The Bastion has been reporting nearly since its inception on the ham handed actions of the Belknap County Republican Committee’s (BCRC) leadership team throughout the current election cycle. Beginning with the mishandling and inability to react and manage the Gunstock debacle which fostered the rise of an organized and well funded opposition political action committee (Citizens For Belknap), the fortunes of the BCRC Executive Committee have steadily gone downhill. Local Republicans spent the last weeks leading up to the November 8th election day looking around for guidance and direction never given by the rudderless and beleaguered group. One local woman tells The Bastion that she had reached out several times, offering her time and service as a poll watcher, but never received a response. After the polls in Gilford had closed, a member of the Bastion team caught up with the Co-Chair of the Belknap County Democrat Party, Johnna Davis, who remarked, ” I was quite surprised that you guys didn’t have any poll watchers this year. I can’t ever recall that happening in the past since I’ve been around.” She of course gave a knowing nod, fully understanding why this was. When engaged in a Republican circular firing squad attacking each other, there’s little time left for doing the actual real work of winning elections.

Whatever full unity the BCRC might have had (at least on its face) began to visibly erode at the September meeting with grumbling about the completed primary period. Due to outright favoritism and unprecedented BCRC financial support in certain Republican versus Republican races, tensions began to heighten. From that point on, the Executive Committee, with the help of a number of their reliable cheerleaders circled the wagons and doubled down. Elections be damned- they had “renegade” Republicans that dared question their actions. They must be dealt with! The fiasco cascaded and grew. Locking out members and their guests. New onerous rules for membership- it would no longer be easy to join their “private club.” Bylaws would be cast aside. Anyone deemed an “agitator” would be made to pay. And pay they did.

Everything came to a head at this week’s meeting the day after the election that found Republican fortunes diminished from two years back. The Executive Committee would unleash a nuclear option. Their two biggest “problems” that might affect their future in holding the leadership positions were identified, and targeted for “elimination”: Representative Gregg Hough, and Gunstock Commission Chair Doug Lambert. And you don’t have to take our word for it…

We invite you to read the well-researched and accurately reported article in the November 11 Laconia Daily Sun. Written by star reporter Catherine McLaughlin, The Bastion would attest to the facts as stated. Catherine attends more BCRC meetings and often is forced to stand outside along with potential members.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE

One further point that happened during the evening- as Lambert was summarily drummed out of the Republican Committee, rather than take an immediate leave, he momentarily took a seat at the front of the group with the Executive Committee, enacting a similar move performed by the former Gunstock Commissioner David Strang at their last meeting. Strang is a member of the BCRC and was at the head table at the time of Lambert’s maneuver. The Bastion can only speculate as to the reasoning for this act Wednesday.

This cartoon was provided to the Bastion by an anonymous reader who submitted their thoughts on the whole affair in a more visual way: