The Defeatist Attitude of the Republican Establishment/Leadership

This essay is from Edward J. Lynch. In 2008, Lynch is the GOP candidate for Florida's 19th congressional district: "The Defeatist Attitude of the Republican Establishment/Leadership."

Recently during an interview, a leader within the Republican Party was quoted as saying, about me, “We support him, the problem is that we can’t waste finite resources. At the end of the day, he is not going to win.” At first, one might think that this statement would be something that would offend me, as the candidate. It does not. What I really feel is sadness for a Party ... my Party ... our Party. This is the type of defeatist attitude that seems to be prevalent when there is a lack of true leadership. This attitude of “if you don’t know how to fix it, say it can’t be fixed” is an attitude that fosters losing. It is an attitude where one tries to look smart by being correct about a self fulfilling prophesy.

Let me say that any fight worth winning is worth fighting for with all of your might. It may not be an easy fight and it may not be a popular fight but, if it is necessary, you don’t give up. You see, true leaders do not see obstacles as things that make righteous outcomes impossible. True leaders see obstacles as things that will be overcome on the way to victory. I have never listened to people when they said that things could not be done. I felt sorry for them as I found ways to overcome the “impossible”. I am living proof that if you want something bad enough and you work hard enough, there is nothing that you can not do. I believe this with all that I am and it is what I teach my children and what I tell anyone who will listen.

Over 200 years ago, it was thought of as pure folly for a rag tag group of colonists to attempt to fight one of the strongest and most regimented armies in the entire world ... the British Redcoats. The naysayers said that “at the end of the day, the citizens of colonies would not be able to win.” We are all free because true leaders did not listen and rose up to fight the good fight and secure their freedom ... our freedom. To their credit, they did not heed the negative words of insecurity and fear and secured our freedom by “wasting their finite resources.”

Only a few years ago, other “leaders” of the Republican Party thought that it would be impossible for a black, inexperienced, ultra-liberal, junior senator from Illinois with a Muslim first name to be elected President of the United States of America. Now, as a nation, we will all pay (quite literally) for the lack of leadership allowing that to happen.

Defeating Robert Wexler is a fight that must be fought and must be won for the citizens of District 19 and for the citizens of the United States. I did not choose to run for congress in a district where I did not live, where the demographics would be more in my favor. I chose to fight for my district, my children’s district, your district if that is where you live. I chose to fight the good fight and to undertake the “impossible” task of removing one of the most left wing, corrupt congressmen in our government. A congressman who thumbs his nose at our constitution and who takes for granted his constituents by not even living in the state that he is supposed to represent. A congressman, who is being investigated by the FBI, thanks in no small part to our own investigations. A congressman who has laundered money through his campaign accounts and has been involved in falsifying his FEC reports to hide ill-gotten gains. A congressman who is more concerned with his own political career than he is with the future of his constituents or the future of the State of Israel. A congressman who fights for his constituents’ votes to only count for ½ of the vote. A congressman who has close ties to Rod Blagojevich, to the mafia, to pump and dump companies, to criminal elements and to fraudulent bundlers who raise money illegally offshore.

Keep in mind that when our campaign inspires voters to come out to vote for me, they will also be in that booth voting for other likeminded candidates. Instead of worrying about how to spread around our “finite resources” I would suggest finding a way to get more resources. One way ... get behind good candidates who will fight for you when you are not able or willing to fight for yourself and you will have more resources than you know what to do with. Stop advertising the Republican brand with a lack of leadership by giving up on fights that need to be won. I don’t want to hear why something can’t be done; I want to hear how we are going do it. If you are not part of the solution; you ARE the problem!

Hat Tip: Jessica Johnson Dornblaser.