March 2009

Okay, I supported Hager, and when the efforts to bring effective leadership back to RPV were announced a few months ago, I supported that, too. But I haven’t taken an “in your face” attitude towards it, so hopefully all parties, even those that disagree, can come together and discuss this without tearing the party apart any further.

First, let’s take a few things off the table. The petition with a list of ten grievances: both sides present their case and give a biased account, and as soon as it was made public I knew it wouldn’t change anyone’s mind. The pro-Frederick crowd would just circle the wagons and believe their side was telling the truth.

Second, previous election results. I believe that the combination of bad candidates (Kilgore, Gilmore), strong Democrats (Warner, Obama), and a terrible political environment (caused by opposition to George Bush) is a thousand times more responsible for our electoral defeats than whoever the RPV Chairman is or was.

So the question for Frederick’s supporters is this: what “victory” scenario do you imagine will come out of the vote this weekend? Let’s say a few of the 57 defect, and only 70% of the SCC votes to remove Frederick. Can he really turn around and say that’s a victory?

What’s the next step after that? More than two-thirds of State Central (which is also popularly elected from the “grassroots”) has voted “no confidence” in Frederick, the standard-bearer for our Party, Bob McDonnell, says we need more effective leadership, and the entire Congressional delegation, as well as the Speaker of the House of Delegates, say he should step aside. Given that amount of opposition, how can anyone expect him to be an effective leader going forward?

And if he can’t be an effective leader going forward, then what do we gain by keeping Jeff Frederick as our Chairman?

The BOS last night approved a 10.5 cent increase in the property tax last night, from $1.14 to $1.24.5 (Loudoun Extra story here).  I’m sure more stories will file in as the day progresses.  I’ve been in a very busy work schedule this week – I’ll leave it up to you faithful TC readers to post up more stories and info in comments as the day goes by.

Update:  While PWC was at $0.97 last year, they will be at a combined general/fire& rescue rate of $1.28.2 this year, making it higher than Loudoun.  That doesn’t make me less upset about Loudoun’s tax rate, but if I were in PWC I’d be pretty unhappy right now.  That includes a 2.9% COLA for employees.  Whose cost of living is rising in these economic times?

I am SO sick of this.  RPV and the Republican establishment as a whole continues to be held hostage by no more than a few hundred fringe hardliners.  In what should have been a positive piece on McDonnell’s campaign kickoff (I know I shouldn’t expect too much there, but why give them free ammo) the WaPo gets to work in the Frederick affair into its coverage, based on a whopping TWO people holding I Love Jeffy signs (I guess Frederick Admirer #1 Willie Deustch’s campaign didn’t turn out so well!).  If Jeff Frederick truly cared about RPV and its candidates, he would have stepped down when nearly every elected Republican leader called for him to do so.  Instead we have this mess as he selfishly clings to “power”, which he will have none of even if he survives the SCC vote.  He is effectively neutered for the remainder of his term if he sticks around that long.  Frederick has always been out for Frederick, as so presciently forecasted by Jason Kenney last year.  You know how wacked out these Frederick supporters are when they consider the Kenney brothers to be RINO establishment types.

Now the wingnuts who make up much of the NoVA State Central Committee membership have issued a decree stating that they’re behind Frederick (posted as comment 1).  All of those listed couldn’t get elected to office in their respective jurisdictions.  This is the problem with RPV – its “leaders” are too out of the mainstream.  It’s crazy that the RoVA SCC members seem to be the ones with the most sense in regard to Frederick.  In a related matter, Kathleen Parker (I know – you wingnuts consider her a whiny RINO) discusses the case of a big RNC donor who’s flipped to the Dems because of Republican wingnut intransigence.  You people can whine about “principles” all you want, but it does you no good whatsoever if you don’t get elected in the first place.  Real moderation isn’t the end of the world.  America is much more of an incremental change state than one given to massive changes in direction.  Until the “silent majority” of Republicans wakes the F up and takes back the party from these Puritans, RPV is doomed to failure.  These Puritan types simply scare the crap out of too many voters.  Virginia simply doesn’t have the critical mass of hard Rs to elect their types of candidates anymore.  I’m sure it’s disconcerting to hear, but it’s the plain simple truth.

UPDATE:  16 Unit Chairs call on Frederick to resign – letter provided in comment #50.

The mayor of Virginia Beach (my hometown) Will Sessoms (a bank president who defeated 20-year incumbent Democrat Meyera Oberndorf last November) says, “Dave Foster will be the attorney general we need to cut red tape, bring jobs to Virginia and help get the economy moving again”. Bearing Drift has more.

Sessoms endorsement shows two things: First, that Foster’s campaign has been working Hampton Roads hard, as none of the AG candidates have a natural base down there (though military voters may find Brownlee appealing). This is a huge regional victory for Foster, who also claims (as the other two campaigns did) that he filed the most delegates out of Virginia Beach, the largest city in the state and the second largest committee behind Fairfax.

Second, it shows that Foster’s campaign is gaining momentum, and now more than ever can claim the mantle as a viable alternative in this race. Furthermore, Foster now has the endorsements of Tom Davis, who won in NoVa as late as 2006, and Will Sessoms, who won Virginia Beach as Drake, Gilmore, and McCain all lost. Foster has said all along he’s the best candidate to help elect Bob McDonnell and re-elect Bill Bolling, and people who know how to win are supporting his campaign.

First, McAuliffe held a fundraiser at the lobby shop of long-time Republican strategist Ed Rogers. McAuliffe’s campaign is trying to pass it off as proof of his bi-partisanship, but Politico reports that he and Rogers were friends from sitting together in so many green rooms before appearing on television shows. What average voter can’t relate to that experience? The fact of the matter is, McAuliffe saw big bucks, and that comes before any ideology or principle he’s recently discovered.

