Thursday, March 15, 2007

"Why Doesn't the Republican Party give Perry the boot?"

Editorials

Walking the Party Plank

March 15, 2007

The Waxahachie Daily Light
Copyright 2007

What does party affiliation mean to a candidate? Apparently, it means a lot if a candidate wants to get elected to public office in Texas. But beyond the drawing power at the ballot box, it is clear that in Texas, the party platform means very little once the oath of office has been administered.

The current governor of Texas is a classic example. Rick Perry, the Republican incumbent who recently won re-election to the state’s highest office with 39 percent of the vote, wasted no time cashing in on his “mandate” from the people by issuing a number of executive orders that run counter to Texas Republican Party Platform.

It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, but the party faithful not only work to get their candidates elected, they actually expect officials with an “R” behind their name to vote in accordance with GOP doctrine.

Based on Perry’s executive orders, one could surmise he never took the time to read all the paperwork when he signed up to be a Republican. We’re sure he had a good reason — after all, the party platform is 31 pages long, and it is single-spaced.

On Page 10, there is actually a clause on the Trans-Texas Corridor. Printed in bold letters and underlined, it’s tough to miss.

Guess what?

The GOP is against it. According to the platform, there’s no wiggle room for interpretation. In fact, the platform states, “... we urge the repeal of the Trans-Texas Corridor legislation.”

On Gov. Perry’s executive order mandating that all sixth-grade girls receive the HPV immunization — which reportedly protects them against some types of the virus (contracted through sexual contact) which may lead to cervical cancer — again brought the wrath of the GOP faithful.

The GOP platform has an entire chapter dedicated to parental rights (Pages 16-17). Actually, most of the platform centers around limited government intrusion on personal and parental rights, and not to shock anyone, several clauses on morality.
Guess what?

While the Texas GOP Platform doesn’t specifically address the HPV immunization, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see how the party would take a dim view of the government forcing young girls to be inoculated with a relatively new (and some have added the word “unproven”) vaccine that may protect them against some forms of a virus contracted through sexual contact that may develop into cancer.

What we can’t figure out is why hasn’t the party sanctioned Perry, who so blatantly legislates in opposition to the party platform?

If he’s not going to be a Republican and walk the party plank, why doesn’t the party make him an Independent by giving him the boot?

Not only would it set an example - it might actually help boost the party’s tarnished image and restore it to a new era of respectability.


© 2007 The Waxahachie Daily Light: www.waxahachiedailylight.com

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