Thoughts after the break…
I have two options here – change my tune and say what a great AG candidate Cuccinelli will be and how he’ll help the ticket win in November, or stick to my guns and be straight out honest and say what I feel. You folks should know by now I speak my mind. This will turn out to be a big mistake.
Only in a convention could an electoral disaster like this be cobbled together. The convention itself was a truly messy affair – I’ve never seen or smelled bathrooms more disgusting in my life! Whew. How in the world can it take three frigging hours to tally up votes???
The Brownlee camp sufferred from real world syndrome. A beautiful May day Saturday where too many average Virginians chose to stay home with their families rather than make a long trip for a long day inside the Richmond Coliseum. 11,000 signed up but only 6,800 showed. I guess Foster could say the same thing, but his turnout was pathetic. Of course the wide eyed Cooch fanatics came out in droves, giving him the 54-40-6 margin of victory.
Bob McDonnell did great, and his video montages were truly excellent. Bill Bolling wiped the floor as expected with complete ass (couldn’t have said it better, VAB) Patrick Muldoon. Pat Mullins won over Bill Stanley, but I think Stanley did very well and deserves a high ranking post in RPV. Mullins needs to watch his mouth as we get closer to November – I see the potential for Frederick-like gaffes on his part.
Cuccinelli. Ugh. He will be painted as an extremist and it will stick. He got 54% of 6,800 people so that gives him around 3,500 hard core fanatic followers that will supposedly turn the Virginia Democratic tide against itself. With all the talk of NoVA strength on his part he wil be demolished in Fairfax and Loudoun counties. Check the last election results in Loudoun to see how his type does in Loudoun these days – the days of Dick Black are long gone thanks to the old LCRC growth mentality. Southside Virginia? You’ve got to be kidding – he’s dead meat there. Shenandoah Valley, he’ll do okay. Hampton Roads/Norfolk – who knows, depends on how certain issues play out. He’ll bring out the hard righters for sure but their numbers simply aren’t enough in the new Virginia.
My greatest concern is the negative effect on Bob McDonnell and Bill Bolling. After hearing from some insiders that neither wanted Cuccinelli on the ticket, they now have to deal with it. If they didn’t want this outcome maybe they should have spoken out. I got texts from the McDonnell camp just befoire the vote urging votes for Bolling and Mullins. They better tell Cuccinelli to watch his mouth and not do anything crazy. No more “that’s how they track you” paranoia.
Don’t worry, my Cooch bashing days are over, I do want this ticket to win, but this decision by this archaic insular limiting method (which must go the way of the dinosaur) just made that goal a hell of a lot tougher. We’ll see how it pans out. I’d be more than happy to say I was wrong after election day, but honestly I don’t think I’ll be doing that.
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May 31st by Loudoun Insider
no, cuccinelli doesn’t play well in southside. but no one cares about us. we are not a big vote here either in party affiliation or as a whole.
in fact, one of things that turned me against cuccinelli initially was his constant talk about NoVa. and even though NoVa may be the reality, as a southern Virginian, i didn’t like it.
but i will be quiet about cuccinelli. i’m working for mcdonnell.
one of the Va. blogs said that we should go ahead & vote for cuccinelli for governor. who is willing to take that bet?
oh, this blog got alot of traffic before the convention on non-northern Virginia issues.
can yall keep that up? just several posts about statewide issues rather than just no. virginia issues to keep us downstaters happy? thanks.
Kelley- its the tale of two Virginias frankly. The reality is you have battle being fought in NOVA between traditional Virginia values vs. progressive agendas endorsed and backed by folks like Lowell Feld and the former Raising Kaine community that seek to turn Virginia into another Maryland. before people jump all over me….those were there words “turning Virginia into Maryland” last year and constantly refer to those of us “outside” that thought as “downstaters”. But of course they claim to be the Party of unity and the one with the open tent; whatever that truly means these days.
I’m taking a break today… but quick couple of points
* This was the most positive convention I’ve been to in the last 4 years. Upbeat and unified as I saw it.
* All of my moderate peers were taking bets that there would be a second ballot… nope.
* Spoke to numerous people on the ground and got the inside skinny on what will work and won’t work. While I have my concerns about KC’s communication operation I think he will have no problem pulling this off.
* I’m truly excited about the prospects for November, especially the set of upstart GOPers taking on incumbents across the state. I interviewed about 4 of them. Video later. Recruiting this year has been tremendous.
