We, the Undersigned, as long-time, loyal Republicans, supporters of the Party’s candidates and its core values of smaller, more efficient government, individual liberty and personal freedom condemn in the strongest possible fashion the circumstances and actions of so-called “conservatives” who have driven Senator Arlen Specter and many of our best and brightest from our Party.  We also call on every member of the Party to take action to bring our Party back from the brink of irrelevancy.

We call for the RNC leadership to take this opportunity to begin an honest, frank, open and, most importantly inclusive “soul-searching” exercise, to determine what has been driving individuals out of the Party and to create a comprehensive strategy to reverse this trend.

We ask for the rank and file members of the Party who have turned on the members of the Party who don’t always agree with them to rethink their positions and ask themselves, as Senator John Cornyn has “Would I rather have an ally who supports me and my agenda 90% of the time, or an opponent who never supports me?”

We also ask the Republicans who have thought about leaving to reconsider. Now is the time to fight for our Party and our country. America cannot afford a single party government. Not in good times, and especially not now when we face almost unprecedented economic, ideological and real military threats. Our nation needs to hear voices who advocate efficient use of government funds, fight to safeguard America’s hard-earned assets and defend the lives and well-being of the American people.

We ask, lastly, for those who have left the Party to think about coming back home. Things have been tough for some time, but together, we can stop this downward spiral and bring our Party, the Party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Wilson Reagan, the Republican Party back from the brink. We can make this a Party ALL OF US can be proud of.

(If you agree with the message in this letter, please fill out the petition, send your name and location via e-mail to contact@progressiverepublican.info and we’ll attach your name to the signatures affixed below.)

Signed,

Travis G. Johnson (Reston, VA – Founder, Progressive Republicans)
Richard Ivory (New York, NY – Founder, Hip Hop Republicans)

Aaron Alghawi (Dayton, OH – Wright State University Progressive Conservatives President/Founder)
DeLille Jett Anthony (Atlanta, GA)
Karl Von Batten (Washington, DC)
Bishop LaDarius J. Beal (Chiago, IL)
Dr. Oname Burlingame, M.D (Boston, MA)
Joshua David Boyer (Liverpool, OH)
Mattew Butler (Indianapolis, IN)
Michael Carroll (Washington, DC)
Brian Clarke (Scranton, PA)
Tyler Craft (Chairman Emeritus of the University of Mississippi College Republicans)
Mike Daigler
Jim DiPeso (Seattle, WA – Vice President for Policy and Communications, Republicans for Environmental Protection)
Lisa Pless Doherty (West Palm Beach, FL)
Susan McMaster Douclef (Cincinnati, OH)
Stephen Drachler (Harrisburg, PA)
Nadra Enzi (Savannah, GA)
Pamm Garber (South Bend, IN)
William Golden (Washington, DC – CEO Intelligencecareers.com)
Mark Griffin (New York, NY)
Jawann Graves
Amanda Gross (West Palm Beach, FL)
Lisa Habmed (Detroit, MI)
Sean Christopher Hawkins
Candice Johnson(Reston, VA)
Adam Jones   (Charlotte, NC)
Jack Kalpackian (Morocco)
Kristen Kane (Indianapolis, IN)
Michael L. Keaton (Washington, DC)
Jeni Kunz (San Francisco, CA)
Bob Linhares (New York, NY)
Isaac Mà rchà nt Grove(Tampa Bay Metro, FL)
Christopher Mattogno
Jedd McConnell (LaGrange, GA)
Alexandra B. McLeod (Las Vegas, NV)
Matthew Munson (Ontario, CA)
Laurie S. Murphy (Petaluma, CA)
Shana Orczyk (Boston, MA)
Mary Rennie
Brandon Rhea (Flemington, NJ)
Martin Rybicki (San Antonio, TX)
Brian Samuel (Metairie, LA)
Dennis Sanders (Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN)
Donald L. Scoggins (Loudoun, VA – President, Republicans for Black Empowerment)
John Schafer (Atlanta, GA)
Hugo Schwyzer (Pasadena, CA)
Noel Siksai (Bloomfield Hills, MI)
Jacob Simpson
James N. Smith (Franklin, MA)
Darcell Streeter (Jacksonville, FL – African American Republican Leadership Council, Co-Chair, Minority Republican Council-Jax)
Paul Strong (Pitman , N.J.)
Ann EW Stone (Alexandria, VA – Chairman, Republicans for Choice)
Darius Thomson (Auburn Hills, MI)
De’Von Weatherspoon (Detroit, MI)

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The former McCain for President camp seems to be generating a lot of Progressive Republicans…

If you read my last post, you might have thought I’d given up on the Progressive Republicans to organize and lead the Meghan McCain Fan Club. Sure, Ms. McCain is a smart, eloquent young woman who is delivering a message which should have been delivered to Republican leadership years ago. Sure, she’s emblematic of the type of Republicans the Party desperately needs to stay viable into the 21st Century. Well, maybe I am a bit of a fan.

I’ve also become a fan of Senator McCain’s campaign manager, one Steve Schmidt. Last week, Mr. Schmidt, in a speech before the Log Cabin Republicans, said the GOP needs to embrace gay marriage. Much like other Progressive Republicans such as former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, Schmidt went on to say that the Party must move away from social conservatism, lest it be considered The Religious Party and forever drive away secular voters.

