I don’t know what happened yet, so I’ll reserve judgment until I do.
In the meantime, here’s some places covering it so far, ranging from accusation to absolution:
Ben, obviously, National Review Online, Below the Beltway, Cold Fury, Matt Ortega, Roanoke Valley Republicans, Virginia Virtucon, and the Contemporary Conservative.
UPDATED: More coverage as I find it: Shaun Kenney, Bearing Drift, Tertium Quids, Blacknell, Down with Tyranny, Shad Plank, Republitarian, Huffington Post, Red Nova.
![[Post to Twitter]](http://www.tooconservative.com/wp-content/plugins/tweet-this/icons/tt-twitter.png){kind=icon}
Feb 10th by VA Blogger
Well, that was a giant “fail” on his part.
What a fool. However, I can’t believe the Dems are piling on so. This only helps the GOP in Virginia by hopefully pushing Frederick out the door this far in advance of the November elections.
Don’t you guys dare get rid of Jeffie. He is my favorite Republican Chair of all time. At any level.
Jeffie gives us cause to chuckle on a regular basis. And in these difficult times we can all use the laughs.
Well anyone that was in the GAB today new that of this info before Jeff posted it. It is pretty much a non issue anymore.
If this is true, I will support those seeking to oust Jeff Frederick.
While I concur with the assessment at Cold Fury that Jeff Frederick (or Fredrick for those on the mailing list) is a f**king moron, it appears that this was a very poorly kept secret before Jeffie tweeted (what a gay term) about it.
Again, please, please, pretty please keep him on as your chairman.
You guys are having a lot of trouble with your chairmen lately aren’t you?
Representatives from the Senate Republican Caucus informed several members of our House Caucus today about what they characterized as an imminent power-sharing agreement. In addition, it was indicated to members of our Caucus, myself included, that this information was already known and was public.
I suggested to Chairman Frederick that he get the word out, minus the details. Jeff did not post anything other than an unnamed D was looking at leaving their caucus and power sharing negotiations were underway.
There is no reason to believe that Delegate Frederick’s posting on Twitter, which happened several hours into the day’s activities in the Senate, affected the outcome. Perhaps, it was the visit by the wavering democrat with the Governor of the Democratic National Committee. Regardless it is clear that the partisan makeup of the Virginia Senate is tenuous. Morgan Griffith
[...] Contemporary Conservative: FALSE ALARM in the Virginia State Senate Roanoke Valley Republicans: Did Jeff Frederick Cost The Republicans The Virginia Senate? Matt Ortega: Republican Twitter Follies Too Conservative: Control of the Senate and Jeff Frederick [...]
There’s a lot of swirling information going around right now. Bearing Drift has some pretty good insight as well:
Bearing Drift: Did a Mistweet…
Jury is still out, but that the mistweet was poor form seems to be the judgment of the masses. Good to see Griffith putting out the fires though.
[...] Firedoglake Huffington Post Matt Ortega Red NoVA Republitarian Roanoke Valley Republicans Too Conservative Virginia [...]
This is just absurd. One mistake after another. When is it enough? If this story is even half true than shame on Frederick.
J. Fred probably did not cause the Senate dems to caucus and reign in their wayward sheep. Tim Kaine can’t be brought in to whip a legislator without at least some advance planning.
The bigger story once again is J. Fred’s ego. He had the biggest bit of juicy gossip and could not wait a moment before blasting it out via the fastest method he knew of, the stunted and cursory method of tweeting.
Bloggers should be the short fused, glory seeking, gossip mongers. Politicians should show some restraint and think before they post.
The best coverage, as of 9:30 PM ,appears to be at shaunkenney.com, it started with some of the most vitriol but has become quite comprehensive. There are probably 30 (all dems, half the repubs) senators that know whether or not J, Fred.’s tweet had any effect. Three or four will speak up and we’ll know if J. Fred is glory seeking, or really screwed things up.
J-Fred is one of the finest public servants I know.
J-Fred has given more volunteer hours to advance our shared pro-life principles than all of the posters on this blog put together.
t is disgusted at the salivating liberals who drool at the prospect of annihilating a FINE Statesman like J-Fred.
Who can do a better job than J-Fred? Give me ONE NAME!
My first thought was “This is unbelieveable,” which leads me to think that it may not be true. I don’t know how many of the Democrats in the Senate are following Jeff on Twitter.
That being said, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it is true. And, if this is true, he should resign. We may have just had the opportunity to get control back of the Senate. Losing that – especially for such a simple, stupid, completely avoidable reason, is just unforgivable.
Here’s what I think about all the post-tweet spin:
The Dems at first thought they had Frederick’s balls in a vice and would cost him his RPV Chairmanship. Yeah!
Then they thought about it a bit, and said to themselves – oh shit, if we get rid of him, RPV may actually get a competent Chairman! Quick – tell everyone that his tweet didn’t tip us off! We knew this was coming all along!
I’m serious. If you’re a Democrat in Richmond, having Jeff Frederick as the opposition party chair is just too good to waste in the midst of a General Assembly session. They absolutely have to keep him around through the November election. Just imagine the damage he can do then!
