I’ve been sitting on this story until I could confirm a few key elements from independent sources. Like Bearing Drift, Virtucon, and ironically a Twitter feed have indicated, this has been brewing and in the minds of many has been a long time coming.
Two weeks ago, the Executive Committee met and decided to go forward with the process of removing Frederick. Letters were distributed to the State Central members, most of them hand-delivered, for their consideration and adoption. Each member who agreed to support the removal publically pledged so by signing a statement.
Successful removal of the Chairman requires 3/4ths approval of the 80-member body, or 60 votes. 64 letters and signatures were put on Jeff Frederick’s desk, and he was notified that if he didn’t resign, the Committee would move forward in removing him at the next State Central meeting in April.
Frederick has been quiet for much of the last week, but I’m hearing that rather than facing the music and resigning quietly, he intends to go down fighting.
The Central Committee will move forward on publishing a call 30 days in advance of their next meeting in April, listing the reasons for removal and calling for a vote. The charges include misuse of RPV funds and staff, and questionable actions regarding the race to succeed him in the 52nd District.
If Frederick is successfully removed, Mike Thomas will once again become Chairman until the Executive Committee finds a replacement and State Central approves the pick, which is likely to occur before the May convention.
Read more: Bearing Drift, (2), Virtucon, Blue Virginia, Red Nova, Write Side
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Mar 04th by VA Blogger
Pass this to LI:
http://thecontemporaryconservative.blogspot.com/2009/03/jeff-fredericks-farewell-tribute-video.html
Thank God!
Figures this happens in the midst of a super busy work week for me!
What a tool. RPV will be so much better off.
This is the best news that I’ve had this week. After enduring the last months its good to see that the State Central Committee is taking action. This coming year is too critical to the future of the RPV to have anything but complete faith in the leadership in Richmond.
That’s the nicest photo of Jeff ‘F’ that the Blogs have run – looks like a deer lost in the forest – at least poor Amy gets him full-time at home!
This is the best thing that could happen for the Republican Party. The stain that is the Chairman of RPV is finally going, one way or the other.
I used to dig in to defend this guy and tell everyone to give him a chance, but after the resignation of Walter Curt as RPV Finance Chair I decided to start looking at little harder at what was going on there. After having some key discussions with some involved in RPV finances, I have come to the conclusion that Frederick needs to leave now.
I supported Frederick over Hager for one reason. RPV had become crooked in their contracting practices with vendors. I discussed this issue with BOTH candidates for Chairman…one (Hager) bragged that he was running his campaign out of the offices of Creative Direct (RPV’s top vendor), and the other (Frederick) PROMISED in writing to me that he would put an end to the practice and open everything up to open, competitive bidding.
Well…I guess we all know what happened next. Nothing changed, except Charlie Judd got thrown out of RPV along with the no bid contracts that his family was getting…..then along came the new Sheriff who just continued the VERY SAME practice, except with no-bid vendors of his choosing.
As an added kick in the groin, when it became apparent that Amy would be the candidate in the 52nd, I sent them both e-mails inquiring whether folks would have even a CHANCE to make our cases to bid for the vending work on the campaign. I didn’t even get a courtesy of a reply.
So, let’s do what we can to get this guy out of the Chairmanship NOW…and then urge Mike Thomas to keep this position through the 2009 elections to end this chaos and have the steady hand at the helm that we neded in the first place.
[...] Conservative provides additional details that would suggest that Frederick’s fate is sealed: Two weeks ago, the Executive Committee met and decided to go forward with the process of removing [...]
I never got a letter. I’m a member of SCC. The letters were shopped carefully.
I have a question regarding the process that will take place should Frederick be removed:
Article III, Section C(1) of the RPV Party Plan says that a vacancy in the office of State Chairman shall be filled by the SCC “until the next regular State Convention, which shall then elect a State Chairman to fill the remaining unexpired portion of the term of the vacating State Chairman.”
IF the SCC removes Frederick in April, does this mean that SCC could then select someone to fill the office only until May, the time of the next regular state convention, which would then elect a chairman to fill the remaining 3 years of Frederick’s term (until the 2012 state convention)? If this is correct, then who is capable of waging a campaign for state chairman on such short notice in order to win election at a convention? Thoughts?
