No More Politics As Usual In The 6th District (Update In The Comments)

I was elected Chair of the Salem Republican Committee in the Spring of 2008. When I was elected, the Republican Party was coming off multiple consecutive years of getting destroyed at the ballot box and failing to get our message through to voters. Our brand was at an all time low and there was serious fear among some that the end of our once great Party was now in sight. Some of our wounds were self-inflicted, some were due to the cyclical nature of politics and some were due to outside forces.

On the day I was elected, I was said it was a great day to be a Republican. People looked at me like I was crazy. The fact was though, I saw an opportunity. We had a chance to redefine ourselves by getting back to our basic conservative principles, refocusing on what mattered and getting back to addressing the problems facing our Nation. We had spent too long with internal bickering and finger pointing and I genuinely believed we were about to begin our resurgence.

That same attitude is why I'm running for 6th District Chair and why I'll be running completely on my record. Others will play the politics as usual game of name calling, labelling and tearing people down - which is exactly what destroyed our brand in the first place. I won't participate. The internal attacks have already begun but we're going to rise above them. The fact is, we're going to show the voters of the 6th how we can translate some of our local successes to the District wide level. We're going to show them that they can demand something better than politics as usual. They can demand real leadership.

In 2 years in Salem we have:

• Increased our membership over 2,000%.
• Raised and spent thousands of dollars in support of conservative causes/candidates while still maintaining a record surplus.
• Set record numbers in recent elections and increased our average margin versus the statewide average by several points.
• Put in place an election day infrastructure that actually resulted in TOO MANY volunteers; allowing me to spend a portion of the last two election days working the polls in neighboring jurisdictions.
• Fostered a genuine sense of camaraderie among the local units.
• Planned, scheduled and hosted the largest AG Debate of the 2009 Primary.
• Won Statewide Unit Chair of the Year in 2008 (from Frederick's RPV).
• Won 6th District Unit Chair of the Year in 2009 (from Mullins' RPV).
• Created an award winning blog and embraced all forms of traditional, new and social media.
• Provided pro bono legal representation to Republican candidates and committees regarding fundraising, election law and recounts.

Those successes aren't about me, they're about a group of people who embraced leadership over politics as usual. You won't hear me calling names or placing labels on my opponents. What you'll get from me is a proven record, an open dialogue on what matters to Republicans in the 6th District and a willingness to do the hard work that will make the 6th District Committee relevant again.

If you have any questions about my record or where I stand on the issues, don't hesitate to email.

This race isn't about me. It's about finding the best leader to take us forward. Whether that person is me or not, I want this race to be a positive opportunity for growth for us all and I hope you'll demand that type of campaign from me and whoever else runs. And to anyone who wants to name call and tear down, tell them you're tired of politics as usual - it's time for some real leadership.

I stumbled across some coverage of this race on another blog and I left some thoughts there. I thought it would be useful to cross post my thoughts here as well so a cut and paste of that comment is in the comments below. I think it's the 12th Comment.