Will the real Republican please stand up?
Former New Hampshire Republican Party chair Fergus Cullen caused quite a stir among New Hampshire libertarians this week when he called out Free Staters for “masquerading” as Republicans:
In recent years a growing handful of free staters have managed to get elected to the New Hampshire legislature through, shall we say, false pretenses. Some have masqueraded as a conventional Republican or cross-dressed as a mainstream Democrat, keeping their true views hidden from voters. Mall security guards call this sort of thing willful concealment.
Free State Project chair Aaron Day, who is leading an attempt to purge the party of undesirables, responded in kind:
In recent years a growing handful of establishment Republicans have managed to get elected to the state legislature through false pretenses. Some have masqueraded as fiscally conservative — signing pledges not to raise taxes and then immediately voting for bloated government spending once elected. They have hidden their true views from voters long enough.