( - promoted by Rob "EaBo Clipper" Eno)
Around 10:30 pm on Thursday, January 31, Kirsten Hughes defeated Rick Green to become the next chairman of the MassGOP by a second-ballot vote of 41-39, after a tie vote of 39-39 on the first ballot. I, of course, voted for Rick on both ballots, and so I am certainly quite disappointed by the results.
I offer hearty congratulations to Kirsten on her victory, and I look forward to working with her and the rest of my colleagues on the special elections in the next few months, the municipal races taking place in the spring and fall, and everything that will happen in 2014 and beyond. Both Kirsten and Rick deserve our gratitude for devoting so much of their time and energy to our party over the past several years, and to this race for the past two months.
I very sincerely hope that Kirsten will prove me wrong in my judgment about this race over the weeks and months ahead. There are simply too few of us to remain divided into factions, and for my part I intend to reach out to those on the other side of this vote who are willing to work together for the betterment of our party and, thereby, our cities, our state, and our country.
We must elect Republicans at every level, from US Senate to school committee, and we must resume our work in doing so as soon as possible. I hope we can soon shift our energies from arguing those with whom we agree 60%, 70%, or 80% of the time, and re-focus them to arguing with those with whom we agree seldom or almost never.
A long road back to relevance and respectability awaits us. Today (for it's nearly 2 am), we must begin to traverse it. |