Will Republicans lay down arms and unite behind some common messaging?
by Kolby LaMarche
In the Vermont General Assembly, our legislature, voters have given Democrats command of a wide supermajority, controlling, for example, 104 out of 150 seats in the House.
At the same time, Vermonters have consistently elected Republican Governor Phil Scott. But despite the governor’s best efforts to slow Democrats, the overwhelming majority held by Democrats typically results in the override of virtually all the governor’s vetoes.
Many Democrats in Vermont argue that such a consolidation of political power could facilitate streamlined, progressive decision-making and expedite policy implementation.
However, beneath this veneer of efficiency lies a deeper threat: the erosion of democratic values via one-party rule. Not to mention the present and future damages this legislature has inflicted unto Vermonters in such a short amount of time.
We must confront the inherent risks posed by unchecked political dominance. But how, who, and when?
Enter Vermont Republicans, desperate to answer that call, but seemingly preoccupied with in-house distractions echoing from 2015.
The State of the VTGOP
Identity Crisis
Before resigning from the Burlington and Vermont Republican Party in 2021, I was embattled with passionate members of my own city committee. They wanted me gone, largely, because I refused to continue supporting President Donald Trump.
Both those Republicans and I wanted to change the Republican Party, just in two vastly different ways.
The entire time I was in the Vermont Republican Party, it was a constant war between a faction dedicated to Trump and America First politics, matched against a moderate Republicanism, commonly made up of Governor Scott fans.
I’ve played the game, I get it.
Unfortunately for Vermont Republicans, since I left in 2021, that battle over identity is still raging on.
Just last week in Windsor County, Vermont Republicans faced internal legal strife. John McGovern, long-time county chair and anti-Trumper, was named a defendant in a lawsuit filed by fellow committee members, as well as Paul Dame, chair of the VTGOP, as co-defendant.
On the day a county meeting was held, McGovern resigned and the committee, under new leadership, then unanimously endorsed Donald Trump in a vote of 54-0.
Whatever faction one may be in, one, who is a Vermont Republican, will know full well that it is this issue, the issue of the party’s political identity, which has put the biggest hamper on any chance for electoral gains.
But…
GET REAL
Amidst all the stuff happening in the VTGOP, a clarion call has, I believe, emerged: Vermont Republicans need to GET REAL.
Republican activist and former candidate for state senate, Bill Huff, has introduced a platform which he asserts should be the party’s primary focus in the upcoming November elections. And it’s pretty good.
As our state contends with a myriad of self-inflicted crises, exacerbated by a Democratic supermajority, pragmatic, alternative messages – like this – can gain traction.
It highlights our fiscal strain inflicted by escalating costs of living, unchecked spending, and critically neglected areas such as our roads and education.
If adopted by the party, GET REAL, in my opinion, would be the clearest, most comprehensive, and unifying messaging the VTGOP has ever done in recent memory.
The destiny of GET REAL will mirror the fate of the party come November, without a doubt.
Personally, as a leftist, I don’t have much skin in that game. But to keep democracy, our republic, healthy, Vermont Republicans need to step up as a major party and GET REAL.
Will Republicans lay down arms against one another and finally unite behind some common messaging?
Or will their nearly decade-old political scars continue to hold them back from engaging weary voters, proactively contributing to the marketplace of ideas, and taking on a misguided and destructive Democratic supermajority?
Burning Sky is dedicated to providing critique and commentary on the issues of the day from an unapologetic perspective, fueling change in the heart of Vermont. Authored by Kolby LaMarche every Saturday.
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Categories: Commentary
Republic, Republic, Republic, Republic, Republic…..
Can you get serious about a REPUBLIC?????????????????
Lord help us….
The extreme wing of the Republican Party will never go for a winning strategy.
They’re more interested in grandstanding rather than taking action and leading.
They will turn this into a losing strategy by;
Replacing the E with Election denying
Replacing the T with all about Trump
Replace R with Roe vs. Wade.
The TWAT strategy is still the Extreme Right’s preferred “revenge” strategy.
