Yesterday was our annual Republican mass meeting for election of Precinct and at large members along with election of our Committee Chair and Vice Chair. I have to say it was one of the best meetings I have ever attended.

This year, multiple members of the local Tea Party and John Adams Society not only joined the committee, they ran for both offices and made the usual vote much more interesting. While the candidates didn’t win either position – they made it clear they are there to get involved and I celebrate their joining.

There were fresh and conservative voices about standing strong and working to take back the country on conservative principles. They were there to roll up their sleeves and work.

A couple of interesting observations – the current chair, during his election speech, talked about winning both past and future. The John Adams candidate talked about winning but on conservative principles and reaching out to the community to explain those conservative principles. While the current chair retained his position, the vote was much closer than anyone anticipated. I truly believe that if the John Adams candidate had been involved with the committee for a period of time before the election (most of the members really didn’t know him), he would have won.

The next came in the motion from, in my opinion, a business as usual sycophant. Congressman Rob Wittman is coming up on reelection – he is a amazing Congressman and a true conservative. He represents the 1st District well and probably everyone in that room is or will be busting their backsides to get him reelected. With that being said, the sycophant made the motion that before the primary we endorse Rob for re-election. This brought the best discussion of the day. There was a lot of articulate discourse on the issue and it was wonderful. The back and forth as to “wait – why are we jumping the shark before we know who is running” and “we should give a fair shake to all the candidates who file” and “shades of NY-23 heavy handedness” to “we need to stop his challengers” ensued from both sides. At times it was civilly heated but there were many, many speakers on both sides. The bottom line on that issue is that conservatism and the process won through the discourse.

After the meeting, I spoke with the head of the John Adams Society to get a feel for what their plans were. They have no intention of running a third party candidate but they have every intention to make sure that the Republicans live up to the mantle of conservative principles.

So I welcome the Tea Party and John Adams Society members to the fold. You will keep us strong and you will keep us thinking. Thanks for stepping up to the plate and I am looking forward to the upcoming elections.