(Ed. Note: This is a guest editorial by a long time Conservative Libertarian-Republican)
By Steve Hoffman
On July 13th, 2021 the Horry County Republican Party approved a resolution to censure Drew McKissick, the Chairman of the SCGOP, for interfering in the reorganization process of the Greenville Republican Party.
This action may be somewhat confusing to anyone who has not played close attention to South Carolina politics or even national Republican Party politics during the past decade.
In case you have not noticed, there is a civil war going on within the Republican Party between those who want to see a Republican Party that is an actual opposition party to the Democrats and those who like the status quo, we’ll call them the “Establishment”.
Just a quick pedantic moment from “the Hoff”. We all know what the Democrat Party stands for these days. That party has been taken over by the progressive movement, some call them the socialists, and others call them Marxists. Basically, the party stands for big government collectivism with massive controls over your individual and economic lives. For many of us conservatives, this means the death of our constitutional republic which was based on limited government, individualism, and a respect for our unalienable rights (given to us by our creator, not government). We conservatives (who the press label as “extremists”) value individual and economic freedom. In today’s political environment, the U.S. really only has two parties that can influence national and international policy; the Democrat Party and the Republican Party. Therein lies the rub.
Since we know what the Democrat Party stands for, what does the Republican Party stand for? To be a true opposition party to the Democrat Party, the Republican Party would have to stand for limited government, respect for our unalienable rights, and be a strong defender of less government interference in the marketplace. The Republican Party unfortunately has been anything but the opposition party. In our own beautiful Palmetto State the Republican Party has significantly increased the size and scope of the state government, increased taxes at every opportunity, infringed on most of our unalienable rights (due process, right to keep and bear arms, etc, etc,) and has increased the regulatory environment where the middle class small business owner today finds it hard to compete with big business (crony capitalism).
Thus, the civil war within the Republican Party between the Establishment and the Reformers. The reformers want to give voters a real choice at the polls, not just a choice between socialism and socialism-lite.
During the last reorganization process of the South Carolina Republican Party, a coalition called MySCGOP was somewhat successful in initiating change with the Greenville and Horry County GOP organizations (new leadership and majority of county and state convention delegates)
Of course, most large organizations are averse to change, so the SCGOP and its minions were and still are very active to ensure that the MySCGOP is vilified and made to look like extremists who will destroy the MAGA legacy. Unfortunately for the SCGOP, the dirty tricks were exposed in the light of day and the Chairman of the SCGOP may be subject to additional censorship by other county parties and other conservative organizations within the state. To say the least, he has increased his attacks on the reform elements within the party.
There it is, a small scale civil war right here in South Carolina. Will the Republican Establishment win and continue to be the party of big government, crony capitalism, and more government control over your individual and economic livelihood… OR… as is the wish of this longtime reformer…
WILL FREEDOM WIN?
Speak Up…