Wednesday Morning Rant

Despite the Horde's penchant for curmudgeonry (yeah, I know it's not a word - deal with it), I took a trip to see the total eclipse. It was fun and the weather was great. I really enjoyed myself and had a very nice time. I went - along with thousands of other people - to Paducah, KY, which was in the path of totality. It was a regional draw, with most license plates being from Georgia, Florida, Alabama, North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky. People descended on Paducah from all over the south.

And Paducah did a great job of preparing for the eclipse and putting on a fun time. They closed off a few blocks of downtown to turn it into a street fair with normal tourist fare - food, tchotchkes, t-shirts, games, hippie palmists, etc. - all with good preparation and plenty of sanitation facilities. If you've ever been to a well-run street fair, you know the deal. It was pleasant and fun and most people were friendly and in a good mood. One group, however, clearly didn't get the memo because I saw this when I walked into the event:

Click to embiggen

The McCracken County GOP couldn't be bothered to show up. Nobody was in the office. The lights weren't even on. Just posters for a local candidate stuck in the window and a life-sized cardboard cutout of Donald Trump grinning out at the street from behind dark glass. This was likely the biggest event that Paducah will see this year and nobody in the McCracken County GOP thought, "gee, maybe we should open our permanent office that's right on the fair route."

It isn't like there was no traffic or opportunity. I had to try a couple of times to get the picture above, because there were usually crowds of people standing in front of it, blocking the shot. How many thousands of people walked by the office and it didn't even register because it was closed and dark? How many thousands of people walked by the office and thought as I did that this is a useless party that can't even open its doors on the biggest day of the year? It wasn't even a weekend!

There was also, apparently, no prohibition on politicking. There was a group with a booth at that street fair advocating for an Article V convention to impose term limits and other reforms. A group of citizens lobbying for a fairly radical approach to government reform found the inner fire to register for a booth, set up their table and - most unusually, apparently - show up to promote their cause. Those people are discontented enough with the current state of affairs that they want to pursue radical change. The GOP, apparently, is pleased with how things are going.

Yes, most of the people there aren't interested in or qualified to vote for Eddie Jones, the local candidate in the window. But this is a presidential election year and this was a regional draw. Trump may be likely to win Tennessee, Alabama and Florida, but North Carolina, Kentucky and Georgia are a different story. What did the McCracken County GOP do to make undecideds at that event feel good or make them want to consider voting GOP this year? Nothing.

Not everything should be politicized. I don't even blame the McCracken County GOP for not hiring a booth in the fair itself. The Democrats didn't, either. Okay. But the county GOP has a permanent office right on the fair route! They didn't have to do anything but show up, turn on the lights, open the door, be friendly to passers-by and engage in some old-fashioned retail politics. They couldn't be bothered to make even the minimum effort.

This is a party that does not want to win. The GOP is useless in totality.

posted by Joe Mannix at 11:00 AM

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