The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of RedState.com.

Well, it happened. Ronna McDaniel, despite her myriad of failures, has won re-election for Republican National Committee Chair. It was not a surprising result given the fact that she had already garnered the level of support needed to retain her position.

Despite her poor performance in the captain’s seat, McDaniel is now the longest-serving party chair in history, further demonstrating that the GOP is not a meritocracy. This development comes as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is holding the gavel and Sen. Mitch McConnell maintains his position in the Senate.

These must be the only careers where you can perform horribly and still retain your position.

McLeadership has won bigly while you, conservative voter, have suffered the latest in a series of defeats. To put it simply, the Republican Party is not going to change anytime soon – if ever.

After all, why should they?

The GOP has treated you in the same way Democrats have treated black voters for decades. They take you for granted because they know they can. The leadership of the party knows they can make soaring promises to enact a conservative agenda when they are in Washington, without actually having to follow through.

These feckless charlatans know you will vote for them no matter how badly they insult your intelligence. They know you will send them your hard-earned money, even as they help Democrats expand the government.

In fact, let me pose a question to you, dear reader. When was the last time Republicans scaled back the federal government in a meaningful way?

Can you think of any legislation or other such measure that made the government less powerful or intrusive? I can’t.

Sure, they cut some taxes here and there. But other than that – they have absolutely nothing to show for the power we have granted them, election after election. Indeed, they have treated you with nothing but contempt.

TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk posted a tweet giving a behind-the-scenes glimpse into how these elitists view you:

Been having conversations all morning with RNC members. Some of them truly don’t care what their voters think

One said:

“I don’t give a flying flip what the small donors think. They are not voting today.”

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) January 27, 2023

Over the past century, the party has held control of the White House and Congress multiple times, and has done little to nothing to roll back the state. Indeed, there has not been a significant difference between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to inflating the government

Now, our federal government has swelled into a bloated behemoth infected with unelected officials figuring out new and innovative ways to infringe on our liberties and enrich their elitist pals. I hate to say it, but the idea of the “uniparty” is real, and has been for decades.

Many on the right have recognized this – especially after the outcomes of the 2022 midterm elections. Some have realized that just because Republicans win doesn’t mean that you win.

It is for this reason that I finally became fed up in December and decided to jump ship and focus on liberty instead of party. The GOP machine cares nothing for protecting our rights or shrinking the government. I am not the only one who realized this – I have heard from many Republican voters who tell me they are done voting for and donating to the Republican Party.

One such individual sent me a direct message on Twitter to tell me that he is “done with both parties,” and that “neither of those criminal factions will ever receive my vote again.”

Other conservatives told me they feel they are left without a voice. They see that voting for Republicans – especially at the federal level – is a useless exercise. Since they definitely won’t pull the lever for a Democrat, they feel they are powerless to stop the growth of an increasingly tyrannical state.

But I do believe there is an option. Our local governments, which have much more of an impact on our lives than the state and federal levels, have not become as hopelessly corrupt as the national government.

Earlier, I wrote about how the Mises Caucus, a Libertarian group, is launching the Decentralized Revolution campaign designed to focus on boosting authentically liberty-focused candidates for positions like mayor, city council, sheriff, judge, and others.

My focus is liberty over party – meaning that I don’t care what letter is next to someone’s name, as long as I know their aim is to pass liberty-focused policies and to resist the overreach of the state and federal governments. I will support any Libertarian, Independent, or Republican candidate at the local level who is serious about safeguarding liberty.

An example can be seen in my interview with Sheriff Mark Lamb of Pinal County, Arizona, who refused to enforce onerous COVID-19 restrictions supported by the White House and enacted by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey.

When you have a sheriff like Lamb, and the ones currently refusing to enforce Illinois new assault weapons ban, you have a bulwark against unconstitutional attempts to infringe on our natural rights.

This isn’t to say that we should not pay attention to our federal and state governments. But for decades, we have had it backwards. We have given these crooks far too much focus when it is our local governing authorities who are closest to us that are the most important. Your mayor has more of a direct impact on your life than the person occupying the White House.

At this point, it is clear that what we have been doing has failed. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. The time has come to try something new.

Perhaps local, liberty-focused candidates are more deserving of our votes, money, and time. Men and women who are willing to stand up to the excesses of our national government are the most effective means to preserving liberty in the way the Constitution intended. The Republican Party has spat in your face once again because they think you will support them anyway. The question is: How much longer will we let them get away with it?