Justin, what’s your email address?
LI,
Not surprised by your comments above. Quite apt for you to show the nuclear explosion pic, as you have certainly “gone nuclear” on Ken here. As for your “insider” info, I wouldn’t put much confidence in that, as your supposed McDonnell inside information you hinted at last week that would cost Ken the nomination, never materialized. I always have said that while I backed Ken, I would fully support the nominee of the Party after the convention. Once again by tearing into the decision not even 24 hours afterward, you have shown your true colors. I fully expect you to take the path of others similar to you like Gary Reese and Colin Powell. Before the end I’m sure we will all hear from you the praises of Steve Shannon.
On a high note I have to congratulate Cadet Adnan Barqawi for an absolutely awesome speech at the Convention yesterday. He is to be honored for his accomplishments and he certainly appears to have a bright future. The Convention speeches at the time of the vote tabulation tend to be ignored with many milling around waiting for the results. That in fact was the case with many ignoring speeches by some such as former Sen. George Allen. That was the atmosphere, when Cadet Barqawi took the stage, but before he was halfway through, he had the whole place rocking with the loudest applause lines of the whole convention! He most certainly is a great American in my book.
RPV had no control over the convention, it was as though they were calling the shots the day of, it was an embarrassment to say the least. The voting process was a DISASTER and lucky for them they didn’t have a second ballot. This convention only helped strengthen my position for primaries only.
As far as Ken Cooch goes, it’s one bad dream still, I refuse to wake up and see the reality of the situation just yet. His supporters are happy now but this is not a good situation for the general election to say the least.
That cadet was indeed the highlight of the convention. Awesome job!
RE, watch me – I have never sung the praises of Steve Shannon and never will. But I honestly think he will beat Cuccinelli handily. Would you rather I lie about my honest thoughts and go all rah-rah on you??? Cuccinelli will win! He will demolish Shannon!!! That’s not me.
You can bitch and moan about people who don’t swallow the whole “social conservative” pill but people like me make up a larger part of the electorate than people like you. There simply aren’t enough people like you in Virginia anymore to deliver a general election. And especially not in critical Loudoun County anymore. You will bring all of your troops to the game and you will be clobberred by the increasing nhumber of Dems and losing a good majority of the middle. Just as you say Cuccinelli will motivate his troops, he will equally motivate the liberal shock troops. That whole motivation thing is a wash. the middle, as usual, will make or break it, and Shannon is more middle that Cuccinelli.
You made your bed, now you need to deal with the consequences. This will be a very tough race to win.
LI, I promised to be more of a gentleman but I can’t help it after this tirade. . ..
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH
There, its out of my system. But after all the sh*t you talked, all the stuff you pulled, the puritan-like tactics that you claim you hate that you actually were using against Ken, one of my first thoughts after he won was jumping straight to this blog and gloat a little.
KC4AG!
Good for you, Chris. Your guy won, I’ll give you that. But don’t think you’ll have the same succss in November. Quit gloating and start trying to talk a little sense into your boy. McDonnell needs to be careful with how close he associates with him.
LI: i don’t know if the race will be tough to win or not (AG’s). many conservative/Republican voters here will not read alot into Cuccinelli’s religious right stances because, as a whole, Southside Virginia is pretty Godly.
but i suspect in more “sophisticated” areas such as NoVa, Albemarle, Richmond & Tidewater, the agressive social conservative agenda may turn off voters. but i don’t know. i can only speak to my little area.
LI, That was disgraceful post and meant to inflame. I hope you are true to your word and stop attacking KC, time will tell.
BTW, I am an “average citizen” – would have much rather been standing on the sidelines watching my kids play, missed a HS get together and a party in the evening with friends I hadn’t see in a while. It was not the worst convention ever, but I think LI believes the KC crowd rigged the bathrooms as well? It is bizarre to say the least. The colliseum is OLD.
I don’t think it took 3 hours to tally the votes, it took a full hour to vote (for Loudoun) so the tally portion was probably somewhere around 1-1.5 hours.
