Editor: last night, Vermont Republican National Committeeman for Vermont Jay Shepard of Essex Junction sent the following email to other committee members, urging that Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York replace Ronna McDaniel as chair of the Republican National Committee.
Dear Fellow Members – Many times, as a child my father would encourage me by saying “You Done Good”. He would usually say it after I had tried to achieve something, worked hard but came up short.
During the 2022 midterms “We done good”. Unfortunately, with all the issues and challenges facing America, good is not good enough. We as Republicans need to achieve real success; we need to be excellent.
“Yes, there should have been a red wave. It should have been obvious that with Republicans in charge, all of us are better off. It should have been very clearly articulated that the Trump/Pence leadership was so very superior to Biden/Harris.” – Jay Shepard
Our grassroots Republicans expect more from us. As leaders of our party, we need to be self-aware and acknowledge that we did not live up to expectations. We should have done better considering what the Democrats have done to destroy the economy and make American families suffer hardships that are unnecessary. Yes, there should have been a red wave. It should have been obvious that with Republicans in charge, all of us are better off. It should have been very clearly articulated that the Trump/Pence leadership was so very superior to Biden/Harris.
We all share in this. It is not the fault of any one person or even a group of leaders, but our base and grassroots activists are demanding we do better, that we are excellent. They are demanding change, and we have to listen to them.
I am listening to those that elected me to represent them at the RNC. I will therefore be supporting Congressman Lee Zeldin to be Chair of the Republican National Committee.
Ronna has worked hard. We are all thankful for her service to our party and our country, but it is time to take the party in a new direction. It is very hard for me not to support Ronna who I consider a friend (although she may not think of me as a friend now). We should continue to love and pray for Ronna.
We need to accept our responsibility and make a change and move toward excellence by supporting and voting for Lee Zeldin to Chair the RNC.
Jay Shepard
“THE MESSAGE MATTERS”
Republican National Committeeman for Vermont