What’s with all of these McCainiacs who, just a few months ago, supported a ticket which was firmly against any socially progressive viewpoints? Wasn’t Steve Schmidt the man who pretty much single-handedly selected Sarah Palin, the darling of the social conservative wing of the Part to ride shotgun for Senator McCain? Were they hiding their opinions last year, or did they each have their own Road to Damascus moment sometime after Election Day? While I respect Meghan McCain for taking a stance which flies in the face with that espoused by her own father, and Mr. Schmidt for risking his political consultancy by taking a stance which many of his potential clients find reprehensible, part of me is a little annoyed that it took this long for them to go public.

In any case, lets show our gratitude to Mr. Schmidt and Ms. McCain by standing up for them whenever the need arises.

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Before I go any further, I need to let you all know that I have been a part of Log Cabin Republicans since 2002. I’ve served in various positions with the local chapter including a stint as President.

Ben Smith over at Politico, revealed that there is a move a foot to create a rival organization for gay conservatives. The new group is called GOProud and launched this week.

So, why the need for another gay conservative group? Because some believe that Log Cabin has become “too liberal” leaving no true conservative voice. Christopher Barron, one of the founders of GOProud and a former staffer with Log Cabin notes that there isn’t much difference between Log Cabin and many gay left organizations:

“It (Log Cabin) has simply moved way too far to the left and is basically indistinguishable from any other gay left organization.”

Barron also noted that focusing on issues that other gay groups tackle, like marriage is not something real Republicans deal with:

“If your main issue is hate crimes or [federal anti-discrimination legislation] or marriage, you’re probably not a Republican”

Huh. Since two of those issues Barron mentioned, marriage and anti-discrimination laws are important to me, I probably won’t be getting an invite to join.

Bruce, over at Gay Patriot, seconds the notion of GOProud and is even more vocal about Log Cabin being nothing more than a center-left orgainzation:

I am thrilled to help announce the birth of a new national gay conservative organization, GOProud. As long-time readers know I have been very critical of the national Log Cabin Republicans for many years.

Their left-of-center positions on important issues have bothered me as LCR has continually sucked the teet of the Gay Leftist agenda. LCR’s silence and unwillingness to stand up and be vocal on true gay conservative issues (outing of Republican staffers, increasing threat of gays being selectively aborted, peril gays face by Islamic extremists) has been mind-boggling. And LCR’s continued obsession in trashing Republicans, yet letting Democrats get a pass on their gay-related hypocrisies, has been infruriating.

So, what do I think about all of this as a gay Republican? Well, it’s hard to judge a group that has even formed yet, but if some of the comments are any indication, I don’t think I will be sending any money to them anytime soon.

Does Log Cabin have problems? Yes. I disagree with the support for Hate Crimes legislation, which I disagree with on philosophical grounds. I also think they should have spoken more forcefully when gay GOP staffers were being outed. But that said, on the whole, this group has been a good organization showing that one can be gay and conservative.

As for all this talk about how Log Cabin has become “liberal?” Pure bunk. Please tell me, what is “liberal” about wanting the right to civil marriage, or the right to not be fired from your job because you are gay? What is “liberal” about wanting to serve in our military? The “liberal” term is used by those who are more interested in a “small tent” GOP, than in creating a movement and working to make the party that we love a more tolerant and welcoming party. Just because I believe in that doesn’t make me accept single-payer health care.

As to the Gay Patriot’s claim of trashing Republicans? Well, if someone is going around and saying bigoted things about gays, well it is the duty of a fellow Republican to call them on it. Anyways, Log Cabin has also praised Republicans who have stood up for inclusion. But probably for the Gay Patriot, they weren’t the right kind of Republicans.

Again, I could be wrong since the group’s purposes have not been released yet, but I fear that GOProud will be a group of gay Republicans not so interested in making society and our own party, more tolerant of gays, than it is about preserving the status quo. It’s interested in rallying around the GOP as it currently is and adding a dash of gayness to it. So they will promote the current GOP agenda, but do very little to change it. If that is there agenda, they are welcome to it, but I will remain with Log Cabin, imperfect as it is. My African American heritage and my upbringing in the Black church remind me that one must fight for their rights and that is what Log Cabin does.

One of the reasons that I like Log Cabin is because it resembles what the GOP should be: a “Big Tent” kind of party. In my local group we have various stripes of conservatives, from pro-life to pro-choice, from Goldwater-style Republicans to Rockefeller Republicans. We are all different, but we come together under one roof. I don’t know if GOProud is even interested in that kind of conservative diversity.

Several years ago, law professor Dale Carpenter wrote an essay about the rift among gay Republicans. It wasn’t as much a rift as it was two different ways of seeing things: those who were gay first and Republicans second, and those who were Republicans first, and gay second. There has always been a natural tension between the two groups and for a long time, Log Cabin has housed both groups.

Come this week, one group will leave the Cabin. Will it make Log Cabin stronger? I don’t know. But I do wonder what this will all mean down the road.

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