When the outcome of an election is rigged in advance because one person or small group of people control the votes of the majority, it makes a joke of the election process. When the majority of those involved commit to vote for someone else’s handpicked choice, even before anyone knows who else could be nominated we call that corruption. And when the small group of people controlling that voting block use bullying, name calling, lies, and social embarrassment against those who don’t line up– while also giving political support and positions of power to those who get in line and stay there– to consolidate their own power, that is disgusting.
I recently attended a reorganizational meeting of the Bingham County Republican Central Committee. This committee has been embroiled in wasteful and divisive conflict with their fellow-Republicans for years now. A small group of local elites control all of the positions, with some of them holding as many as three positions.
Instead of welcoming in fellow Republicans who want to participate, they shut out anyone they didn’t “invite” in. Those who don’t fall into line with the elite leadership are privately bullied, publicly labeled as “troublemakers,” and socially shunned and ostracized. Meetings are closed to the public. Decisions are made behind closed doors. And the business that IS done in public is a joke because it was all predetermined.
At the recent reorganizational meeting a small handful of committee members repeatedly nominated new folks who pleaded with the committee to be more inclusive and transparent. Instead, the committee re-elected the same old leadership with a predictable 16-3 vote with very little variation. Those who were already guaranteed a position didn’t even bother to give a campaign speech. Some who asked before the meeting if they could be nominated were told that “the committee” had already chosen someone else.
These local elites accuse others of being “troublemakers.” As the ones clearly “in control” of the situation, they should own the mess they continue to create and stop demonizing the people they treat so poorly. Rather than using the Republican party to consolidate their own local power and create conflict and distrust, they should be working to advance the values of the party and build a strong, large community of like-minded people.
By the time this meeting was over I was so disgusted I could hardly stand it. If the members of this committee will not proactively change what is happening, someone else must.