If he’s not chairman, will he run for reelection?
This is an outrage. The RPV needs Jeff “Fredrick” Frederick and i highly advise you guys to keep him in his position. He’s the best leader for the RPV.
I’ve always been a Jeff Frederick supporter but this move is so drastic even his strongest supporters can’t help but take a step back and wonder what is going on.
However, I must caution that the convention spoke last year and Frederick was elected – seemingly with an overwhelming majority – and for 64 super-insider Republicans defeat the will of a convention that was thousands of people strong is NOT something I support and is undemocratic at its heart. Those who support this because of their hatred of Frederick better take a long look and understand what kind of precedent we are setting here and the ramifications this will have on the future. I dont’ believe that 64 people should be allowed to overrule the will of the party that was done last year. Frederick may have defeat John Hager, but he didn’t do it by a insider kife in the back, he allowed the party to choose. Frederick’s opponents should hold to the same standard.
As it is, if the numbers are what they are Frederick should put this before the Convention this year.
Jeff Frederick has brought fairness and openness to RPV. They have one of the best staffs I have seen since living in VA. This coup is nothing but sour grapes. He was elected by huge margins in 2008. If the grassroots, not SCC, were aware of the behind the scenes efforts by some, including Bob McDonnell, they would be furious. Bob McDonnell should wisely consider this before he royally screws up his chances with a divided party in November. You want Jeff removed, run someone for Chairman next election. I am sick and tired of our party everytime the wind changes, changing the rules to satisfy a minority of insiders. This has got to stop soon or we will be a minority party for many years. This is the kind of BS that drives people away from politics.
First, it’s not a minority of “insiders”, it’s a supermajority of them.
Second, the State Central members looking to oust Frederick were also elected. Everyone is accountable. If you don’t like your State Central member participating in this, then run against them next time around.
Third, Jeff Frederick and politicians like him
are what drives people away from politics, not the system in place to remove such people.
Chris, your quibble is with the rules of the Republican Party of Virginia who allowed for this mechanism to exist and the high bar to execute it. Over 75% of State Central is not an easy thing to reach on an issue such as this. These are the rules of the Party that were agreed upon, and Jeff Frederick knew this when he was elected Chairman. There’s nothing undemocratic about it.
“i highly advise you guys to keep him in his position. He’s the best leader for the RPV.”
First off, you exist in a parallel universe, evidently.
Secondly, I’d have you observe Va Blogger’s notations of why this was executed well within the Party Plan. There is no valid contest to what occurred. I mean, unless the one quarter of Frederick’s SCC members can convince another half of themselves to reinstate him.
TBM: If you are unfamiliar, Not John Mosby is a liberal troll around these parts.
It is about competency and leadership and the future of the RPV. Jeff has turned himself into a national joke. He can’t manage the RPV and he has made “questionable” monetary transactions with RPVs money. That isn’t his personal account it belongs to us. That information will come out… the SCC knows it that is why at least 58 have signed a letter indicating he should resign or he will be voted out. In fact, there is a lot about Jeff and his mismanagement of RPV that will emerge. His ethics are also in question. In fact, knowing what I now I know… I view him as a political “grifter”. He has used RPV for his own gain and not for the good of the Party.
He has bunkered himself inside RPV… he refuses to meet with or talk to his exec comm… which forced them and SCC to take action. In fact, the 1st Vice Chairman went to meet with him yesterday… and Jeff made him wait for 90 mins outside his office… then when the 1st Vice Chairman went to the restroom… jeff snuck out the front door and left. So that makes him a coward as well.
As someone who supported him and helped him get elected… I am now in favor of his removal either through resignation or action by SCC.
This isn’t a moderate or conservative issue… or a sour grapes issue… it is a future of the Party issue… and the by the number of conservatives on the SCC have signed the letter… that should indicate it is about Jeff and only Jeff… and his incompentence that must now come to an end if we are going to win in Virginia.
They don’t have 64 signatures.
NJSM is a big Democrat sympathizer – that’s why he wants Frederick to stick around.
