From the American Clarion website, Bob Ellis spent some time in a dark room working himself up into some faux outrage that there’s a possibility that his lord and master Independent Candidate Gordon Howie might have his petitions challenged by the GOP:
It is not unusual for opposing candidates and partisan groups to challenge petitions. Stace Nelson challenged some of Larry Rhoden’s petitions several weeks ago, and liberal blogger Cory Heidelberger challenged many of Annette Bosworth’s petitions.
But for a political party–especially the same party to which the candidate belongs and has been elected to office under the banner of–to go to the effort of purchasing a copy of the petitions of someone running against the anointed establishment candidate…well, this is remarkable.
and…
Does anyone really think Gordon Howie would not represent the interests of South Dakotans according to Republican values and principles–a man who served in South Dakota government for many years as a Republican, who ran for governor as a Tea Party Republican, and who continues to advocate strongly and publicly for Republican values and goals?
Does anyone really think Gordon Howie would not caucus with Republicans to advance the Republican agenda–if not completely move back under the banner of the GOP, were he to win the election?
Read it here.
“Does anyone really think Gordon Howie would not caucus with Republicans to advance the Republican agenda” Yes, I for one would question it strongly.
Since Gordon’s no stranger to cozying up with the liberal left, I certainly wouldn’t put him as someone in the GOP column at any point in the future.
Gordon is in the Gordon column, and as evidenced by how quickly he threw Stace Nelson under the bus, he’s more interested in what he can do for himself. I suspect he’d be more than happy to side with Harry Reid if he thought he could bargain for himself, given the chance.
As I detailed earlier, Gordon certainly appears to lack appreciation for the rule of law, which is contrary to Republican and conservative values. He’s talked about how he might be seeking a third party, and has given up on the Republican party. And then there’s the whole thing about running as an independent, and not running as a Republican in the first place.
So, is the GOP looking at his petitions? I certainly hope so. The Republican party owes it to the candidates who are willing to run under it’s banner to do everything it can to defeat those who are running against it, no matter how friendly they claim to be.
Instread of trashing the GOP, which he claims to belong to, maybe Bob needs to check and see where his allegiances lie. Because if Gordon was that darned friendly to the GOP as Bob claims, maybe Gordon would have actually ran as a Republican in the first place.
*UPDATE*
I did chase down Dave Roetman with the Minnehaha County GOP , who indicated that there are people within the party who have gotten copies of the petitions. BUT, it’s not for the purposes that Ellis was whining about.
It sounds more that they intend to extend a hand to the Republicans on the list to try to find out why they might be disaffected, and much like Reagan professed, to see if there might be common ground on the 80% that Republicans agree on.
By complaining to his lap dog Ellis about this whole thing, it seems as if Gordon Howie wants to have his cake and eat it too. He wants to hate Republicans, but complain about his own actions of separating himself.
And it’s not working. The GOP would rather build the tent, than worry about those who want to take their toys and go elsewhere.