Issue 1I, Volume III - 02/13/17
DATES TO REMEMBER
To Be or Not To Be: The Electoral College
By Orry Marciano
•
02/15 Voter Registra on-Golden
Hall
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03/06 ExComm Mee ng
•
03/08 SDYR Happy Hour
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03/13 Regional Caucus Mee ngs
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03/22 Voter Registra on-Golden
Hall
•
04/03 ExComm Mee ng
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04/10 Central Commi,ee
Mee ng
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04/26 Voter Registra on-Golden
Hall
Before diving into the main
focus of the argument, let’s
look at the foundation of the
Inside this issue:
To Be or Not To Be:
The Electoral College
1
Chairman’s Message
1
Booker T. Washington
2
Electoral College
(continued)
With the recent election, questions have arisen about the
relevance and fairness of the
Electoral College. Democrats
supporting former Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton and Republicans alike have noticed the
disparity between Trump’s electoral win and the popular vote.
Though Trump won 304 electoral votes over Clinton’s 227,
he lost 62,985,105 to Clinton’s
65,853,625 in the popular vote.
Such numbers caused controversy: ‘if Clinton won the popular (more Americans voted for
her) then she should be president,’ and thousands of people
entered in protest against the
Electoral College for not representing the United States’ majority opinion. Now the question
of keeping or trashing the Electoral College lingers in the aftermath of the
election, and I would argue
that the college still has relevance and use today
2
Campaign School
3
Booker T. Washington
(continued)
3
Voter Registration/
Events
4
United States. The country was
designed to operate under federalism, a system by which two
bodies of government (federal
and state) share the powers
controlling the nation. The
Founding Fathers recognized
the power of each state
through adopting this system,
rather than combining all the
states under a unitary government. Each state would have
their own powers separate from
those of the national government, which would allow them
to more effectively address
their individual issues. After all,
people in rural New York will
have different issues and concerns than the people on a
Tennessee farm. The division of
the country into states recognizes these different cultures,
and allows for their different
needs to be better heard.
indirect election, by which each
state votes for its electors who
then pledge to vote for a party’s candidate. States are given
a certain number of “electoral
votes,” and whichever candidate makes it to 270 votes first
wins the race. If the Electoral
College were switched out for a
popular vote system (where
each vote by a qualified voter
counts for one vote for a candidate), a striking majority of
votes would come from large
cities in New York, California,
Texas, and Florida which accounted for around 60 million
votes in this election cycle. The
city dilemma really is not an
issue for most Democrats, considering that Los Angeles and
New York are mostly liberal
powerhouses, and would vote
left almost every time. Theoretically, if you were to campaign
in a system based on the popuIn such a way, the Electoral
lar vote you would never even
College recognizes the relative touch smaller states like Kansas
differences of each state, and it or Arkansas, and just “fly over”
strives to represent and protect
minorities in elections. The
Electoral College (continued
Electoral College is a system of pg 2)
Chairman’s Message
We are beginning to see the fruits of a united Republican government on the federal level and it’s
so exciting to see long-time conservative goals of replacing ObamaCare, reducing job-crippling
regulations, reforming the onerous tax code, securing our borders, and reducing the influence of
the federal government in our lives actually being worked on!
And of course, the nomination of a conservative Supreme Court Justice in Judge Neil Gorsuch to
take the place of the late, great Justice Antonin Scalia. On the federal level, President Trump is
working at lightning speed to Make America Great Again!
On the local level, we have to do our part. That means getting involved by volunteering or running
for office. Yes, running for office. Each cycle nearly 100(!) elected offices go uncontested, which
means that the Democrat candidate wins by default. No more!
If you are reading this and you know how to balance a checkbook then you should consider running for elected office. Visit our website at www.SanDiegoRepublicans.org for information on how
to volunteer and how to sign up for an upcoming Candidate School which will begin in March.
The groundwork for Republican victories in 2018 begins NOW. Join us!
Republicans in History: Booker T. Washington
Organization
Republican Party of San Diego County
Tony Krvaric, Chairman
Barrett Tetlow, 1st Vice Chair
Paula Whitsell, 2nd Vice Chair
Jeannie Foulkrod, Treasurer
Melory Tsipouria, Secretary
Sage Naumann, Acting Executive
Director
[email protected]
Jordan Gascon, Political Director
[email protected]
Jillian Reynolds, Finance Director
[email protected]
858-450-4600
J OIN
A
D ONOR C LUB
NOW!
Find us:
Facebook/YouTube:
Republican Party of San Diego County
Twitter: @RPSDC
Website:
www.sandiegorepublicans.org
Booker T. Washington, a preeminent black educator, was born into
slavery on a small plantation in Virginia. He was known as simply
Booker as was the custom of the day. He never knew the day,
month or year of his birth or who his father was. He was nine
years old when he and his family were freed by the Emancipation
Proclamation in 1865 when the area he lived in was occupied by US
troops.