Steve Waters, you’re a weasel supporting Patrick Muldoon. All of 20 people care what you think.
Frederick is going because he’s been a huge failure. Good riddance!
Cooch must be worried now that he won’t have Frederick to throw the convention for him. This is good news indeed.
Chris, the convention system itself is fundamentally undemocratic. If it actually took effort to get elected a delegate, I could understand your concern. But given how there are always empty delegate slots, the conventions turn into simply a get out the vote effort on the part of the candidates, and a not very effective one at that, given the need to be able to travel to Richmond.
I was at the convention and I voted for Hager. I was disgusted with Frederick’s campaign for Chairman, especially Amy’s rant against Speaker Howell. And I watched as he made mistake after mistake, and the only national press the RPV ever got was for his gaffes.
This next election is critical. We have gotten beaten hard in the last two federal cycles in Virginia and the last two state cycles. We need to turn it around and Frederick’s self-inflicted wounds have made it next to impossible for him to do that. The State Central Committee, if they actually do this, is making the right decision. It’s a hard decision, but it’s the right one.
The bigger question now is who should replace Frederick. My preference is for Tom Davis, if he wants the job.
Not John S. Mosby never seemed to be a troll to me. I think you are being disrespectful to him and it is unwarranted.
As a Democrat I share his disappointment at the potential removal of Frederick. The RPV dumping him would be the worst possible news for the Democratic Party.
He really is the perfect chairman. He accurately reflects what the modern Republican Party has become.
It is good news. Frederick is a fraud and he has done zilch with RPV other than to embarrass himself and the Party. He must go
I must say this is very welcome news. Jeff Frederick has simply become too much of a liability to remain RPV Chair. And David, if you’re right, the Convention just got a lot more exciting!
Some of us foolishly believed his promises. All bets are off now as to what the convention delegates did last summer. There are very good reasons why we have such provisions in the party plan to remove people. Sometimes the facts don’t all come to light until after the fact. Removal from office is our only remedy at this point.
Anonymous: I have multiple sources that say different. No offense, but I have no reason to believe you.
Please email me at vablogger [at] gmail.com if you’d like to share more.
VA Blogger,
It is a minority of people not a super majority compared to the overwhelmingly large victory Jeff had over Hager at the convention. Unless you or others can prove that Jeff has done something illegal, intentionally negligent, etc. you have no case to remove him. If we take out someone every time they make a mistake, say something wrong, etc. in your mind we’d have no one in office.
Furthermore, you are correct that it is politicians who drive people away and elected members of our party. This group that controls SCC and the executive committee are corrupt. Not every member of SCC or executive committee is but a large percent are. That is why we are fighting for what we are doing whether it be “Restoring The Founders’ Vision” or campaigns such as Bob Marshall or Patrick Muldoon and others. We will not go away. We are sick and tired of being exploited for our votes to politicians and elected officials who only care about their own ambitions and not the party. Our party is dying by it’s own political death wish as Marshall said in 2008 and he was correct then and now.
What has he done so bad as to call for his removal. Absolutely nothing and for Bob McDonnell to be apart of this it is absolutely disgusting. Bob McDonnell doesn’t have to worry about Jeff doing or saying something to hurt his chances for victory in 2009 because he is doing on his own. I am very disappointed in McDonnell’s decision to involve himself. It is a poor reflection of republican leadership on McDonnell’s part, exactly the problem we face within the republican party.
Not a cooch fan,
I could care less about what you think or who listens to me or not. My existence is not based on what people think but how I stand up for what I believe. If you don’t like it…tough!
Steve Waters,
When you return the list you took (stole?) from Family Foundation, you may regain some credibility and some may be inclined to listen to you as you sip some grape kool-aid.
Steve,
You originally claimed it was a “minority of insiders”, with “insiders” presumably referring to the SCC. It’s not a minority of the SCC, it’s a supermajority.
I do not support removing from office anybody who makes a mistake, nor would it be possible to even do so. The task of removing an officer like RPV Chairman has to clear a very high hurdle in getting the support of more than 75% of the SCC. The SCC is not a group of corrupt, backroom cigar smokers as you’re imagining, but are elected by localities and are therefore accountable to the people that selected them.