The Convention was a disaster for the GOP. How do we win independent voters with a “Don’t Tread on Me’ message. Did you see the flags? Those nuts want to secede from the United States for goodness sakes! Average voters want efficient, good government managed by professionals. We offer them radicals and candidates who want to impose their nutty views on them. How does Cuccinelli convince the voters to trust him as the state’s top attorney when he believes that the government is tracking him with his social security number? We can only hope that McDonnell prevents him from raising any money and keeps him quiet for the next 5 months. Cuccinelli will go down, but won’t be able to infect the rest of the ticket. If Terry M. wins the Dem nomination, he will spend millions making Cuccinelli the face of the GOP. That, my friends, will make for a very bad November. Unfortunately, the nuclear picture is perfect.
LI
You are on another planet. You are also well on your way to rendering yourself irrelevant.
You were one of the several here who told us Ken C. would not win. He then turns around and beats not one but two opponents and your scrambling to make excusses. Le’t’s have some straight talk here folks, opinions are one thing vendettas are another. If you want this ticket to win I suggest you do what all of us KenC supporters would have done had Brownlee won, get on board and support this ticket. Ken. C knows how to win. McDonnel and Bolling will benefit having Ken on the ticket. Ken C is a conservative who knows how to win. How many times does this guy have to prove it before those of you who flunked poly sci 101 will get your ass off your shoulders and your head in the game.
Two times yesterday I heard speakers one of which was Bob McD talk about no pale pastels, its time for bold colors. That is what you get with Ken, bold colors, conservative principles in action. For ken it is not some throw away line in a speech but a principled belief.
LL, it represents my honest opinion -how in the freaking world is that disgraceful??? Of course the Coochies didn’t rig the bathrooms – they were disgusting all on their own. Sure you and I made it, but nearly half of those who signed up didn’t. How is that building the GOP for November?
We voted around 1:00 and the results weren’t announced until after 4:00 when they said it would be over at 3:00. It took way longer than it should have.
Stone, you seem to forget that most Virginians don’t go for your version of bold colors. These Virginians have elcted Webb, Warner, and Obama. If you think the uber-conservative approach is going to win in November, I think you’re dead wrong. We’ll see what happens.
As I said above, too many Brownlee people didn’t make the long trip to sit through the all day affair. That’s unfortunate for Brownlee and the ticket, but it was the only way Cuccinelli wins the nomination. The convention produced the least palatable alternative for the majority of voters in Virginia.
Inspiring post, LI. With supporters like you, who needs detractors?
Great seeing you, BTW. I do mean that. Time to pull together and push this slate through in November, I say.
First, Loudon Lady, congrats, and to all the KC supporters. I don’t think a single non-KC person could argue that the man knows how to come up with votes at a convention, nothing short of impressive. I will say what I’ve been saying all over the place, I REALLY hope that those of us that think like me, Kelley, and LI are wrong, guess time will tell.
On the other hand, he better be able to pull a tone more 15-17 year old kids to run around like maniacs if he actually plans on pulling it off in November. That was probably the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. Again, stragegy for the Convention was well thought out and executed, hats off to him.
On the other hand, getting 8,000 people to a Convention that are like minded, similar thinkers will be a lot easier then pulling General Voters in November. That is where I, and others, have always seen his problem. Hopefully he will tone down a little (I’m sure he will), but if his introduction yesterday is any indicator, a little scary (can anyone explain what that was?). Also, the flags, really, it was a little strange.
But, to everyone who is a supporter of his congratulations, and to the rest of us, lets turn our attention to digging on Shannon, can’t let that guy win, regardless. Also, start praying that KC doesn’t become a drag on the ticket early.
KC is a fanatic but not in the way that LI and others describe him. KC is a grassroots, GOTV, yard sign, and door knocking fanatic. He spends hours looking over addresses, regions, yes/no/maybe lists, mailers, drops and everything a good campaign should do. (I’m hoping he finds the same energy for new media efforts)…
LI should appreciate this. His employer is a HUGE door walker and it pays off. It will pay off for Ken as well.
Here’s the start of the MSM take on Cooch, from the WaPo:
“”Cuccinelli won after a raucous speech in which he proudly called himself “the most aggressive pro-life leader in the Virginia Senate.” Supporters waved 300 large, yellow American Revolution-era flags emblazoned with a coiled snake and the legend “Don’t Tread on Me.” “”
“The most aggressive pro-life leader” – does he really think that will pu him over the top in November in a Webb/Warner/Obama state??? He just lost a majority of women in the state. Sure, I don’t like abortion either, but making that a centerpiece of his platform won’t be universally popular.
As far as what I write here, please remember, that for as popular a political blog as TC is, it reaches a miniscule portion of the general electorate. That WaPo article just reached exponentially more voters than my post.
