition, and saw no bold difference between the two party’s eventual Presidential candidates. This is not to say that there were not major differences but many could not see them. I and others blame the Party controlled by the disconnected political elite.

When you set up a circumstance in which an election is close enough to be stolen, the Republican candidate will lose.  Had the base turned out to support you, the spread would have been greater and the election much more difficult to steal.

If you could remove the social issues from Federal elections there would be a stark difference between Democrats and Republicans.  The problem with social issues is, no matter what you do, someone will be justifiably mad that you are interfering in their private lives.  People in the silent majority realize that the Federal Government has inserted itself into our daily lives and set itself up as grantor of rights, putting it way outside of its Constitutional boundaries.

To further prove you do not understand the problem you put up a list of items and want to know which of these I am most concerned with. How can I answer the question when this is a list of symptoms and does not mention the real problem? None of the things on your list would be there if our elected officials were obeying their oaths of office to adhere to and defend the Constitution because most, if not all, of these problems are the result of actions taken by elected officials that are outside of the enumerated powers found in that document.

Obey the Constitution!

This is where defenders of the status quo say that the Constitution is old fashioned and does not relate to life in these United States in the twenty-first century.  The mere utterance of that statement is admission of either ignorance or neglect because the Constitution has within it a method to alter the document through a carefully structured amendment process.  If the Constitution is not up to date, it is the fault of those who swore to protect and administer it: our elected officials.

The truth is that elected officials have given themselves powers not granted in the Constitution because they knew that if the question of whether or not to grant those powers were put to the people they would have been denied.  People are beginning to realize what has been going on thanks to the efforts of many private groups including the Tea Party and they realize that Democrats are not the only culprits.

It appeared that Republicans might have been beginning to understand this when the speaker insisted on reading the Constitution aloud at the beginning of the 113^th Congress but actions speak louder than words and when it comes to the courage to honor their oaths of office most of our elected officials fall far short. When the really difficult situations arise most choose to remain ignorant rather than do the heavy lifting that they signed up for.  As Thomas Paine pointed out, “Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.”  The Tea Party people understand this but too many politicians do not have the courage of their convictions.

At this point I have realized that for there to be change of a beneficial nature, I will have to take on the responsibility to support selected candidates directly. It is abundantly clear that the RNC has a different view of the problem and there is evidence that even if we could agree the RNC is not much more efficient with my money than is the Federal Government.

Many but not all of your candidates will get my financial support. Please feel free to keep me informed but do not expect my financial support for the RNC without major concrete changes.

Best Wishes

J Andrew Reid

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