Activist Political Minorities Control the Majority
Monday, 7/20/2020: by Edward R. Humphreys Idaho Republican Party Region IV Chairman
Have you ever thought while reading a ballot, “these are the best choices I have?” Oftentimes voters feel like they are choosing between the lesser of lessers. Both on the ballots and on the news, we are relentlessly faced with ideas that seemed to ferment in a trash bag but get marketed as a delicacy. History wasn’t made by voters alone; the small groups of activists that put THEIR ideas and candidates on the ballot played an integral role. Now, more than ever, progressive activists are fiercely fighting to ensure their destructive ideas make their way to our ballots and legislature. The progressives have played this game flawlessly. But the time is now, and the place is here; Idaho Republicans need to become activists or face inevitable demise.
Look no farther than our founding fathers to see how a small group of activists can change the world. These engaged and informed subjects engineered and engendered a movement that would inspire the masses. Those same masses aspired to move from the King’s subjects to sovereign citizens. Today, we all enjoy the fruits of that aspiration and the sacrifice required to realize it. However, if you study out the lives of the founding fathers you may be surprised to discover that they were expert agitators and master marketers.
While we have social media instead of printing presses and cancel culture instead of a king, we too need to become expert agitators and master marketers. Unfortunately, it is common to hear how Republicans won’t do ‘this’ or learn how to do ‘that’. Similarly, in my work in finance I sometimes encounter clients who tell me that they would only ever use one type of investment and never use another. Oftentimes I tell them that when I call a plumber, I hope he comes with a van stocked full of gadgets, gizmos, and fittings. Now I certainly hope he doesn’t NEED many of those tools, but I would never invite him into my home and say; “you can only use a pipe wrench and a hammer to fix the leak.” The analogy is simply to say, let’s use the right tool for the job rather than our preferred tool. Let’s put more activist tools in our tool-bag and start to win back Idaho.
Idaho is under attack from focused, resourceful, and strategic groups of liberals and socialists. Sadly, there is nowhere to go from here. Idaho is one of the last Conservative bastions in this nation. We no longer have the luxury of being too busy to participate. We no longer have time to discuss, debate, and dialogue as to how we got to this point or who is to blame. If we want to protect the American Dream for our posterity, then we need to get engaged and become activists.
At this very moment, the Ada County Republican Party is recruiting activists. We need ‘walkers, not talkers.’ We need activists who will show up in droves for public testimony when requested to do so by their legislators. We need volunteers who aren’t scared to make phone calls, knock doors, and sign-wave for Republican candidates. We need folks who are sick of complaining about the liberal media and are willing to start pressuring local media outlets to produce less biased content via letters, complaints, and coordinated boycotts. We need people who regularly donate to the party so we can acquire the tools necessary to win this ideological war. We need engaged citizens who will regularly give their time, treasure, and talents for the Cause of Conservatism.
I’ll end as I began; activist political minorities always control the majority. If you want to make real change, then change what propositions and candidates make it to the ballot. Here is the real conspiracy in modern politics; you have IMMENSE power to enact change but the whole system has been perverted to prevent you from trying. The liberals, corporate interests, unions, and government bureaucrats want you to sit at home and watch the news they crafted and feel totally and completely helpless. They want you to be scared that you’ll be attacked if you speak out, that the best way to avoid their bullying is to stay at home and passively accept their agenda. However, I learned as a kid that the bullying itself is worse than the actual fight; I chose to fight and discovered it was more tolerable than being subjugated and subdued. That doesn’t mean I didn’t take my lumps or get beat up occasionally. But it did mean that there was a cost to pushing me around. And I made sure the costs vastly outweighed the potential benefits.
Join with the Ada County Republican Party and help us fight to preserve the American Dream in Idaho. No longer will we be silenced and subdued. No longer will we be defined by our detractors. Do not sit in the stands critiquing and complaining, we need you in the arena fighting with us.