Life after the passage of Issue 1
What should the pro-life strategy be to reduce or eliminate abortion in Ohio?
The following is an abreviated version of “A CHRISTIAN RESPONSE TO THE SPREAD OF WOKE IDEOLOGY IN OHIO.” The full analysis and report can be found in a searchable Google Document. Click the button below to view and download the report
The passage of Issue 1 was demoralizing for the right-to-life movement in Ohio. The enshrinement of abortion on demand and the loss of parental rights is one of the darkest days in Ohio’s political history. Child sacrifice is now an ideology that all Ohio elected officials must now swear to uphold when they take the Ohio oath of office.
We must always remember the enshrinement of abortion in Ohio happened on the Republicans’ watch. Republicans control the state of Ohio and are supposedly the bastion of conservatism that defends life in Ohio - yet, when the Ohio Republican State Central Committee (the controlling organization of the Ohio Republican Party) had the chance to become a true pro-life organization. One that would not endorse or financially support pro-abortion Republican candidates, they took a hard pass.
The Ohio Republican Party is a PLINO - Pro-Life In Name Only organization. Many of its most senior and established members who claimed they were devout conservative Christians stumbled all over themselves with august mental gymnastics in explaining why the party should not adopt a true prolife stance.
Make no mistake, Ohio Republicans have had enough political power for decades to stop a vast majority of elective abortions in Ohio, but they don’t. In a matter of a few weeks, the party could put legislation in place that would cause a legal quandary in Ohio and essentially nullify abortion on demand in Ohio and almost all of Issue 1. But guess what? Ohio’s Republican leaders and legislators will be loathsome to introduce or pass such prolife legislation for many superfluous and inane reasons.
To be certain, many people will claim that Ohioans have spoken on abortion - but we have had only a super-minority of voters speak in an off-year election - equating to a little more than 25% of all Ohio voters. It is doubtful that such an august pro-abortion proposition would have passed in a Presidential or Gubernatorial election year. And, therein lies the rub - why haven’t Ohio Republicans provided a fix to off-year election out-of-state special interests changing the Ohio Constitution?
OHIO REPUBLICANS: LOSING THE MORAL HIGH GROUND FOR DECADES
First, we must recognize that Republican party leaders have had no forethought of strengthening the integrity of Ohio citizens and stopping moral decay as Ohio slips into the abyss of immorality. Make no mistake; moderate Republicans will, and have, sold all semblance of conservative and traditional values down the road to resonate with enough unaffiliated moderate Democrats and unaffiliated moderate Republicans to win re-election.
Pro-life conservatives have seen it with our own eyes! We see it with the death of over 20,000 preborn innocents each year. We see it in our fractured and corrupt justice system. We see it with Ohio families ripped asunder by Child Protective Services policies and laws. We see it with the overdose deaths from Ohio’s youths giving in to stress and depression to find some happiness. We see it with the shamefully high human-trafficking numbers of our women and children.
The Ohio Republican party's willingness to cede the line in holding the moral high ground has been the ruination of Ohio. We have seen the lackadaisical attitude of the party for decades on public education. Ohio has an education system that celebrates Pride Day perversities and provides inspiration to students with drag queen story hour while condemning the Ten Commandments and teaching such a fear of Christ to our young as to erase his name from Christmas break in favor of Winter Break or Winter Solstice.
In Ohio, it is quite clear that no Ohio political party has any moral high ground because both parties are without morals. This lack of morals is reflective of our laws, our legal system, and a lack of ethical governance.
THE DAVID JOHNSON FACTOR
We shouldn’t be surprised that when Republicans have had a philosophy for decades that cedes our future to Democrats, that our state is sliding into the moral abyss. The future is here, and the pursuit of happiness for far too many Ohioans is being found at the end of needles and in dangerous illegal drugs being sold on the streets.
For over 30 years, Republican State Central Committee leaders like David Johnson have been prominent figures in charting Ohio’s destiny. David is the multi-millionaire and former Ohio State Representative from Columbiana County who has been a prominent figure in steering the Ohio Republican Party by using his wealth and influence.
I am sorry to report he is a man who is out of touch with the reality of the condition of Ohio and with Ohio Republicans. He puts his head in the sand and shouts about how great Ohio is to live in and how it is an excellent place for business and raising a family. He turns a blind eye to the high overall unemployment in Ohio. The rise in crime and drugs on the street and Ohioans overdosing at embarrassingly high rates are demographics he conveniently ignores. He seems to ignore human trafficking figures for Ohio and rising domestic violence. He ignores the high taxes Ohioans pay and the indescribably poor and very dysfunctional liberal education system that Ohio Republicans have created over the last 50 years. He ignores that Ohio ranks 49th in the United States for job creation over the last 20 years. Mr. Johnson - for example, believes that the Ohio Governor did a great job in following the lead of Democrat Governor Cuomo in shutting down small businesses and mandating mask-wearing and compulsory vaccination policies, thereby giving big businesses a leg up on their smaller competition. As thousands of Ohio’s mom-and-pop shops went out of business - Mr. Johnson has sung the praises of Republican Governor DeWine as he embraced Democrat positions thoroughly. Mr. Johnson ignored the results of prominent Republican Governors like Governor Ron Desantis and Governor Kristi Noem, who greatly minimized the impact on small businesses in their States by implementing conservative policies.
