To my fellow conservatives and Republicans: As many of you are well aware November was quite a rough month for us politically speaking. At the county level we lost every single race. If you are at all astute to what it takes to win a campaign then you are with me in tipping your hat to the Rockdale Democrats. It pains me to say it. However they were well organized, excellent fundraisers, accessible to the community, and had superb public outreach. As anyone who drives down Parker Road knows they have not stopped in any of these efforts. Meanwhile the Rockdale Republicans decided to wait until only eight weeks before the election to come up with a plan, the victory office was hidden away in Olde Town, they had few volunteers, and they even refused some rather large donations. Most of those races were quite close and a small amount of effort would have made the difference. When all was said and done, instead of taking accountability for being ineffective, the leadership of our local GOP made the decision to point the finger elsewhere. Google “The Little White Plane,” which was handed out at the November meeting, if you do not know what I am referring to.

Why am I talking about all of this now eight months after the fact? Because it gets worse for us. In the months since the election the focus has been, in the words of the current chairman Lynn Brown, to do “house cleaning.” One would think that the focus should have been on growing the party, organizing the precinct chairs and volunteer database, and in general proving to the community that this is not the party of old white racist men. While touting free speech as a defense for “White Plane” the leaders of the party did not allow members to speak in the monthly meetings. Those that expressed concern about the ramifications of ‘White Plane’ in the Facebook group were thrown out and their comments deleted. Those that spoke up in public were either put on probationary status or kicked out of the party altogether. Including the few volunteers we had from last fall. Unfortunately the witch hunt has not stopped there. This past Saturday instead of the regular party meeting, an executive committee meeting took place. The agenda of that meeting was to remove the secretary of the party from her position as well as vote on the acceptance of new members. Several names came up to be removed from the party, including two Republican candidates from last year. Ask yourselves this one question. Is this the path to victory?

Our county party has become nothing but a private club for the select few. If Republicans ever have a shot at winning an election again it will be when the current leadership steps down. I urge any citizen in this county who identifies as a conservative to get involved and start asking questions.

Shauna N. Jaynes
Rockdale County
(Jaynes identified as a lifelong Republican and a former member of the Rockdale Republican Party.)