'MAGA coup' in county level GOP party politics in South Carolina

essentialsaltes

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‘A Whole Bunch of Crazy’: Inside the South Carolina GOP’s MAGA Coup

When Lenna Smith arrived at her precinct’s annual Republican Party organizing meeting last month, she didn’t expect to be greeted by a dozen strangers.

Smith has been a fixture in GOP politics in Greenville, South Carolina, for 30 years. As a prominent anti-abortion activist, she has in her rolodex nearly everyone notable or influential in conservative circles in the state’s most populous county. She is on a first-name basis with past governors.

But what happened next was totally out of her control. When it came time to elect the precinct’s president for the coming year, one of the newcomers nominated a fellow newcomer, but not a single person nominated Smith.


For the vote on the next most senior office, the same thing happened, and then the next, until there were no more offices left. Smith had been totally shut out.

“I came home, and told my husband, I was just booted out,” Smith told The Daily Beast.

What happened in Smith’s precinct was no one-off oddity; that night, longtime party activists were similarly ejected from their positions at meetings across Greenville County after hundreds of new faces showed up, seemingly out of the woodwork. The GOP loyalists did not know them, but the newcomers seemed to know the process, and they took advantage of it to jettison longtime officials.

“A behind-the-scenes battle is happening,” said a Republican operative in the state, “between establishment forces, such as they are in the current GOP, and the far-right,
▇▇▇▇▇-believing Trump supporters who want to take over this county party.”

“The grassroots activists working the hardest for President Trump’s re-election were the County Party officers and executive committeeman,” Groover said. “So it is disappointing that these same people are being cast aside for precinct and county party leadership roles by individuals who have just recently—many just since November—decided to get involved.”
 

iluvatar5150

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essentialsaltes

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I guess it makes sense that the grassroots supporters of a man who didn't know how government operates at the highest level would work to make sure their party is run by people with no experience at running things at the lowest level.
 
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wing2000

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Taking the Republican party over the MAGA cliff - one county at a time!

Meanwhile in Maricopa County (AZ), GOP Party Chairwoman (MAGA Queen) Kelli Ward is facing a redo party election after she refused to conduct an audit of the January election results. Of course she is all in favor of a recount of all the votes cast in the General Election for President.

Get Access
 
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Whyayeman

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We know it as Entryism or Entrism in the UK. It happened to the Labour party after the 2014 General Election. The end result was an unelectable party with the worst results in 80 years.

The Trump faction have taken firm steps to narrow their appeal and now are taking some more. The result is all but inevitable if the British experience is anything to go by - another landslide for the Democratic candidates in the mid-term elections in November 2022.

The Republican Party will be interesting to watch in coming months.
 
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wing2000

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We know it as Entryism or Entrism in the UK. It happened to the Labour party after the 2014 General Election. The end result was an unelectable party with the worst results in 80 years.

The Trump faction have taken firm steps to narrow their appeal and now are taking some more. The result is all but inevitable if the British experience is anything to go by - another landslide for the Democratic candidates in the mid-term elections in November 2022.

The Republican Party will be interesting to watch in coming months.

....speaking of which:

In Gallup polling throughout the first quarter of 2021, an average of 49% of U.S. adults identified with the Democratic Party or said they are independents who lean toward the Democratic Party. That compares with 40% who identified as Republicans or Republican leaners. The nine-percentage-point Democratic advantage is the largest Gallup has measured since the fourth quarter of 2012. In recent years, Democratic advantages have typically been between four and six percentage points.

Quarterly Gap in Party Affiliation Largest Since 2012
 
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Sparagmos

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‘A Whole Bunch of Crazy’: Inside the South Carolina GOP’s MAGA Coup

When Lenna Smith arrived at her precinct’s annual Republican Party organizing meeting last month, she didn’t expect to be greeted by a dozen strangers.

Smith has been a fixture in GOP politics in Greenville, South Carolina, for 30 years. As a prominent anti-abortion activist, she has in her rolodex nearly everyone notable or influential in conservative circles in the state’s most populous county. She is on a first-name basis with past governors.

But what happened next was totally out of her control. When it came time to elect the precinct’s president for the coming year, one of the newcomers nominated a fellow newcomer, but not a single person nominated Smith.


For the vote on the next most senior office, the same thing happened, and then the next, until there were no more offices left. Smith had been totally shut out.

“I came home, and told my husband, I was just booted out,” Smith told The Daily Beast.

What happened in Smith’s precinct was no one-off oddity; that night, longtime party activists were similarly ejected from their positions at meetings across Greenville County after hundreds of new faces showed up, seemingly out of the woodwork. The GOP loyalists did not know them, but the newcomers seemed to know the process, and they took advantage of it to jettison longtime officials.

“A behind-the-scenes battle is happening,” said a Republican operative in the state, “between establishment forces, such as they are in the current GOP, and the far-right,
▇▇▇▇▇-believing Trump supporters who want to take over this county party.”

“The grassroots activists working the hardest for President Trump’s re-election were the County Party officers and executive committeeman,” Groover said. “So it is disappointing that these same people are being cast aside for precinct and county party leadership roles by individuals who have just recently—many just since November—decided to get involved.”
The Republican Party, led by Mitch McConnell, have just watched while conspiracy theorists who don’t even know of, let alone hold, the values touted by the Republican Party take over. What did they expect to happen?
 
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Sparagmos

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I wonder if some of these long time GOP "fixtures" will consider switching sides? Or, will they fall in line and support the new low? I'm inclined to say the latter.
I don’t think the ‘fixtures" will. But the voters will.
 
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I wonder if some of these long time GOP "fixtures" will consider switching sides? Or, will they fall in line and support the new low? I'm inclined to say the latter.
I can see many leaving the political arena entirely.
 
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