Rebuilding The Connecticut Republican Party

Since the founding of the party itself, never in over 152 years have Connecticut Republicans held not one seat in the U.S. Senate, House of Representatives and not one State Constitutional Office either.

Connecticut Republicans find themselves in the unenviable position of being held hostage in the bluest state in the nation. 

Party members are disillusioned, disgusted, dismayed, distraught, all of which could lead to the party to becoming even more dysfunctional!
What's worse is our losses have led to a large portion of party regulars that are now  demoralized!

We'll have to re-engage the party before we can re-energize it. 

 Here's one of the ways we might consider to do that.

Before we decide to pull 

the plug on life support, 

why not 1st call in some interns?

 No - not those interns.

These interns!

College students! 

They earn credits, 

we buy pizza!

We're going to have our work cut out for ourselves and there's little doubt we'll need all the help we can get knitting the party back together from Putnam to Greenwich, but unless we reconnect with our base we will not prosper as a political party.

Putting forth an effort to attract as many college interns as possible can only help the Connecticut Republican Party.   We can call them "Community Organizers"; that has a catchy sound doesn't it?

How to win only 42 of 169 towns & still become Governor

The 2010 Republican candidate for Connecticut Governor won 3 times as many towns as his opponent, but lost anyway.

Republican candidates rarely do well in cities so ignoring them shouldn't make any difference right?

Wrong.

Here's how the conscious decision to write off the cities cost the entire election.

CTGOP_GOV_06_10

We Republicans Have To Stop Acting Like This

Connecticut Republicans have come to the realization that somehow we missed a nationwide Republican landslide.

2010 was the best year in the history of the Republican Party.

Nationally the party took more state legislative seats in 2010 than ever before in the party's history. 

We dodged a landslide.

Here in Connecticut, and for a variety of reasons we didn't fare so well.

One of the reasons is our tendency to apply our own political purity tests which creates infighting, unnecessarily bloody primaries, and in the end victories for Democrats.

We'll agree on virtually everything, find some point of disagreement and withdraw our support at least, or attack our own at worst. 

Traveling around the state speaking to Republican leaders and Town Committees the one thing I hear the most often is `We've got to stop infighting - it costs us too many close elections....'

I've often compared this weird counter-productive habit of ours to "The Baptist Joke". Most people understand what I'm referring to, but the remark elicits puzzled looks from others.

So here's "the famous Baptist joke" which clearly has nothing to do with Baptists or anyone else - except maybe we Republicans!

I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump. I ran over and said: "Stop. Don't do it."

"Why shouldn't I?" he asked.

"Well, there's so much to live for!"

"Like what?"

"Are you religious?

"He said, "Yes.

I said, "Me too. Are you Christian or Buddhist?"

"Christian."

"Me too. Are you Catholic or Protestant?"

"Protestant."

"Me too. Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?"

"Baptist."

"Wow. Me too. Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?"

"Baptist Church of God."

"Me too. Are you original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?"

"Reformed Baptist Church of God."

"Me too. Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915?"

He said: "Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915."

I said: "Die, heretic scum," and pushed him off.

The Brain Transplant

In the hospital the relatives gathered in the waiting room, where a family member lay gravely ill. Finally, the doctor came in looking tired and somber .

"I'm afraid I'm the bearer of bad news, he said as he surveyed the worried faces. The only hope left for your loved one at this time is a brain transplant.  It's an experimental procedure, very risky, but it is the only hope. Insurance will cover the procedure, but you will have to pay for the BRAIN."

The family members sat silent as they absorbed the news. After a time, someone asked, 'How much will a brain cost?'

The doctor quickly responded, "$5000 for a Democrat's brain; $200 for a Republican's brain."

The moment turned awkward. Some of the Democrats actually had to 'try' to not smile, avoiding eye contact with the Republicans. A man unable to control his curiosity, finally blurted out the question everyone wanted to ask, "Why is the Democrat's brain so much more costly than a Republican's brain?"

The doctor smiled at the childish innocence and explained to the entire group, "It's just standard pricing procedure. We have to price the Republican's brain a lot lower because it's been used."