Taking the Right Fork in the Road

I have decided to change the party I represent and stand for election to the Hall County Board of Education. I will now be a part of the Republican Party. This is not a unique position as many have gone before, such as the current and previous governors and one US Senator switching to the Republican Party in their careers. But it has been a difficult decision for me.

Repeating some of what I have said before, my decision to change started last year during my unsuccessful run for the Georgia House. At that time, when talking about the two debates held for the House District 25 race last Fall, I was told by opponents and news media alike, “Your answers were just as Conservative as the [six] Republicans?"

Well, before I entered the military, I was a Democrat of the Carl Sanders era. I was even a 1964 charter member of his Youth Council. During my 23 years of military service, I was apolitical. I didn’t particularly lean to one party or the other. After all, I was a commissioned officer. When I retired from the military I began a new career in education with no thought toward party affiliation.

When I returned to Georgia in 1994, Zell Miller was Governor. As a computer and mathematics educator, I had to love what he did, or tried to do, for education, especially the HOPE scholarship. Since he was a Democrat, I suppose I leaned toward the Democrat party at that time.

Now, I freely admit, I did vote for Sonny Perdue twice. He was a fellow 1965 graduate from high school in Warner Robins, Georgia and had once been a Democrat but now was a Republican, so I didn’t see the significance of that party support. Through his tenure, and even with two high school reunions being held at the Governor’s Mansion, I stayed out of active political involvement, even though my old High School buddy Larry Snellgrove, then a Democrat and former Houston County Commissioner, urged me to consider running.

Finally, in 2010, having become disenchanted with the intrigue reported by our local newspapers within our county government, I decided it was time I offered my services as a County Commissioner. That meant, since it was virtually impossible to get on the ballot as an Independent, I had to run as either a Democrat or Republican - decision time.

I could read the tea leaves as well as anyone else in 2010. So, I first explored the Republican Party in Hall County. However, I also discovered that, to be a member of the Hall County Republican party, I had to swear an oath to the party. I found that to be inconsistent with my oath as a commissioned officer (although retired, I retain my commission).

In addition, I was also a good bit irritated by the fact that they used, and at last check, still use, a mutilated American flag as the background of their Web site (Website_Background). Perhaps there is some historic significance to it, but on asking about a dozen commissioned officers if they recognized it as such none of them did.

Considering these facts, and the fact that the people in the Hall County Democratic Party freely accepted me without an oath and knowing my conservative beliefs, clinched the deal and I ran as a Democrat.

In my first campaign I received no help from the Democrat Party although I was the only Democrat running. A few individuals in the Hall County Democrat party did stand up and help me in my campaign, but the party, per se, did not.

At this time I was also a mathematics teacher in the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG). Surprisingly, the legal counsel of the TCSG even threatened me with firing if I ran in a partisan election. It took the intervention of the US Special Counsel and the Attorney General of Georgia office to squelch that unfounded effort and allow me to run. Even so, in the November election in 2010 I don’t believe a single Democrat won against a Republican opponent in Georgia.

What that did for me was to paint a negative picture of the state system that was supposed to be apolitical and point out that to win as a Democrat meant you were on your own. In fact, during the campaign I received a letter from the commissioner implying that I had no future in that system. As a result, I decided to retire from the TCSG in July 2011 when my current contract ended. This would eliminate any unseemly pressure to prevent my running for public office with my full attention.  

Upon my return from my retirement vacation in late July 2011, I found that Representative James Mills was leaving his seat in the Georgia House. Also about this time, I discovered even my friend Larry Snellgrove had switched to the Republican Party. Even so, when the opportunity to serve as the representative of District 25 in the Georgia House came about, I once again stubbornly ran as a Democrat. In this second campaign, I had the option of declaring as a Republican, it being a special election. But, again, I felt an obligation to run as a Democrat because of the support some people in the county party had given me. In fact, I was the only Democrat running in a field of seven.

