Opinion: CCRP Chairman Matt Bumala asks Republicans, ‘So are you ready to reload?’

Ken Vance, editor
Clark County Today

After the results of the Nov. 3 general election, it would be an understatement to say the Clark County Republican Party (CCRP) has its work cut out for itself. CCRP Chairman Matthew Bumala admitted just that in a video he posted Monday (Nov. 9) on the CCRP official website.

Ken Vance
Editor, Clark County Today

Bumala urged Republicans to regroup after election losses in the 17th and 18th Legislative Districts – the Republicans will have no representation in the State House of Representatives from the 17th, 18th and 49th districts – and what he described as a nationwide “blue wave.” He encouraged supporters to prepare for the next presidential election cycle by recruiting volunteers, increasing voter turnout, and participating in upcoming caucuses and conventions.

Bumala credited Democrats’ organizing efforts and said Republicans must work harder to regain legislative seats and prevent a Democratic two-thirds majority. He also pointed to what he characterized as Republican victories, including Initiative 638, which will provide restrictions on transgender participation in girls’ sports and the party’s influence over County Charter amendments through its majority on the Charter Review Commission. He framed the next two years as an opportunity to rebuild and urged supporters not to become discouraged.

“It was rough seeing some of the losses that we had,’’ Bumala said. “We lost some seats in the 18th and in the 17th (districts). And that's hard to see. Nationwide, we saw a blue wave. We did. It's not uncommon to see that happen in the midterms for the president. And actually, Trump didn't lose as many House seats or Senate seats as other presidents in the past, including Obama. So it shouldn't come to any surprise that these things happen. But it still hurts. It still stings. But the last thing we need to do is give up, because that's exactly what the Democrats want us to do. They want us to feel defeated and hopeless.

“So while we lick our wounds and take a deep breath, we need to reload and focus on the future,’’ he said. “We've got some important elections coming up. It's going to be a presidential cycle in the next two years. We're going to have our precinct caucuses, our county convention, state convention, all of that. And we're going to have our state senate seats that are going to be up for grabs. So in all the legislative districts, we have Senate and state rep spots that are going to be open. It is our time to really focus in, dig deep, get volunteers, and get the message out on what a two-thirds majority would look like if we ended up losing even more seats. Next time around, we can regain those seats back and more around the state.

“But it won't happen if we give up,’’ Bumala added. “It won't happen if we let hopelessness really infiltrate our minds and our hearts. We need to put our hands to the plow and work harder than ever. Because I'll tell you this as much as we would not like to admit it, the Democrats, they work hard. They're busy bees, and they've gotten out there, and they've had a lot of activists and a lot of volunteers get out the vote. We got to work double time in order to offset and win in the next two years. And I believe we will. But let's look back on some wins. We won a lot of other things as a state. Biological boys cannot be in girl sports. That's huge for our state. On our county level, us winning the charter commission last year was huge, and the Democrats didn't see that coming. So all of the charter amendments, you see, have been influenced and dictated by our majority there, and they will be next year as well. Those are huge wins. We can't forget about that. We've had some candidates make it across the finish line and we had some that fell short. But these next two years are going to be important.

“We need more people. We need more activists. We need more activity. And if we have that, we'll win. The votes are there. We just need people to show up. So don't be discouraged. Look at the next two years as an opportunity. And don't look at it as hopelessness, because there is a lot that we can gain here in the next two years.’’

Playing Monday morning quarterback

In his video message, Bumala did a good job of focusing on the view from the windshield and not the review mirror. And frankly, I’m not sure there is a lot that the CCRP could have done locally to prevent the Blue Wave from happening. But, I will take a moment to look back before looking ahead.

The hatred and venom for our president is unprecedented in my lifetime and it started more than a decade ago. On one hand I can certainly understand it from the standpoint that Donald Trump, the human being, can be difficult to embrace at times. Ego, pride, and boastfulness are not good qualities. I’ve said before, as conservative as I am and as much as I agree in large part with his policies, I cringe at times at some of the things he says and does. And, I believe Trump’s decision to finally confront Iran was a huge factor in the results of last week’s election, especially considering what it did to our economy. Folks on both sides of the aisle have been begging our leaders for years to confront Iran. Trump should be lauded for finally being the one with the courage and willingness to do so. But the minute gas prices started to rise, folks couldn’t distance themselves fast enough from support for the president’s decisions.

It’s one thing for folks, largely on the progressive side of things, to be consumed by Trump Derangement Syndrome, as it has been dubbed. Where conservatives and Republicans should really be concerned is when the hatred and venom for Trump bleeds into similar aggressive hatred and venom for our values. That said, it’s still monumentally irrational for the hatred and venom to have reached the levels that it has. And progressive Democrats seem willing to join themselves with any candidates and causes – no matter how largely insane and irrational – just to defeat Trump and the evil MAGA empire. I guess it’s the old, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.’’

Progressive Democrats have now invited evil into our lives. They are represented in large numbers by those who hate our country, many of our citizens – especially those with conservative or Christian values – and many other values that made this country. So, Bumala is right to ask what commitments we’re willing to make to reversing what happened last week.

Not too long ago, I was lured into a conversation with someone I knew better than to engage but I tried to be polite and respectful and provided benign answers to their questions about my beliefs. I was proud of myself in that I kept my cool and never allowed the person to get under my skin or escalate the conversation to a level of tension. The one thing I can’t let go of is before I excused myself from the discussion, the person said, “liberals are just better people.’’

Obviously, I couldn’t disagree more. Just turn on the news, or go on social media, and you can see that clearly and decisively for yourselves. It thoroughly amazes me that members of the left allow themselves to be represented by some who despise our country. In the days since the recent election, I strongly feel that conservatives and Republicans have already begun showing we’re not going to act like petulant, spoiled children willing to destroy this village in order to save it.

Bumala asks us conservatives if we’re willing to reload. I ask, are we willing to show that the person from my recent encounter is wrong?