by Robert Fireovid
The Vermont Republican Party needs to seriously think about why it lost so badly in this election. The exit polls show that abortion was a major driver for most voters.
Republican legislators who voted for Proposition 5 (which I BTW strongly opposed) couldn’t get elected. Yes, many Republicans oppose all abortions. But the Vermont progressives and Democrats successfully painted ALL Republicans as such. “If they are a Republican, don’t vote for them, period. The GOP wants to outlaw all abortions.”
Of course, the mainstream media lapdogs of the Vermont Democratic Party (VPR, Seven Days, VTDigger, etc.) did nothing to question this propaganda.
But worst of all, the Vermont Republican Party hamstrung itself from countering these charges. The State GOP Platform says, “We value the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death.”
Now, I fully understand and respect anyone taking a personal position like this. But matters normally addressed by political platforms – such as balancing rights – are different.
For instance, I myself consider all life to be sacred. But my wife and I raise grass-fed beef for food and must balance the rights of our cattle to a life with all the dignity that Nature offers, versus people’s right to nutritious food. Even though we kill our cattle so that we and others can have healthy lives, we still treat our beeves as sacred beings. Rights involve trade-offs; and individuals, families and societies must balance these trade-offs.
By having a Party Platform that allows for the unimpeded election of a veto-proof democratic/progressive General Assembly, the Vermont Republican Party has now put many other rights which it considers important – parental rights (including school choice), gun ownership rights, religious freedom, freedom of speech, medical choice rights, etc. – all in grave peril.
Sacrificing practical political considerations is not smart politicking. A recent post on a nationwide Republican Party Facebook page pretty much sums this up…
“To whomever needs to hear this: we need MORE votes, not LESS. So we need more voters to join the GOP, not less. Make sense?”
The author is a South Hero beef farmer and Grand Isle County GOP Committee member.