Op-Ed | Former SCGOP Chairman Speaks Out

GREENVILLE, S.C. | JOSHUA COOK | JUNE 22, 2013 |

It is quite apparent that the Emperor has no clothes in SC Republican politics and establishment Republicans will do anything to stay in power by trying to silence their opposition. Those who have spoken out and questioned the recent SCGOP’s actions have been bullied by ad hominem attacks and have been intimidated by establishment Republicans.

Despite the pressure, some brave leaders are now speaking out. Respected and admired former SCGOP Chairman Greg Shorey was asked to give his thoughts regarding the SCGOP withdrawing from the Registration by Party lawsuit.

 “The recent actions by Chad (Connelly) raises many serious questions and it appears that the State Exec. Committee had not been thoroughly briefed, well BEFORE they’d been asked to act & take positions contrary to the way our Party has functioned since I was Chairman through the 50’s to the early 60′s. It’s not just the Registration by Party (RBP) law suit – there are many matters of great concern and in need of immediate clarification & justification to ALL Party activists and the public.” – Greg Shorey, former SCGOP Chairman.

On June 7, 2013, the SCGOP filed a stipulation to dismiss the important “closed primary” lawsuit. The action was taken one day before Chad Connelly resigned. As previously reported by the Post, the State Executive Committeemen were not notified, nor were the other parties in the lawsuit. See article here.

Stephen Brown, Greenville GOP activist and attorney on the case told theState.com,

“The exit, orchestrated on Chad Connelly’s watch before he resigned as Party Chairman last weekend for a gig with the Republican National Committee, leaves the Greenville County GOP alone in fighting the Party’s dilution by “Democrats, communists, independents” and others who now can vote in GOP primaries.”

Connelly told theState.com,

“The lawsuit has poor chances of winning against an “Obama judge,” and only would have added to the party’s legal debt of more than $300,000, money owed from lawsuits that followed the ouster of more than 200 mostly GOP candidates from the ballot last year.

First, The Post has made the case in a recent article that the money argument is an absurd justification to dismiss the lawsuit when they turned down free legal help.

Second, the SCGOP forfeited their tactical advantage by gutting the legal team right before the scheduled trial in August. See recent article.

Third, these monies owed were due to the lawsuits filed during the Primary fiasco, are due directly to Chad Connelly’s failure as a State Chairman to inform and educate all the County Chairs as to the proper way candidates needed to file.

Lastly, Connelly is basically saying that he is not willing to fight to protect our First Amendment right to free association. Even in Hawaii, President Barak Obama’s home state, Democrats are fighting within their rights under the U.S. Constitution to choose a closed Primary system. See article.

Based on false presumptions, Connelly made a decision without the State Executive Committeemen’s approval to withdraw from this important lawsuit that would prevent Democrats and members of other parties recognized in South Carolina, from voting in our primaries; it wasn’t to “let the Greenville GOP take the lead.”

Now Democrats will continue to advance their progressive agendas by voting in our Republican primaries and select the least conservative candidate. Connelly’s actions and statements demonstrate to us that he believes that our Constitutional Rights are not worth fighting for.

So our Party has been forced to cross the Rubicon, and now there is no turning back. The worst thing we can do now is foster a sense of duplicitous Party unity and sweep all the mistakes under the rug. Our common enemy right now is complacency and indifference. It’s time to speak up and rebuild our Party.

There are many State Executive Committeemen who want more transparency and reform at the SCGOP, but are afraid to speak out for fear of chastisement and intimidation.

The current SCGOP’s witch hunt is despicable. Defaming a man’s good character by calling him “Judas” and falsely accusing him of leaking an internal email is emblematic of the Chicago-styled tactics Republicans criticize the Obama administration of doing. It should be stopped immediately.

Has blind Party loyalty become the new tyranny in the SCGOP? Party unity must be genuine not institutionally imposed or forced. Blind Party loyalty kills morale and will not hold people together in the long run.

“Openness reveals many dark corners where opinions can be expressed, after all we are not Democrats,” a SCGOP insider told the Post this week.

The simple truth is we need more leadership and no more lemmings in our Party.

Our state should be unified by the words of former SCGOP Chairman Greg Shorey,

 “We desperately need to find another Goldwater-Reagan – someone with those kind of credentials, with that kind of backbone, with that unrelenting commitment to conservatism. We have to save our Constitutional Republic. I think that is what is at stake here. I don’t think it is Democrat and Republican, it is socialism or a constitutional Republic. I think it is the South’s job to show the way. We did it once and I believe we can do it again.

“I am convinced that what is getting us into trouble is compromise. We have to clean house in this state. We have poisoned our water with open primaries.”

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