FROM OUR PRINTED FEB, 2020 EDITION:
Political Patronage Patriots
Where does Your State Committee Man or Woman’s Allegiance Lie?
by John DiMascio
On March 3rd, when most Republicans go to the Primary polls, they’ll only expect to be voting for president. Many will then be confronted with other names running for State Committee man and State Committee woman. I venture to say the majority won’t know what the State Committee is or what it does, let alone who these people on the ballot are.
So let me start this column with a short primer. The Republican State Committee is an 80-member board that sets policy for the MassGOP. Voters from each of the 40 state Senate districts elect one man and one woman to represent their best interests, as well as, the best interests of the entire MassGOP. They make the decisions about where and how to invest party resources.
For the past three decades, the State Committee has been controlled by an entrenched establishment, usually under the heavy thumb of a self-serving RINO governor. Virtually all resources have been directed to the gubernatorial race to the detriment of legislative races or any serious effort to build the party from the bottom up.
Fortunately, the recent new leadership is dedicated to, and addressing, this issue. Positive changes are being made. But work remains to be done. Much of the State Committee must be purged of those whose allegiance is, at best, questionable.
So now you may be asking: Why wouldn’t the entire State Committee want to build the Party and elect Republican legislators? The answer is simple. This long-entrenched establishment is purely interested in patronage. I call them “Political Patronage Patriots.”
Too many State Committee members currently have political patronage jobs. And more patronage job holders are seeking election.
First problem — government employees can’t raise funds for any political purpose.
The second problem is even worse! Patronage hires are subject to the control of self-serving RINO governors, whose only interest for the past 30 years has been to get re-elected, everyone else be damned. So for the most part, these folks “serve” on the State Committee to serve themselves. They have zero interest in making Massachusetts a two-party state again.
Strike three, their State Committee campaigns are usually funded directly or indirectly with “dark money,” all orchestrated by whom? To quote the noted philosopher Gomer Pyle, “Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!” It’s the self-interested RINO in the corner office.
Therefore, as voters we need to ask ourselves: Why are our State Committee members serving and who are they serving? It is not possible for a political hire with such a conflict of interest do their job properly. They are gravely compromised. Their livelihood is contingent on making their boss – the RINO in the corner office on Beacon
Hill – happy. Even the most ethically minded person should not be in such a position. And as I pointed out earlier, political hires that work for government cannot do so much as put their name on flyers for political fundraisers. The bottom line is that these political hires, no matter how pure their intentions, cannot do their job as State Committee members properly.
I have not named names in this column because my intent is not to cause personal pain or damage. Nevertheless, there shouldn’t be a single political hire serving or elected to the State Committee. They cannot serve two masters.
Where does Your State Committee Man or Woman’s Allegiance Lie? ♦
