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Matt Collins and Rep. Ron Paul |
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UPDATE: DCGOP CHAIRPERSON ELECTION RESULTS
County Republicans select party officers Saturday at their biannual reorganization meeting. And one young local party-chair candidate says now’s the time for bold new blood and brash new perspectives and directions -- that is, if the party has plans to compete nationally again anytime soon against activist-government progressivism.
Twenty-seven-year-old Matt Collins, a sound engineer and producer at Supertalk 99.7 WTN, said the 2008 presidential election showed in rather stark terms that the GOP needs to start embracing a “younger, more philosophically-motivated” brand of “limited-government conservatism” of the sort Ron Paul aroused during his primary run last year.
“If you look at what happened in the general election, younger people in America were working for the other side: They campaigned for Obama, most of them,” said Collins. “It’s clear the Republican Party needs to change directions and bring young people in who’re energetic, passionate and willing to work. The party needs people who actually understand and can utilize new technologies, adhere to a traditional conservative philosophy and can move the party forward in the 21st Century.”
Of course, given the Tennessee GOP’s historic legislative gains at the state level in November, establishment Republicans could probably be forgiven for thinking they’re doing just fine as things stand now, thank you very much. An email from TNGOP chief of staff Mark Winslow that circulated around Tennessee Republican circles last month said as much: The Old Guard can do without the zealous peace&freedom-purists that Rep. Paul’s campaign so emboldened.
“I'm not going to be put in a position of having these nut jobs elect a (Davidson County GOP) chairman who will question or announce they will not support the Republican candidate for Governor or nominees for the House and Senate the way (Collins) does with his McCain comments,” Winslow wrote. “We have too many strong opportunities next year.”
Collins, whose opponent for the chairmanship is current vice-chair Kathleen Starnes, said the offending “McCain comments” he made were words to the effect that he “would not personally vote for a big government liberal even if they were a Republican.”
“Apparently, Mr. Winslow and the TNGOP expect all Republicans to support the R-candidates, even if they are big-government, liberty-oppressing, liberals,” Collins shot back.
A 2005 Middle Tennessee State University graduate, Collins said he was raised in a “conservative Republican” household. He said that over the course of the Bush administration he started believing the GOP was abandoning the values he was taught growing up.
Paul’s presidential candidacy, and the energetic following it stimulated, reawakened in Collins a resurgent sense of optimism and idealism.
“Ron Paul is true to principles and he isn’t going to compromise those principles. That’s what the Republican Party needs right now,” said Collins.
Outgoing Davidson County GOP chairman Tom Lawless told Examiner.com he won’t officially endorse a favorite in the race to succeed him. But Lawless said he’s long believed expanding the party base to include new voters and new demographics will require new leaders with new visions.
Collins appears to fit the mold, said Lawless.
“The party needs to get younger and it needs to get more inclusive,” said Lawless. “(Starnes) is clearly a status-quo candidate, and she’d be the pick of the older generation that currently has the reins of power. But you’ve got to pass those reins at some point. I recognized very early in Matt the strength of his energies and of his traditional conservative beliefs that go back, not just to the ideas of Ronald Reagan, but to the ideas of the Founding Fathers. Matt has exhibited to me some extremely good leadership qualities in a very, very short period of time.”
Comments
Excellent! GO FOR IT MATT!
This is great! I wish Matt the best of luck. He has my full support.
Couldn't agree more. Go get 'em Matt.
RON PAUL IS THE MAN IF HE IS FOR YOU SO AM I!!
Make it happen Matt!
Mr. Winslow won't have to worry about being put in any uncomfortable positions by "nut jobs." Eventually, he won't HAVE any position to worry about. He has no idea who he's calling names. More than a few people are sick and tired of blindly following party nominees and candidates who don't have the courage and substance to take a principled stand on issues that really matter. The "old guard's" impotent leadership failed to honor its oath. It's time for those who're young and strong in their commitment to this Country to take the lead.
Go Matt! I live in Williamson Cty and can't vote but you can rest assured that we're pulling for you!
Awesome. Maybe for once we can get some real CHANGE we can believe in, lol. Neocon Republicans and these corporate Democrats are two factions of the same party. War-mongering, America-hating, and banker-loving.
GO MATT!
Isn't it funny how Republicans really don't like true Constitutional Republicans!
Vote Matt Collins!
GO "NUT JOB",GO!!!
Must be another Laurel.....Lp did not say that.
I support the ideas of liberty and freedom, Mr. Collins can be a huge positive difference for the TNGOP. Mr. Winslow needs to apologize for his remarks, millions of people donated multi-millions of dollars to Ron Paul's campaign, a feat Mr. Winslow will probably never duplicate and the last thing the TNGOP wants to do is alienate those people. If the name-calling continues I have to assume the TNGOP does not want my time, money or vote.
In Liberty
JB
hey Matt it was great meeting you at the constitution seminar in Oak Ridge Jan. 20, just want to say i will be backing you all the way to the chair, your Friend in liberty
I got involved because of you Matt and the reason I never did before was because of people like Mr. Winslow who I look forward to meeting face to face tomorrow.
Great job Matt...Good luck!
See you tomorrow Mr.Winslow
Matt, I too am a long-time true conservative, sick to death of what has happened to our Party. Please help bring it back.
It's about time the republicrats were taken over by Constitution-loving and fearing representatives of people who want to be free. Republicans are warm-over liberals since Reagan, and they need a new tack to the right badly. Go Matt Collins; it's way, way past time. Given the communist in power now, I can only hope it's not too late... Cashu
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I support you 100%, Matt!
By going to Politics.nashville post you will see that Mr. Lawless did endorse Mr. Collins, so I guess he misspoke his intentions to Examiner.com.
By doing this, he showed his inability to be
totally objective as a chairman and if I were Mr. Collins I would be very unhappy about creating this dissention within his own party.
What say you, Mr. Collins?
Matt is a perfect mix of youth, maturity, and dedication with the understanding of the conservatism the GOP is supposed to stand for. Not to mention he's a great motivator and will easily be able to raise money for conservative candidates.
I have a tremendous amount of respect for Matt. I hope the fine people of Nashville and Davidson County do themselves and our country a favor and put this man in charge of the DCGOP next month.
Matt, I look forward to hearing more from you back at "national grassroots HQ". The fine people of Sarasota,FL need your example to shine!
Mr. Winslow would have called Thomas Jefferson a "Nut Job". Thanks Matt, lets get our party back
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