There’s an old rule in politics that needs to be explained to the Oklahoma GOP:  Republican voters choose Republican nominees; the party doesn’t do it for us. Yet days before Tuesday’s runoff election, the Oklahoma GOP State Committee decided to put their thumb squarely on the scale, form ally endorsing Mike Mazzei for Governor, James Taylor for State Superintendent, Marty Quinn for Insurance Commissioner and Kevin West for Labor Commissioner. The party even sent TEXT MESSAGES telling Republican voters which candidates it wanted them to support. This is not building a political party; it’s building a political fiefdom. Plenty of Republicans noticed. Former Governor Mary Fallin, former State Treasurer and former State Auditor and GOP Chairman Gary Jones all publicly rebuked the move, saying OK GOP should stay out of primary elections. Former GOP Chairman A.J Ferrante called the decision “horribly poor” and harmful to the party. Gary Jones went even further, describing the faction controlling the party as a “small group of extremists.”  When people like this are all sounding the alarm, perhaps somebody at GOP headquarters should listen. Source: OK Politics Today. This is not even the first warning. At a GOP event in June, Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell (a former OK GOP Chairman himself) criticized the practice of the party taking sides among Republicans during primaries. His message was common sense: The party’s job is to elect Republicans; not decide which Republicans voters are permitted to consider legitimate. Apparently, nobody was taking notes. GOP Oklahoma party chair Charity Linch OK GOP Chairwoman Charity Linch has instead pushed her bizarre “OK GOP Certified” program, requiring candidates to pass what amounts to a political purity test before receiving the party’s stamp of approval. The party says the certification requires agreement with at least 80 percent of its platform. Republicans don’t need a hall monitor; they need a functioning political party.  Linch had already demonstrated questionable judgment by personally endorsing Jackson Lahmeyer, just days before scandal engulfed his campaign and he ultimately dropped out. Enough! Charity Linch should be recalled immediately, and the leadership responsible for turning the Oklahoma Republican Party into a private ideological club should be replaced.  The organization has evolved from being considered somewhat irrelevant into the realm of disgraceful and harmful to the ideals of a functional political party. The next Chairman should rebuild the party around a radically old-fashioned idea: Republicans. All of them. Raise money. Recruit volunteers. Build county organizations. Vet and cultivate quality candidates. Register voters and educate them on issues. Develop young leaders.  Then let Republicans decide Republican primaries. Afterward, unite behind the winners. President Donald Trump already possesses an enormous megaphone capable of tipping Republican primaries. Oklahoma certainly doesn’t need its own state party leadership piling on and attempting to manufacture an officially approved slate. Even Governor Stitt and Chip Keating agree on this point, both stating recently in different forums for President Trump to stay out of state and local elections. Stitt’s comments at the National Governors Association meeting were an outright rebuke. Keating’s comments on Clowns Left Jokers Right were more an acknowledgment of the unfortunate circumstance. Chip Keating on Jokers Left, Clowns Right podcast. This is why someone like Chip Keating or Charles McCall deserves serious consideration in the conversation. Both have the relationships, credibility and temperament to reunite Republicans, rather than continually dividing them into “real Republicans” versus RINOs and everyone else. If Chip or Charles won’t do this incredibly important work, I can think of no better leader than Gentner Drummond to unite the party, alongside a functional board. So here is the message to the OK GOP State Committee: Fix This NOW! Recall Charity Linch. Replace the divisive leadership in its entirety. Rebuild an inclusive and responsible Oklahoma Republican Party that welcomes conservatives, moderates, MAGA and everyone else who shares the party’s broad principles.  Otherwise, the nearly 50 percent of Republicans whose candidate lost on Tuesday have another option. We can stand together-and sit November out. Reference articles: KOSU – oklahoma GOP endorses Mazzei, some Republicans push back- KOSU OK Politics Today: Fallin, former statewide officials blast Oklahoma GOP for choosing sides in runoffs AP News – Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt says states, not Washington, should control elections The post Goons On Parade: OK GOP Stinks! appeared first on Oklahoma Gazette. ...read more read less