Furthermore, there is nothing nefarious about following the procedure that is written into the Party Plan, a procedure with which Jeff Frederick agreed to when he became Chairman.
You are free to disagree with the opinions of so many people who want to see Frederick go. No one is denying you the right to express yourself. And if you feel strongly, you can try to convince others and elect new members to SCC in your region and across the state, like a true grassroots movement. That is the way democracy, and citizen participation works.
Unfortunately for you, after Frederick’s numerous gaffes, the humiliating defeats we’ve suffered in 2008, the ongoing problems at the RPV, and the questionable activities he’s done as Chairman, the popular support for Frederick that you imagine is there simply isn’t. While it will be difficult to see that reality in any tangible manner, you will soon see it at the state convention when Patrick Muldoon’s candidacy is roundly rejected for the pathetic embarassment it is.
But I encourage you, with all sincerity, to continue believing as you do. It takes all kinds.
Steve–
I wish to god Marshall had defeated Gilmore. He is a bright, principled guy with all the justification in the world to run.
But Muldoon? No one really like Lt. Gov Snack but why Muldoon? One, this clown isn’t even popular in Giles Co. Two, why pick some completely unknown from Giles Co.? I’m sure voters in NOVA, metro Richmond, and Hampton Roads will be thrilled to vote for this idiot when people from Giles Co. won’t.
Steve,
They aren’t sending Frederick to jail, for Pete’s sake. They just want a different leader, which they should be free to do if the current one isn’t getting the job done.
Maybe I’m out of the loop but what has Jeff done that is so terrible? If it is about the Gilmore race last year, uh, only God could have won that race. Sure he has said a few things that made me wonder, but so did Allen and we didn’t throw him under the wagon. There must be something else that I don’t know about. I want whats best for the party and I’m not sure most of us are getting the full story. Anyone care to help me out?
Lauren, you certainly read this blog regularly and comment – you haven’t seen all the ridiculous high profile embarassing things Frederick has done lately? In addition to those gaffes, he’s apparently done some very questionable things at RPV, which I won’t detail since I don’t have confirmation on all of them. He needs to go – he’s an embarassment and a distraction.
Steve Waters, you are way out on the fringe, as your “management” of the Muldoon candidacy attests to. SCC has every right to do as the party plan sees fit, and they’re certainly not “corrupt” in doing it.
I don’t know what has been going on behind closed doors but I do know that contact between Richmond and our local units here in SWVA has improved in the last year. I don’t know if that is becouse of good leadership or becouse of the lady who has been doing such a good job out here.
LI, I have seen many of the things on Jeff and I am not trying to defend him. It just seems there must be more to it than that to start a move like this.
As far as the Muldoon candidacy, I live near Giles and don’t know a soul who supports him. To take on Bolling this year is so stupid that words fail me. I hope they boo him off the stage in Richmond. Bolling is one of the few leaders we have that seem to put the party ahead of themselves.
Here’s a good synopsis, Lauren:
http://belowthebeltway.com/2009/03/05/jeff-frederick-on-the-way-out/
His hand picked finance chairman, Walter Curt, resigned in the last month and RPV is having big money problems. Traditional business interests don’t want to donate because of the idiot who is Chairman. Even far right funders like Curt have bailed now. Then there are the rumors that Frederick was funneling donations to RPV online, with a cut of the take going to his company. There are other things as well. He must go.
Muldoon is a complete waste of time, and we have Steve Waters, Mulddon’s campaign manager, on here blasting Bob McDonnell for agreeing that Frederick is an embarassing distraction and MUST GO. Waters is completely out of his mind, and having morons like him pissed at McDonnell for acknoledging the obvious will only help McDonnell in the general election. Go right ahead and battle against McDonnell, Steve. I’m sure you and Muldoon have him quaking in his boots.
Chris Marston for chairman!!!
Another example of throwing folks to the wolves I guess as elected officials seek to deflect folks from their own incompetence and blame others for the failures that are in part their own. Whether you like Frederick or not, this move is of no consequence in that it merely demonstrates the view many have that the VA GOP is focusing not on making distinctions between them and the Democrat leadership and potential nominees but rather in fighting amongst its brethern.
