An Amazing Upset Victory for Lt. Gov. in Indiana
This is why we need conventions instead of primaries
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It doesn’t have to be this way. If we actually had a focused movement involved in red-state public affairs, we’d change the country overnight. On Saturday, Indiana pastor Micha Beckwith shocked the political establishment by beating the party apparatus, which has the backing of Trump to secure the nomination for lieutenant governor. He joins us to discuss how he was propelled by churchgoing delegates who were highly engaged and sick and tired of a red state being governed like California.
We engage in a free-wheeling conversation about how pastors need to motivate their congregants to get on the political playing field, the need to inject more godly virtue into an increasingly secularized right wing, and how his voice can serve as a beachhead for our values in a state that has been devoid of conservatives. Most of all, Beckwith’s victory proves once again that switching primaries to conventions is the only way to break the uniparty.
There are some in Knox County who want to move to precincts, over a general convention. The problem is that it seems to give to much power to one individual, the county chair, to decide who can make decisions for the local Republican party. That person will decide who the precinct captain is, etc. The other problem is that the participation level for a county that contains probably 150,000-200,000 registered Republican voters (out of 450,000 residents, which include children) is so anemic that a party apparatus would collapse in on itself. The last convention had about 430 people show up. With 100 precincts or so, there may not even be someone from every precinct to run it. The overall participation rate needs to go up before that level of detailed organization needs to be implemented.
There are some in Knox County who want to move to precincts, over a general convention. The problem is that it seems to give to much power to one individual, the county chair, to decide who can make decisions for the local Republican party. That person will decide who the precinct captain is, etc. The other problem is that the participation level for a county that contains probably 150,000-200,000 registered Republican voters (out of 450,000 residents, which include children) is so anemic that a party apparatus would collapse in on itself. The last convention had about 430 people show up. With 100 precincts or so, there may not even be someone from every precinct to run it. The overall participation rate needs to go up before that level of detailed organization needs to be implemented.