I like Ryan Trabuco.  He is an amigo and an old friend from California who is now leaving the Republican Party in light of the fiscal cliff crisis.

I could not believe my ears when he told me he was considering leaving the GOP.  He’s a strong conservative.  I cannot say that I blame Ryan for leaving the GOP particularly when the California Republican Party hands over the microphone to extremists like Tim Donnelly who is running for California Governor.  (You would think that the California GOP would have learned by now considering Prop 187 and the fast growing Mexican-American and/or Latin population there). The Republican National Committee should have started changing their platform yesterday after suffering a devastating loss on November 6, 2012.  Now they are acting as if they have a leg to stand on after the devastating blow with regard to the fiscal crisis issue. The GOP keeps giving the soapbox over to the likes of Tea Party extremist Jim DeMint.  [My God -- how in the heck do they expect the party to grow with tools like that?]

Here is why Ryan chose to be an independent / no party preference voter … and I think it is important to share his story with fellow Arizonans — particularly since California is a neighboring state.

Ryan Trabuco writes:

 

No Party Preference

Posted on January 3, 2013

“I am an American; free born and free bred, where I acknowledge no man as my superior, except for his own worth, or as my inferior, except for his own demerit.” — Theodore Roosevelt

My decision. My choice. Certainly, this wasn’t easy. Allow me to think this through.

I’ve always admired Theodore Roosevelt. He fought corruption, spoke out passionately about his beliefs in much-needed reforms, and was noted for his fairness in policy and politics.

Of course, you may also read that folks at the turn of the 20th century considered him belligerent and opinionated. Hell, I’ve been called worse. For every one of his critics, however, there were many more who considered him “the hero America needed” as author Michael L. Cooper penned in his 2009 biography on our nation’s 26th President.

What I admire most about Teddy’s legacy and leadership, was his ability to bring folks together — often transcending partisan politics — and in doing so, for the good of our country.

Many of Teddy Roosevelt’s decisions were not easy, such as leaving the Republican Party in 1912 — a party he was active in and helped lead as a New York Assemblyman, Police Commissioner, Governor, Vice-President, and President. The Republican Party had left him and tacked a hard right turn, and Roosevelt, through the passion of defiance, left the party to continue to champion those reforms, values, and ideas he held dear.

Today, I feel it’s the same path I must take as well. Today, I re-registered to vote as “No Party Preference” (a.k.a. “Independent”).

I assure you, no decision could have been harder for me, personally.

Freedom. Opportunity. Self-Reliance. State’s Rights. Government efficiency.  There’s a sense of tradition and a value system — that I cherish and hold dear — you just don’t find in other political parties.

There’s a proud history of nearly 10 years here registering Republican voters. Volunteering. Fundraising. Knocking on doors, calling voters, doing anything I could possibly do to help Republican candidates win elections — pouring blood, sweat, and often tears into these efforts. Oh Lord, did I mention the tweeting?

For now, in this moment, I just felt it was the right choice to make.

As unfortunate (for a number of reasons) that I felt 2008 was a bad year politically, nothing could’ve prepared me for the slaughter of 2012. Of course, in the heat of election cycles, it’s easy to re-hash the talking points of a campaign, and paraphrase why you feel it’s better that voters should choose your side. There’s facts, graphs, logic, and ideology at play. What’s often overlooked though is governing, and the plan to govern.

There hadn’t been much thought about re-registering until recently, while watching the fiscal cliff debate play out over weeks on end. Speculation. Finger-pointing. The constant will-they-won’t-they approach to politics. Quite honestly, it was sick. For as bad as it was for Democrats, I couldn’t honestly sit back and defend the Republicans’  seemingly hands-off approach to governing.

I kept asking myself, “Where’s the leadership? Where’s the plan?”

Then, allowing the Democrats to figure it out on their own and then dictate the terms of whatever the compromise would be was embarrassing to say the very least. I can’t defend that.

I admit, I said for a long time that wild horses couldn’t drag me from my party — and they didn’t. The selfish behavior of those who would rather bring our country to its’ knees, rather than face the challenges ahead of us have drug the party away from me. The constant kowtowing to the Tea Party and like-minded ideologues have damaged the brand, the mission, and the spirit of the Republican Party.