In this effort I did have the help and financial encouragement of several members of the Hall County Democrat Party as well as a few people at the state level. But overall, the State Party, while promising support and claiming they were helping me, actually appeared to do nothing. True, a couple of members of the state party actively campaigned for me, but the party as a whole did not. I lost the election because I could get no more than 10% of the 3,500 Democrat voters to even bother to vote. In the face of what I saw as party and voter apathy, coupled with my own personal beliefs, I was finally forced to reevaluate my party allegiance.

What I discovered was that the disappointment I experienced in the State Party extended to the National Party and the National Platform.  So many of the tenets of the 2008 Democrat platform on which I relied in determining I was a Democrat had been abrogated by the deeds of the Party, that the 4% edge it held in my mind was seriously corroded. In point of fact, it was drastically reversed and currently favors the Republican Party. I now find that I agree with a majority of the tenets of the national Republican Party while agreeing with less than half of the unabrogated tenets of the Democrat party. Thus, I am now in a position of supporting the Republican Party and its platform. Hence, I leave the Hall County Democratic Party. I would like to state that this decision does not reflect on the members of that party. They are all good, honorable folk whom I respect. It more equates to the reality of politics and my logical support of the Republican Party.

Even though I found myself in support of the national Republican Party versus the national Democrat Party, I still had difficulty actually joining the Republican Party as a candidate for the two reasons cited earlier: oath of allegiance and flag background. As to the latter, I attempted to bring it to the attention of the county party so that it might be corrected through emails and telephone calls to no avail. I have come to the conclusion that the only way to correct this slight to our nation’s flag is from within the county party, thus removing that impediment.

The matter of the oath was somewhat more difficult. In researching the matter I found that one potential candidate for governor in 2010 failed to run rather than taking the oath. As for the oath, it is Georgia law that says, should a party require a loyalty oath, it shall be (as it relates to the Republican Party) "I DO SWEAR OR AFFIRM MY ALLEGIANCE TO THE GEORGIA REPUBLICAN PARTY."  This allows no modification, exception, or rider to the oath.

Seeking the definitions of the key words Affirm and Allegiance in this oath I found that Affirm means “to state or assert positively” and allegiance means “loyalty or devotion to some person, group, cause, or the like.” Further, loyalty means “faithfulness to commitments or obligations.” Using these definitions to restate the oath more clearly it says "I do assert positively my faithfulness to my commitments to the Georgia Republican Party." I believe this is a most reasonable assertion and is the meaning of the words in the oath.

Even so, after discussing the oath with former military judge advocates, I was concerned about the conflict of this civil assertion to a non-government entity with my oath as a commissioned officer. After further discussions with currently serving JAG, I have somewhat assuaged that concern. In addition, after reading Richard Swain’s (2007) “Reflection on an Ethic of Officership” (Retrieved May 23, 2012 from www.carlisle.army.mil/usawc/parameters/Articles/07spring/swain.pdf), I discerned no conflict at all. Indeed, the Supreme Court clarified the precedence of loyalty oaths in MANDOLI v. ACHESON, 344 U.S. 133 (1952) (Retrieved May 23, 2012 from http://laws.findlaw.com/us/344/133.html) and the appropriateness and absence of conflict is further found in the Findlaw (2012) discussions of "Maintenance of National Security and the First Amendment" (Retrieved May 23, 2012 from http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment01/13.html). 
At the state level, a Florida court case also gives it clarity. In "REPUBLICAN PARTY OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, et al., Appellants, v. Phil DAVIS, et al., Appellees. No. 3D08-3126. -- August 26, 2009, we find that "Political party members have a constitutional right 'not to associate' with those who do not share their party platforms or rules" (Retrieved May 23, 2012 from http://caselaw.findlaw.com/fl-district-court-of-appeal/1166978.html). Thus, I can now, in good conscience, sign the affirming statement. Even more importantly, my wife tells me I can so do.

    Having made that decision, and having not only 15 years teaching experience and 23 years senior management experience, plus the credentials of a doctorate and a master in education, as well as a master in management and a master in mathematics and computer science, I shall join the Republican party and seek their nomination for Board of Education Post 3. I intend for Hall county to not only lead Georgia in educational excellence, but also to help Georgia move from the bottom to the top in national excellence in education. We can do it, and by Godfrey we will do it.