Justin, WTF are you talking about, my employer? I work for myself.
Yikes. Here we go, hey, at least we warmed everyone up for what is going to happen over the next 5 months right?
Perhaps I am misinformed about your identify after all… or perhaps the relationship I refer to is not Boss/Employee… but I think you know who I mean.
Anonymity has its price my friend. Rumor, innuendo, and plain misinformation are just part of the detriments derived from wearing a mask.
My prediction: before November, LI and other anonymous folks will have to come clean. There are just too many people on this site (and other sites) involved in too many campaigns dishing out too much inside information. It strains credulity over a medium that screams transparency.
Here’s the reality: Ken is an extremist. He’s also an extremist who has taken on those issues in his own district (which is to the left of the state) and won three times.
I can’t understand why any analysis would say he would do worse with more conservative voters downstate.
Justin, perhaps you should respect those who are confined by their anonymity, and not presume to speak about that which you don’t know.
For some of us, “coming clean” means no more blogging. If that’s your wish (or agenda), please let me know ahead of time.
I will not out any of you.
I’ve been blogging since 2003 and tried the anonymous path on several occasions. It doesn’t work and ends up hurting you in the end. If that’s your choice that’s fine I’ll respect that.
Justin, we don’t need a James Young clone here whining about the well established blogosphere tradition of anonymity/pseudonymity.
Don’t insult me with your “come clean” BS. Who gives a shit who I am? Enough people know and they also know I am no pussy and speak my mind in person as well as on this site. I’ll do what I want to do about this and you will not change that.
Now try to stick to some real posts for a change instead of Barocky Road and blast email bullshit.
Here’s the independent’s “I don’t trust either party” voting logic.
Since we’ve had a D for governor for 8 years (to balance an R in the white house) we are ready for an R again as governor to balance the national swing towards the Ds. But not wanting the social conservatives to forget that they are in timeout for egregious behavior during the Bush era and concern that if socons had an opportunity they would do mischief pursing a anti-liberty ideological agenda, an I would lean towards voting D for AG. Cuccenelli as candidate make this decision easy.
In Loudoun we know what kind of danger social conservatives pose when they are on an ideological rampage and have prosecutorial powers. Search for “Oei Sexting Plowman” if you want an example of what many don’t want exported to the rest of the commonwealth.
The proof of all of our fears, concerns, suppositions, projections will be in November. It’s just as well that people record their positions now, for later checks. We’ll see who got it right. Once that is done, let’s sit back and hope for the best.
Certain things seem objectively clear to me: Shannon is an excellent candidate for today’s Virginia demographics. He probably would rather run against KC than either of the other two candidates. McDonnell and Bolling both barely won last time around, McDonnell against a very strong candidate, Bolling against a very weak one. They have spent the intervening four years changing their images and preparing to run different, more centrist campaigns this year. The Dems will use Cuccinelli to say that none of the GOP candidates has changed at all. That we have, once again, put up sloganeers instead of the kind of governance-capable pragmatists that a large portion of the electorate thinks Virginia needs these days. The Dems will make McDonnell and Bolling wear Cuccinelli for the next five months.
We can still win two of the three races but, to do so, we will have to depend on events outside our control. Will Obama’s economic policies get us into dire enough straits by November that there will be push-back from the Virginia electorate? Will there be another terrorist attack (aside from policy issues, we are probably overdue)? Will the Dems nominate McAuliffe and a weak LG candidate? These types of things could help immensely and may offset the Cuccinelli nomination.
Napoleon (or maybe it was Talleyrand) said of the Bourbon royal family that it leaned nothing and forgot nothing. Yesterday, the GOP in Virginia took a French Royalist jag. It may work out reasonably un-catastrophically. We’ll see. But I interpret it all as meaning that the process of decay and rot of the RPV is not complete and will have to get down to pretty granular rubble before we get any better at this.
I would love to be wrong and will step up on the day after election day to confess error if my fears, joyously, prove unfounded.
“leaned” shoud read “learned” in last post, 4th para. Sorry.
The economy is improving fairly quickly, at least in the IT space, and the overall mood of everyone I know is “it’s not getting worse and seems to be better”. Now, this is bad news for Republicans who want Republican candidates to win more than they want the economy to improve. If the economy does in fact perk up, then right around election time, voters will be feeling a lot better than they were 6-12 months before. The panic is largely over and while there are no guarantees for sustained growth, at least for the rest of the years things will be improving. Thus, Republicans in Va and NJ will be running into a headwind of “Republicans screwed up the economy and Democrats are making it better”. Pretty much how Mark Warner became so popular in the state, especially with some Republicans.
