Greetings fellow Republicans! As summer begins to come to a close the fall elections are upon us.

Nationally the Tea Party received another blow on August 7th as the last opportunity to unseat an incumbent Republican Senator was lost for this election cycle. This was a repeating story for this political season as this was the theme in Texas, Kentucky, South Carolina, Mississippi, Kansas, and Tennessee. Explanations and excuses abound- one Tea Party candidate fingered outside groups, saying they initially encouraged candidates to run and then did not provide the financial backing they promised (Politico, August 8, 2014). This theory certainly was not true in Mississippi as there was a huge influx of dollars for the McDaniel’s campaign. The Primaries of this year tell the story of voters who are wary of Tea Party candidates.  The roots of the Tea Party appear to have moved more toward the right and has ostracized many traditional Republicans. The Traditional Republicans in turn have undone the hard work of Tea party members.  

This is a long simmering intra fight between conservatives and moderates. (Townhall.com). Unfortunately, this type of dispute between voting citizens who have basically the same ideals is very damaging. If we traditional Republicans/ Tea Party members/ Conservatives continue to attack each other we will end up with the opposite of what we have all been working toward. It is time to come together as a whole and hash out our differences and come up with a game plan. This type of collaboration will require both sides to compromise.

Statewide Phillip Gunn took the bull by the horns at the Neshoba County Fair. Gunn discussed a political party like a marriage. 

He said all marriages have disagreements, but that isn’t the problem. The problem comes when there is no reconciliation. He said every time he and his wife have a disagreement they have a choice to make, they can abandon the marriage or they can work it out. 

 He then went on to say “The sign of a strong marriage is not that you have an absence of disagreement, but that you have the ability to reconcile.” 

He continued “The same holds true for a political party…we cannot heal as a party if we engage in name calling and backbiting….we need to talk to one another, we need to listen to others’ concerns, we need to value each others’ feelings, we need to respect each other’s thoughts, we must not shut out the voice of anyone who truly wants to be part of the conservative movement.” 

These statements are just a few excerpts from his speech. You can find the complete speech on The Neshoba County Democrat newspaper site. (neshobademocrat.com)

Locally, The Republican Women and the Founders Committee will be hosting a luncheon in the fall. 

We will be announcing the date and time very soon, please watch the Picayune Item and Facebook for details.

By Bonnie Holland