Doing the Right Thing
A few week’s ago, I had the opportunity to visit Ripon, Wis., which, as we all know, is the birthplace of the Republican Party.
The party was started in the 1850s by Alvan Bovay, an influential Wisconsin attorney, who was vehemently opposed to slavery. Legend has it that Mr. Bovay, from within the town’s little white schoolhouse, a couple of Whigs, Free-Soilers and a Democrat called themselves “Republicans” for the first time. Together, they rode into town on an elephant, proclaiming the momentous occasion to all, promising to bring years of goodness and an end to all strife and sadness.
Since that time, Republicans themselves were known as a pretty tight knit group, even though their actions became synonymous with divisive issues such as The Civil War (Lincoln) and the Panama Canal (Teddy Roosevelt). And let’s not forget the Cold War, which was won when Ronald Reagan, a Republican, refused to wear a hat and coat when greeting Russian Premier Mikhail Gorbachev at a conference in Iceland. Gorbachev was bundled up like a sissy.
Humiliated, communism shriveled and died, Perestroika becoming all the rage thanks to the Gipper.
But even during such heady times, there was always somebody, somewhere quick to point out differences of opinion.
Several other northern states claim to be the birthplace of the Republican Party, for instance. In Platte County, three groups claim to represent the Republican values of local GOP voters, burnishing the image of the Platte County Republican Central Committee as a group of divisive, religious demagogues.
The differences among the three are striking, as evidenced by my recent visits to their meetings.
The Platte County Citizens Coalition served incredible bratwurst, their president is a Republican but, perhaps in a nod to Reykjavic, communists are allowed on the board. The newly announced Pachyderm Club will meet at The Skillet in Parkville, so its meetings will feature fried chicken, making the group an instant player in my book and offering a sharp contrast to the Platte County Central Committee. They served teriyaki wings, which were just OK, but in their defense, they had a cash bar. Oh yeah, they also provided me with a scoop.
As first reported over The Wireless Luminary service Friday night and featured on ParkvilleLuminary.com last Saturday, Betty Knight will run again for presiding Platte County commissioner. Her announcement immediately brought on speculation: Where would the so-called “ultra-conservatives” of the party fall on this you know, the ones who choose whom they’ll break bread with after First Friday based on the degree of their supposed “conservativeness?”
I was preparing to write how this faction would make a mistake by not endorsing Knight. If the Republicans supported her, I reasoned, the election looks almost to be a lock. I jumped to conclusions after speaking with Central Committee Chair Jean Dickman and James Thomas. They’re going to back Knight. Knight, who has been endorsed by Sam Graves and Graves’ heavyweight campaign team, promised to launch a tough campaign against anybody, anyway.
It’s a smart political move by the Republicans at the Central Committee, if only because it may help stop the bleeding from last year’s rift – a rift they have gotten a lot of criticism for, partly over personality issues. The fact is, the commissioners had predicted numbers that were wrong (a 16 percent sales tax increase). Auditor Sandra Thomas’ were right (7 percent, when the actual increase came in at 7.6 percent). The fight already has been won. If Knight had chosen not to run, or if the party split again, the damage would have been more far reaching. Just as Teddy Roosevelt’s Bull Moose run against Taft brought decades of Democratic rule to the White House, a similar situation may have been brewing in Platte County.
Winning elections, like cash bars and fried chicken buffets, cost money ya’ know.