Or perhaps something more cleansing and similar to the Spanish Inquisition or Salem Witch Trials.
But Tom, the “main part” of the republican party has been losing for 50 years now, really strong defeats for 20 years!
Why would we EVER want to change that? The party itself has completely sold out to the NWO, lobbyists and NGO’s…..so yeah if power and money are your favorite food, continue on. Representing the people and defending the constitution are apparently losers, so don’t bother with any of extremists!
Please by all means keep using your derogative remarks to those who disagree with you. We’d hate to change direction and break any losing streak.
Kryptonite for the NWO….aka uniparty aka VTDEMS and VTGOP?
Unity. Love. Truth.
Which is why they won’t allow any unity of those who disagree?
They would rather argue than show compassion or forgiveness.
They have to censor ideas, promote cancel culture and call names to hide the truth.
Yes, the party is terrified of people whom they think don’t have a winning strategy…yes, yes, that’s it. Because they know if they let them do things they would lose! Oh, but wait a minute, we’ve been losing for 50 years, so why would we be afraid of losing in a different way??????
No the athlete is not afraid of a novice or a poorly performing person. He is usually terrified of someone better than them. Ask Tonya Harding…did she kneecap low level players or her direct competition, who might beat her?
Is the science professor going to feel threatened by a college student professing that gravity doesn’t work? NO…..he’s say knock yourself out….
The VTGOP LOVES losing….otherwise they’d change.
Re: “Replacing the E with Election denying”
Apparently, Mr. Arnold isn’t concerned about our election process. He doesn’t care that VT Town Clerks can’t verify signatures on mail-in ballot envelopes, even if they wanted to do so. It doesn’t concern him that failing to verify voter identification further corrupts the voter registration rolls. He’s okay with cheating.
Re: “Replacing the T with all about Trump”
Mr. Arnold, yet again, says nothing of Trump’s policies, or the alternative policies he would advocate. He doesn’t care that the border is non-existent, that thousands of terrorists (yes, thousands) are likely infiltrating the U.S.. He wants to pay more for energy. He doesn’t care about inflation or the $34+ Trillion debt being dropped on our grandchildren. He doesn’t care that under Trump the U.S. wasn’t at war with anyone. He doesn’t care that, under Trump, taxes were lower. He, apparently, wants to increase the size of government and further diminish our individual rights.
Re: “Replace R with Roe vs. Wade.”
Apparently, Mr. Arnold doesn’t understand what Roe v. Wade was all about. And, instead, uses vulgarisms to define his strategies. He doesn’t understand that ‘Federalism’ (i.e., State’s Rights) creates the laboratories of democracy. He doesn’t care that an unborn child in Vermont can be aborted at any time, right up to the date of birth, for any reason, or for no reason at all. But when a mother chooses to bear her child, Mr. Arnold doesn’t care that she can’t send it to the school of her choice or have any parental rights. Mr. Arnold clearly cares little about the traditional family.
Yes, speaking of the Spanish Inquisition and the Salem Witch Trials, it seems Mr. Arnold is the grandstander of all time. He wants to cleanse the Republican Party of traditional principles because he thinks a ‘winning strategy’, corrupt as it may be, is better than standing with principle.
Mr. Arnold is ‘projecting’. He’s the consummate ‘gaslighter’. The only good thing I see about his commentary is that it openly describes the ‘questionable logic’ (a euphemism, to be sure) that is destroying free enterprise and our traditional American way of life. Behold, Mr. Arnold is riding a pale horse.
No. It is time to move away from the abortion dialogue. While I am pro life that is not the most important problem facing Vermonters. We can bring that issue back up when we have the numbers to change it. And I, as a Windsor county Republican supported the resolution to back Trump, not only because of who he is but because he is the presumptive nominee and needs the support of Vermont Republicans.
Dean Alexander: The ‘abortion issue’ cannot be ‘moved away from’. It is the mainstay of the Prog/Dem election strategy. They will force the issue on ProLife conservatives and characterize ProLife conservatives as totalitarian thugs who want nothing more than to destroy the rights of American individuals, especially women, as conservatives try to avoid (‘move away from’) the debate.
