Roger writes:
Enjoy your post but I need you to answer, why did the BC GOP not support Santorum? They were all leaning towards Romney, why?
First of all, thanks for reading the post and the blog...
Now on to the red meat...
We need to define "BC GOP" or Butler County Republican Party. Most folks think those terms refer to the party itself. I don't think that is what Roger is actually asking here. I suspect Roger is inquiring about the election results, which is about Butler County's registered Republican voters and not the party itself.
As far as I know, and if I am wrong, I'm sure I'll hear about it; the Butler County Republican Party did not endorse any candidate for Republican nominee to the office of President of the United States. So, in that sense, the BC GOP didn't support ANY candidate. If/When a candidate asked for resources such as information, I am quite sure that the party was cooperative with every campaign that asked.
However, the registered voters in Butler County favored Mitt Romney. The question that I think Roger wants answered is why. The answer starts with this...
This "country club" used to be the headquarters of the Butler County Republican Party. It is the perfect symbol for the registered Republican voters in Butler County, who turned out to support an establishment "country club" Republican.
Don't get me wrong, I do believe that the Santorum camp dropped the ball BIG TIME (as former VP Dick Cheney might say) here in the Great State of Beautiful Ohio, but he had delegates for Butler County and his name did appear twice on the ballot as it should have (at least in my precinct anyway). Rick campaigned pretty hard in Ohio and just came up a little short.
Back on point, while I think some progress has been made in advancing conservatism in Butler County (as opposed to raw Republicanism), we still have a LONG way to go. I take note that Sheriff Spotlight had a pretty BAD night on E-Day here. He endorsed Jeff Wyrick who lost 60-40 and Santorum. We're still waiting on recount and provisional ballots to see if Spotlight's chosen crony for county commissioner, St. Rep. Corky Combs, gets to surrender Butler County's budget to the Sheriff or not.
All in all, the answer to the question, Roger, is that while Butler County enjoys the reputation and being the reddest county in Ohio, it isn't the most conservative county in Ohio. That distinction is what made the difference. The Tea Party still has a LOT of work to do in educating the rank and file here in Butler County.
