Introducing BiGWandTM…
This is a story about three women,
each on a journey to discover where they fit on the political spectrum, who met
in the quaint town of Powhatan, Virginia.
Karen is a native Virginian. Jean migrated
south from New Jersey as quickly as she could. I was born and raised in Texas,
but living in Virginia for the past five years helped me realize there is more
to our nations history than the Alamo. Like Jean, I am happily adding Virginian
as a new moniker.
So how did three of us join forces?
Well, a year ago Jean and I got to
know one another while attending classes with the Jennifer Byler Institute
(JBI), an arm of the Republican Party of Virginia. JBI provided us an outlet to
learn the in’s and out’s of the Republican Party of Virginia and basically
begin our boot camp training in the world of politics. Jean and I could not
wait for each class day to arrive. The only thing missing was Karen. She and
Jean are neighbors, and she too was becoming more active in politics, joining
us for any event outside of JBI classes. Actually, she did accompany Jean on
the JBI Capitol Day where many prominent Republican Congressmen and women spoke
to the group. I was not able to attend that day, but thank goodness for
technology, they kept me up to date on what I was missing with a barrage of
text messages and pictures. By August 2012, we were well on our way to becoming
political junkies!
Although 2012 proved to be a
disappointing year for any Republican – wait! Strike that! Reverse! Disappointing
just doesn’t fit. It sucked. We all went into mourning. Thank goodness for
Crown, Skyy and Patron!
After we came out of our stooper,
Jean, Karen and I realized our passion for politics and our love of country was
as strong as ever.
So, in December, the three of us
decided to drag our husbands to the Advance in Virginia Beach where the vision
for the Republican Party of Virginia was announced, and networked to our hearts
desire. Ultimately, the Advance is a place to see and be seen. My favorite part
was the 80’s band with Billy Idol, but we will leave that story for another
time. Jean and Karen soaked up the full weekend of events and continued with
our boot camp training in the political world.
We discovered we loved politics
even coming off a really heart wrenching loss. Most importantly, when the three
of us are together in the political arena we have way too much fun! I think our
hubby’s even enjoyed the events a little bit too.
This leads us to today, to BiGWandTM.
BGW and Company was already in existence, just with a different twist. However,
in the last two months we have watched the aftermath of the 2012 elections and
realized the Republican Party is searching for a way to fix itself.
There are so many factions – the Establishment;
the Tea Party; Libertarians; Social Cons; Neocons; Moderates; RINO’s; Hispanics;
women; African-Americans; Asians; GOPROUD; North Eastern Republicans. The list
could go on and on and on and on. No wonder such a crisis exists!
We find ourselves just wanting to
scream, “Can’t we all just get along?!”
Seriously though, with the rich
history of the GOP – um, I am not talking about financial history; I am talking
about the reality of what Republicans have done throughout the existence of the
party -
- leading the way in ending slavery (13th Amendment)
- fighting for equal rights under the law (14th Amendment)
- securing voting rights for African Americans and women (15th and 19th Amendments)
- and supporting the first woman in Congress in 1917, Jeanette Rankin from Montana
the Republican Party should be
proud of the role it has played.
We believe the Republican Party is
still the party with the right focus to lead our nation back to greatness. But
it is our opinion the GOP needs to stop focusing on all of these differences
and start focusing on what made it great.
I believe something was stirring in
each of us over the past month about our business and what our focus should be.
I spent most of January in Blacksburg (a beautiful part of Virginia!), and Jean
and Karen had one of those evenings where grand things come to life.
This is how BiGWandTM was born. It started as an idea, then became an embryo, now we are moving
toward birthing something in hopes to bring the message back to why Republicans
became Republicans – regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic status,
age, location.
Since we have so much fun together,
and we love politics, even when we lose, we want to share what we do and how we
do it with anyone who is interested in educating themselves about the past,
present, and future of our nation. We were three women – regular, everyday
women – who in a couple of years went from low information voters to hitting
the trail for candidates and learning everything possible about how the
political process works. We discovered our passion to learn about history,
politics, candidates, and policy has helped us educate friends and family so
they feel more comfortable and confident when they go to the polls.
So, through BiGWandTM we want to provide an outlet that will be a source for information. It will be
a mixture of history, current events, humor, and guest spots from friends like
The Lady in Pearls.
Our mission is simple.
Rediscover;
Unite; Ignite; Return the Republican Party to its foundation!
We hope you join us on our journey.
Copyright 2013 BiGWand.net. All rights reserved.
It is an honor to work with you all!
ReplyDelete