In an effort to provide more in-depth coverage of the ongoing political party conferences, The Missouri Times started conducting interviews on Twitter of prominent party figures. One of the first was an interview with newly elected Missouri Republican Party Chairman and political consultant John Hancock. You can follow the chairman @johnrhancock on Twitter.
See the interview and Hancock’s acceptance speech below:
The Missouri Times: thx for joining us. You’ve won an overwhelming victory for party chair, what are you going to do with he office? #RLD2015
Hancock: 2 Immediate priorities. 1) Meet financial challenges; 2) Grow the party through inclusion
The Missouri Times: this isn’t be best job right now. The party is a lot of debt and there is some division internally why did you run? #RLD2015
Hancock: The future of our state and nation hang in the balance in ’16. Our state ticket, including POTUS, needs a STRONG MRP!
The Missouri Times: the latest reports show MRP is nearly $100,000 in debt how will you go about tackling that debt? #RLD2015
Hancock: We have a multi-pronged approach. 1) Ask our electeds to pitch in; 2) Ask our committee to pitch in; 3) Prepare large event.
The Missouri Times: further how can the GOP be the party of fiscal responsibility until they get their own finances in order? #RLD2015
Hancock: #WeWill
The Missouri Times: lets talk primaries. The .@missourigop has primaries for Gov, Lt. Gov, SOS, and maybe AG. Can you sort those out or will you?
Hancock: Records numbers of GOP electeds means we are talent-rich w/ candidates. MRP will NOT get involved in primaries
The Missouri Times: what are the appropriate roles and functions for MRP? #RLD2015
Hancock: The MRP’s job is to elect the Republican in November of ’16. We have GREAT candidates already announced!
The Missouri Times: the MOGOP has struggled statewide since ’92, what pres candidate do you believe would be the most helpful to the ticket?
Hancock: Deliver positive messages on behalf of our conservative candidates and tell the truth about Democrats (full-time job there).
Hancock: We must also develop and implement a large-scale ground GOTV effort to benefit the entire ticket. #WeWill
The Missouri Times: what democrat would be the best to run against for the Missouri statewide ticket? #RLD2015
Hancock: One that is honest about their views.
The Missouri Times: so you dont have a favorite in the republican field yet? #RLD2015
Hancock: I honestly like several of the candidates. Way too early – at least for me – to pick just one!
BEST candidate is one not named Hillary Clinton. We have a talent-rich group from which to choose. The Democrats can’t do better than a retread who inspires zero passion out there. There are a dozen GOP’ers that could win.
The Missouri Times: if the MO GOP had and official baseball and football team which teams would be they be? #RLD2015
Hancock: Sorry, I’m not sure I understand the question… (1/1)
Hancock: OK. I LOVE the #Cardinals. LOVE them. I did root for the #Royals in the WS. Chiefs have GREAT history. Hope Rams stay.
The Missouri Times: ok more simply give us a prediction on the number of wins for the Cards and Royals this season. #RLD2015
Hancock: Royals were the story of the year in ’14, though!
The Missouri Times: ok more simply give us a prediction on the number of wins for the Cards and Royals this season. #RLD2015
Hancock: Cards: 99-63, 1st in Central. Royals 96-66, 1st in Central.
The Missouri Times: how many wins does @Mizzou football have this season? #RLD2015
Hancock: Hmmm… Haven’t checked to see conf schedule yet. Worried about O-line… I will say 7-8.
Chris Kelly: More like 11. Most experienced QB in Conf. BTW, congrats on Chairman job.
Hancock: From your lips to God’s ears!
Chris Kelly: Gotta hope God thinks Bulldogs were kind of a mistake.
The Missouri Times: A little word association @GovJayNixon #RLD2015
Hancock: The old TV show “Lost in Space.” #DangerDangerWillRobinson
The Missouri Times: @roytemple #RLD2015
Hancock: Formidable adversary. Smart. Liberal.
