The Problem Wasn’t Disunity - It Was Dishonesty
The Cobb GOP didn’t fail the Commissioners Race because of too many voices, it failed because it stopped listening to the right ones.
They’ll tell you the problem is disunity.
They’ll say that what cost Republicans their chance at victory was a lack of obedience. That if only everyone had lined up behind “the party,” things would’ve gone differently. But let’s be honest: obedience isn’t a strategy, and silence isn’t a solution.
What actually cost conservatives the election wasn’t factionalism.
It was a refusal to face the truth.
The Real Sabotage: Ignoring the Base
You don’t lose seats in competitive districts by accident.
You lose them when a political machine decides it would rather maintain control than accept accountability.
You lose them when integrity becomes negotiable, and transparency becomes optional.
Grassroots conservatives didn’t cause the losses.
They warned about them.
They spoke up when backroom games replaced good behavior. They questioned the wisdom of elevating leaders with no previous engagement and unresolved legal or ethical concerns. They sounded the alarm about messaging, fundraising, and candidate support strategies that were outdated and ineffective.
They didn’t tear down the party. They tried to repair it.
Conservative Values Aren’t Just Slogans
Family. Freedom. Faith. Accountability. These aren’t just words for yard signs, they’re supposed to mean something.
If those values are real, they don’t stop mattering when applied internally. You can’t demand integrity from the White House and then shrug off dishonesty at the county party office. You can’t shout about election integrity while refusing to honor rules and procedures within your own organization.
The voters saw it. They always do.
And when they sense that their local party is acting more like a gated club than a principled movement, they check out—or worse, they vote against you.
Satire Isn’t the Problem
Yes, some of us make jokes. Some of us run satirical sites. But when parody starts to sound more credible than official press releases, the problem isn’t the parody - it’s the press release.
Satire shines a light. If that light reveals dysfunction, the answer isn’t to smash the flashlight. It’s to fix the mess.
The Digital Disconnect
The world has changed, but some parts of the political class seem stuck in 1996. Social media isn’t a side dish anymore, it’s the battlefield. Voters are on screens. Conversations are algorithmic. Influence spreads through memes before it spreads through mailers.
A movement that won’t modernize will continue to lose - no matter how loudly it blames the people asking it to evolve.
Loyalty Must Be Earned, Not Demanded
True loyalty isn’t about suppressing dissent. It’s about having trust - trust that leaders tell the truth, follow the rules, and put the mission above their own status.
If that trust breaks, no amount of shaming will restore it. What will? Transparency. Accountability. Humility.
That’s what real leadership looks like.
What Comes Next
There’s still time to change course. But it won’t happen by doubling down on blame or pretending dissent is the enemy. It’ll happen when the local party returns to its roots. Not as a tool of control, but as a voice of the people it claims to represent.
We can rebuild. We can win. But only if we’re willing to tell the truth. Even when it’s inconvenient.
Especially then.