I find it rather ironic that both Jeff and T.O. get the boot the same week; you see the State GOP right now is about the equivalent of a really bad NFL team that has quality stars but really poor direction and management. The central folks think they can simply fundraise themselves out of this mess and pour more money into the campaigns and think that will work when what they should be doing is actually implementing effective policy strategy.
What does it say that we have had back to back Democrat Governors leaving shortfalls to the budget and yet Virginians still rate this leaders favorably….could it be because the State GOP has failed to draw out these leaders and draw clear distinctions? If you are unwilling to challenge the records than don’t bitch and moan about this guys having unwarranted approval ratings because their machine has kicked your machines PR efforts.
I’m sorta wishing I hadn’t voted for Jeff. Oh well, live and learn.
Alter, you are so right. The Raiders and the VRP seem to have a lot in common.
I couldn’t make it to the last convention (guess what – I had to work! just goes to show you how stupid conventions are) but would not have voted for Frederick. I was not thrilled with John Hager’s performance, but I have simply heard too many bad stories about Jeff Frederick. “Ick” describes the gist of many people’s perception of him. For those who did support him, like perhaps you Lauren, simply because he talked a ghood game about how “conservative” he is, please look hard at such self proclaimers. They usually aren’t all they say they are.
I enjoyed attending the convention but don’t think its the best way to select our candidates. The reason I attended was to vote for Marshall simply becouse I knew how bad Gilmore was going to perform. My selection of Jeff was becouse of his endorsement by Del. Poindexter. My biggest fear in all this is that our wonderful candidates this fall will be overshadowed by stupid interparty junk. If this is going to happen it better happen now and get it behind us fast.
That’s what I’ve been saying for a long time now – get this over now. Frederick made this filthy bed he’s lying in. No one else did it to him, he did it to himself. His arrogant tone-deaf me-first self.
Time To Go, sorry for the delay in posting your comment – somehow it got stuck in the spam queue. For those who didn’t read it, go back and check out coment #18. If that ducking the Vice Chairman story is true, Frederick is even more of a dipshit than I thought he was. One huge glaring mistake after another. Enough is enough!
Maybe Michael Steele can join Frederick in the unemployment line since people are already calling for Steele’s resignation as well.
This is disheartening. I’m new to the RPV, so where do you guys look for honest, conservative leaders? Can anyone be trusted any more? This is the same issues I have with those in Washington, and here it is at the state level. Surely someone somewhere stands up and is true to what they say they believe…but where are they?? Will the next candidate be grilled before he takes the position of chairman? Do you suppose we’ll get it right this time?? At this level it should not be a question of the lesser of the evils
I think State Central needs to make a strong case for the removal of Frederick. Lauren’s right–there may well be such a case, but the party members as a whole need to hear it. To take this drastic an action, there must be more than meets the eye here–nothing that LI has mentioned warrants this type of action, and I’m confident that state central wouldn’t be doing it unless there was more–or at least I hope.
What do you guys think of Sean Connoughton? Or maybe we could get Tom Bliley?
Is State Central going to hold their “kick Jeff Frederick out” vote by secret ballot so they can be held accountable?
All I’m saying is to be fair. The proper sequence and process is for Jeff to be challenged in the next election for party chairman if they are unhappy. The SCC rules to be able to replace Jeff by a supermajority vote are for reasons other than just being unsatisfied with the Chairman. Not to use this special rule for whenever they are unhappy with a Chair. For goodness sake, if from here on out every chair faced being unelected from SCC simply because they were unhappy can you imagine the turnover in that position we would have. This is an abuse of the rule. This is why we have elections by the people let’s please not forget this.
Just because I’m sticking up for Jeff in this situation is or isn’t because of how I feel about his performance but because of the process. I happen to think Jeff has been very fair and open in the 2009 election from my experience in how Bob Marshall was treated by the previous administration of RPV.
My other frustration is that Bob McDonnell should not be engaging himself in this dispute. Jeff was overwhelmingly elected in 2008 and he should respect that as we all should. What many of you do not know or possibly you do is that this was born out of not what Jeff’s performance was but sour grapes from his election to begin with as chair. People in the executive committee and SCC have been plotting this far before the 2008 general election.
