David Brat's Win in Virginia's 7th Congressional District Highlights Rift in Republican Party. | Eastern North Carolina Now

The Republican party conceived in principle, and continues, accordingly, until ...

    There is a deep schism in the Republican party, from Virginia's 7th Congressional District to Beaufort County, North Carolina, and beyond, where the truth from the People portends that the chasm will only widen. One could make the argument that a successful Republican party has brought more members within its ranks, and, therefore, the Party's success in attracting these different folks' divergent ideologies has created the impetus for this rift. Be that as it may, the Republican party is, at its core, an ideological vehicle to elect those that represent its principles, and to think otherwise is total sophistry.

    Virginia's 7th district was thrown into a quandary when Randolph Macon College Economics Professor Davit Brat defeated U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Eric Cantor by a wide margin of an over 10% margin. Professor Brat, a Tea Party advocate and free market ideologue, employed the retail politics of reaching out to his probable future constituents, rather than spending the campaign funds that he did not have, while Rep. Cantor outspent the challenger by nearly 25 to 1. These two divergent campaign styles was as representative of their political philosophies as it was their allocation of time. David Brat was in the district working through election day, Eric Cantor tended to his Majority Leader duties, even a fundraiser for another candidate. It wasn't enough, however, irrespective of his abundance of campaign funds. Eric Cantor is the first Republican Majority Leader ever to not be re-elected in his home district.

    What was David Brat's allure to the voters?

    Professor Brat spoke directly to the voters on issues of fairness to all Americans in the context of "Free Markets", and he spoke on "The Rule of Law" in regards to Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants. Mr. Brat also spoke to the need for a congressman to remain in the district rather than seek greater acknowledgement within the party. It was a workable contrast, and it worked quite well. Also, factor in the free help of Conservative radio talk show hosts - like Laura Ingram, who have tired greatly of the Majority Leader's move to political moderation - you get a picture how a political upstart can win in a conservative district.

    The 7th Congressional District of Virginia, which runs from north and east of Richmond, then west all the way to the shadows of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is a lovely part of Virginia, rolling hills, rural, and predominately not Liberal - a safe district for a principled representative to the U.S. House. Obviously, Rep. Cantor was judged to not be enough that way, and that Professor Brat may have the capacity to govern more this way. While Rep. Cantor has become more moderate of recent, he is no RINO, not by Beaufort County standards at least.

    Here in Beaufort County, the electorate is more liberal, more Democrat, with a large well organized RINO structure. When I began ardently working for Republican candidates, in 1992, we were about 20% of the Republicans that Beaufort County now has. We worked hard to get Republicans elected, and Beaufort County Democrats responded by voting for mostly conservative Republicans. Fast forward to today, Beaufort County has increased its Republican base almost 5 fold, but real confirmed RINOs tend to do as well in elections as Conservatives. Recently, here in Beaufort County in the Republican primary race for county commissioner, candidates who: spent lots of money; did not discuss real issues; promised not to ardently debate the issues with Liberals should others be made to feel ... um ... uncomfortable, tended to do better than the more principled candidates, who generally could care less whether they upset Liberal and RINO sensibilities.

    From a political sense, while Beaufort County may be the ideological antithesis of Virginia's 7th Congressional District, both political areas are similar in that there is a wide gulf between the establishment Republicans, who coddle RINO's, and the conservative Republicans, who tend to embrace principles, and principled candidates.

    I have no answers as to how to correct this conundrum of political divisiveness in the Republican quest for enlightened thought. I know it exists, and I know that true Conservatives will never embrace unmitigated RINOs, and real RINOs will continue to exist as long as they have an electorate that supports their extra-liberal tendencies while cloaked as Republicans.

    Possibly, the electorate at large should become more involved, knowledgeable of the issues, and then the political parties should evolve to serve those ideological needs, and possibly then, there would be some conciliation in the Republican party as a whole.

    Regardless, the two party system is teetering in America, and I fear the consequences should the Republican party fail to return to its modern foundation of putting its principles first. David Brat put his principles ahead of political purpose, and it did work well for him, his constituents.