Look at California. The Republican Party, here, is a mess. Enough said.

In San Diego, it’s not nearly as bad but there’s problems here as well. There’s nothing wrong with good-natured, well-intentioned, and much-needed government reforms, but there is a significant problem when you allow a single elected official — an emotional and personality equivalent to Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride — to dictate the focus of the party, and whether you are or aren’t welcome within the apparatus.

When Nathan Fletcher left the Republican Party last spring, I admit, I was more than disappointed and reflected those feelings to him over the phone. He said he was tired and over the drama. All the critics said it was political. After much soul-searching these last few weeks, I have to say that Nathan was right. I’m tired and over it, too.

All in all, I don’t feel there’s leadership. Or focus. I don’t feel there’s necessary attention being paid to strengthen the Republican Party. All talk, no action. I’ve said for years that the GOP needed to embrace it’s roots founded in the original 1856 Platform — a document that reads more like the blueprint for ideas in freedom and governance, rather than today’s GOP platform which specifically says what you can or can’t do in life.

Where’s the allure? What’s the difference between the Republicans and the Democrats, aside from being polar opposites on the political spectrum? Nothing. God forbid you find yourself in the political center. You have no where to go.

All that said, where do we go from here?

I’m sure folks will say I’ve always been a squish. Not committed. Not conservative enough. That’s fine. That just shows that those folks have very little respect for the consistent work I did all those years. All the more reason for my decision to step aside, and re-register.

I am now a simple, registered voter who states that I have NO PARTY PREFERENCE. That doesn’t change who I am or what I believe. Our spending needs to be under control, I’m not in favor of big government or higher taxes — we need some desperate spending cuts, for sure. However, if I ever served as an elected official, I would have sense enough to know not to bring a government to its knees because of hard-headedness (a heartfelt sentiment to both parties).

Thankfully, I have no designs on political office. I’m too honest for it.

Now, there are good Republicans, and there are good Democrats. I’m honored to know both. It’s the self-interested ones on both sides of the aisle who need to reappraise their purpose in politics.

Hopefully, there will be a time in the very near future when the Republican Party evaluates itself in the tradition of Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt. I pray it does.  It would be an honor to re-register as a Republican under such circumstances. Until then, I will spend my time focusing on my commitments and service to my community, and encouraging camaraderie among others — no matter what their political persuasion may be.

Teddy Roosevelt once said, “Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.” I’ve always been inspired to reach for the stars, and although I’m no longer a Republican, I feel as grounded as I’ve ever been.

On a last note…

Americans are getting sick and tired of the do-nothing Congress because they cannot seem to pull their heads out as elected official to do what is in the best interest of the United States. We are fed up with their bickering and their inability to work together in a bipartisan fashion.

It is no wonder why we are seeing a sharp rise in independent voters (or no party preference) across our Nation. We are on the brink of an independent revolution, and am glad to see new leaders like Ryan emerge.

Have you ever wondered why the Arizona Republican Party 1st Vice Chairman via Russell Pearce would want to issue a boycott

Russell Pearce First Vice Chairman of Arizona Republican Party 2012

against Arizona businesses?  Whatever happened to the “Capitalist Party” that prided itself on the free market system?  Truth is, the Republican Party is no longer the same Party of Ronald Reagan or Abraham Lincoln.

Just in …. Russell Pearce has been bragging about the boycotts against the Phoenix New Times (newspaper who has been critical of his bigotry).  I just learnt that the company(s) he thought were boycotting the Phoenix New Times is no longer doing so. His boycotts lasted only a few days until we exposed his smoke and mirrors.  I encourage the Tea Party extremists to find out on their own as to who is now buying ads from the Phoenix New Times.  They can no longer hold  Arizona businesses hostage.

We exposed Pearce’s pedophile concern and hypocrisy immediately when we wrote Arizona companies telling them that Pearce did nothing about the polygamy and Warren Jeffs pedophilia in Colorado City, Arizona, when he was the Senate President. Instead of targeting the pedophiles such as Warren Jeffs, Pearce was too busy trying to implement  “Operation Wetback.” In fact, nothing is being done about the corruption going on in Colorado City, AZ, the polygamy capital of the nation (via Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints or the fundamentalist Mormons) under our current Arizona legislature. I wrote about it here.

