Russian Roulette Pt 9 – More Shenanigans In Advance Of A Looming State Committee Meeting

And here we go again…in a completely unprecedented move, confirmed by multiple State Committee members, during the State Committee meeting tomorrow and Saturday in Camp Hill, the Party intends to endorse state candidates for the 2024 election-cycle; thereby extremely limiting candidates in their ability to become known and vetted by State Committee and in some instances, some candidates may not have even announced yet, since it isn’t even the election-cycle in which they’re running…

Never before has State Committee even considered endorsing state candidates (although they have federal candidates on a couple occasions) prior to the November election preceding the applicable election-cycle (and generally, if endorsements are to occur, they occur at the February State Committee meeting, in advance of the applicable November election-cycle, which provides sufficient time for the candidates to reach out to the member of State Committee, introduce themselves, answer any questions, and be vetted). And for the record, I am wholly against the pre-Primary endorsement process, as it goes directly against the direct Primary system that we have in Pennsylvania, as both the PA Patriot Coalition and myself have written about previously. But now, State Committee is considering throwing all of that to the wind. And of course, the first question that comes to mind, is why? It would surely seemed aimed at attempting to preclude potential candidates, but whom?… And, it gets worse from there…

Originally, State Committee members were told that there would be a vote to endorse the Treasurer, Auditor General, and candidate for Senator Bob Casey’s Senate seat. While we do have two phenomenal candidates in the Treasurer’s and Auditor General’s Office and I see no reason why the Party would not endorse them in the 2024 election-cycle, the question remains, why would the Party be looking to endorse already in relation to the 2024 election-cycle and especially in the U.S. Senate race, when there are likely going to be candidates, who have not yet announced? Of course, members could elect to vote no for any non-incumbents, but that could cause significant problems for any non-incumbent candidates who are nominated but not endorsed during the meeting, as the Press would have a field day with that and it would almost certainly result in the death knell for their budding campaigns. This is why the Party – at an appropriate time and after opportunity to vet all the candidates – should first decide whether endorsements, pre-Primary, are consistent with our direct Primary system, and only if so, then vote to endorse on a candidate-by-candidate basis.

But then that all changed, when State Committee members received word that the vote would be a combined vote for all three positions, instead of individual votes for each position, since some were apparently concerned that State Committee members who were likely to support our Treasurer and Auditor General, might not be inclined, this early, to endorse for the U.S. Senate seat. This has caused a lot of consternation with many State Committee members unwilling to then vote for a slate of, instead of individual, candidates. And of course, if the vote is only offered in relation to the slate, it could be embarrassing for the current incumbents, who could end up with a no vote on their endorsement, not because those State Committee members don’t support them, but because, they are against endorsing for the U.S. Senate seat at this time.

And if all of that wasn’t bad enough, now rumors are swirling that the powers that be want to change it to a 4 candidate endorsement slate, by including the 2024 PA Attorney General race in the vote. But again, why? I have been outspoken in my support of York County District Attorney David Sunday for AG, but it appears that many of the powers that be – i.e. the puppet masters – don’t want Sunday to be our AG, because he will only ever uphold the law as written and constitution as intended. Simply put, he can’t be controlled by anyone, especially by the ruling elites, and that’s everything they despise and loathe about him – which is truly a sad state of affairs for our Commonwealth and Party. So, while I am opposed to endorsements pre-Primary, in the event State Committee elects to vote on an endorsement for the 2024 Attorney General race, I am imploring all State Committee members to vote for David Sunday.

But, these, unfortunately, aren’t the only shenanigans that are going on currently. Yesterday, the PA GOP issued a press release, calling out the “Trial Lawyers Association to take down their low-brow ad against Judge Caruluccio. This ad is an over-the-top attempt to smear a high-qualified, widely respected jurist by those who know better.”

While I have been unable to find the mentioned ad and I am glad to see the Party stand up for our candidates, the press release has irked many within the Party, with them saying the press release is hypocritical, since the Party failed to respond in any manner to false and malicious attack ads against Primary candidate for the PA Supreme Court, Judge Patricia McCullough. As several have noted, it would seem that the Party is fine with low-brow attack ads against our own highly qualified candidates, but not by those of another party. And this, is a major part of the problem, as it eviscerates everything that we, as a Party, are supposed to stand for, regardless of what actions are taken by other parties. It also bears mentioning that it violates President Reagan’s 11th Commandment “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican,” but I digress…

And lastly, there is seeming incompetence afoot with whomever is managing the PA GOP Facebook page. Three days ago, the following image was posted regarding the different ways to vote in the election.

See any problems?

Well, whomever posted it, likely took the same image from pre-Primary and posted it, without any proofreading, since it says you can vote May 16, 2023 at your local polling place, but the upcoming election is November 7, 2023…Even though I posted a comment stating that the image has the wrong date and it should take all of a couple minutes to fix/recreate, it remains up…

It’s anyone’s guess as to what will occur on Saturday, but hopefully, smarter minds will prevail and no endorsement votes will be taken. But in the event they do occur, it is almost guaranteed to further fracture our Party – a Party that is already significantly fractured from the purge of Patriots and inaction to rectify the situation or attempt to mend fences. If there is any chance for our candidates in November, we need a real leader to step forward, bring the factions to the table, and mediate a resolution to all the turmoil and divisiveness that exists within the Party. Only then, can we start winning elections again…