Russian Roulette Pt 10 – A “Unanimous” Vote That Was Anything But…

By all accounts, from many State Committee members attending the State Committee meeting this past Friday and Saturday, the meeting was…well…as two members put it, “a shit show and that’s putting it mildly.”

As I discussed in my previous article, it was expected that an endorsement vote would occur in relation to the PA Auditor General and PA Treasurer (both phenomenal incumbents), as well as, the 2024 Senate seat that is currently held by Senator Casey. And of course, there were many that were not happy about endorsing for the 2024 Senate seat this early and that by forcing a vote, it could further fracture the Party. But that didn’t stop the Party from ramrodding it through, which is what everyone pretty much expected.

What everyone did not expect was a couple State Committee members being denied entry to the meeting and the open deceit that would occur by two votes being taken in relation to the endorsement for Dave McCormick. The first vote occurred, with time for both the Yays and Nays to respond, consistent with Roberts Rules and proper decorum. There were a number of Nay votes, which led Chairman Tabas, as soon as the vote was taken – and it was clearly anything but unanimous – to take a second vote for the endorsement of Dave McCormick, where as soon as the Yays responded, Chariman Tabas immediately stated “All those opposed. The Yays have it” with absolutely no time for any opposed to again voice their opposition. This resulted in it being declared that Dave McCormick was “unanimously endorsed,” which caused a LOT of ire – further dividing our Party. So much for the Party that espouses election integrity, right?!?!

While I have no per se dog in the fight in relation to the 2024 Senate race, as I have not decided whom to support (and right now only Dave McCormick has announced), I will say that while I have concerns over his unwillingness to respond to questions during his online live event late last week regarding his position on the Second Amendment and the power wielded by administrative agencies, I lost a good amount of respect for him when he posted to his Facebook page that he was “[h]umbled and grateful to receive the unanimous endorsement of the Republican Part of Pennsylvania.” (emphasis added).

The second vote was a sham vote and everyone in that room, including Dave McCormick, knew it. If ethics and morals don’t matter, there isn’t much left and the Party doesn’t seem to grasp that it is these types of shenanigans that divide us. Why is the Party purposely disenfranchising state committee members of their votes? And let’s be clear, the second vote was clearly rehearsed in advance, with the swiftness with which it was taken and without a bat of the eye.

And I probably should’ve known things were going drastically sideways during the meeting, when out of the blue, I started receiving text messages from State Committee members, who did not support me in my candidacy, apologizing that they hadn’t supported me and that it is only now that their eyes are opened from drinking the Kool-aid for too long. One even stated “Just left state committee and I want to say I apologize for not having your back during this process earlier in the year, after today, I truly see how corrupt and slimy the PA GOP really is.” It is truly a sad day when you feel that way about your own Party…

So, when is a real leader going to step forward, end this divisiveness and unite the Party? These shenanigans cannot continue, unless we never want to win an election ever again. What is truly the most interesting to me – as I discussed previously and as did the PA Patriot Coalition – is that this exact scenario, back in 1860, is what led our Party to adopt the direct Primary system, where everyone had an equal say during the primary, without the Party placing its thumb on the scale, and in return, after our voices were heard, we coalesced around whomever was the People’s choice. It’s time to return to our roots…