The Missouri Times: @PeterKinder #RLD2015
Hancock: Rock Steady Leader. Brilliant Thinker. Outstanding Communicator. Vote Getter.
The Missouri Times: @KurtUSchaefer #RLD2015
Hancock: Brilliant and conservative appropriator. Strong candidate. Great guy!
The Missouri Times: Jeff Roe @AxiomStrategies #RLD2015
Hancock: Among the very best in the business. Friend.
The Missouri Times: @Eric_Schmitt #RLD2015
Hancock: Does everything with excellence. Quality human being. Smart. Strong. Good candidate!
The Missouri Times: David Barklage @BarklageKnodell #RLD2015
Hancock: One of the very best “message” operatives I have known.
The Missouri Times: @TomSchweichMO #RLD2015
Hancock: Fantastic State Auditor – one of the best ever. Extremely intelligent. Good candidate!
The Missouri Times: @JoeLakin #RLD2015
Hancock: Rapidly-rising political star! Great guy!
The Missouri Times: @Koster4Missouri #RLD2015
Hancock: Please… Ok… Slippery when wet… or dry.
The Missouri Times: @HanawayForGov #RLD2015
Hancock: 30-year friend. Brilliant mind. Great Leader. Good candidate!
The Missouri Times: @mskstl #RLD2015
Hancock: Often wrong. Never in doubt. Heart of gold. Phenomenal person. Best friend.
The Missouri Times: and lastly @MattBlunt @RLD2015
Hancock: Magnificent character. Disciplined. Great, great leader. Ever day he looks better and better! Miss him MUCH!
The Missouri Times: thx so much for joining us, and congrats on becoming chairman. #RLD2015
Hancock: Thanks, Scott! Enjoyed the visit. Best wishes for the @MissouriTimes and @thisweekinmopol !
To provide a more graceful read, some typos have been corrected and broken tweets have been merged. No content has been changed.
A More Perfect Union, Chairman Hancock’s acceptance speech
Thank you very much, Ed, for your work over the past two years. I also want to thank my amazing wife, Georgann, and our children John and Mary Kathryn for their steadfast support during a difficult few weeks! And thank you to our wonderful committee. I have gotten to know almost every one of you – some VERY well – over the past three months and I am beyond enthused to work with you in our effort to put our great state back on track and save this country that we love.
I have discussed the future of our state and nation with dozens of you. I have been impressed with your devotion to our founding principles – most notably, those found in the Constitution.
The Preamble to the Constitution is one long sentence. It is made up of eight clauses. The first of those, “We the people of the United States,” is embedded in our memory. But for now, I would like us to focus – for the next few minutes, on the SECOND clause of that preamble. “In order to form a more perfect union.”
Our founders NEVER contemplated forming a “perfect” union. As the Bible teaches, perfection is not to be found this side of heaven. Just as there is no perfect union, there has never been a perfect president, a perfect candidate, a perfect party chairman, or, I’m sure you will agree – a perfect state committee. But our founders DID envision an ever-developing “MORE perfect union.” It is the clarion call of every generation, of every movement, of every grassroots expression, and of every Election Day. A More Perfect Union is our unified call to action on this day in 2015! We must embrace it. Rally around it. Unify before it. And resolve to create it today – and keep that passion alive for the next twenty months of working – together – to help create a MORE PERFECT UNION.
As we gather here today, our union if FAR from “MORE perfect.” We have a governor who will not lead. We have a State Attorney General who is slowly selling off his office to the highest bidder. We have a president who has brought us economic stagnation, middle class erosion, job evaporation, tax annihilation, crony capitalism, free market destruction, health care totalitarianism and the larceny of our liberty is before our eyes every single day. We live in an era where the idea of America – forged for centuries as the greatest nation of opportunity the world has ever known – hangs in the balance.
Friends, there may never be a greater chance to save America – or to lose her – than the opportunities and challenges that lay before us at this very moment of time. The elections of 2016 – you know it, and I know it – are a crossroads.
