Saturday, September 1, 2012

Am I really a Republican?

Since Ron Paul's bid for the 2012 GOP nod, and my work to get him elected, a great many of my fellow GOPers  have felt the need to say things like:

"Ron Paul is not really a Republican", or
"Aren't you really a Libertarian?", or
"Are you sure you are a Republican?"

In the state of Missouri, voters are not permitted to 'register' as a member of a particular party.  This means we have an open primary and anyone can pull any ballot they like.  Republicans can pull Democrat ballots.  Democrats can pull Republican ballots.

So, how does someone really know?

What does the party officially believe?  Do I agree with it? Am I really a Republican?

The answer is in the official 2012 GOP Platform.  I have read the platform before, but it changes every 4 years so I thought I would revisit the matter of my Republican-ness. 

I felt like I needed to apply some sort of scoring mechanism.  Here's how it worked:
  • I made an up or down judgment call on each sentence (agree or disagree).
  • A Sentence got an up vote if I agreed with it, or if it was neutral.    
  • A Sentence got a down vote if I disagreed with it, or was not sure what it meant or implied.
  • I also made a judgement call on each topic.  There are 100.  
  • If I agreed with all of the sentences it in a topic was marked "Totally Agree"
  • If I agreed with 50% + 1 of the sentences in a topic it was marked "Mostly Agree"
  • If I disagreed with all of the topics sentences in a topic it was marked "Totally Disagree"
  • If I disagreed with 50% +1 of the sentences in a topic it was marked "Mostly Disagree"
  • A tie was marked as a "Split"
Not rocket science.  

Here's the results:

Interestingly enough, my judgment call based on sentences turned out almost the same as my judgment call by topic.

By sentence :
I am 74.04% Republican

By topic:
I Totally Agree with 34 topics or 34%
I Mostly Agree with 37 topics or 37%
I Mostly Disagree with 23 topics or 23%
I Totally Disagree with 3 topics or 3%
I am Split on 3 topics or 3%

Which means I Totally or Mostly Agree with 71%

From an issues standpoint, I Mostly or Totally Agree with the GOP in areas of 
  • Fiscal Conservatism
  • Eminent Domain
  • Individual Liberties
  • Constitutional Government
  • Energy
  • Space
  • The Electoral College
  • Social Programs
  • Education
  • Minimization of Government Departments
  • States Rights 
  • Veteran Affairs
I found disagreement with topics like 
  • Foreign Policy
  • National Security
  • Legislation of Moral Behavior
  • Immigration
The most surprising potion of the document came in the form of near blatant encouragement of U.S. nuclear proliferation.  Page 41. 

Well, that's how the chips fall.  Some of you will not think 71% is satisfactory, but it is an honest assessment of where I stand with the party right now.  I think we, the GOP, are wrong on a lot of important issues, but we are right about a lot more.  I also believe that there is still hope that the ship can be turned and that we, the GOP, are the best avenue for this country to meet it's potential; to make this Grand Experiment a success.  

Go out and read the 2012 GOP Platform.  There are going to be some things in there you don't like. We've got the next four years to make it a better platform.  If we don't, some RNC bureaucrat is going to.  We need to start telling the RNC what it is going to believe instead of the other way around.  I will work to make that change, will you?

Here's to the good fight,
Melissa Wagner
Republican Central Committeewoman, Riverside

Friday, February 18, 2011

Community Breakfast


 Howdy!!

Just wanted to send out a reminder about our breakfast tomorrow.  As usual, Grant has opened up his restaurant for us and will be serving a fantastic breakfast.  I am pleased to announce that Shane Nelson, candidate for Mayor, will be joining us as well as James Haike, Ward 3 Alderman elect.  If you haven't met Shane, please be sure to attend and get to know him. 

I hope you can join us tomorrow morning at Grant's from 8 to 10 am. 

Thanks and have a great day!!

Melissa Wagner

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Community Breakfast

Howdy!!!!