So, my point – I wouldn’t count on any “Obama backlash” to help you. Amongst indie voters, Republicans are clearly on the hook for the economic crash of 2008. Democrats are on the hook for the clean-up and if the clean-up appears to be working, there’s nothing much to be said for Republicans on the economic front.
not john s. mosby: there are 2 women who live across the street from my son in Richmond who have lost their IT jobs in Richmond. so they are moving to the Quantico area where they have found jobs.
maybe IT isn’t all rosy.
also, and i don’t know where you are from, but unemployment is growing here where i live. i understand from friends that things are tough in the radford/roanoke & west to bristol areas.
just pointing out what little i know.
Thanks JP, I know you and I didn’t agree on KC but you sound reasonable. Please consider speaking with KC supporters from this blog on a one to one basis, you will find we are not nutcases and very much inclined to work with and not against you. We are all on the same team. Also, I liked the youngsters in the KC campaign, they are our future. Last Fall and in a previous local elections I got my kids to help out, they more energy than a tired mom and we got literature dropped in record time with several sets of legs. Getting kids and teenagers out working on a campaign is great, in my opinion.
Also, I’d like to ask how many time KC vs the other candidates mentioned “pro-life”. Since I was kinda counting all the candidates mentioned they were pro-life, KC might have mentioned it 2 or 3 times. As a matter of fact, all of the candidates from every race spoke about the same principles, different speaking styles and slightly different emphasis – but it was pretty standard.
I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with Pat Mullins – the old guy still has some life in him! He made the point of talking about distinguishing ourselves from the Democrats and I very much appreciated his comments.
And LL, my opinion is your initial comments were horrible and inciting division. I know that’s how you roll, but I have an opinion too.
Thanks LL, appreciate it. I disagree only with the fact I think KC emphasized a lot on it, versus the other two, who obviously had more of an appeal to us more towards the center individuals. I just think those of you that are close to his campaign may want to start appealing to us, I think he can pull it off if he can calm down quite a bit. Time will tell. I think people like me are easy, we won’t vote for Shannon, but those a little more moderate then me, KC better learn to appeal to them, or I still think he’s in a HUGE up hill battle, and keeping on the mantra of pro-life, pro-guns, don’t tread on me, while good for the convention, isn’t going to work from here on out. Good luck! Hope he pulls it off.
about mullins: i thought the same thing, LL. he seemed fired up.
i do wish we could have some non old white guys as party leaders. and i’m an old white woman. but think about how we are viewed.
jp in va: pro-guns works for me, even tho the pro-life doesn’t. i think my county went for brownlee in part because he was a veteran & we like/honor military & guns. (you know us down here in the sticks: all rednecks with gun racks in our trucks)
I voted Bolling/Brownlee/Stanley. I am not pleased with Ken and I do believe he can drag our entire ticket to the dirt so I will put in even more effort than usual to volunteer. That being said, I will stick to volunteering for McDonnell and Bolling. I will vote for Ken out of party loyalty but I won’t given an hour or a dime to him.
My chairman vote was on a whim and I’m happy either way.
Kelley,
That proves my point to a certain extent. NoVA, while not really doing that poorly right now, will improve faster than the rest of the state. The election for Republicans will be won or lost here. McDonnell’s goal is to portray himself as a “son of NoVA” and not the christian conservative he is. Cooch, already on his way out of his Senate seat, hangs on in his district primarily because it’s the last conservative-leaning part of Fairfax. The rest of the county is moderate to very heavy Democratic. So, as the economy improves, it reflects very well on Democrats in general.
As far as Southside goes, I sympathize with you down there, but there isn’t much to be done with your plight. The manufacturing jobs are gone and while some new ones are coming in, they don’t make up for the tens of thousands lost due to the furniture and textile mills closing. And to be honest, from an election perspective, Southside is fairly irrelevant. Voting patterns there are pretty well established, you can argue the 5th CD has changed because of the flip to Democrats but that has more to do with Charlottesville than Martinsville. The fact that a few people you know are moving into NoVa reinforces the importance of looking at the demographics. The area of the state with the strongest relative economy and highest population growth is becoming more and more Democratic. I do believe there is a strong correlation in that.
