Nothing triggers a Republican quicker than the suggestion of cheating, an unfair playing field, or being told what to do by The Man.
Or at least it used to.
Under the new regime of Colorado GOP chairman Dave Williams, party bosses have now decided for us who we must vote for in the Republican presidential primary.
The Central Committee on Sunday abandoned the party’s revered history of remaining neutral in primary races and decided for us that Donald Trump should win and we should just do what they say and vote for him. Screw our own free will.
It’s not clear how many of the 400 central committee members tuned in to an online Zoom meeting to cast their ballots, but the measure to endorse Trump passed with 65% of the vote, reports Colorado Politics.
Adding insult to financial injury, the Colorado endorsement comes after candidates were forced to pay wildly inflated fees of $40,000 to the state party in order to compete in our primary.
Trump, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy, all coughed up the pay-to-play tax. Asa Hutchinson took the option of headlining a fundraiser for the state party.
Is the party going to refund all that money after tipping the scales for Trump?
Doubtful.
It seems like just weeks ago the state party was blasting the unfairness of removing Trump from Colorado’s ballot and insisting that Republicans should get to decide who they support instead of a partisan judiciary.
Now our independent decisions don’t matter?
The party vote is taking a lot of heat on social media, where many are quick to point out the endorsement violates state party bylaws.
With 65 percent of the vote, @realDonaldTrump has been officially endorsed by the Colorado Republican Party.
“On the eve of the Iowa Caucuses, the Colorado Republican Party wanted to give President Donald J. Trump a big send off by enthusiastically endorsing him for President in… pic.twitter.com/U7Znw35XTW
— Colorado Republican Party (@cologop) January 15, 2024
From Colorado Politics:
Delta County GOP Chairman David Bradford said during debate over the question that he supports Trump but disagreed with the state party discarding its longstanding position of staying out of primaries.
“I voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020,” Bradford said. “I am not against Donald Trump, but I think our bylaws are very clear on maintaining pre-primary neutrality.”
Many Republicans would agree. But whatever. Williams promised he wouldn’t do it again.
The Trump endorsement doesn’t change the party’s policy of maintaining neutrality in other primary contests, said Williams, who declared his candidacy last week for the open 5th Congressional District seat held by retiring U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn.
We don’t like punching down on the Grand Old Party. That’s the mainstream media’s job.
But Williams has already used the state party to promote his campaign for the open congressional seat against a multitude of fellow Republican candidates. And now he’s using the party to cozy up for Trump’s endorsement of his race.
We don’t believe Colorado Republicans elected Williams to tip the scales or play favorites in the party.
That’s so establishment.
And Colorado Republicans has a history of being anti-establishment.