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Robert Robbed of memory on closed primary
The rest of us still have our wits about us. The symbol of the Republican Party is the elephant, noted for its long memory
Those of you who still read the daily fishwrap might have felt your jaw unhinge over what passed for a column by Robert Robb.
Robb claims that having a closed primary in 2010 wouldn’t have made a difference in the U.S. Senate race in which conservative former Congressman J. D. Hayworth challenged the self-identified “maverick” and amnesty proponent John McCain.
And if you don’t buy that load of baloney, Robb throws another curve, opining that even though the Republican Party would be on sound legal ground to close the primary, to do so would be nothing short of a “PR blunder.”
Want more? He adds that a “non-partisan” or Top Two Primary which does away with parties selecting their own candidates to run in the General Election, would provide an actual solution. He blasts Republicans who desire a return to the closed primary system where registered Independents don’t have a hand in selecting our candidates, as “hard-bitten” and “hardliners.”
Robb writes the “GOP brass, however, have decided not to pursue such a court case,” completely ignoring the fact that the “brass” are McCain operatives, aware that he benefits from having outsiders choose our candidates. The divide in the Arizona Republican Party over this major issue separates grassroots conservatives and the party elites as few issues have.
Robert Robb must think we’ve forgotten his prior stance on this critical election component.
In July 2012 Robb had an entirely different mindset, in a column opening with these words:
“A little honesty and sobriety is in order about the top-two primary system initiative that apparently will be on the November ballot. The purpose of the initiative should be stated plainly and bluntly: It is to reduce the influence of conservative Republicans in Arizona. The rhetoric used to sell it will be more lofty. There will be a pretense of deploring extremism on both sides of the political divide. But what’s driving the initiative isn’t a concern that the Democrats who get elected in Arizona are too liberal. It’s a call-to-arms reaction to a bone-deep belief that the Republicans who run Arizona are too conservative.”
Could job security be responsible for Robert Robb’s double-talking turnaround? His newfound opinion coincides with yesterday’s announcement of a shakeup of the honchos at the Arizona Republic as it undergoes a major “corporate transition.”
For a genuine insight into the compelling need to close Republican primaries refresh your memory with our April 13 post A. J. LaFaro dispels Robert Graham’s myth on closing Primary. It includes a letter to the members of the AZ GOP executive committee sent by immediate past Maricopa County Republican Chairman A.J. LaFaro, in which he lays out the case in detail.
Closed primary resolutions were overwhelmingly passed by elected state delegates at the January 2014 and 2015 AZ GOP Statutory Meetings. Yet instead of being voted on at the April 18, 2015 executive committee meeting, state chairman Robert Graham, carrying McCain’s water, shut out Precinct Committeemen and scrapped the issue opposed by…..John McCain.
Get it?
Source: https://seeingredaz.wordpress.com/2015/05/01/robert-robbed-of-memory-on-closed-primary/
