Republican county chair: Don’t be afraid of tough political debates; STGeorge News Videocast

Washington County Republican Party Chairman Robert Jensen speaks to Washington County Republican Women at a luncheon Thursday, St. George, Utah, June 4, 2015 | Photo by Sheldon Demke, St. George News
Washington County Republican Party Chairman Robert Jensen speaks to Washington County Republican Women at a luncheon, St. George, Utah, June 4, 2015 | Photo by Sheldon Demke, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – Don’t be afraid of the tough debates, Washington County Republican Party Chairman Robert Jensen told members of the Washington County Republican Women at a monthly luncheon Thursday.

Although the Republican party has been labeled divided, that’s not true, Jensen said. While there are disagreements within the party, all have the same goals; and members should not be discouraged by the sometimes fierce discussions and debates.

Jensen was elected county party chairman in early May, and has been active in the Republican Party in Washington County along with serving as a legislative chair and state central committee member.

Patience is important, Jensen said, and if there is a fault in the Republican Party, it’s that “we are not patient.” While some say the party is divided, Jensen said that is simply not the case.

“‘We are the party of big ideas, and tough debates,'” Jensen said, quoting former President Ronald Reagan.

“When we deal with constitutional principles, and keeping this country on a straight and fast line, built on those constitutional principles, it is not an easy project and it takes tough debates,” he said.

If you’re not the kind of person that can deal with tough debates, the Republican Party is going to be a tough party,” Jensen said. There is another party that doesn’t deal with those same tough debates, because it doesn’t govern itself by rule of law and the principals in the U.S. Constitution, Jensen said.

Unlike the Democratic Party, the Republican Party is built on a foundation and principles that will “never change,” Jensen said.

Jensen has heard that a lot of Republicans are feeling depressed. “It’s a hard row to hoe, it’s a hard journey,” he said.

“We have set some difficult principles to live by, and it is silly of the Republican Party to think that it’s  going to be easy, or that it’s going to get easier.”

Until Republicans understand that, the media will be able to say the party is one of divisions and debates, Jensen said.

Washington County Republican Party Chairman Robert Jensen speaks to Washington County Republican Women at a luncheon Thursday, St. George, Utah, June 4, 2015 | Photo by Sheldon Demke, St. George News
Washington County Republican Party Chairman Robert Jensen speaks to Washington County Republican Women at a luncheon, St. George, Utah, June 4, 2015 | Photo by Sheldon Demke, St. George News

All Republicans are trying to reach the same destination despite the different avenues and different opinions about how to get there, that all could be considered right, he said.

The party includes conservative, ultra-conservative, moderate and even constitutional Republicans, Jensen said, although he considers all Republicans “constitutional.”

“There are a lot of divisions, and it is important that we get together and that we stay together and that we work together and that we learn to stomach the tough debates,” Jensen said, “and I think the beauty of it is that Washington County does that really, really well.”

Jensen said that the debates and the meanness that occur in Republican debates are “just politics,” and likened them to a family squabble.

“If you don’t like the way they fight, go for the candidate that goes without the meanness, but don’t say, ‘I’m not going to be involved,’ that is not the answer,” Jensen said.

The Republican Party is the “last, best, hope,” Jensen said, and it stands for constitutional principles, small government and state’s rights. The party principles are true, and they work, and those principles are the reason why Washington County works.

Utah’s economy is recognized as one of the healthiest in the nation, Jensen said.

“I think that’s because Utah is doing things right,” Jensen said, “and I think also that has a lot to do with our Republican principles, and I think it would be naive to assume otherwise.”

Utah, and Washington County in particular, need to be a great example, a “city on the hill,” Jensen said.

The Washington County Republican Women have been active in local politics and community service for over 50 years and aim to inform the public through political education and activities, including a monthly meeting with guest speakers. Any Republican woman 18 years or older may join.  Men are welcome to join as associate members.

Resources

Washington County Republican Women website

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10 Comments

  • Bender June 5, 2015 at 5:51 pm

    Ronald Reagan would be run out of today’s loopy, hyper-partisan Republican party on a rail. Stay tuned for the GOP presidential primaries to see how crazy it gets. Bender didn’t leave the Republican Party, the Republican party took a handful of crazy pills and left him.

