This past week I had the opportunity to hear from Sam Rohrer, a candidate running to be Governor of Pennsylvania. Or, more specifically at this point, to be the GOP nominee for such. I found Sam to be inspiring and intelligent – he clearly understood the predicaments our country and state are in, and had some good ideas to fix them. Long story short, the state will soon become insolvent if we don’t fix things, and Democrat Ed Rendell actually wants to INCREASE spending.
Anyway, the real point of this post is to point out what happened this weekend – the state GOP endorsed Tom Corbett, Rohrer’s primary opponent to be the nominee. This comes more than three months before Pennsylvania’s Republican voters have to decide who we want to be the nominee. The effect of this endorsement comes down to this – Corbett will now have access to oodles of money, free campaign workers, and national support. The full weight of the establishment machine will be pushing for Corbett to win, and that is a very strong foe to face.
The problem is, no one knows what Corbett stands for other than running on his record as Attorney General. Now, I can’t say I follow the actions of the AG all that much, and he may be fine at it, but that does not mean he is a good candidate to be governor. In contrast, Sam Rohrer is the “principled” candidate in the fight. He has taken strong stands on many issues, and really understands the need for serious reform and restoring balance between the state and federal governments. Washington has gotten its hands into every facet of our lives, and we need someone who understands the corruption and bribery that have served to effect this situation.
So this comes down to a true battle between the party machine and what is commonly referred to as the “tea party” types for the choice of who will be the GOP nominee for PA Governor. The machine has been drastically wrong before (they did endorse Arlen Specter), and they very likely will be too this time. The GOP just cannot seem to understand that running candidates that offend no one, also give no one a reason to vote for them. In a time where conservative activism is on the rise and thousands have already been attracted to Rohrer, the GOP instead took the cowards way out.
They, and all establishment Republicans, must be made to understand this is NOT how we want things to be done. We do not want politically connected, but mediocre, candidates chosen by the “powers that be” as opposed to the people. We do not want another GOP politician who will stand for nothing and get nothing done in Harrisburg. We DO want a smart, principled leader like Sam Rohrer to have a chance. I think all people interested in Constitution-based leadership need to get behind Sam and give the state party a message. I encourage all residents of the Commonwealth, and all other interested parties, to check out Rohrer and see what you think.
I think we all need to take an active role in retaking the Republican Party. Together we can restore it to a party with principles.