Why was it easier for Jan Brewer and Russell Pearce to pass anti-immigrant laws in our state, but did nothing with scared little underage girls who are forced to marry older men?

In any event, as long as Russell Pearce remains as the Arizona Republican Party 1st Vice Chair, he will continue to give the GOP a very bad image.  Particularly with the Latinos in the southwestern part of the nation.   The GOP will have to learn personal accountability due to Pearce, Joe Arpaio, Jan Brewer, Tom Tancredo, Lamar Smith, Steve King, and now Mitt Romney.

As an immigration activist living in Arizona, I wrote the following opinon with regard to the upcoming SB1070 hearing that will be heard in the Supreme Court.

The GOP Cannot Hide the Arizona SB 1070 ‘Large Elephant’ in the Room

By DeeDee Garcia Blase

The Supreme Court hearing regarding Arizona’s SB1070 will be a vote mover in the southwestern part of the United States.  The scab of an old wound will be ripped off and exposed once again within our community as the issue comes to the forefront again.  Instead of hanging out at the courthouse protesting against SB1070, we will protest via our vote  during the upcoming 2012 Presidential elections.  We must identify in a realistic manner what the best option will be for us that is directly hurting and affecting our community.

According to ABC News:

Kris Kobach, a key drafter of Arizona’s controversial immigration law, will be in Washington on Wednesday to hear the Supreme Court discuss the legality of the tough state measure that empowers local police to enforce federal immigration laws.  Kobach, who worked closely with former Arizona State Sen. Russell Pearce in crafting the 2010 law, said he stays in close touch with the Mitt Romney campaign.

These days, we are witnessing multiple-choice Mitt Romney make moves as he tries to disassociate himself from Kris Kobach.  Many within our Latino community believe it is too little and too late – specifically in the southwestern part of our Country where most of the  Mexican-American population resides.

Unfortunately for Romney, he has made too many damning statements when he chose to align himself with Pete Wilson and Kris Kobach.   Other known extremists such as the Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, and the ousted former Arizona State Senator  Russell Pearce have also gotten behind him.  This does not come as a surprise to us since we witnessed nativist and former Congressman Tom Tancredo endorse Romney in 2007.  In fact, Romney designated controversial Sheriff Joe Arpaio as his Arizona Chair when he ran against Senator John McCain during the 2008 GOP primaries.

We now live in an Information Age where Americans receive their news via YouTube, the internet and social networking – and as a result of the digital footprint now made available to us, the Karl Rovian way is becoming more of an ineffective antiquated strategy.  We are now able to file away and organize flip-flops when it comes to stances politicians have taken regarding government policy.

Elis Foley with the Huffington Post writes:

Romney has said repeatedly that he supports the Arizona’s right to pass such a law and would drop a federal lawsuit against it were he elected — perhaps not an explicit endorsement, but one that implies he supports the law, at least for Arizona.

Romney also has advocated for what he called “self-deportation,” or making things difficult for undocumented immigrants until they decide to leave, one of the central tenets of the Arizona law. One of his informal advisers on immigration, SB 1070 architect and Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach, supports the law as a model for nationwide enforcement.

“[Self-deportation] is in SB 1070,” Pearce said.

As the GOP scrambles desperately for an effort to woo the Latino vote in light of an election cycle, many of us will remember that no leading Republican

Senate Bill 1070 Signed Into Law By Arizona Governor Jan Brewer who recently endorsed Mitt Romney for 2012 President

organizations stood strong against SB1070 in 2010 when the immigration issue reached a fevered pitch except for one –  SOMOS REPUBLICANS.  SOMOS was widely known for being the only Republican organization in the nation that stood against the anti-immigrant SB 1070 law when Republican Gov. Jan Brewer signed the bill into action. Latinos were ultimately left to fend for themselves in Arizona.  Several conservative leaning groups (including Hispanic Republican groups) supported the Arizona governor.  We were dismayed when we heard Senator Marco Rubio’s support of the Arizona harsh anti-immigrant law.

