The Elly Report: Local Perspectives

The Mass GOP and Miracles

By William J. Gillmeister

Gloom and melancholy overshadowed Boston. Tom Brady just couldn't pull it off. Twenty-four seconds and forty-five yards—that's all it would have taken. Victory was possible. But as the whole game against the Colts had gone, almost miraculously, Marlin Jackson picked off Brady's pass and simply stunned any Patriots fan watching the game.

Indeed the game was miraculous for the Colts. Monday evening as I reviewed various news stories, I found a tidbit that fit so well. Coach Dungy is a solid Christian as is Bears Coach Lovie Smith. Coach Dungy's prayers of that day were clearly answered. As Peyton Manning sat on the sidelines during the Brady's last drive, he had his head down. My son asked me, "I wonder what he's thinking?" My response, "He's sayin' a prayer." And so it was.

Such a comeback as the Colts had will not be the case for the Massachusetts Republican Party at least not for some time to come. Last November I wrote that if the Mass GOP learned their lesson and stood on central issues of life (marriage, pro-life), liberty (free from over-zealous regulators, tyrannical judges, and legislative lawlessness), and the pursuit of happiness (lower taxes, limited government) then Providence would return. In their first real measure of whether they learned their lesson, the State Committee has already fumbled the ball.

On Tuesday, 16 January, the State Republican Committee elected Peter Torkildsen as their Chairman. Mr. Torkildsen's claim to fame was a stunning victory over the State House Majority Leader in the State Legislature in 1985 to begin his career as an elected official. Two years as a Congressman followed his service in the state house. That, however, is where his winning streak ended.

Unfortunately, Mr. Torkildsen's record on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is nowhere near that of the metaphorical New England Patriots. As a member of the House of Representatives from 1993-1994, Torkildsen cosponsored and voted in favor of many pieces of abortionist rights legislation. He voted to spend upwards of $500 million over two years for condom distribution, abortion counseling, and many other "family planning" activities. In many cases he voted along side Nancy Pelosi. He is most certainly a strong advocate for the homosexual agenda. Bay Windows, a gay, lesbian, and bisexual oriented rag, reports that the Human Rights Campaign, a front group for homosexual advocacy, spent over $415,000 on Massachusetts GOP candidates including Torkildsen. But as candidate for State Committee Chair, he and his supporters have claimed that they wanted to stay away from social issues!

From a tax and spend standpoint, his record is not much better. He voted to continue expenditures on the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities which uses federal tax dollars to promote liberal and Democrat causes. He voted for many pork barrel spending bills and cosponsored bills that would have increased the minimum wage causing the loss of jobs and increasing consumer prices. From a freedom and liberty standpoint, he voted to restrict free speech rights near clinics and voted in favor of the Brady handgun bill, which places restrictions on our second amendment right to keep and bear arms. Many of the votes mentioned above were party line votes in which he voted against his GOP congressional colleagues.

In my November column I mentioned that for the Mass GOP to be reinvigorated it needed to move decidedly away from the Weld Republican era of social and fiscal liberalism that has driven it to this 100-year low water mark. Alas, it seems to have failed to understand where it is headed and that it may even move further into irrelevance. I don't hold out much hope aside from a miracle.

Coach Dungy, and I'm sure Coach Smith, know the power prayer. Peyton Manning sensed it too as Brady's pass went into the hands of Marlin Jackson. Indeed, those of faith in traditional family values in Massachusetts have nothing left but prayer. But the Creator has a funny way of waiting until His people have little left, like when Moses was backed up against the Red Sea with nowhere to turn, or Gideon, whom God expected to go up against a large, well-trained and well-equipped Philistine army with only 300 men. That's when He moves, and that's when miracles happen.

William Gillmeister is a PhD Agricultural Economist, a school committee member in Brookfield, MA, and a devoted family man. Contact him at wgillmeister@charter.net.