Then, let’s take a deeper look at the record of the Republican party over the last 30 years in Ohio and what it has ultimately led up to. Does Mr. Johnson take any responsibility at all for the condition of Ohio in the last 30 years he has been on the Republican State Central Committee? At first blush, the party looks like it has never been stronger, with supermajorities in the Ohio House and the Ohio Senate holding all state officers’ seats. But, when we inspect closer, we see the cracks in the Republican armor begin to form, and the cracks, with an even closer inspection, become mighty fissures.
We have seen the policies of the Republican party that have resulted in the largest cities in Ohio being dominated by Democrats. In Columbus, the capital of Ohio and the seat of Republican power, the woke Democrat-led rebellion has been on a relentless march, defacing the Statehouse and setting fire in the streets. An attack on the Statehouse that was not met with a defensive force or mass arrests. The scene at the Statehouse looked like the aftermath of a third-world country rebellion, as many Republican State Representatives noted on social media. Even more preposterous than this unchallenged violent attack during a pandemic lockdown was the woke rebellion and Columbus city council agreeing that the namesake of the city, Christopher Columbus, must have his statue removed to prevent further enlightened leftists from committing further violence.
Where has all this violence been propagated? Look no further than within our Ohio public schools and universities. There is no shortage of Ohio State professors and K-12 educators who are promoting genocide by helping to promote pro-Palistine marches, Antifa marches, BLM (Black Lives Matter) marches, and other violent ideologies. Ohio tax dollars are funding these institutions that are a breeding ground for BLM, Antifa, and all matters of evil through the audacious and petulant activism of grossly misinformed educators. Are we to expect that the Republicans who are in control of the tax dollars these schools receive - do nothing? Should we not have Republican legislators marching in lock-step to fire pro-genocidal educators? Should we not fire educators who support terrorist organizations rather than allow these educators to continue to warp the minds of our children and young adults? Why haven’t our Republican bureaucrats fired these activist protestors? Why haven’t we expelled these university students from our schools? We need to have those who are old enough and supposed to know better tell educators that diversity of thought does not mean including evil thoughts. The lack of resistance to these Democrat-led extreme leftist positions and actions has left many Republicans to conclude the Ohio Republican Party is the most successful yet, gutless and spineless state Republican party in the nation.
What has the Ohio Republican Party accomplished lately? The dominant Republican Party, in one session, lost control of the Ohio State Board of Education and a Republican seat in Congress. Handing Democrats another victory that a passionate Republican Party would have been able to defeat easily. In the same session, the much-vaunted Republican party lost the fight against abortion-on-demand and recreational drugs. Yet, the party of Dave Johnson is patting themselves on the back for their great job in upholding Republican values within the state.
What have we realized under this monster of moderate Republicanism - under Mr. Johnson’s watch, we have seen the largest Republican scandals in Ohio’s history. We have seen Republicans make headlines with perverse sex scandals. We have watched in awe as two Republican Speakers of the House have stepped down due to FBI investigations for wrongdoing. We have seen former Republican Governor Kasich walk, talk, and act like a Democrat, so much so that he was invited to speak at the Democrat National Convention. We’ve stood aghast as a former Ohio Republican Chairman took up arms with liberal Democrats to end the presidency of one of the best Republican Presidents America has ever had. And the list goes on and on. Why can’t the Ohio Republican Party pick leaders who are as passionate about the Party and most of its grassroots volunteers? What kind of message does it send?
DISILLUSIONMENT
Suffice it to say that the majority of Ohio Republicans have been disillusioned with the Ohio Republican Party. Their disillusion is made all too real when they talk to Ohio legislators who have an “I can’t attitude” rather than an “I can attitude.” There seemingly is always an excuse for why more conservative legislation can’t be passed. The reason is always that there are too many moderate Republicans and that leadership will not hold moderate Republicans’ feet to the fire in any meaningful way. We are told to be happy with what they can pass, which is always a tremendous compromise on the part of Conservatives. We see things like voter identification taking nearly 50 years to pass. And simple conservative things like not allowing the biological sex on an Ohio birth certificate to be changed to what a person identifies their gender to be.
