The RNC Platform committee met earlier this week. In that meeting, Trump and his campaign put forward a list of objectives for the 2024 Platform. Many Republicans and conservative groups were gravely concerned with the weakening of key conservative principles in this list. The Platform Integrity Project, a coalition of over forty conservative family organizations, urged Republicans to contact the delegates representing their state, pleading that they would not strip core Republican values from our platform.
However, at the end of the Platform Committee, the result was platform that weakened statements on life, rights of the unborn, biblical marriage, and other social issues. OK Senator Dusty Deevers says, “Contrary to the short-sighted calculations of establishment consultants in the beltway who have given us nothing but perpetual failure, Republicans will not benefit from abandoning the moral values that make our party attractive to Christians. No matter what you think of these evangelical voters, the reality is that the GOP will lose them if we go through with this.” (Source)
But the larger question is, how did we get here?
We’re seeing in many state GOP’s, that the will of the majority of the active members of the party is being disregarded, and the Establishment is working overtime to continue to appoint people to these committees that do not have the fortitude to stand for our values.
Consider what happened in Oklahoma. At the end of the State Convention, the State Chairman announced that there would be a meeting for all the delegates at the side of the stage. He told the delegates who had been selected for the committees, and apparently held a quick vote, although half the delegates couldn’t hear and didn’t know what was happening, and a woman had just fallen off the stage and some were distracted helping her.
In the end, Chairman Dahm sent Taylor Broyles and Former State Senator Mark Allen to the Platform Committee.
Taylor Broyles, Chairwoman of the Oklahoma Young Republicans, went on KOCO in January to defend Sen. James Lankford after the OKGOP State Committee censured him for his border deal with Sen. Chuck Schumer. Rep. Matt Gaetz summed up the legislation as, “This bill is an authorized invasion of our country. And any Republican who supports it better never run another campaign on how they care about border security.” (Source)
Instead of defending Republican values, Broyles said, “To me it’s really disappointing that we’re attacking someone like that, because he has done so much for Oklahoma in general…we have to work bipartisan deals, that’s just part of it.” She also expressed concern that the censure would affect her recruitment of Young Republicans. (Source)
Broyles attacked the Republican position on a closed border, enshrined in our OKGOP Platform. Yet, when our State Chairman was “choosing” (instead of using the proper process) the delegates to represent Oklahoma on the Platform Committee, he chose the person who betrayed our values. And if she betrayed them once, what confidence did we have that she would stand for our values at the RNC?
Many members in our state would have stood for our values, but were tricked out of the opportunity to decide who was being sent.
As discouraging as the outcome of this committee is, we can change this. We must continue to show up. Consider this, the Oklahoma GOP state convention voted 65% against the Trump-endorsed National Committeewoman candidate for someone that we knew would stand for our values, no matter the cost. At our 2024 State Convention, political outsiders were voted in to many positions, because they are TRUSTED by the people to not give in to ploys for power or influence in exchange for compromise.
The Republicans of Oklahoma are extremely pro-life (as evidenced by our state platform), but it was deception that sent these delegates to represent us. Oklahoma, stay active in your precincts and counties, and let’s continue to elect those who will truly represent our values, no matter the cost.