Ron Paul’spresidential candidacy, and the energetic following it stimulated,reawakened in Collins a resurgent sense of optimism and idealism.
County Republicans select party officers Saturday at their biannualreorganization meeting. And one young local party-chair candidate saysnow’s the time for bold new blood and brash new perspectives anddirections — that is, if the party has plans to compete nationallyagain anytime soon against activist-government progressiveness.
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 thatthe GOP needs to start embracing a “younger, morephilosophically-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, youngerpeople in America were working for the other side: They campaigned forObama, most of them,” said Collins. “It’s clear the Republican Partyneeds to change directions and bring young people in who’re energetic,passionate and willing to work. The party needs people who actuallyunderstand and can utilize new technologies, adhere to a traditionalconservative philosophy and can move the party forward in the 21st Century.”
Ofcourse, given the Tennessee GOP’s historic legislative gains at thestate level in November, establishment Republicans could probably beforgiven for thinking they’re doing just fine as things stand now,thank you very much. An email from TNGOP chief of staff Mark Winslowthat circulated around Tennessee Republican circles last month said asmuch: The Old Guard can do without the zealouspeace&freedom-purists that Rep. Paul’s campaign so emboldened.
“I’mnot going to be put in a position of having these nut jobs elect a(Davidson County GOP) chairman who will question or announce they willnot support the Republican candidate for Governor or nominees for theHouse 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 KathleenStarnes, said the offending “McCain comments” he made were words to theeffect that he “would not personally vote for a big government liberaleven if they were a Republican.”
“Apparently, Mr. Winslow and theTNGOP expect all Republicans to support the R-candidates, even if theyare big-government, liberty-oppressing, liberals,” Collins shot back.
A2005 Middle Tennessee State University graduate, Collins said he wasraised in a “conservative Republican” household. He said that over thecourse of the Bush administration he started believing the GOP wasabandoning the values he was taught growing up.
Paul’spresidential candidacy, and the energetic following it stimulated,reawakened in Collins a resurgent sense of optimism and idealism.
“RonPaul is true to principles and he isn’t going to compromise thoseprinciples. That’s what the Republican Party needs right now,” saidCollins.
Outgoing Davidson County GOP chairman Tom Lawless toldExaminer.com he won’t officially endorse a favorite in the race tosucceed him. But Lawless said he’s long believed expanding the partybase to include new voters and new demographics will require newleaders with new visions.
Collins appears to fit the mold, said Lawless.
“Theparty needs to get younger and it needs to get more inclusive,” saidLawless. “(Starnes) is clearly a status-quo candidate, and she’d be thepick of the older generation that currently has the reins of power. Butyou’ve got to pass those reins at some point. I recognized very earlyin Matt the strength of his energies and of his traditionalconservative beliefs that go back, not just to the ideas of RonaldReagan, but to the ideas of the Founding Fathers. Matt has exhibited tome some extremely good leadership qualities in a very, very shortperiod of time.”