The Impact of Dilettantes on Pennsylvania Politics
"The Impact of Dilettantes on Pennsylvania Politics"
From a Pennsylvania Political Activist going by the name of T. Stevens - The Pennsylvania Republican Party is facing a growing divide between its leadership and its base, leading to a power vacuum. Think tank "experts", confusing policy research skills with campaign skills, have made the jump into political campaigning, attempting to fill that void.
Think tanks and political parties have a symbiotic relationship. Think tanks produce biased research papers used by politicians to legitimize policy change. Corporations, for instance, fund think-tanks to give research and white papers which they can claim as independent and unbiased. Politicians use the papers produced by the think tanks as support and justification for policy change on behalf of corporations in return for campaign donations. This relationship, though profitable, is filled with mutual distrust.
In Pennsylvania, the Republican Party's structure is failing despite a growing voter base. Their state party had to sell its building, and they have been losing state-wide offices. This is happening even as the Democratic voter advantage has shrunk significantly since 2016.
Local party structures have also weakened, with committee members suing their county leadership, especially in counties surrounding Philadelphia.
Matthew Brouillette, a former CEO of the think tank, Commonwealth Foundation, has seized this opportunity, albeit with limited success. He has been bankrolled by a Pennsylvania billionaire and has engaged in dark money politics that often undermine conservative campaigns and working-class interests.
Brouillette's actions contributed to the defeat of GOP gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano, impacted down-ballot candidates, leading to the loss of the State House. Which Illustrated how destructive self-serving neophyte campaign-meddlers can be.
Moreover, Brouillette's Commonwealth Partners meddled in judicial elections, often with counterproductive outcomes. Their support for losing candidates and controversial tactics backfired in the 2019 superior court race, where they gave little support to the winning Republican candidate, Megan King, but pushed losing candidate Christylee Peck .
Brouillette’s Commonwealth Partners displayed their ignorance of the political landscape when they sent out a hit piece on Democratic opponent, African American woman Amanda Green-Hawkins, and purposely darkened her skin tone in what the press labeled a Willie Horton ad. Brouillette’s misguided attempt to stir up racial antagonism backfired, and likely cost Peck the race.
Brouillette's own bid for the state senate in 2019 was a disaster, demonstrating his limited political prowess.
In conclusion, Matthew Brouillette's self-serving politics, driven by outside funding and inexperience, have been detrimental to Pennsylvania's political landscape. His actions have often undermined conservative campaigns and the interests of working-class Pennsylvanians. This pattern could spread to other states as the GOP's structure continues to erode.
