Caller: The Republican Party Has Become an Exclusive Party

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Mandeville, LA – Exclusive Audio and Transcript – Caller: My concern is this: when we stop thinking about all Republicans and start becoming exclusive rather than inclusive, we become exactly what the Democrats have said we’re going to become, and exclusive party with only a certain number of people.  There’s no way we can win an election if we take that mentality in.  While a majority of people may not agree with Ron Paul on his fiscal responsibility, I happen to, the fact remains that you have to include everyone in the process of the debate.  You may not like what you hear, and that’s the whole reason for the debate, to change people’s views.  If the Republicans at the convention are unwilling to listen, unwilling to exchange ideas, then we’ve become a very exclusive group as opposed to an inclusive group.  I fear for the Republican Party if that’s what happens, because we will fragment and we will splinter.

Begin Mike Church Show Transcript

Caller:  I’ve been a Republican my entire life.  I always voted Republican.  The first Republican I voted for was the great Ronald Reagan, and I’ve voted Republican ever since.  Unfortunately, I come from a very liberal bastion in Michigan.  My concern is this: when we stop thinking about all Republicans and start becoming exclusive rather than inclusive, we become exactly what the Democrats have said we’re going to become, and exclusive party with only a certain number of people.  There’s no way we can win an election if we take that mentality in.  While a majority of people may not agree with Ron Paul on his fiscal responsibility, I happen to, the fact remains that you have to include everyone in the process of the debate.  You may not like what you hear, and that’s the whole reason for the debate, to change people’s views.  If the Republicans at the convention are unwilling to listen, unwilling to exchange ideas, then we’ve become a very exclusive group as opposed to an inclusive group.  I fear for the Republican Party if that’s what happens, because we will fragment and we will splinter.

Mike:  Do you think that hasn’t already happened?  You don’t think that’s underway?

Caller:  Unfortunately.  If it does happen, and if everything you’re seeing is true, and I’m not disputing that, there’s a possibility of becoming inclusive again, and there’s only one person that’s going to be able to do that and that’s Mitt Romney himself.  He needs to tell the convention that Ron Paul has a right to be heard from.  If he doesn’t stand up and do that himself, it’s going to look as though he’s still in the elite class as opposed to the inclusive class.

Mike:  They did tell the delegation that he had a right to be heard, it just wasn’t here.

Caller:  That’s the problem.

Mike:  [mocking] “You have the right to be heard over there at the Sun Center.  Why don’t you and your merry band of Libertarian rabble-rousers, why don’t you guys go over there at the Sun Center.”  They did say they had a right to be heard.

Caller:  The big boards you see on all the political talk shows, that Republicans have this state, that state, Democrats are over there, the minute we start splintering this party apart, those 500 or 1,000 votes could make all the difference.  Look what happened in Florida 12 years go.  The election was not won by that many votes.

Mike:  If you’re going to use Florida 2000 as your model in appeal to every voter counts, I would say there are a lot of disenfranchised people here that are going to be far more predisposed either to not voting, or if they do, voting for someone other than the coroneted preferential candidate.

Caller:  Therein lies the problem.  It’s not the 2,300 conventioneers that are the concern here.  It’s the 300 million sitting out here watching what’s happening in Florida that are going to question whether or not you want to vote Republican or not vote at all.

Mike:  I think tonight when the Oak Ridge Boys open this thing tonight — we had the Oak Ridge Boys on yesterday, perhaps you hear them.  When the Oak Ridge Boys open this thing up tonight with “Amazing Grace,” I think there’s going to be one big, giant, harmonious group hug and it will appear to your average American that’s out there watching it that this is a big, unified party and all is right with the world, that nothing is going on here.  A lot of this is just the inner workings of the political process.  We’re not witnessing a political process here is my point.  This is what I am bearing witness to here.  This is not a political process as far as I am for reestablishing civil liberties, repealing the NDAA, balancing a budget and beginning to get rid of unconstitutional agencies.  That’s not what’s going on here.  There’s no discussion of that here today.

Caller:  Why would they do that?

Mike:  In the absence of a discussion, which has been offered, is those battles are not to be fought here by you hoi polloi out here.  Those of us that are elected and have a financial stake in the future here, we’re the ones that are going to do this behind closed doors in those famous, cigar-smoke filled rooms.  You hoi polloi, you peasants out there, you have no voice in this.  This is coming from the most unlikely of quarters.  Again, I will write about this on Friday when this convention is over.  I’ve seen this from the single-most unlikely of quarters.  The last person on Earth that you would expect you would see that from, I have seen it with my own two eyes and a broken heart today.  So take that for what it’s worth.

End Mike Church Show Transcript

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