by Frank Williams, 7th District Chairman

Last night I attended the Pender County Republican Party President’s Day Dinner in Hampstead.  The event attracted a strong crowd of enthusiastic conservatives who are committed to electing candidates who will restore common sense to our government.

NCGOP State Chairman Tom Fetzer was the keynote speaker.  Chairman Fetzer underscored many of the problems our state and nation have seen under the Obama and Perdue administrations.

Chairman Fetzer also emphasized the importance of Republicans winning a majority in one or both houses of the N.C. General Assembly, pointing out that Republicans have not had a majority in the State Senate since ‘98.  That’s 1898, not 1998.  Additionally, he pointed out that Republicans have only had a majority in the State House for four years during that time, meaning that the Democrats have effectively controlled North Carolina’s State Government for the past century.   Given the fact that corruption in our state government has reached epidemic proportions, it is clearly time for a change in leadership.

Chairman Fetzer also made the point that victory in 2010 will not happen on its own.  To paraphrase his statement, it is much like what his grandmother said about the family’s holiday meals:  they don’t put themselves on the table, someone has to prepare them.  Chairman Fetzer asked attendees, “What are you prepared to do” to bring about Republican victories in 2010?

In my view, we must do a number of things to bring about conservative Republican victories in 2010:

1.  In those races where we have contested primaries, we must scrutinize our candidates.  This will ensure that we have a clear picture of who the candidates are, what they believe and how they will conduct themselves if elected.  Additionally, this will ensure that our candidates are battle-tested and better prepared for the general election.  Finally, this is our chance to ensure that the candidates who carry our party’s banner in November truly share our principles.

2.  We must build strong, effective party organizations on the ground in our precincts.

3.  After the primary, our precinct and party organizations must be focused on getting Republican voters to the polls.

4.  After the primary, we must ensure that our party and our candidates have the resources needed to communicate our message to voters.

5.  Finally, once the primary is over we must unite and focus on the main thing:  electing our candidates in November.   This election is too important for us to be distracted from that core mission.   As Chairman Fetzer has said on numerous occasions, we must be One Team with One Goal:  Victory in 2010.