Isn’t it also suspicious that McDonnell’s consultants are wanting to put in one of their own from their counter anti-tax groups. There is a serious conflict of interest for Bob McDonnell and Tim Phillips. So much so that they should not have their hands anywhere near this.
Sure I have my own beef with McDonnell and why I am unhappy with him as our nominee. He purposely put into play a call that would assure him of no opposition to the nomination. Do we allow candidates to choose the nomination process? Does anyone not see the danger in this whether it is for now or farther down the road with this precedent?
On another note. Though it may upset some of you that Patrick Muldoon is challenging Bill Bolling it shouldn’t. Patrick is afforded this right and opportunity. He did what was necessary to qualify to be on the ballot. Over 4,000 Virginians thought he should have the opportunity to serve on the ballot so shouldn’t he? He has served his party well as an activists an former office seeker.
For many of you to call him such names and hope that he “is booed off the stage at the convention” is quite alarming. I ask this…is this what we have become in the land of liberty? Where only the chosen ones are allowed to run for office or the incumbent? Though you may disagree with his stance on the issues does he not have a right to run for this office, does he not possibly offer some insight into the future of our party that would benefit us, does he not possibly have ideas that are good for Virginia and benefit our party and our state. The mere idea that some would want him to be booed off the stage is so upsetting on many different levels that I don’t know where to address my concern for the future of our party. Just possibly you might find that there is something about his candidacy that may agree with. In the end it is up to voters to decide so we shouldn’t be short circuiting the process and the same goes with Chairman Frederick.
There is a debate within our party now. Some may see it as a peaceful civil war from within. That is okay. Let’s let the market place of ideas rule the day not our short sightedness on the process.
If blogs are to become so aggressive and mean spirited I don’t see a bright future for this well intended “new media.” I hope that changes. All I ask is that you give Patrick a chance to earn your vote, for you to listen to his message and possibly you might be surprised. Just because we have an incumbent doesn’t necessarily mean they are the best candidate, if we choose for this to be the measure of who best represents us because of their incumbency then our choice is narrowed quite dramatically and our freedom is short supply.
Can everyone now see why RPV is in such bad shape???
Bolling has done something that is rarely seen in politics and put the party first. I would walk to Richmond to vote for this good man.
How everyone can start this new thing about Bill Bolling taking one for the team and not running for Governor just isn’t the case. He said all along he was doing it for business purposes, plain and simple. Let’s not make it look like he can walk on water for taking one for the team when it just isn’t so.
Here’s the Post article, which says the smarmy little puke is going to fight to keep his post, despite the fact some 80% of the Central Committee has already signed a letter,asking him to resign!
Talk about balls.
80% of Party Leaders Want Frederick to Quit
By Anita Kumar
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 6, 2009; B02
RICHMOND, March 5 — The Republican State Central Committee has called on party Chairman Jeffrey M. Frederick to resign after months of missteps, internal disagreements and election losses.
Frederick, who represents Prince William County in the House of Delegates, can resign or fight a vote to remove him at an emergency meeting of the state Republican Party’s governing body April 4.
His critics say they need the support of 75 percent of the 78-member central committee to oust him. More than 80 percent signed a two-page letter to Frederick dated March 4, asking him to resign.
“It’s pretty clear the intention is to remove him,” said Mike Wade, a committee member from Hampton. “Everybody is aware of all the problems. It’s just a sad state, really.”
In a statement, Frederick vowed to fight for his job.
“I have every intention of continuing as Chairman and completing my term in May 2012,” he said. “I have the commitments necessary to win the vote on April 4th and will fulfill my term and the commitment to the people who entrusted me to lead our Party back to victory.”
The attempt to oust Frederick leaves a beleaguered party in turmoil heading into a crucial election season, in which Republicans will try to win back the governor’s mansion and hold on to their majority in the House of Delegates.
The effort was orchestrated by prominent activists across the state but would not have proceeded without approval from Republican gubernatorial nominee Robert F. McDonnell.
In a statement Thursday, McDonnell said “it would be helpful for the Republican Party of Virginia to have more effective leadership in this pivotal year.” McDonnell would not comment further.