We have no one to focus the party on efforts critical to the well-being of Ohioans. Too many Republican legislators are working on pet projects or not working at all in the interest of traditional Republican values. The state party has been a poor example of Republican governance, and that has filtered down to the County parties. Most of the county parties are run by power-hungry narcissists who are ineffectual in leadership and are reluctant to change anything. While Republicans may dominate at the county level, the larger cities are dominated by Democrats and get the lion’s share of state and federal funding.
THE STRATEGIES WE NEED TO WIN - SETTING LEGISLATIVE OBJECTIVES
We need to read the scorecard from time to time on our wins and losses. Ohio Republicans don’t really care if we have supermajorities if we cannot pass common-sense conservative legislation. It is a reality of life that no mother wants to see sex predators and heroine needles at their children’s parks and playgrounds. Mothers with half a lick of sense do not want their children’s minds warped by activists teaching false realities, false narratives, and a curriculum that can so dismay a child and make them so angry as never to become happy. It is common sense that adults should not chop off the sex organs of mentally compromised adults and children. No one’s happiness should have to come at the hands of immoral actions, no matter how much profit there is to be had.
We need to be cognizant of how much work our Republican legislators are doing for special interests and how much they are doing for Ohio Republicans. We need our party to do several things for reform, but setting Legislative Objectives needs to be part and parcel of your Republican County Central Committee and State Central Committee. It’s time we said no to Central Committee members with no goals. It is time we said no to members who will not accept responsibility for the state of their county or the state of the State. Click (link) to learn more and how this relates to reforming a more proactive and engaged Republican Party.
(link) Republicans need to ensure their County and State Central Committee candidates are committed to legislative objectives (goals).
(link) Republicans need to champion primary ballot propositions.
(link) Republicans need to champion closed primaries to eliminate primary voter hopping.
(link) Republicans need to champion that a majority of county political parties may together vote to call for a political convention where they may change party leadership, change the party’s bylaws, and determine primary ballot propositions if necessary.
(link) Republicans need to champion that all school board and municipal races are partisan races so that voters know what the candidate’s party affiliation is before they cast their ballot.
(link) Pass Personhood Rights and Sanctity of Life into law.
(link) Pass legislation that amends the Ohio Oath of Office so Christians do not have to vow to uphold and protect the parts of the Ohio Constitution that advocate for child sacrifice.
(link) Amend the Ohio Constitution so it can only be amended in Presidential election years at the general election and at least 40% of all Ohio voters must vote for the amendment’s passage for the amendment to become law.
(link) The Ohio Republican State Central Committee should amend its bylaws to require a two-thirds vote of all County Central Committee Chairmen before financially supporting or opposing any statewide initiatives. This should lead to a more rigorous vetting of statewide initiatives and strategies in an effort to amass enough votes for support or opposition.
(link) All Ohio grassroots advocacy groups should consider the concepts laid out within this document for implementing a system for video petition signature committees and petition signature collection for Ohio petitions and Citizen-led Ballot Committees.
CONCLUSIONS
With some simple and common sense strategies, it is possible that the Ohio Republican Party may become reformed to better engage with and align its priorities with the common everyday Republican voters. It is very important to realize the motivations of county and State Central Committee leaders, how they view the role of the party in the affairs of the State, the responsibilities they intend to assume in relation to setting goals and realizing them, and their attentiveness to the ownership of governance of the party rather than merely being a member of a committee that is polled on their various political opinions within a very myopic view of the Republican party.
The days of effective governance by imbuing the chairman of the party with the powers of a King are over. Passion for the Republican party cannot be had with leaders who accept no responsibilities, set no goals, and have limited interactions, if any, with their constituents. The Ohio Republican Party as a whole has a very basic problem of leadership in that most do not make themselves easily and conveniently available to their constituents or, they do not listen to their constituents when they do have conversations. Henry Ford might have said it best, “When I asked the people what they wanted, they said they wanted faster horses, not automobiles.” A lack of vision for the party beyond tweaking the status from what we do from one year to the next is the seed we sow of our own destruction. Decimating the passion of others by becoming their hurdles rather than setting them free with encouragement to work together on a common plan to defeat the evil in our midst is doomed to failure. A failure to engage and inspire your colleagues to make the most of their talents and energies on the central committee has never been a key to the success of a party. Treating some members as enemies invites bitterness and spite and is the mother of infighting and back-biting, which leads to ineffective leadership. If your sole goal is controlling the leadership position and amassing political power within the party rather than treating all your colleagues with respect - even those you disagree with - the party will fall far short of its potential.
As a party leader, it is up to you and your colleagues on the central committee to develop a vision beyond faster horses and excite and inspire your constituents to donate, volunteer, and expand the party. If you are not looking at growing the membership, if you fail to excite and inspire, if you feel no duty to innovate and lead where others have feared to tread, then we have already lost the game. It has been said by some of America’s most spectacular and popular Republican politicians and thought leaders that if the Ohio Republican Party were in charge of the moon landing, Neil Armstrong would have never set foot on the moon. If the party were in charge of sending a man into space, then John Glenn would have never orbited the Earth. If the party had to decide whether or not to invest in the Wright brothers, man might have never taken to the skies. And if party leadership had the chance to take a risk on Christopher Columbus and his fleet of ships, then the Americas may never have been found.
