Reflection on Establishment vs. America First by Dave Petteys

An “Establishment” acquaintance of mine, in discussing the Open Primaries said “well Republicans don’t have money. We need candidates that can self-finance!” This is worth parsing. The traditional Republican party in Colorado seemed to be a clique of wealthy individuals,: consultants and Big Donors. Candidate selection didn’t have much input from voters: it was up to smoke-filled room deals, etc. Republican voters were relegated to sending in their $25 and walking the precincts. It’s no wonder the Republican candidates needed to be “self-financing”. Why would Republican voters get excited about candidates like Joe O’Day who supported abortion, tax increases and other positions that did not set well with Republican voters? The Establishment insists “oh school tax increases are popular” and “Oh, we can’t go against abortion because MSNBC and the Denver Post polls say it’s popular”. But as these “Democrat light” positions are assumed, we lose: not only elections, but Republicans shifting to UAF in disgust! Then along came MAGA: does anyone remember the State Assembly of April 8, 2020? People were excited! Ron Hanks and Tina Peters brought down the house! People were volunteering, showing up to work in precincts, writing checks! Then along came the Primary results. All the MAGA candidates lost by ridiculous margins! Does anyone really believe Mike O’Donnell got more votes than Tina? After what we saw at the Assembly? It’s hard not to believe that the Establishment has its hands on the levers of voter manipulation somehow! All the Establishment types would howl “the voters have spoken! Bow down and accept! Keep sending in your $25, because these are our R candidates! And you have no choice! ” Enthusiasm collapsed, donations collapsed, and volunteers disappeared! Then the KBB State GOP moved on to the general election and racked up massive election losses. But the State Party appeared to not care about anything except the money that was floating around. Another thing: there is a political warfare concept called “controlled opposition”. Establishment Republicans traditionally preach Republican principles at election time, but in the halls of the legislature are reluctant to make a fuss. They vote against Republican principles and hide their deeds in Omnibus bills that no one reads. In fact the radical Left depends on acceptance of their agendas by the Establishment Republicans to drive them forward. Examples: Republicans vote for gun control, saying “we need to show the people we are concerned about public safety”. Yet Public safety is the Marxist meme to negate our 2nd Amendment rights. Establishment Republicans argue “mothers should have the right to take their children to drag shows in school!” going along with the Marxist LGBTQ line of e ort to attack our children. So here we are in the same place, approaching the same situation. Do we want to go back to the party of big donors, consultants, and empty precincts, or are we going to be a party of voters? I know there is a game on, and the grand kids may be coming in. But someone needs to care.

Dave Petteys, ADC 12, Douglas County