Frederick’s critics said his lackluster fundraising, his disputes with Sen. John McCain’s campaign team and his ill-timed remark comparing Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama to Osama bin Laden factored into their decision. In November, Republicans lost a U.S. Senate seat, three U.S. House seats and their 44-year-old hold on Virginia’s 13 presidential electoral votes.
The central committee considered ousting Frederick in December, when hundreds of activists gathered at the posh Homestead mountain resort for the party’s annual retreat. But party leaders offered him another chance.
Since then, the parade of miscues has continued. Last month, activists accused him of spoiling a discreet attempt to persuade a Democratic member of the state senate to switch parties. Then he was dubbed the “worst person in the world” by MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann for a series of factual errors in a videotaped speech on the House floor about Abraham Lincoln.
Frederick, 33, defended his job performance. “I pledged leadership that would be driven from the grassroots up, not the top down. I have kept that pledge and am proud of the work we’ve accomplished in just nine months.”
His took over the post in May, when social and anti-tax conservatives helped him defeat party elder John H. Hager, a moderate former lieutenant governor. One of the House’s most conservative members, Frederick said he will not run for reelection in November. He is urging his wife, Amy, to run for his seat.
Steve, has it not occurred to you that we have looked at Muldoon’s candidacy, looked at his issues, looked at his attacks on Bill Bolling, and looked at his electoral record, and determined we want nothing to do with him?
No one is saying Muldoon doesn’t have the right to run. He surely does. That is the liberty afforded to him. So, too, is the liberty afforded to us to judge him and his candidacy, and boo him off the stage if we disapprove.
It’s funny you complain so loudly about liberty, then say that “Jeff was elected in 2008 and we should all respect that”, as if we aren’t afforded the right to disagree with the Chairman, or the SCC isn’t allowed to remove him from office. If you disagree with the actions they’re taking, you have two options: 1) Run for SCC yourself and create a grassroots effort to get other pro-Frederick people elected, and 2) Either from the SCC or from the outside work to make the Party rules for removing a Chairman more difficult. In the meantime, you can try and persuade us to give Frederick a chance, but you’re going to need more than “we should just accept that Frederick will be Chairman until 2012″.
“I think State Central needs to make a strong case for the removal of Frederick.”
64 members/ three-quarters of that Committee isn’t a case???
Unless they start backpeddling when Frederick calls them at home to try to ask them why, he’s done.
Get used to it.
FINALLY!!
People have been living in denial for far too long. It’s about time we throw this inarticulate moron to the curb. Get a media savvy, articulate communicator and a realist in this position ASAP, oh yeah, and someone can actually bring in money. We can not simply blame the media every time an idiot like JEFF makes a gaffe, we need someone with conservative principles who can handle the pressures and responsibilities of the job and not make the Republican party look like the party of a shrinking minority full of morons. Get someone who can fly the RPV flag constructively, proudly and most importantly ACTUALLY WIN, minus all the BS excuses of blaming others when we don’t.
Amen to that center-right. And 18 is spot-on, too. If it comes out that Fred-rick has profited personally (wait, didn’t he campaign against the last guys against that?) from RPV’s web contracts I say sue or charge the bastard.
Steve, why do you dislike Bolling so much? You must really hate Bolling to support some no name proven loser from a hick town! Bill Bolling has done more for the state republican party than anyone else we have. He has done more grassroots activity while in office than any state leader I have ever known. He is one of the few leaders we can all be proud of!!
I am thinking based on the last three months that maybe this space is in reality no longer A Northern Virginia Republican Viewpoint space. I find it striking that there is more death declarations to the GOP here than at places like the Daily Kos for god sakes. Many of the conservative blogs have simply just reverted to liberal form and function as anatagonists where it becomes more about personality than substance. The more people harp on the negativity the more you will stay stuck in the mud; which by the way is apparently exactly what 2/3 of the people here would like to see in the GOP IMHO.
