MD Harris Institute

Republican Political History in Raleigh County WV

Explore some history about the Republican Party in Raleigh County, WV.

History is objective in that something real happened. It is subjective in that we often don’t have complete details on what happened, and we have few details about why. History has been used as a political tool since Cicero. At the same time, history provides a fascinating look at our forebears, and why we are where we are today. I have assembled a little history about the Republican Party in Raleigh County, WV. Whatever your political stripe, I encourage you to discover a little bit about the past as a way to inform the future. Politics is tough but it doesn’t have to be hateful.

We are all concerned about coronavirus, civil unrest, and recession. Amidst these worries, Raleigh County Republicans have some things to be happy about:

Why Ukraine Will Endure

In this classic David vs. Goliath fight, Ukraine will endure against the powerful Russian bear…as long as they keep fighting.

In the early morning of 24 February, Moscow time, Russian land, air, and sea forces from Byelorussia, Crimea, and Donetsk attacked the Ukraine. Russia and the Ukraine were united with Kazakhstan other states in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Existing since the Bolsheviks overthrew Czar Nicholas II in 1917, the USSR defeated Germany on the eastern front in World War II, invaded Hungary and Czechoslovakia, and stood against the Western World in the Cold War. The fall of the USSR in 1991 splintered the former allies and ushered in a political disaster for Russia.

In the war between Russia and the Ukraine, Russia possesses major advantages. Russia is the largest country in the world at 6.6 million square miles, about 1/8^th of the world’s land mass, and has a population of 146 million. According to the 2022 military strength ranking from Global Firepower, Russia is behind only the United States in military power, having 1.35 million personnel, 4100 aircraft, and 605 naval vessels.[1] Its per capita gross domestic product is $11,300. Ukraine, by contrast, extends over 233,000 square miles and has a population of 44 million. According to the 2022 military strength ranking from Global Firepower, Ukraine ranks 23 out of 140 nations surveyed. It has 500,000 total military personnel, 318 aircraft, and 38 naval vessels.[2] Its per capita gross domestic product is $3,727.

If Russia has so many advantages, why will Ukraine endure?

Whip Inflation Now – WIN

Inflation occurs when too much money is chasing too few goods and services. If ten people each want one hamburger, but only five hamburgers are available, the price of each hamburger will increase, because demand exceeds supply. If fifteen hamburgers are available, the price of each hamburger will decrease, because supply exceeds demand.

Inflation is over 9% in the US, the highest rate since the early 1980s. People in nations across the globe are watching their wages, their savings, and their economic stability evaporate as prices for goods and services skyrocket. Titans of business, whose basic needs of living cost a tiny portion of their net worth, are unfazed. Wage earners, retirees, and average citizens from Andorra to Zimbabwe, suffer.

A Discourse on Abortion

I was recently engaged in an email discourse with woman on abortion. Her initial, unedited email is as follows:

I read your state party platform section on health and health care. How will you comply with the 100% patient control you espouse in your platform by putting limits on women’s rights during pregnancy? We need an answer to this hypocritical discrepancy. If I can be trusted to legally kill an intruder into my home, make hospice and end of life decisions as someone’s legal representative, or make DNR decisions for myself, how do reconcile? I, too believe that an embryo is human life, a life that was part of my body during pre-viable pregnancy. i was responsible for it, as your platform states. Do you know my religion? Which religion are you promoting with your legalization of ending women’s full and equal civil rights? Forbidding medications and procedures when not licensed to practice medicine sounds illegal to me. When pharmacists and doctors leave the profession or the state, how do you plan to ensure adequate health care that is 100% controlled by us, the citizens? When did an embryo attain more rights than I possess? You owe us answers to these questions. The lawsuits and injunctions are already starting, so prepare for courtroom chaos. Hope that you are not sued for the death of a women who is exercising the rights and beliefs in your own platform. Those of us who are Independents, of religions different from yours, or agnostic require and deserve your justification and reasons before removing our fullest equality

My unedited response:

What the Republican Party Does

Political parties, just like church choirs or high school football team booster clubs, are associations of like-minded citizens. Such associations have been found everywhere on the globe throughout all human history, whether or not they were specifically called “political parties.” From factions in the Roman Senate to parties in the German Bundestag, and whether peaceful or not, people have joined with others like themselves to accomplish shared goals in their societies.

George Washington is the only president not to have represented a political party. He actively opposed the “spirit of party,” as it, “serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection.”[1] Nonetheless, parties known as the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans developed during Washington’s administration. The Democratic Party, the oldest political party in the world, was formed in 1824. After the issue of slavery destroyed the Whig Party (1833-1856), the Republican Party was founded in 1854, specifically to oppose slavery. Political parties have remained an important part of the American political scene since.

But what do political parties, and in this case specifically the Republican party do?

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