conservatives not welcome?

that is funny, because I heard that the conservative group, the NFRA (National Federation of Republican Assemblies) just joined the RIGOP.

Clarification ... the NFRA-RI didn't "just join" the RIGOP. We've been Republicans all along, with most of our memebership consisting of members of the RIGOP State Central Committee. We're currently petitioning the state party to "let us" call ourselves Republicans, after nearly five years working as Republicans in Rhode Island.
That being said, there have been some positive inroads recently towards "inclusiveness" by the state party, by welcoming conservatives into the fold, instead of just hoping that they'll go away. Let's give credit where it's due. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Let's see how it works out.

thanks for the correction.

on the outside looking in.

Robert

It is unfortuantly you might have the perspective that the NFRA-RI group has just joined the RIGOP. Maybe it is that the Real Republican Party "The one's that wrote the Federalist Papers", "You can google that" have always been the conservatives like the NFRA-RI and the RIGOP has realized that we all need each other to help grow the party. If you are interested and a Conservative you could always come to a meeting and see the belief's of our Forefathers in action.
Remember "A Brain is a terrible thing to waste especially on a Liberal"

For the record, Fred is the Immediate Past President of NFRA-RI, so he definitely knows what he's talking about!
One of the true strengths of the NFRA organization, through its many state chapters, is its unusually strong emphasis on politics, principle, and pragmatism. None of these need to be mutually exclusive.
Someone whom I know recently used the analogy of the Republican Party being like a large ship. There are some conservatives in the party that recognize that the ship is off-course, headed for an iceberg (electoral defeat or irrelevance). The response of some conservatives is to just jump ship, save their own lives, and let the ship crash into the iceberg, and kill everyone else who remained on board. In essence, they are cowards.
The NFRA's response is much different. Our response is to get up to the control room and to do whatever we can to turn the little rudder (to the right, of course), and stear the boat away from danger, in order not only to save ourselves, but to save everyone else who remains aboard the ship (the Republican Party). We, unlike some conservatives, believe that the Republican Party is worth saving, and therefore choose to work within it for the betterment of the whole.

Will Ricci
Northeast VP, NFRA

You can go onto www.opensecrets.org to see what Rhode Islanders donate to candidates and causes.

I don't see many RI conservatives giving money to ANY candidates or party organization regardless of whether the candidates are running in RI, for president or for federal office outside RI.

There just aren't that many Republicans in RI. Given that the RI GOP had trouble raising money with Dick Cheney, I don't know what made them think they could raise money with Andy Card.

Funny, I just ran 3 of the last names of bloggers on www.opensecrets.org and not a single one had given any money--not to President Bush, to the RNC, to Sen. Frist or any other conservative! Makes me think that wasn't the reason the Card fundraiser failed!

Anthony

I guess if you can BLOG shit it is okay. Why don't you check who supported Dave Rogers. Oh that is right you have your jaw open on the ground like every other RINO or As I have said in other writings Democrat. Don't try to justify your liberal leanings on the back of true conservatives.

Life Is Tough It Is Thougher If Your Stupid.

John Wayne (Sands of Iwo Jim)

Anthony,

You are partially correct, but probably not in the way that one might think. I for one give to so many candidates, both inside and outside RI, I'm surprised I still have anything left. That being said, I deliberately try to keep my donations under the arbitrary campaign finance limits that trigger reporting requirements ($100 for local candidates; $200 for federal candidates), in order to keep my name off those "lists" you mentioned. Once you give a lot to even one, you become known to all the others quite quickly.

You are correct that "conservatives" give money in ways that differ from RINOs. The reason that many RINOs have power and/or influence in the first place, is that they buy it. I check FEC and other campaign finance filings regularly, for a variety of reasons, and there is a very strong correlation between very large donations and the influence of certain members of the state GOP (I'll avoid gitting into specifics, to avoid a SLAPP suit).

Conservatives "contributions" derive mainly from the selfless dedication of time and effort that they put into the actual workings of the party and candidates, organizing, volunteering, networking, etc. That kind of "intangible" help, while it might not be very "bloggable," nor easily checked online, is often the main thing that separates the elected from the non or soon to be unelected candidates. Underestimate it at your peril.