I can pretty much say that 100% of Democrats want Jeff “Fredrick” Frederick to remain Chairman of RPV. Make him Chairman for Life if you can.
Regardless of whether or not he was told to disseminate the word, regardless of whether or not his tweeter caused the plan to fail, Jeff Frederick has been an embarrassment to the party and should step down. Common sense would dictate that he hold off until all had transpired. Instead, he posts the confidential information to give the dems advance notice. He cost the commonwealth much…especially in light of the desperate need for competent leadership in the General Assembly. Let us not forget the backlash from his Obama-Osama comments in the press which angered many voters in November. He needs to do the right thing for the party and step down.
Politics 101. When a deal is in the works, wait until there is a deal. Commenting prior to the ink dying is poor judgment. Whether instructed to do so or not, this was a mistake.
Take post comments by Democrats with 3 grains of salt.
You can take the comments of Democrats with all the danged salt you want. Hell, you can take them with a whole mountain of salt and have the Morton Salt girl roll around nekkid in it. It still doesn’t change the spot on accuracy of Not John S. Mosby’s comment. We Democrats absolutely love Jeff Frederick. We dread the prospect that you might replace him.
Can you imagine Hager or Gillespie doing something like this?
No, I couldn’t imagine either Hager or Gillespie doing something like this. But then, they are guys who have the maturity and the skill set to perform the job. Whatever disagreements one might have with them.
However, if you are looking for comic relief in troubled times, you can’t beat Jeffie. He is the best.
Nova Scout
No I can’t, of course I think they were even worse. If Hager can’t run a convention how do you expect him to run a party. I hear a lot of complaints about Jeffy, but who do you want to replace him with. We seem to be following a pattern, we are in such a hurry to get the chairman out the door that we don’t take a good look at who is coming in to replace him. I think that our 9nth district chairwoman would be great, Ms. Michelle Jenkins.
Jeffie reminds me of an old Spike Milligan routine where he refers to Neville Chamberlain as a man who used to go around England doing Prime Minister imitations. Jeffie appears to be going around Virginia doing his party chairman imitation.
I don’t mean to seem cruel. I truly respect folks who give their time and effort for their political convictions and their desire to better their communities. And you all must be sick over this clown. It is just hard to resist making light of him. You couldn’t make this stuff up.
If you were writing a sitcom about an incompetent buffoon of a party chair you couldn’t come up with better material than Frederick provides naturally. I love the guy.
Jeff isnt the only VA Republican making a fool out of himself-
http://www.politico.com/blogs/glennthrush/0209/Cantors_effin_response.html?showall
Cantor’s effin’ response
Eric Cantor’s office is responding to the AFSCME/UAC ad blitz with a 1970’s-vintage AFCSME public service announcement that’s been redubbed with an Andrew Dice Clay-type voice over touting the union’s accomplishments in “picking up your f—— garbage.”
“You could post this as my response, writes Cantor press secretary Brad Dayspring
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3mw49mk_x0
Due exclusively to the groundwork of J-Fred, all of our statewide candidates have comfortable poll leads on the democrat opposition for 2009.
This is why the Dems are so eager and so desperate to oust J-Fred.
We must band together to keep J-Fred in the cockpit.
“I’m serious. If you’re a Democrat in Richmond, having Jeff Frederick as the opposition party chair is just too good to waste in the midst of a General Assembly session. They absolutely have to keep him around through the November election. Just imagine the damage he can do then!
- Loudoun Insider ”
This! I really want him to stay on, he’s the man most likely to sabotage McDonnell’s campaign.
Through a shrewd maneuver, Cooch successfully got pro-life license plates passed through the State Senate in a 20-19 vote. Praise God!
This is why Cooch will make an OUTSTANDING AG.
t, that is EXACTLY why Cuccinelli will never be elected AG. Abortion is not exactly the number one issue in a majority of voters minds. What a disaster he’ll be on the ticket.
Jeff Frederick has made too many mistakes in one year to be re-elected RPV Chairman. Hager had not done a bad job in comparison to what J-Fred has done.
I would suggest that there is a person who would make an incredibly competent and able RPV Chair…that person is Del. Sam Nixon.
I cannot help but wonder should McDonnell blow the doors off whichever Dem rising to the top what will these liberals be saying about Jeff. I am sure they will have their talking points all nice and neat that it was not due to his work or anything he did and it was just that Bob won in spite of Jeff and his means of leadership …..did I miss anything. I absolutely love the fact that Dems talk about Jeff’s faults more than those on the GOP side who would have rather had someone else in the role. Its a case of …”lets make this about Jeff and nothing else”…they make Jeff out to be the target instead of focusing on their own issues with their potential nominees this Fall.
But no worries, Steeles folks are already on the case and the scene and as he stated Virginia will be one of the areas of focus in 2009 and getting Bob McDonnell elected is a priority….my guess is Jeff will be sent to the political bench after the session as the grown-ups come to the table from across the country to build the campaign. Jeff is good for a couple laughs, but I think nine months out when we witness a failed economy and failed stimulus most folks will care less about Jeff and more about their wallets frankly. Then I guess the Dems will be saying its still the GOP’s fault for shortfalls, no transportation solutions and rising costs of government (payroll and benefits) over the last eight years. I can wait for those arguements…break out the popcorn…oh wait no stick with Jeff that may be the only card you have.
