The Ohio Republican Party (ORP) is in the midst of a public squabble that is not only causing division within the upper echelon of the party, but is exposing the arrogance of those who consider themselves to be the upper echelon of the party.

It’s no secret that ORP Chairman Kevin DeWine and and Governor John Kasich are not the best of friends. Both Kasich and House Speaker William Batchelder (R-Medina) called for his resignation shortly after Republicans swept into office in 2010, taking over the House, Senate, and all statewide offices.  Batchelder and Kasich had accused DeWine (cousin of former Senator and current Attorney General Mike DeWine) of not putting party resources behind some incumbents and not supporting Kasich.

DeWine refused to resign and the party tensions continued to ferment. During the heat of the battle over Kasich’s union reform law repeal this past fall, DeWine played host to Mitt Romney, who visited a call center where Romney made one of the biggest blunders of his campaign, refusing to support Kasich and the union reforms. Romney reversed himself the next day. Some have blamed DeWine, speculating that the event was either a ploy to embarrass Kasich or incompetance on DeWine’s part.

DeWine (left) Batchelder (right)

This week things finally came to a head.  Party Chairman Kevin DeWine, knowing that Republicans were working behind the scenes to unseat him, went public. He complained to the entire State Central Committee that he was being targeted by Kasich and in a speech posted on the ORP website, blamed the divisions on the desire for “profit, arrogance, and the petty pursuit of power.”

Speaker Batchelder shot back with a memo to the House Republican Caucus, condemning DeWine’s public rant (and listing his failures as leader of the ORP).

This is a lot of inside baseball, especially if you don’t live in Ohio. But there was a line in DeWine’s speech that stood out to me. It really gives us some insight into how these people think and why we are stuck with ineffective RINO’s year after year after year and  why we conservatives feel like we are hitting our heads against a brick wall. DeWine said this:

“The only people who can dash Barack Obama’s hope to slip back into office are the people here in this room.”

Did you know that? Did you know that the 66 members of the Ohio State Central Committee are the ONLY people who can stop Barack Obama? I, for one, had no idea that Kevin DeWine, et al were so powerful. If I had known, I would have been in Columbus kissing rings and paying homage to our Republican Overlords.

This is the all-powerful Ohio Republican party that chooses our candidates for us and slaps fake Tea Party endorsements on their mailings and picks winners and losers before the primaries.  Kevin DeWine, thinks we are too emotional and not bright enough to figure these things out for ourselves. When challenged before the 2010 primary, he wrote this:

“Finally, I’ve seen and heard a lot of ridiculous accusations lately about the role of the Ohio Republican Party in this primary election. Understandably, much of it is motivated by the heightened emotions of political primaries and too often spread with little to no accountability through email, blogs, and social media sites. Unfortunately, most of it is flat out false, and it’s typically generated by people who find the truth just too inconvenient for their agenda. I want you to know you can always contact my office or email me directly if you want answers to any rumor or accusation about something we’re doing. This election is too important to let “noise” distract us from the real goal of winning in November.”

So we, the people, are the “noise” and they, the Overlords, are the only ones who can save us from Obama. They know what’s best. We just need to be quiet and go along with their grand plans for our state.

Got that? Now who is going to save us from our Republican Overlords?

Cross-posted at Bold Colors