Why they’re The Stupid Party

The perfect explanation. Anytime anyone asks why they’re called that, just send them to this link.

You know Larry Elder: the African-American, Californian, libertarian, popular radio host and firebrand. He’s been around for a while, and he’s a solid presence on the California media-and-politics scene. Elder is a serious name and presence among California Republicans. He just wrapped up his radio show. “Why,” you might ask, “doesn’t Larry Elder run for the Senate?”

There is an answer accorinding to many of Elder’s friends at the Republican Convention — Senator Cornyn and the NRSC told him not to.

Here’s the story that is circulating at the convention: Back in the spring, Elder went to Washington to sit down with John Cornyn and the NRSC, and ask for their support for a bid for U.S. Senate against Barbara Boxer. Cornyn and the NRSC told him the following:

1. If Elder chose to run, they would not support him.
2. The NRSC was already committed to supporting Carly Fiorina
3. The NRSC expected Fiorina to lose against Boxer, but expected her to tie up Democrat resources in the meantime.

So Larry Elder came back to California and did not run. You know the rest: he’s watched the Fiorina campaign move from crisis to crisis (failure to vote, Iran sales, revelation of no self-funding, no CRP attendance, this Rasmussen poll, that website, etc.), and feeling increasingly frustrated. It’s probably too late for him to enter and Larry is hot under the collar that Cornyn gave him such terrible advice. So he’s talking to his friends — and his friends are talking to us — and I’m talking to you.

How incompetent is this? The NRSC actually told a popular African-American with statewide name recognition to NOT run? Last I checked, our party isn’t overflowing with those.

Oh, and the NRSC expects Carly Fiorina to lose to Barbara Boxer — and they told a talk radio host this?

Mr. Elder is great. I used to get to hear his replay in the wee hours of the AM here in Seattle and loved damn near every minute of it.

I remember when he first became a Republican. He had avoided becoming a member of any party for many years so that callers and guests of opposing views couldn’t use it as a straw man or a cudgel against him. He finally broke down and decided that the only party that could suit the needs of fiscally conservative Americans was the Republican Party and the only way to make the necessary changes to the party happen was to join the organization and work on those changes from the inside.

He caught so much hell and possibly lost more than a few listeners from the more strict Libertarian sect, but he was sure he was right and was working the plan.

And I think that is a great portion of the reason the NRSC picked Fiorina over Elder: They know that if she did ever win, she’d be a nice little typecast Repub who wouldn’t go rocking any boats.

And that Elder would be a little rowdy and carry no water that wasn’t his own.

And because they told him to stand back and let her lose on purpose, is why they are called The Stupid Party.