    • BIG GUY June 6, 2015 at 7:28 am

      So let’s see. Since Reagan’s Republicans of the 1980s, the liberal progressive left wing of the Democrat party has done the following: a) taken a major step toward nationalizing health care (Obamacare), stopping short of a single payer system only because they feared that even Jonathan Gruber’s “stupid American voters” might balk, b) embraced the LGBT agenda in full, legislating “rights” that were undreamed of by either party in the 1980s and opposed by both Obama and Hilary Clinton as recently as 2012, c) illegally attempted to expand the EPA’s powers on several occasions, only to be slapped down by the Supreme Court, d) illegally attempted to appoint members to the National Labor Relations Board only to be slapped down by the Supreme Court, e) overtly encouraged the IRS to “investigate” (i.e. delay) conservative organizations applying for tax exempt status, f) dismissed American exceptionalism and shrunk America’s leadership on the world stage, preferring instead to “lead from behind,” g) initiated Internet regulation, and h) encouraged identity politics where members of various minorities are told they are victims deserving government protection. Republicans have had the gall actually to oppose these moves and Democrats have characterized them as bigoted, insensitive, war-mongering environmental despoilers.
      .
      Who is “loopy?” Who has changed dramatically from the 1980s? It’s BENDER who has gone with this Democrat downhill flow. Do you honestly think Reagan would have embraced any of these ideas? If so, please explain.

      • Bender June 6, 2015 at 10:18 am

        No time to refute your Fox News talking points on this beautiful Saturday but I will make two points: 1) Bender is unaffiliated with the Democratic Party… he’s a homeless moderate. 2) Both parties have moved from the center but the GOP has moved much much farther to the right than the Democrats have moved left.

        • BIG GUY June 6, 2015 at 10:33 am

          BENDER, please provide examples of this Republican move “much farther to the right.” Liberal progressives have led the Democrat party and the liberal media so far to the left over the last 30 years that holding a consistent moderate or conservative position since then is now seen by you as “loopy” and moving “far from the center.” (I do not read, watch or listen to Fox News.)

      • BIG GUY June 6, 2015 at 10:23 am

        P.S. How could I overlook the unconstitutional Presidential order to give illegal aliens permanent resident status, a power our favorite constitutional lawyer claimed repeatedly he didn’t have…until he issued it? Done purely for “hyper-partisan” advantage. The courts have halted that one, too.
        .
        “Government is not a solution to our problem; government is the problem.” Ronald Reagan’s inaugural address, January 20, 1981

      • Chris June 6, 2015 at 7:36 pm

        American exceptionalism is a fairytale fostered by self-centered arrogance and believed by those with little or no experience outside this country. I challenge anyone to find an American executive involved in science or technology who thinks that it is anything other than nonsense. The sheer volume of innovation that originates in other countries, many far smaller than the U.S., easily debunks the notion that we are special simply by virtue of being American.

        • BIG GUY June 6, 2015 at 9:23 pm

          I accept your challenge. I speak as a former “American executive involved in [very high tech] science and technology.” No country compares or is even close. A significant majority of medical, scientific and engineering innovation over the last 70 years has originated here along with more than our share of creative thought in other fields. The number of Nobel prizes awarded by country makes my point. The U.S. has been awarded 353 Nobel prizes. The U.K. is second with 115. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_laureates_by_country
          .
          The U.S. also is exceptional in its movies, television, music and clothing, whose trends and fads, for good and for ill, are adopted and emulated around the world. Our exceptionalism is further validated daily by those who seek to immigrate here from countries around the world. No country in the world has or is today attracting nearly as many émigrés as the U.S., people who vote with their feet.
          .
          There are certainly admirable qualities to be found in virtually every country and reasons why each is exceptional in some way. And in some specific fields, other countries excel. But summing up across the board, none else compares.

        • BIG GUY June 7, 2015 at 5:34 pm

          CHRIS, the U.S. has more Nobel prize winners than the next six or seven countries combined. Yes, we are exceptional, a claim not “easily debunked,” despite your assertation above. That can be said without “self-centered arrogance” while fully appreciating other countries and their unique contributions to the world.

  • Roy J June 5, 2015 at 7:19 pm

    If it’s a political debate I am not afraid…although I am afraid it will be neither a debate, nor political if takes place between two real live American politicians…

  • laytonian June 6, 2015 at 8:07 pm

    A real political debate in Utah, when the precincts and house districts have been gerrymandered to favor only one party. Where “straight ticket” voting (only remains in a few other states) insures the (R)ote vote.

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