TR, no active legislator should have the RPV Chair position. There are to many opportunities for conflicts and mistakes – just see this latest episode. There are a lot of excellent unit chairs that would make fine RPV leaders.
Very true, Loudon Insider. If not an active legislator, what about Lori-Ann Miller, President of the Young Republicans, or maybe Brenda Campbell?
No one too young! I think we’ve learned our lesson here with Frederick.
In perusing the other blogs and comments, I saw someone say:
“He put the twit in twitter!”
Sad, but true.
I still can’t believe that he has only himself and Eric Cantor pictured on the RPV site. What’s up with that?
AoF: If Mcdonnell wins, it will be despite the RPV. It will be because the Dems exhaust themselves financially in picking their candidate and end up with Moran or McAuliffe, rather than Deeds, who ran a straight up race with McDonnell for AG. It will also be because McDonnell abandons the old hackneyed lines of the last campaigns and his GA races and starts talking about governance. You can see him trying hard to create a new political persona, while not letting on to the fringe that he’s scooching toward real world respectability. That’s what all the R pols are doing now. It’s very calculated, but, then again, so was their ersatz “Virginia Conservatism”, whatever the hell that was. Used to work like a charm. Not enough uninformed voters any more to carry another election with it.
Scout, this all goes right to the expansion of the NoVA electorate. RPV needs a new paradigm, and Frederick is obviously not delivering what is needed.
So we are already make the assertions as to why someone would win nine months out?? What if someone has a “macaca moment”…I mean we are talking about Terry for gosh sakes.
BTW I do not see Eric Cantor, Randy Forbes , Frank Wolf and others here in VA backing down from conservatism these days. Word has it Georeg Soros in building upon his successful backing of Tom Periello is now setting out to take the 7th from Cantor as well. That should be interesting.
I know we donotlike to talk about it but the reality is really becoming that slowly, okay quicker than most would like, there may very well be two Virginias on the horizon. I really hope it does not escalate past rhetoric but there really is getting to be a level of defined animosity developing between the regions. I have seen this with Deeds supporters who have zero faith that the other two have anyones interests at heart other than NOVA’s and then with Republicans who view NOVA as simply hallowed ground where they have been bloodied for over a decade now. Any Statewide election rolls through NOVA, so it will be fun to watch in any case. Frederick not withstanding.
Its interesting that those on the left always make that “uninformed voter” snark as if it applies solely to the GOP. Of course that did apply in WV, OH, PA, KY, TN during the Democrat Primary….oh no of course not!!
AoF – actually, I made the “uninformed voter snark” from the right. I don’t really care what the Dems do in their own internal councils. The only way a lot of Rs get elected around the Commonwealth is by counting on folks not having the slightest idea of what’s going on. I’m fine with Frank Wolf, but I consider both Cantor and Forbes as guys who should be unelectable in an informed electorate.
NoVA Scout,
I salute you for your integrity. It isn’t always a matter of one’s place along the ideological spectrum. It is that some of these guys belong up on the Hill and some obviously don’t. And if more of us would have the integrity to call b.s. on our own guys as well as the opposition we might all be blessed with more capable and honest representation. I am a partisan Democrat, but I am willing to say that I certainly wish a different Democrat represented the heavily Democratic 8th CD.
Perhaps we would all benefit from a more objective and less partisan based redistricting process. More competitive districts would likely yield better representatives. Some of the biggest ass clowns in office ( both Democrats and Republicans) come from incredibly safe districts where they don’t have to demonstrate any real ability to retain their seats for decades.
I concur with your opinion of Wolf. He is a good Congressman. My only beef with him is his penchant for proposing commissions and study groups on all the tough issues. I believe that looking into and making the tough decisions about the thorny issues is precisely what we elect our Congressmen to do. Appointing these study groups is just a way to dodge the tough ones.
Personally I think those two; Cantor and Forbes are polar opposites in style and street cred. Cantor taking over after Bliley has some brand name to him but zero in the way of main street cred with voters. He is like that guy whose name is on the ballot and the conservative couple say to each other; “who do we vote for for Congress”.Why? He spends all his time raising money, getting on tv and promoting his career IMHO whereas Forbes is more of the people and is more grounded in the reality on the ground outside Richmond. I would take a Forbes in Congress seven days a week and twice on Sunday. In terms of Cantor, we have the bruises on our noses every two years. His politics per say I do not find that bad but his style is god aweful.
Just got Jeff’s email announcing his wife’s candidacy for his seat.
Frederick not to run for re-election in the House was what was coming out of the dinner I attended last night…..evidently he promised this when he worked with those who delivered him the Chair position.
Funny thing, feelers being put out as to whether his wife would be excepted as a potential candidate to replace him in PWC….the plot thickens.
He continues to be an absolute embarrassment.