We are either going to decide to turn America into yet another failed western European socialist state or we are going to return to free markets, entrepreneurism and personal liberty. We will decide if the federal government dictates our lives or if the individual, working through a federalist Republic – prevails. Nothing less than our founders’ vision of America is at stake next year and we have been placed in the battle to save her.
We are not the first to sign up to fight this battle to save our country. Nor will we – by God’s grace – be the last. I would like to direct your attention to another time – and another place – to put our current circumstances into perspective.
In the Summer of 1863, the southern army, under the command of Robert E. Lee, made it’s northernmost incursion into the United States. The northern troops, which had lost a couple of major battles in the preceding weeks, were at a delicate point. As the two armies assembled and marched, they were heading to a place called Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. A place that would ultimately determine whether or not our union would stand.
So much of what we are today – both good and not-so-good – can be traced back to our nation’s great division in the mid nineteenth Century. It should be noted that those who wore the blue coats and the gray coats put them on for a variety of different reasons. In the North, some were fighting to end the scourge of slavery. Others were fighting to preserve their property or economic interests. Some were concerned primarily with keeping the Union together and others joined out of a sheer sense of Patriotism, as their fathers fought in Mexico and their grandfathers fought the British. Regardless of their individual passions, every one of them woke up each morning and put their arms through battle-worn blue coats to do the hard work that lay ahead for them.
Isn’t that a picture of us? Different people. Different motivations. Different passions. But all of us stand side-by-side to save our country, wearing the battle-worn clothes soiled by hard work in the trenches of American politics.
And none of us knows when the ground we’re holding will become the pivotal ground that determines the outcome of the battle. Such was the case at Gettysburg, where a college professor from Maine – Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain – led a group of volunteers holding one of the high spots on far left flank of the Union line during the second day of the conflict. It was a place called “Little Round Top.” Now the enemy had many places they could have focused their attack that day – they chose Little Round Top. So, Chamberlain and his 20th Maine regiment had the task that day of holding their position and – in a very real sense – saving America. They withstood. Wave after wave of Confederate troops stormed up the hill and four times they were repelled by Chamberlain’s men. At last, the 20th Maine found itself out of ammunition and had suffered many casualties. As the fifth and final enemy wave began moving up the hill, Chamberlain had a choice: he could pull his men back in retreat or he could find a way to fight. His command to “FIX BAYONETTES” rang out through the line and continues to inspire generations of American soldiers to this day. Chamberlain and his men were trained, prepared and courageous. And after holding their ground, the North went on to win the battle of Gettysburg on a day that ultimately turned the tide of the war and ultimately determined generations of US history.
We are here today looking over a distant field that will take us to the Autumn of 2016. From our vantage point today, we have no way of knowing if that election will be close or if it will come down to a handful of precincts in one or two states. A handful of precincts in OUR state. A handful of precincts in YOUR county. A handful of voters who turned out to vote because of the work WE will do together.
My friends and colleagues, the enemy is not sitting or standing in this room. The enemy is not another Republican running for president or governor or attorney general or any other office. The enemies are those who want to destroy our American Dream. Our job is to put on the uniform and do everything in our power to create a “MORE perfect Union” – together. Our job is to occupy our small piece of ground and to preserve it for liberty! Our job begins today. And I can’t think of a finer group of people to enter the battlefield with than each and every one of you.
To paraphrase that great President we celebrate this weekend: Let we resolve together, today, that this nation – under God – shall have a new birth of freedom and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.
May God Bless you. May God Bless Missouri. And may God bless the United States of America!
Thank you. Let’s get to work!
Rachael Herndon was editor of The Missouri Times until 2019. She also produced This Week in Missouri Politics, published Missouri Times Magazine, and co-hosted the #MoLeg podcast. Herndon joined The Missouri Times in 2014, returning to political reporting after working as a campaign and legislative staffer. In 2019, she entered Missouri’s cannabis industry, co-founding Greenway Magazine.
