William F. Buckley Jr. built the conservative moment by sticking to the adage that politics is about addition, not subtraction; multiplication, not division.

It’s the very opposite of what today’s GOP plans to do during the Colorado Republican State Central Committee on Saturday, when they vote whether to eliminate the primary election that gives actual voters a say in who their nominee should be.

If the primary is eliminated, the 500 plus members of the central committee party machine will have the exclusive authority to determine who gets to run for office.

And there are many on the committee who believe the party needs to be purged of anyone who does not agree with them 100% of the time on every single issue.

They don’t trust common Republicans to march in lockstep with them on conservative red meat issues, and they believe the party can only be purified by kicking out everyone but the most trusted among them.

They are not the big tent party, they are the “my or the highway” party.

They don’t want the nominee decided by the state’s one million Republican voters, or Heaven forbid, the contest swayed by unaffiliated voters who lean conservative.

So how exactly will that get more Republicans elected to office?

It won’t.

Dick Wadhams on Complete Colorado sums up the looming disaster best:

If Colorado Republicans cancel the primary election, 1.6 million unaffiliated voters will only receive a Democratic ballot in the 2022 primary.

 

Constricting the ability of 1.6 million unaffiliated voters from voting in the Republican primary, not to mention 1 million Republicans who will not attend party caucuses, is not the way to build a campaign that can win a general election.

The only way to win back state offices is for the Republican Party is to add not subtract, multiply instead of dividing.

Pushing voters aside to win elections would be like military generals telling the troops they’re not needed for the fight. 

It will end in slaughter.