Horry GOP’s new leaders talk at same time about party unity, purge of RINOs
Horry County registered voters who consider themselves Republicans have a critical question for the new party leaders: Is the priority party unity or unquestioned loyalty to Donald Trump and his pernicious claims about the 2020 presidential election.
Like Republican organizations across the nation, the Horry GOP has an identity crisis. In the U.S. House Republicans are ready to remove Liz Cheney of Wyoming from her leadership position. She has upheld the Constitution and said the election was not stolen and “anyone who claims it was is spreading THE BIG LIE, turning their back on the rule of law, and poisoning our democratic system.” Her tweet was in response to the former president declaring “the fraudulent Presidential Election of 2020 will be, from this day forth, known as THE BIG LIE!”
Republican organizations in some places may have anti-Trump elements, but the Horry division involves two Trump factions. One calls for unity, a return to a party that is solidly conservative and pro-Trump; the other pledges allegiance to the former president and all he supports. The aggressive faction wants to purge from the party those deemed Republicans In Name Only, or RINOs.
Unity suggests a coming together of different ideas and viewpoints, willingness to compromise, and focusing on organizational goals. RINO once suggested one was not upholding core, traditional Republican principals. Nowadays it can be a pejorative label for anyone who is not all-in Trump.
NEW GOP LEADERS
In a report in The Sun News today, Reese Boyd III, a candidate for the chairmanship, said “… people who don’t subscribe to Republican beliefs … need to be challenged and primary-ed where it’s necessary. But there’s also this tendency now … to label people and call people names … and that’s not getting you anywhere constructive.”
Roger Slagle was elected chairman at the Horry County Republican Party’s biennial reorganization. Prior to his election, he called for unity. “I’m open to everybody, whether you’ve been here a long time, whether you’ve just come into the Horry County arena.” Slagle has been away for a long time, moving home to North Myrtle Beach after 30 years.
Jeremy Halpin, the new vice chairman, unsuccessfully challenged County Councilman Cam Crawford in a primary. Tracy “Beanz” Diaz, the new state executive committee representative, moved to Little River six years ago. All three new leaders pledged to work for unity.
“We’ll fix all that,” Slagle said of infighting and contentiousness in recent years. Those problems have moved some elected officials to disengage. Johnny Vaught of Horry County Council said, “I don’t agree with all the infighting so I’ve distanced myself from the local stuff.”
A MICROCOSM
The Horry GOP, then, is a microcosm of the national party, now clearly in full thrall of Trumpism. Time will tell if the new local leaders can fix the Horry GOP. They cannot bring unity by demonizing conservatives who really are Republicans in the traditional sense.
Many Republicans believe at least a degree of Trump’s lies about the election – it was tampered with or manipulated somehow, to flat-out stolen and Trump was elected. This is a problem that party leaders such as Slagle, et al, must address. It’s not an easy fix.
The leaders of both major political parties may influence voters, but party leaders don’t cast the votes on election days. The new Horry GOP leaders need to remember that voters, even in primary elections, are not necessarily “card-carrying Republicans.”
South Carolina voters do not register by political party preference. Voters, especially in primary elections for nominations, may be Republicans or Democrats, but more likely they may be Independents or without a partisan preference.