[...] Insider promises to stop bashing Cuccinelli here. [...]
not john s. mosby: periello in the 5th might be an interesting race. the GOP will try to tie him to pelosi, who is very unpopular. did periello win on obama’s coattails? we’ll see.
is virgil goode the one to unseat periello & take back what was once his congressional seat? i don’t know. i’m told he was really thick with the cuccinelli people at the convention. i did not see him working the crowd in our part of the 5th.
and a follow up: i am afraid that Southside Virginia (or Southern Virginia as we are calling ourselves now) is irrelevant as far as the broad state picture goes.
i am sorry for that from a governance standpoint. however, i’m thrilled to still live in the rural part of the Commonwealth.
Loved the yellow flags that I thought represented Cuccinelli so well…snake.
I will concentrate all my energy on the top of the ticket and just pray the anchor does not drag the ticket down.
Inspiring post, LI. With supporters like you, who needs detractors?
- Linda B
This pretty much sums it up.
if the KC people were going to wave flags, why didn’t they wave the “live free or die” flags. i like those better.
Agree, Kelley in Virginia.
I suggest we back off of Cuccinelli. He has enough rope to hang himself without our help.
LI, if I recall, KC said he was “the most….” a lot of things in Virginia. It was a mantra, something he repeated throughout his speech. The fact that The Post decided to pick the “pro-life” quote out of all of them does not surprise me. The liberal media are going to go to town on him. I would hope the independent media such as yourself will give him a fairer shake.
BTW, I doubt there were 300 flags … looked more like 80-100 to me. I love The Washington Post for its magazine, its crossword puzzle and its Carolyn Hax column, but the day I let it influence my political thinking, please shoot me.
Loudon Insider,
I feel for ya. I really do.
From what you’ve said, your problem with Ken isn’t really ideological – per se. It’s not that you’re pro-choice. It’s not that you’re anti-gun or that you’re in favor of taking away property rights.
Your problem is fear.
You fear that a conservative like Cuccinelli cannot win a general election.
I understand that fear. I know where it comes from. I used to share it myself.
The problem is that the paradigm that fear originates from is simply… not reflective of reality.
This weekend was a dose – if a small one – of that reality.
I can’t tell you how many people I met – smart folks and insiders galore – who thought we were going to be there all night when I KNEW it was going to be one ballot. Hell, I heard ‘insiders’ on the floor talking about how we were going to be there all night after Foster and Brownlee had already conceded and were simply lining up behind the stage to give their concession speeches.
Some false paradigms take a lot to kill. I don’t expect this one to die anytime soon, either – if ever – despite how horridly false it is.
I don’t expect that I – or any other Cuccinelli supporter – can alter the paradigm you or another still absorbed by that fear sees overnight – but I will at least give you some food for thought:
1. Consistent polling over the past 20 years – year in and year out – has shown that approximately 60% of the American self-identifies as “conservative”. They don’t always vote, they don’t always vote for Republicans, and they disagree on what “conservative” means, but 60% of American voters self-identify as “conservative”.
What that means: We do not lose by being conservative – at least in name. The label is popular. Individual positions may vary, there are very different sorts of “conservatives”, and the perception of an individual candidate may be far more important, but we don’t lose by calling ourselves conservatives.
My own take is that you have an enormous pool of ‘conservative’ voters out there who vote for Democrats or fail to show up, but might well vote Republican if the candidate was right. And, contrary to the prevailing paradigm, you do NOT make these Republican voters by AVOIDING conservative hot-button issues.
To name but one example: Obama received the votes of an awful lot of pro-life voters – especially blue collar workers and catholics that voted for Bush/Cheney. The economy was the driving reason, not abortion.
We didn’t lose 2006-2008 because we were too pro-life. We lost 2006-2008 because we weren’t fiscally responsible when we held power.
Cuccinelli mirrors their sentiments when he speaks about why Republicans have been losing and he holds positions on social issues that many of them support.
2. A majority of Americans are pro-life and that majority has been growing stronger rather than weaker in polling over the years. Furthermore, many “independents” are pro-life.
This really hits to the center of the false paradigm that leads fearful Republicans to believe that we lose by being socially conservative.
We don’t.
Take Keith Fimian. Fimian – who the Democrats ran against almost exclusively on the abortion issue – outperformed McCain/Palin in the 11th CD by several points.