Grant has very generously agreed to let us have breakfast at his fine establishment this weekend.  Hope to see you all at Grant's this coming Saturday from 8 - 10 am.

--
Thanks and Have a Great Day!!

Melissa Wagner
417.231.1045
www.ozarkmissouri.blogspot.com
www.twitter.com/melissadwagner
 

Monday, December 13, 2010

Breakfast

I am sorry to say, but I will need to cancel our breakfast next weekend.  My father has suffered a stroke and I have traveled to Dallas to be with him.  We will get together again in January.  If you know anyone who might attend but doesn't get this email, I would really appreciate it if you could give them a call and let them know.

--
Thanks and Have a Great Day!!

Melissa Wagner
417.231.1045
www.ozarkmissouri.blogspot.com
www.twitter.com/melissadwagner
 

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Fwd: A New Assessor for Christian County

All,

The Governor has just appointed David Stokely to be our next Christian County Assessor.  See the message from Kay Brown below.

Melissa Wagner

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Kay Brown <kaybrown@christiancountymo.gov>
Date: Thu, Dec 2, 2010 at 3:43 PM
Subject: A New Assessor for Christian County
To: Kay Brown <kaybrown@christiancountymo.gov>


Good Afternoon,

 

The Governor has just appointed David Stokely to be the next Christian County Assessor. The Governor said to swear him in immediately and he will be sworn in tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. in the County Commission's office.

Sincerely,

Kay Brown

 

Kay Brown

Christian County Clerk

100 West Church Room 206

Ozark Mo 65721

phone: 417-581-6360 fax: 417-581-8331

 




--
Thanks and Have a Great Day!!

Melissa Wagner
417.231.1045
www.ozarkmissouri.blogspot.com
www.twitter.com/melissadwagner
 

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Current Candidates to be Considered for Assessor's Replacement Nomination

All,

Here is the current list of people who have asked that they be considered for nomination to fill our county's vacant assessor position.  Below you will find links to each person's resume and and cover letter (if provided).  You will need to download John Boyd's to your machine.  Just follow the link and then click the 'Download' button.  I apologize for this, but I had to scan his resume and the file is too large to email.

We will be meeting in the courthouse this Tuesday to hear from each candidate and vote for a nominee by secret ballot.  If you know of anyone else who is interested please let them know that they can still submit their resume and be considered.  I will accept resumes until Tuesday afternoon.  


Format / Rules:
1.  Each candidate will draw a number to determine the order they are interviewed.
2.  All candidates who are not being interviewed will wait downstairs for their turn.
3.  Each candidate will have 2 minutes to introduce themselves followed by a question and answer session.
4.  All candidates will return downstairs.  The floor will be open for central committee discussion.
5.  A secret ballot vote will be taken.  If no clear majority is established, there will be a run-off secret ballot vote between the top two.
6. Should there be a tie for second in round 1, the top 3 will go to the run off (round 2).  If there is no clear majority in the 3 way run-off.  There will be a run-of for the top 2.  
7.  In the case that the run-off results in a tie, the Chairman with break the tie.
8.  Once a clear winner is established, all the candidates will be invited back into the room for the results.
9.  The following day, the nominee's name will be faxed to the Governor's office for consideration. 

Angela Tremble - Cover Letter


Alan Berry - Cover Letter


Frank Lorenz - Resume

John Boyd - Resume page 1

John Boyd - Resume page 2

Karen Moody - See attachments. 

--
Thanks and Have a Great Day!!

Melissa Wagner
417.231.1045
www.ozarkmissouri.blogspot.com
www.twitter.com/melissadwagner
 

Monday, November 15, 2010

Community Breakfast

Howdy!

Our breakfast is back on for this Saturday!  It will be at Grant's from 8:00 - 9:30 am. I can't wait to see everyone!!

--
Thanks and Have a Great Day!!

Melissa Wagner
417.231.1045
www.ozarkmissouri.blogspot.com
www.twitter.com/melissadwagner