Every once in a while, my distant Media General colleague Jeff Schapiro, frames matters nicely. Such is the case, for a moment at least, in his Sunday sermon regarding, among other topics, the need for bloodletting in Virginia’s Republican ranks:
Republicans know well the way out of the wilderness: ideas, realistic and practical, that are recognized as such by a broad swatch of the electorate; that don’t seem a sop to rigid purists whose standards for nomination weaken candidates for the general election.
But first, Republicans have to fight about this, offer a sacrifice to sate the bloodlust that builds with each embarrassing loss.
Thus, the long knives are out for the short-time state GOP chairman, Del. Jeff Frederick of Prince William. Shaming him into resigning six months after defeating incumbent and Bush-in-law John Hager will be hard; removing Frederick, harder.
The sniping, knifing and occasional histrionics surrounding Frederick do have a ritualistic quality to them. Losing sides need a sacrifice, if not exactly to their god, then certainly to their disappointment. Small children perform such rituals on their toy boxes just about every day. But the temporary satisfaction rapidly recedes once they are forced to clean up their mess.
Frederick is a lightening rod, to be sure. His personality and ambition only make him more so. Combine this with his gaffes during the last campaign and what some see as a distinct lack of progress on his reforming agenda and the only real surprise would be if there was no baying for blood. He has much to answer for in all of this, and surely will at the Republican “Advance.”
But let’s assume Frederick is deposed. The factions that brought him down will enjoy their triumph for a moment because blood will have been spilled. But then they have to clean up the mess. And like the child facing a toy-strewn-room, the ensuing work will be difficult, and even disheartening.
This is not to defend Frederick, or to castigate those who think he needs to go. Maybe he does, maybe not. The point is, who holds the chairmanship of what has been, for as long as I can remember, a moribund party apparatus is immaterial. The real problem with Virginia Republicans is that they have largely abandoned principle in the pursuit of power. One cannot campaign, year after year, as a fiscal conservative devoted to limited government and the rule of law and then cast those ideas over the side once the race is over. Voters may be irrational, but they aren’t stupid…and they genuinely resent being lied to. The result is easy to predict: electoral defeat.
But what’s the official response been to this problem? Nothing. Rather than putting forward candidates and ideas that motivate and excite, the best the GOP has had to offer of late is the notion that the other side is rife with Che Guevara clones bent on the destruction of liberty itself.
As for their own guy? Yes, he’s wrong on this, bad on that and those votes? Man they were ugly. And destructive. But hold your nose and vote for him anyway because the other guy is eeevill!
This is the real problem. It should be on the top of every party loyalist’s mind as they trundle off to the “Advance.” Hold your chairman accountable for his conduct and his promises. That’s expected. And if it makes you feel good about yourself, join in the ritual bloodletting and send him packing.
Just realize, however, that until the GOP starts fielding candidates with a strong set of conservative convictions they are unwilling to abandon when times get tough, and who are eager to translate those convictions into a positive message that genuinely motivates the masses, that no amount of ceremonial blood will ease your electoral pain.
(cross posted at Tertium Quids)`
Neil Stevens
Moe Lane
Steve Maley
Daniel Horowitz
Jake Walker
I confess ignorance of VA GOP politics
E Pluribus Unum (Diary) Monday, November 24th at 11:19AM EST (link)But I am familiar with the ritual. Over here in TX at the county level we are doing a little ritual bloodletting ourselves.
Kill the Terrorists
Protect the Borders
Punch the Hippies h/t IMAO
Virginia GOP
indym (Diary) Monday, November 24th at 11:46AM EST (link)I will be honest about the Virginia GOP. They have just put up bad candidates for office. I don’t mean bad people, or bad republicans, just bad candidates for all of the reasons stated above. Calling the other party Marxists or the like does not win elections. Also the demographics have changed in Virgina a lot but also times have changed. Here is where it may get a little tough for people to hear. The Virginia GOP is has insulted just about every group of potential voters that do not look like or reflect the same values they do. There is very little effort to attract women, or non-whites or the younger voters many of whom voted for Obama and Warner. The win by Obama was expected and close, but the margin of the win by Warner was crushing. When almost half of the GOP votes for a democrat for the Senate a serious discussion needs to be done.
Recount
Scope (Diary) Monday, November 24th at 12:18PM EST (link)The BOE today certified the vote for Periello. There is little doubt that Virgil Goode will file for a recount, as he should, now that the election is certified. What a disastrous mess the whole ordeal has been. It is too reminicent of what is happening with Coleman in Michigan. Votes keep showing up for Periello. Raising Kane, a website devoted to Democrats, found 20 more votes for Periello within a 35 min. time period with their postings. It stands at Periello with a 745 vote lead. That’s less than the 1% required for the recount.
On my local VA news this morning, it was said that the DNC (aka Soros) dumped $24 million into advertising for periello in the last 2 weeks before the election. One of those ads was a 527 group that had an old man saying that the most Goode has done for VA was to get a Fed. building renamed. He nicely neglects to bring up that Goode has done alot to help the Police and Veterans in his district. He also had the guts to vote against the bailout.
Virginia in the Blue: State Budget Heading Red
DONTREADONME (Diary) Wednesday, November 26th at 12:59AM EST (link)I am a little late commenting on the status of Virginia turning to the blue side. I have been down here for eight years now, and I have seen this state turn with every New Englander and Blue State transient that has come to enjoy the prosperity that Virginia used to have. They have brought their blue cancer with them and it has spread beyond my control and belief.
Now, VA has enjoyed many years of an out of control housing boom/inflation. This has led many people to believe that this out of control housing inflation was actually a realistic reflection of the true value of their home. Unfortunately, the housing values in VA have suffered intense swings up and down for the las 20 years. I avoided this knowing that history is to repeat and just bought my home at rock bottom prices. Unlike my fellow constituents, I bought with the standard one income family on the front/rear 27/32% criteria. My fellow constituents decided that an interest only loan was acceptable, and 40% of loans in the last 4 years prior to 2007 were these types.
The market tanked and the people of VA are hoping for some sort of bailout as foreclosures rise to high levels. This vision of a collapse has led people to lean on the Democrats for help, w/o the knowing that the Democrats got us into this mess.
I live in PWC VA and now my property taxes just went up another 16%. There is a clear line that needs to be drawn between Republicans and Democrats, unfortunately, a clear disaster in the VA economy may be needed to turn people towards voting Republican. Regretfully, I do not see VA turning red for at least the next 16 years.
Once the blue has come from the outside their is little to no hope of changing back. The NE transients will leave the state permanently blue with dependent voters reliant upon the govenment hand-out to survive and surely will never vote differently.
Sorry, about the sad state of things in VA; however, if VA-11 district and the seat discussed in the comment from Scope can be turned back RED in 2010 then I will lighten up my impression of VA. I do not see this happening in my lifetime.
Mark Warner was no spectacular Governor for VA, he spent along with RINOs and Democrats in our State Legislatures like tax and spend liberals when the economy in VA was booming which started under Jim Gilmore not Mark Warner. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine road the coat-tails of Jim Gilmore and the booming economy of VA with the events of September 11th, war in Iraq and Afghanistan (increased Government Defense Spending) and the economic boom that happened after the tax cuts of 2003.
I thought I could count on the people of VA to deliver Mccain the votes; sadly, I was proven to be horribly wrong and I have completely lost faith in the state of Virginia. VA used to be such a beautiful and friendly state to live in. Now sadly it is now part of the Mid-Atlantic Super-State DELMARVA which is a guaranteed 26 EV and 4 Senators to the Democrats.