Clark County
Republican Party
Past, Present, and Future
The Clark County Republican Party according to its by-laws
will support all Republican Candidates for office elected in the June 12, 2012
primaries.
The CCRP will work with the Nevada State Republican Party
and all other groups in Nevada that are interested in electing Republicans to
office in Nevada at all levels of government.
Perhaps it is time to reflect on the past and see how far we
have come in the last 4 years. When I first joined the CCRP it was a small
organization of less than 200 members. The headquarters were located in a
dismal office on Decatur. The state Republican Party was located in the back of
the county party office on a card table surrounded by a stack of cardboard
boxes. Both organizations were effectively broke and broken. The office area
looked like the backroom of the Salvation Army collection point.
The new members in 2009 arrived with good intentions and an
eagerness to get to work to help the Republican Party be successful in Nevada.
We were met with skepticism and scorn and certainly felt anything but
welcome. We were not deterred and in the
3 years since being involved from Coalitions to Chairman I have watched the
party grow and become a more professional organization at all levels. We had
many goals most of which were not realized but as a Tea Partier I have always
been proud of what we did accomplish during this time.
Facts do not lie. The net result of the State Republican
Party and the County Republican Party existing under the current rules of our
parties has not been good. Republicans are the minority in both the State
Senate and State Assembly. Leadership on a party level is virtually nonexistent
from our senior elected officials. Party unity has never been more fractured as
a general environment of misunderstanding and emotion has clouded good
conversation and logic. Obviously something has to change as repeating our
current behavior cannot change our expected result.
Looking to the future there now exists an unprecedented
opportunity for change. The CCRP membership is strong and robust as we go
through this short transitional period of reorganization. The future goals of
the party are well defined and achievable. What are these goals?
The ability to recruit, support, and endorse candidates in
Republican Primary Races.
The ability to participate in all local government races.
The ability to bring the goal of smaller more efficient
government to all levels of government in Clark County.
The ability to work with our leadership of elected officials
in order to strengthen our party and put forward a strong conservative platform
in Nevada.
The ability to hold our Republican elected officials feet to
the fire once elected. Encourage our candidates to uphold their pledge to
uphold the constitution. Insist on having our elected officials be accountable to
their constituents.
These
were the goals of the Tea Party when it first burst on to the political scene
in 2009. Now a new wave of Liberty minded constitutional supporters have
emerged as new party leadership at both the state and County levels. The
reaction has been much the same as 4 years ago. Misunderstanding, mistrust and
a lack of civil debate. I would encourage all Nevada Republicans who want to
see politics in Nevada change to take a moment to reflect on your core beliefs
and honestly compare them to the goals of the new leadership at both the State
and County levels.
Do
not disengage. Engage. Do not resign.. Join. Do not let emotion rule. Engage in
civil debate
.
There
is a great opportunity ahead of us if you have the courage to stand up and
unite.
Frank
Ricotta
Clark County Republican Party Political
Director
The strength and resilience of a grassroots
movement is the ability of citizens at the local level to determine their own
platforms, agendas and priorities free of an overriding central leadership.
Exercising the clearly stated message of the Liberty movement by its nature
involves discourse about which policies and candidates best hold to our stated
principles, and these various opinions should flourish and evolve at the local
level.
“Here sir, the people govern.” --Alexander Hamilton in a speech to the New York Ratifying
Convention, 1788
“Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people
alone. The people themselves, therefore, are its only safe depositories.” --Samuel Adams, 1781
“This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who
inhabit it.” --Abraham Lincoln