Our party and our officeholders need to be reminded to take risks. When our party leaders and our officeholders reflexively ask, “Where else has this been done?” Then we do not lead as a party, and Ohio does not lead as a state. Stop creating hurdles, delegate responsibility to those who excel where you are weak, and stop the hate and envy that creates a we-they culture. When we are so busy fighting ourselves, we become too tired to fight the enemy effectively. When we drive our own central committee members into passionate anger - we all come along for the ride and create our own worst enemy - when we drive central committee members to unite by treating them with respect when we clear the air with difficult discussions centered around the apathy within the party and move from the goal of the petty accumulation of political power within our own party, we create a party that each registered Republican can be proud of. Our leaders on the central committee must not engender hatred for each other and hear each other out when they’d rather be home than have difficult political discussions. We need to foment good word of mouth through our actions and deeds - not sow the seeds of dissension and anger.
The County Central Committees and State Central Committee are the foundation upon which the party is built. Central committee members have an awesome responsibility to set an example for the rest of the party. A party built upon lies, deceit, and apathy for one another is the result of poor leadership, a lack of respect, and unprofessionalism that leads to systemic corruption that will, in time, permeate every aspect of the party from the foundation to the roof.
As Republicans, we all need to expect more from our leaders. We need to elect those who are not fearful of taking responsibility and of being held accountable to get things done. When the common wisdom is that central committee leaders are never to hold officeholders accountable for not passing legislation that moves the Republican party platform down the field and imparts trust and respect, when leadership treats your opinions with no respect, and when party leaders start using parliamentary tricks to silence their political detractors - they are not worthy of your support. We must stop electing county and state candidates based on what they believe. We must discern if candidates for the central committee will set ambitious goals for the party, if they have a plan for governance, if they will take responsibility for accomplishing things by setting goals and priorities, and if they have the temperament to work with and respect those they might not agree with. Of course, asking about a candidate’s values and beliefs is acceptable, but we also need to ask the bigger political and moral questions of how a party should operate. Can Republicans decide not to hand all the power over to the establishment elites and expect party members to do important work? Should Republican officeholders tell the party how to operate, or should the elected party leaders tell the officeholders what their legislative goals and priorities will be? Should the party be involved in changing the direction of Ohio schools and universities when traditionally they never have been? Or should we keep heading down this path with the rift between the registered Republican voters and the Ohio Republican party continuing to split apart?
The future is not up to a politician wearing a suit of armor and riding in on a white horse. The future will be up to us to hold our party leaders just as responsible as candidates for office when Democrats and liberals win.
Hog-wash. I'll not spend any time considering "what went wrong" or who spent more on postcards or TV commercials, or thinking that radical voices somehow magically outnumber rational thought. Believing this is a byproduct of the systematic muting of anyone/everyone not far-Left in media and social media.
I have less than zero confidence in our Elections Infrastructure. (See also: Bridgeport CT court ruling, Pennsylvania vote-flipping/closure issues, Fulton County GA cases, Mohave & Maricopa County AZ issues/cases, New York and Wisconsin cases, etc.).
Did you know? Our existing systems are designated "proprietary" so We The People are forbidden from evaluating the hardware or software associated with determining the will of The People. This destroys the fundamental notion of "vote in private, count in public."
Did you know? Chain-of-Custody laws that are designed to protect We The People are routinely ignored.
At some point I expect someone to explain to me how We The People gave over complete control of running elections to the very government that We The People use the power of the vote to replace.
Having spent exhaustive time involved in reviewing and analyzing Elections Infrastructure, I have less than zero confidence in reported results. The fact that courts are now agreeing (and the state of Georgia just very specifically said "this is not conspiracy theory", that the systems are fundamentally bad, and a Bridgeport Judge just ruled that recent elections were so rife with fraud that there's no way of telling who (or what issue) won, and the fact that the very systems we're using are outlawed in many other developed nations...
I'll not discuss "what churches could have done differently" or how Ohio is suddenly so woke that we'll accept anything. Not until we have elections that have a clear, reliable, replicable, transparent trail NOT hidden from public scrutiny.
The Americas were found before Columbus. The gerrymandered Republican Government of Ohio refuses to adhere to the will of the citizens with their radical right-wing ideology the seems to be geared to self-aggrandizement. If the citizens of this state manage to wrest the re- districting from the politicians in Columbus and provide a truer makeup of the body politic. The more beneficial migration of the political ideology toward the middle of the road will happen.