Amid a national discussion of the Republican Party's future following election
losses, the conservative wing of the party in Washington state appears
undeterred and as staunchly uncompromising as ever.
About 160 right-of-mainstream Republicans gathered Saturday in Yakima,
representing the newly formed Washington chapter of the Republican Liberty
Caucus. Their rhetoric showed no inclination toward sacrificing principle for
political gain -- not on abortion, not on the economy and not on guns, despite
calls for increased gun control following the Newtown, Conn., school shooting.
Speaking to the crowd before lunch, state Rep. David Taylor, R-Moxee,
voiced that philosophy in an anecdote about another representative asking
whether Taylor might soften on the issue of gun control.
"I said, 'Let me break it down for you: You take my rights, I stand on
your neck,'" Taylor said, to loud applause.
Taylor was not the only elected official at the daylong fundraising and
organizational meeting for the Liberty Caucus. Republican state Reps. Matt
Shea of Spokane, Jason Overstreet of Blaine, Jeff Holy of Spokane and
Elizabeth Scott of Monroe all spoke at the event, demonstrating that, despite
the group's discontent with the powers that be in the Republican Party, the
Liberty Caucus is intent to work within the system. Indeed, when caucus state
Chairwoman Sandra Belzer-Brendale asked for the Republican precinct committee
officers in attendance to stand, about two dozen people stood.
"We are within the Republican Party," said Belzer-Brendale a longtime
conservative activist in Yakima. "They don't have to like us, but they can't
ignore us."
The Washington chapter of the caucus was founded last year, but the
national organization dates to 1991. It has chapters in 43 states. It is a
libertarian-leaning, small-government faction that endorsed Ron Paul for
president last year. It has no official stance on abortion rights, except that
the procedure should not be paid for with tax dollars. It supports minimal
taxation and the repeal of inheritance and corporate taxes. And it opposes
restrictions on the right to bear arms.
The crowd at Saturday's meeting, which represented 28 of Washington's 39
counties, was in tune with those principles, if a bit more conservative on
abortion. Shea, who last week had a road-rage gun charge against him in
Spokane dropped after complying with terms of a plea bargain, went so far as
to suggest that conservative social and economic principles cannot be
separated.
There would be no Social Security funding crisis, Shea said, if not for
abortion, because 50 million aborted fetuses would have grown into members of
the workforce. Moving to the political middle on social issues would alienate
the Republican base, he said.
"We have a pro-life majority in this country. ... This crisis of identity
makes the whole party look foolish," Shea said, despite a Wall Street
Journal/NBC News poll released last week showing that for the first time a
majority of Americans believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
Shea was not alone in emphasizing a return to the Republican Party's core
conservative values. Matt Dubin, chairman of the King County chapter of the
Liberty Caucus, said he had become disillusioned with the party because of the
war on drugs, the Patriot Act and the economic policies under presidents
George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush. But, after a dalliance with the
Libertarian Party, he returned to the GOP as a Ron Paul supporter. Now he
believes it is up to grass-roots conservative activism to return the
Republican Party to its former principles.
"It became clear to me that meaningful change could only be accomplished
from within the two-party system," Dubin said. "Let's face it, they've got it
rigged. You've got to play their game. So let's play."
Toward that end, he encouraged those in attendance Saturday to start
attending party meetings, to get involved on the local level -- not to take
over, he said, but to work side by side with other Republicans and "win their
hearts and minds."
"If we want the party to reflect our values once again, we must BE the
party," he said.
