If the Hernando County Republican Executive Committee's intent is to alienate some of the party faithful in a year when the leadership of the country is at stake, they're doing a fine job.
In a move that is as high-handed as it is shortsighted, the creme de la creme of the local Grand Old Party announced last week that it is launching a campaign to persuade voters to turn down both referendums to increase the sales tax by a half-penny. That goes for the one being sought by the School Board to build schools, as well as the one the County Commission wants to pay for road repairs, parks, libraries and other buildings.
The REC, like any other group with an acronym or individual with a belly button, has every right to voice an opinion about anything or anybody. That's what makes this country of ours a pretty cool place to live.
But, if they're going to stick their neck out, then they have to be prepared to take one on the chin.
I'm happy to oblige. One at a time.
One can almost understand why the REC would oppose the County Commission's referendum. Four of the five commissioners are Democrats, and the GOP is fielding plenty of candidates who hope to regain control of the commission the Republicans dominated for most of the 1990s, but lost in 2000.
Relying on the convenient - and stale - tactic of labeling all Democrats tax-and-spend liberals, the Republicans are eager to turn this referendum into an indictment of the incumbent Democratic commissioners, three of whom are up for re-election this year. How better to prove that the Democrats are out of step with residents than to point to a failed effort to increase taxes, and then offer candidates who will promise - thoughtlessly - to not raise taxes.
(Interesting aside: The commission's lone Republican, Rob Schenck, is supporting the half-penny sales tax. It will be interesting to see if he changes his tune now that his party leaders have deemed it anti-Republican.)
It's not nearly as easy to speculate why the REC wants to butt in on the School Board's ballot question.
School Board members are nonpartisan, so politics doesn't often come into play in that arena. That is especially true in Hernando County these days, because all five board members, although officially non-partisan, are registered Republicans.
So, there the board members sit, doing their best to raise some badly needed money to build schools for kids, and the party bigwigs don't just try to cut them off at the knees, they stick a knife in their backs, with REC Chairwoman Ana Trinque charging the board has "totally let me down."
Board member John Druzbick did not hide his annoyance, telling Times reporter Jeffrey Solocheck "If (the REC) could offer a solution better than the one we're offering, I'd like to see it."
Board Chairwoman Sandra Nicholson followed suit, saying "They don't speak for me."
Maybe the Republicans are just trying to get their people to vote on March 9. With no presidential primary challenger to George W. Bush, Republicans don't have as much incentive as Democrats to trek to the polls.
But it's a shame that the REC would turn the building of schools into a partisan issue. If they are offering no alternatives to raise money for that worthwhile purpose, and if the best reason they can come up with for opposing the referendum is the philosophy of "less taxes, less government," they are acting irresponsibly.
Classrooms, and for that matter, roads and parks and libraries, are not partisan issues. Using them to further a political agenda is the work of zealots who care more about their cause than the community.
Moderate Republicans who recognize that ploy are bound to be turned off by the REC's head-in-the-sand opposition to the referenda. In a hotly contested election year, that amounts to an unnecessary risk, and one that could backfire on the GOP.
