2024 Elections

Our form of government is a constitutional republic, not a democracy. A simple definition of democracy is mob rule. The French common people wanted to be rid of the monarchy; they wanted democracy. In 1789, they got the democracy they wanted when they stormed the Bastille. What followed was a case of “the people got what they wanted, but did not want what they got.” Mob rule ensued, destroying buildings and rioting with great loss of life. French physician Joseph-Ignace Guillotine introduced the idea of the guillotine to the National Assembly in October of 1789 as a simple yet effective means of execution. French democracy soon became rule-by-mob as tens of thousands of people were slaughtered.

The word republic derives from the Latin phrase rēs (thing) pūblica (public, the people) — the people’s thing. Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution stipulates: “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government…” The words democracy and democratic do not appear in either the Declaration of Independence or our Constitution.

At the conclusion of the 1787 constitutional convention, Mrs. Elizabeth Willing Powel asked Ben Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” Franklin replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.”

How do we preserve our republic? Only by active and informed participation of the people. The fundamental role of the Republican Party is to educate, inform, and activate the people.

11/12/2024 Winsome Spears for Governor of Virginia