"As the great day drew nearer, there was more singing in the slave
quarters than usual. It was bolder, had more ring, and lasted later
into the night. Most of the verses of the plantation songs had some
reference to freedom... Some man who seemed to be a stranger (a
United States officer, I presume) made a little speech and then read
a rather long paper—the Emancipation Proclamation, I think. After
the reading we were told that we were all free, and could go when
and where we pleased. My mother, who was standing by my side,
leaned over and kissed her children, while tears of joy ran down her
cheeks. She explained to us what it all meant, that this was the day
for which she had been so long praying, but fearing that she would
never live to see." Booker T. Washington.
The family moved to West Virginia to join his mother’s husband who had escaped slavery during the war.
It was now that Booker began to slowly teach himself to read and go to school. It was in school that he
was required to acquire a first and last name. He took his step father’s name Washington. He learned
from his mother that at birth she had given him the name Booker Taliaferro. So he adopted Booker
Taliaferro Washington as his legal name using Booker T. until his death. After the end of the war, he was
working with his step father in the salt mines. So he woke at 4 am to study and practice his alphabet and
basic words from a book his mother gave him.
He later went to work as a houseboy for the wife of a coal mine owner, Viola Ruffner. Although she was
very strict, she saw promise in Booker and allowed him to go to school for an hour a day during the winter
months.
In 1872 Booker T. Washington walked the 500 miles to Hampton Normal Agricultural Institute, working
odd jobs along the way. He convinced the school administrators to admit him, working as a janitor to pay
for his tuition. Soon the founder and headmaster General Samuel Armstrong noticed the hardworking
young man and gave him a scholarship. Before long General Armstrong became Booker’s mentor further
instilling in him principles of hard work and strong moral character.
Booker T. Washington graduated in 1875. He taught at his old grade school for a short time. He attended
Wayland Seminary for six months in Washington D.C. He went to Hampton to give a graduation speech
whereupon General Armstrong offered him a job.
Booker (continued on pg 3)
Electoral College (continued
from pg 1)
Newsletter Editor:
Paula Whitsell
Contact/Submissions:
[email protected]
nia have been constricted in
their electoral vote count, while
small states like Kansas have a
them on your way to a cambit more of an advantage and
paign in a large city. In that
still have a voice in the decision
system, the only type of people as to who will be the next Preswho would get recognition in
ident of the United States. This
United States politics would be also applies to the Senate
people living in large cities.
where small states have equal
Farmers, for example, would
representation with large states
not matter at all to the politihaving only two senators. The
cians looking for votes.
popular vote system is not
more democratic than the ElecMinorities would suffer greatly
in this system. In the Electoral toral College, and would constrict minority representation. It
College, big states like Califor-
is the tyranny of the majority.
Admittedly, the Electoral College is not perfect. However, it
strives to protect the representation of minority states in election cycles, while limiting the
overwhelming impact of large
cities. America has used this
system for centuries. It has
caused both sides of the spectrum to shake their fists or cry
out in joy, but has also preserved the constitutional federal republic that defines America
as it was founded.
Booker (continued from pg 2)
In 1881, the Alabama legislature approved a grant of $2,000 to start the Tuskegee Normal and
Industrial Institute (which is now known as Tuskegee University). General Armstrong was asked
to recommend a white man to run the school. He recommended Booker T. Washington. Classes were initially held in an old church. Booker traveled the countryside fundraising and promoting the school. Under Booker T. Washington’s leadership Tuskegee University became one
of the country’s leading schools.
Booker T. Washington imbued the school with his belief in patience, enterprise and thrift. He believed that economic success and cultural advancement would take time but would bring with it respect from the white community. This would eventually result in full political and economic
rights for the black community. It was a very controversial position on race relations which he put forth in the speech known as the “Atlanta
Compromise.”
Booker T. Washington was the first black man to receive the honor to be invited to the White House when in 1901 President Theodore Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to the White House as an advisor on racial matters. His successor President William Howard Taft also used
Booker as an advisor. In 1900, Booker T. Washington founded the National Negro Business League. At this time he also published his autobiography Up from Slavery. These events brought him fame and much heated debate surrounding his philosophy on race. He also financed several civil
rights court cases challenging segregation for blacks.
He was at the helm of the Tuskegee Institute until his death in 1915. Booker T. Washington was a Republican.
VOTER REGISTRATION EVENTS:
Golden Hall—New Citizenship Ceremony 10:00 am—02/15/17—Wednesday
Come prac ce your language skills &
congratulate these new Americans in their na ve
tongue.
Contact Judy Rees at [email protected] for info.
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