The most recent example came from a roundtable event in Hampton Roads. The day before Terry McAuliffe rolled out a new proposal calling for stricter rules on gifts from lobbyists (in his efforts to buy a populist image with his millions of dollars), he had this exchange (YouTube link here):

(Approximate Transcript)
 
Fred Carter: My name’s Fred Carter I represent 107 funeral homes.  I’m a registered lobbyist so if you’ve got a problem there.  You take money from a lobbyist you got a problem, right? No, what I want to say is that-
 
Terry McAuliffe: Now wait a minute, wait a minute.  I’ve never said I wouldn’t take money from a lobbyist. 
 
Fred Carter: I got a lobby that might give money.  We got a lot of money that- 
 
Terry McAuliffe: Just don’t put me in a category with other people.  I’ll be held accountable for enough stuff that I say.  But listen Fred, you want to write a check right now? I got a person who’d be glad to take it.

So what does Terry McAuliffe actually believe in? Anything that will benefit him personally, whether it’s a fundraiser at a Republican lobbyist shop, money from another lobbyist, promoting Obama after telling the country why he can’t win, running for Governor of Florida, or running for Governor of Virginia.

And don’t let his “activist” supporters fool you. Sure, some of them have drunk the kool-aid and believe the principles T-Mac’s consultants pulled out of a hat are genuine, but most of them? They’re in it for the money, too. They have dreams of dollar signs invading every corner of this state in an effort to buy the Governor’s Mansion and the House of Delegates. That’s because they believe what McAuliffe believes: in anything that gets them ahead.

There have been several high profile assaults and robberies in the last few months, and the Lansdowne murder and attempted murder of a jogging couple has raised fear levels to a new high.  The Lansdowne incident has generated comment levels not seen for some time at Loudoun Times Mirror and WaPo Loudoun Extra.  Now there appears to be another suspicious death in Leesburg as reported by the Loudoun Times Mirror. 

Is this a new trend for Loudoun County?  There is certainly some correlation between this uptick in crime and the downturn of the economy.  The comment threads linked to above have plenty of theories on this horrific crime, some linked to illegal immigrants, some to a group of teens selling door to door in the neighborhood, and some to the slain man’s former job as a CIA contractor.  

While some of the commenters have jumped to conclusions about the illegal immigrant angle, there is no doubt that a number of high profile crimes in northern Virginia have been committed by illegal immigrants.  As construction jobs disappear, it isn’t surprising that some of these illegals would turn to crime to make ends meet.  This isn’t racist or xenophobic, it’s cold hard fact that is obvious if you regularly follow the news.  Sorry if it is discomforting to some to hear it, but it is what it is. 

Everyone should remain vigilant and look out for others, especially those who aren’t as able to protect themselves.

Ego-mania that is!  The biggest news – J Fred has changed his photo.  Here’s the old one I always had a problem with at the top of the RPV website (why is this needed at all?):

I guess Lil’ Napoleon thought his last photo wasn’t flattering enough or something – it does look like he had his ears pinned back in this new one, along with getting rid of that yellow jaundiced skin tone:

Why in the hell does he have his photo up there???  As I mentioned before, you can’t find a photo of DPVA Chairman Dick Cranwell anywhere on the front page of the DPVA website.  If anyone has anything to be self-absorbed with it would be Cranwell over Frederick if party success was the metric measured.

It also looks like Bob McDonnell has been blessed to return to the photo line-up, along with Eric Cantor who remains from the last header.  Interesting to note that both McDonnell and Cantor think new leadership is needed at RPV.

I also noticed that the special April 4th meeting to vote for Frederick’s ouster isn’t listed on the party schedule.  I wonder why?  Will it be open to the press and public?  They should sell tickets to raise funds to replace some of the donors and dollars that have fled since Frederick took over!

One final thing – this letter from a real conservative grassroots volunteer is the best I’ve seen yet for why Frederick must go.

Too Conservative and Not Larry Sabato were selected as the two “Can’t Miss Clicks!” in the “Only in Virginia” subcategory in the latest edition of Washingtonian Magazine. Congrats to Ben and, well, to us! Ironically, the article, which details the best local blogs, isn’t available online, so I’ve transcribed the two write-ups.

Not Larry Sabato — Entering its fifth election cycle, this lighthearted, progressive blog is known for its in-depth coverage of Tim Kaine’s eyebrows and its insider mix of Old Dominion politics and gossip.

Too Conservative — Whether you want to know about Loudoun County or Richmond intrigue, this right-leaning site is the place for the dwindling number of conservatives in Northern Virginia.

It’s a tad perfunctory, but who can complain?

Snapped Shot has a couple of interesting blog posts here and here about recent hearings on expanding the ISA campus in Fairfax County, and WaPo reports here.  It certainly looks like they’re getting a much better deal and reception from Fairfax County government than other private Christian schools.  If anyone has been living in a cave (pun intended), the Saudi government is one of the most repressive in the world and the prime exporter of Islamic extremism.  Visit Jihad Watch periodically to stay informed about Islamic extremisim and the strides it is making into the west – it’s eye opening and something you will hear little about in the mainstream media.  Jihad Watch’s take on the recent school expansion hearing is interesting, especially some of the comments from those in attendance. 

Frank Wolf continues to keep up the pressure on ISA and their use of inflammatory textbooks, as discussed in this article at National Review.  Wolf has also been under attack by the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) for supposed “Islamaphobia”.  Read this in-depth article for a primer on the controversy.  There’s a lot more to this than meets the eye.  We’re lucky we have Frank Wolf looking out for our national and local interests.

It’s long at 15 minutes, but well worth it if you’ve been following the trials and tribulations of Jeff Frederick (thanks to Rappahanock Red for pointing this out). Hilarious!