Does the characterization sound familiar? It should. It’s precisely how conservatives characterize so-called ProChoice Prog/Dems…. and, in my opinion, much more rightfully so. But that doesn’t solve the dichotomy.
Yes, I have a nuanced opinion on the matter. But it’s a personal opinion. And while I’m prepared to explain my thoughts on the issue at this time, my only point now is to caution conservatives that the issue cannot be swept under the rug. ProLife conservatives must be prepared to support their points of view with reasonable logic, unreasonable as they see the ProChoice logic to be, because the argument is going to be forced on them. It’s the only real issue the Prog/Dems have left to divide us.
The VTGOP and Governor Scott are, by and large, a bunch of RINOs with no real desire to improve our state. They’d rather focus on slowing down the dem/lib/prog train around the edges, and then call it good.
Until we get some Republicans in office who aren’t afraid of having sand kicked in their faces and will keep fighting for the middle class no matter what, face it… we’re going nowhere. You don’t show up at a street brawl with candy and flowers.
Someone please explain to me… what’s wrong with America First? What’s wrong with solving our problems instead of meddling in everyone else’s business? What’s wrong with saying no to endless wars and making money off human trafficking, drug running, and gun running? What’s wrong with saying no to the WEF, the Green New Scam, and the Pharmunist-Industrial complex? What’s wrong with insisting that borders mean something, that there’s a right way and a wrong way to enter this country?
If we were to simply take all the money that’s been thrown at “climate change” and foreign wars, we could take care of our Vets, shore up Social Security, and start to fix dozens of other problems we face as a nation.
No, the problem isn’t Donald Trump. That argument went out the window four years ago. Do better. Argue policy. Provide ideas. The fear-mongering is tired, stale, and lame. We’ve seen what a Trump Presidency looks like, and from where I stand, it looks a heck of a lot better than Soetero’s third (and hopefully not fourth) term.
Vermont’s big issues?
Schools
Affordability
Drugs and Crime
How’s that? Simple…..Vermont, let’s make us happy, we’re sick of being SAD……and on top of that, the Standard American Diet isn’t helping either….
Instead we’ll pimp lightly for the NWO…..
All of these metrics have gotten substantially worse, every year. Of course that’s the plan……..notice they took down one article already about affordable housing…
We are a society dominated by censorship and cancel culture, which nobody seems to have an issue with….in a free country no less, with a constitution that is supposed to defend the rights of the smallest minority, the single person against tyranny of the masses, aka democratic mob.
‘They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.’ Ben Franklin
Re: At the same time, Vermonters have consistently elected Republican Governor Phil Scott. But despite the governor’s best efforts to slow Democrats, the overwhelming majority held by Democrats typically results in the override of virtually all the governor’s vetoes.
Nikki Scott the 1st Eunuch King of Castrati is the impotent dupe enabler that the Commiecrats and anti-Trump RINOs keep electing so people like Kolby LaMarche can say look we’re electing a Republican governor.
Wake up Kolby! The Republican party under Trump has become the party of the working middle class that the Commiecrat infested Democrat party has abandoned.
Question for the panel: At this juncture, anyone firmly steeped in the party line or die mindset going to change their mind? I think not because of the wishy-washy fence sitting and constant parrotting of scripted talking points firmly embedded in otherwise empty heads. The old saying, can’t see the forest through the trees is the state of the State. The only thing that will change minds is more pain and more loss. Apparently, we haven’t had enough for most. Vermont is captured territory and many more will suffer dire conquences for woeful and willful ignorance.
I don’t see a question here… despite the question mark at the end of the first sentence.
That platform is generally fine but also must include cracking down on drugs and drug dealers, as well as protecting parental rights.
The solution is to only elect Trump supporters, no rinos (SCOTT!!!) and no democrats. This is the only way to peace and prosperity. Just investigate track records and where the lies originate. Remember who gave us 2 dollar heating oil and so very low gas prices. Then go out and vote for who will double those prices…fool. If democrats, or even the devil would lower those prices, I would vote for them. I am non partisan, and support whoever supports me.