The Republican Party lacked foresight and leadership with regard to an issue near and dear to Latinos,  and now they must face the music and become the Party of personal responsibility.  The RNC turned a blind eye to several Republican lawmakers who supported anti-immigrant policies. They also turned a blind eye to the many hostile remarks regarding the treatment of immigrants. RNC leadership was nowhere to be found, until now because now they want our vote.

While it is true that President Obama did not give us immigration reform during his first year as President, Latinos must go back in American history and figure out why.  We need to remind ourselves that there have been no recent American Presidents who tackled comprehensive immigration reform within their first term.  Former President Ronald Reagan did not give immigrant amnesty until he was re-elected as President.  Former President George W. Bush did not address comprehensive immigration reform until his second term because he did not believe there was an immigration problem to begin with.  The only President that supported immigrant-friendly policies during his first term as President was Benjamin Harrison and he did not get re-elected for a second term.

Should it be a complete surprise to us that President Obama has not confronted immigration during his first term?  The immigration issue has become one of the most toxic issues in our time since the Republican Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo launched his restrictionist Immigration Reform Caucus.   Meanwhile, myth-maker  (R-TX) Congressman Lamar Smith has been busy writing opinion after opinion falsely accusing President Obama as a supporter of amnesty even though he knows Obama has deported more immigrants than Bush.  The anti-immigrant sentiment continued to mount when Florida’s Cuban-American Sen. Marco Rubio stated Ronald Reagan erred in supporting  the 1986 amnesty for immigrants (despite the Cuban amnesty afforded to his own family).

So what options are Latinos left with as we revisit the painful wounds of SB 1070 during  2012?

Here are some options:

1)     We can take our chances with a President who is going to enter his second term as President because he no longer has to worry about getting re-elected

2)     Or, we could gamble away our vote with a candidate who has solid ties to Kris Kobach, (the architect behind many of these anti-immigrant and DREAM Act laws), Pete Wilson, Jan Brewer, and Russell Pearce who are all promoters of the infamous self-deportation law via SB 1070. 

Unless there is a brokered GOP Convention, there really is no third option for Latinos.

Let us be honest –  I do not believe a President will ever address immigration reform within his first term.  Just the same, I do not believe Latinos are willing to gamble with a candidate that has made deals with devils via Pete Wilson, Kris Kobach, Joe Arpaio’s  posse, and the vast majority of the Archie Bunker wing.

I am absolutely infuriated with politicians who have absolutely no compassion for our youth.  It’s clear Mitt Romney’s campaign comes with antiquated and pre Civil Rights era ideology.  We have applauded The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints  (LDS / Mormons) for their compassionate views towards the undocumented immigrants.  In fact,  LDS their top leadership has embraced the Utah Compact which is modeled after the Plymouth Compact.  We all know that Mitt Romney is a proud Mormon, so why isn’t he abiding by his own Church leadership views?   We all saw what happened here in the State of Arizona when we saw Arizona State Senator Russell Pearce (another proud Mormon) get successfully recalled and replaced by a moderate, and we will all get to see Romney experience the same fate as Pearce.

The Mormon Church would be wise to support a more compassionate GOPer like Jon Huntsman who does support the Federal DREAM Act over Mitt Romney especially when their church has converted MILLIONS upon MILLIONS of Latinos to their church.   The LDS Community (if they want to grow) should treat Romney like krypto

nite because there is no escaping the digital footprint and flip flopping of Romney’s past.

See the below headlines with regard to Romney having NO COMPASSIONATE VIEWS towards Latino youth via the DREAM Act.  Romney is sending the GOP backward with his views and will help drive in the GOP’s political coffin in the greater part of the southwest when a complete political realignment takes place because of his ancient political views.

Romney stated he will veto the DREAM Act, and as such, Latinos (except for the 3% in Florida who support him) will VETO him in all future election cycles.  He will be lucky to get double digit Latino voting support.

Romney would veto immigration “dream” act

By Jane Sutton | Reuters – Sat, Dec 31, 2011