Regardless of how long the SCC may have been plotting to remove Frederick, they would not have been able to do so without endangering their own positions had Frederick not screwed up so often and so publicly that no one is going to complain about their taking this step. That’s the real issue. Had Frederick run a fair, 11th Commandment style campaign against Hager and won, and had he accomplished what he claimed he was going to accomplish and done so without the gaffes, even the most ardent hater in the SCC wouldn’t have been able to try this strategy.
I don’t know Muldoon and I don’t know his policies. But what I do know is that 95% of politics is being in the right place and the right time and making good decisions about when to get into a race and when to wait it out. Bill Bolling has been a good Lt. Governor, and his willingness to stay in that slot and not turn the gubernatorial nomination process into a blood bath is both honorable and shows his character. I have not seen any arguments made that he hasn’t done his job or that he doesn’t deserve the office. There’s no reason why anyone should choose to run against him this cycle, and the fact that anyone has the “right” or the “liberty” to do so doesn’t give him a good reason to do so or otherwise justify him doing so. It’s just as important to exercise one’s rights with intelligence and forbearance than it is to simply claim them. Regardless of the reasons why he choose to stay in the 2nd spot, he could easily have chosen otherwise, and he would have had every ‘right’ to do so. But he didn’t. And regardless of his motivations, he deserves credit for that. It’s not every man who can sit back and wait 4 years to get his chance at the big chair – Muldoon’s own candidacy proves that, doesn’t it?
At the risk of piling on, I think we have to also attribute a large portion of this blame of this Frederick debacle to those RPV Convention Delegates who attended last summer’s convention and who voted to replace John Hager with young Mr. Frederick. I know it is never fashionable to “blame the voters”, but we have to attribute a large portion of the blame to many short-sighted delegates who allowed themselves to be hoodwinked by Mr. Frederick’s message and attacks upon John Hager.
Speaker Howell and Kenny Kling were dead right concerning their opinion of Jeff Frederick and his suitability to serve as RPV Chairman.
Peter- and those same delegates are the kinda folks that will bend over backwards to support Cooch in a convention setting over anyone else and then watch as he gets taken to the wood shed in a general election just like Gilmore.
If Mr Frederick loses the confidence of the body politic in the form of a vote as allowed by the rules, he should step down. If one believes the rule is bad , fight to change it. If the rules were changed mid stream then I might see why someone has a case of the ass.
Having said all of that, this is becoming a distraction. One Republicans can ill afford.
Democrats are spending us into the next century and devising ways to drastically alter our lives and we are wasting our time arguing over the RPV chair.
Get this inside baseball house cleaning done soon so we can return to the task at hand, defeating those social engineers who flunked economics.
Steve Waters, Patrick Muldoon, Jeff Frederick, Ken Cuccinelli – all peas in a pod!
If only Hager were still Chairman, then McCain would have won Virginia and Gilmore would have won that Senate seat.
Alter, from what I remember most of the delegates that supported Jeff also supported Marshall. That would put the blame of the Gilmore nomination on the same deegates who voted for Hager. And I still think that Hager wouldn’t be any better than Jeff anyway.
It isn’t fair to blame the RPV’s woes only (or even mostly) on Jeff Frederick, but he is a dope. His Darwin rant was especially dumb. The party willl be better off without him at its helm.
200 Grande,
For you to think anyone could have got Gilmore elected is really thinking outside of the box. I like that. In fact, I wonder why that someone couldn’t get Allen elected or even hold onto the majority in the State Senate? Let’s get serious.
[...] what I’ve been thinking as we have dealt with the ongoing saga of RPV chair Jeff Frederick (1, 2, 3) as well as the RNC chair Michael Steele / talk show host Rush Limbaugh dustup that Pitts is [...]
BARRING A DEAD GIRL OR A LIVE BOY, JEFF FREDERICK SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN REMOVED. I AM CERTAIN THE STATED REASON FOR HIS REMOVAL WAS NOT THE OPERATIVE REASON. THE PARTY CRUSTACEONS WHO CLING TO THE RPV LIKE BARNACLES WEREN’T HAPPY WITH HAVING THEIR HULL SCRAPED. I HOPE JEFF FREDERICK COMES BACK WITH A VENGEANCE AND COMPLETES THE JOB HE WAS ELECTED TO DO. GOD BLESS HIM