A Reason to Endorse

It’s endorsement time again, time for the barrage of emails, phone calls, calling for and against candidates and for and against endorsement. I’d like to step back and look at some of the reasons why I believe endorsement is a good thing.
Since this time around we are discussing this during a senate race I’ll use a senatorial story to share some of my reasons.

In 1913 the 16th amendment to the constitution was ratified. This amendment was the result of a populist push by progressives around the country, specifically by Democrat William Jennings Bryan. The 16th amendment changed the way senators were elected, from an election by the state legislature to direct election by the people of the state.

Fast forward to 2012 where we see a similar populist push led against the Republican party of Pennsylvania to end endorsement by elected state committee representation and to just have a direct vote during the primary.

Is the GOP’s endorsement process a holdover from a bygone era or is it a valuable principle rooted in the very fabric a Republican form of government? I believe that the endorsement process is much more in line with our founding fathers vision for our country than a direct appeal to the populace.

It is the right of individuals and organizations to endorse and support any candidate they choose. It is the duty of the Republican state committee, as elected representatives of registered republicans around the state to endorse and select a standard bearer for their party.

Pennsylvania also enjoys a primary election whereby voters can accept or reject an endorsed candidate as well as a general election whereby they choose, by direct election, the senator for the state. Being for endorsement does not mean you are against a contested primary election. Competition is critical. Competition for endorsements, competition for money, competition for airtime and competition for votes on election day.

• Endorsement is a representative form of selection that is in line with our foundation as a republic.
• Endorsement is a competitive process by which candidates can gauge their support without having to raise a lot of money.
• Endorsement is a process that allows for in depth questioning and analysis that goes beyond the typical 30 second media soundbites.
• Endorsement is an open process that any member of the party can choose to go through.

Parties endorse, people endorse, groups endorse, tea parties endorse, it’s all a part of politics in a free society and I don’t think people should try and restrict that.

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“The bigger the government, the greater the power of incumbents.”

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Steve Welch, Republican candidate for Pennsylvanias 6th Congressional District, made the following statement about President Obamas State of the Union address on Jan 27th 2010.

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Only in Washington could politicians create a remedy thats worse than the problem. Most Americans have health care, and the quality of our doctors and hospitals is the envy of the world. The challenge is to increase access and lower costs, and the proposed Health Care Refeorm legislation in Congress now will do neither. Instead, we should start over and follow these 3 common sense solutions to fixing healthcare.

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First time candidate and successful entrepreneur Steve Welch is running to bring back the American Dream from the clutches of big government in the Pennsylvania 6th Congressional District. The following clip is an excerpt of his impassioned speech to Chester County (a suburb of Philadelphia) Republican Committee Members on Jan 14th.

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