Partly Cloudy, 35° F
Dear Editor:
In response to Mr. Vetter’s letter published on July 7, I will tell you that I am a Republican and my votes as a legislator have supported Republican values, state, and national …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
The Powell Tribune has expanded its online content. To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, or purchase a subscription.
If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free web account by clicking here.
If you already have a web account, but need to reset it, you can do so by clicking here.
If you would like to purchase a subscription click here.
Please log in to continue |
|
Dear Editor:
In response to Mr. Vetter’s letter published on July 7, I will tell you that I am a Republican and my votes as a legislator have supported Republican values, state, and national party platforms 100% of the time. Now if someone would argue my claim we can certainly have a discussion about any vote I’ve made, dig into the details of the legislation and visit about why I voted the way I did. But if the claim is that I have not voted as a Republican should, I would argue that my opinion carries as much weight as theirs.
As I understand it, one chooses a political party by looking at how a party aligns with the person’s principles and values. The person has the right to evaluate if a party’s principles align and support the individual’s personal values and approach to politics, and if so that person then chooses to register and participate in the political activities of that party as they see fit. I am not aware of any sort of pre-qualification, testing, swearing of secret oaths, or attesting required by the Republican Party before the person is accepted into the fold. Once they are registered as a Republican I am not aware of any annual, or monthly requirement for them to attest they are complying by an established set of criteria that allows them to “stay” as a Republican. If my understanding is incorrect, I welcome the correction.
I think it becomes a bit dangerous to the health of the party when a “chosen” few seek to impose their will on the body as a whole, and if one doesn’t agree then it is deemed by the “chosen” few that the one disagreeing is no longer worthy to be considered a Republican. I have been a Republican for over 40 years, and I have concerns that our state party is having far more success in alienating members of the party than they are in unifying them. At a time when we should be rallying together in this election cycle, we are spending valuable time justifying our existence as a member of this party.
I am a Republican and will continue to do all I can to ensure that the values held by this Grand Ole Party are reflected in my actions.
Rep. Sandy Newsome
Cody