But the best example in Fairfax is really Ken Cuccinelli, who picks up votes from even hardcore Democrats in every one of his elections exclusively because he IS pro-life and leads on it. Much of his outreach into minority communities – into churches, especially – is based upon his pro-life and pro-family record that typically Democratic minority voters can enthusiastically support.
Of all of the things that Cuccinelli has proven in the past few years in difficult Fairfax, it’s that while we haven’t been winning the rising number of minority voters by creating seperate “coalitions” with a few token members and blurring the distinctions between parties by pretending that our “big tent” will somehow magically cause everyone to join us, Ken HAS been winning them by fighting for what they believe in on social issues.
Ken wins those votes because he does more than simply patronize them: he fights for what we hold in common and makes the choice of candidate about more than mere ethnicity.
3. On the economy, people are heaping mad right now. Republicans, libertarians, independents, even many Democrats.
And the folks that are heaping mad aren’t mad because our government has done too LITTLE but because they have done too MUCH – both Bush and Obama and both Congresses in between.
They’re mad at BOTH parties.
And, at its core, this movement – which has found at least some expression in the tea parties – is neither “Republican” nor “Democratic”, but conservative and libertarian. It is not partisan, but ideological.
Ken Cuccinelli not only gets that, but he has successfully tapped into that growing tide of disatisfaction in both the activist base and the electorate.
Cuccinelli will turn many of them out to vote in November and many he will turn out sure as hell wouldn’t show up for Bob McDonnell otherwise.
And that is the other paradigm shift in the making that somehow the ‘insiders’ in our party still fail to see.
It’s happening all around, it’s a growing cry coming from the base of our own party and quite a lot of people beyond the Republican party, and yet the ‘insiders’ of our party seem to either be deaf to its sound or experience fear when they hear it.
It’s an oncoming freight train of anti-incumbent, conservative/libertarian sentiment that has the potential to expand the Republican party and too many in our party want to stand on the tracks and be run over by it rather than jump aboard.
It’s why Rush Limbaugh’s listening audience is booming.
It’s why the tea parties were successful.
It’s why the polling on the bailouts is so dismal.
It’s why McCain’s poll numbers tanked and never recovered after he engaged in his greatest mistake by supporting the bailouts.
And it honestly pains me to see folks like Loudon Insider insist on being run over by it when every bit of what you’d probably want to achieve if you were honest about it is possible by joining it.
Now…
Will we win every election? Of course not. Does this mean we should believe that every ‘true believer’ candidate is going to tap into this growing sentiment out there and carry it to victory? Hell no. Witness Patrick Muldoon.
But the reason the Republican Party is running at about 20% in approval ratings right now is attached to it: this movement is not partisan, but ideological. One of its aspects is a growing sentiment that the Republican Party has abandoned its principles and can only win again if it finds candidates willing to fight for them again.
The reason Cuccinelli was carried to victory is that he’s demonstrated to at least some portion of that movement that he is just such a candidate. Should he prove capable of convincing more of this by November, he could carry the entire ticket to victory.
As for McDonnell and Bolling, Cuccinelli permits both of them to reach out the middle. Contrary to the belief that he drags them down, what he really does is peg down their right flank in a way that neither of them were capable of doing on their own in the emerging paradigm. McDonnell has far more liberty today in reaching out to the middle than he had before Cuccinelli was the nominee in much the same way that an ideologically diverse ticket for the presidency of the United States is naturally stronger than one that is in lockstep.
If hardcore conservatives turn out for Cuccinelli and moderates turn out for McDonnell, McDonnell wins both sets and voters and trounces McAuliffe. That’s the plan.
And that, beyond issues of conservatism, is really why we should (and are) united as a party today. This ticket is stronger than pretty much anything else we could have hoped for.
RWNV, best argument I’ve seen so far for pro-KC, so thanks, hopefully that type of tone is carried by his campaign, even though I disagree with quite a bit of it, well said.
Difference for me is KC won’t carry the ticket, and yesterday was nothing more then KC getting his people to show, and Brownlee not, it wasn’t a call for anything by our party (Other then the KC people). But, KC does have a chance, because the far right will undoubtedly vote for him (as they will McDonnell and Bolling), but KC may get lucky and pick up some votes because of the rest of the ticket. I just see it exactly opposite, but your argument is by far the best I’ve seen, and if I was a KC volunteer it is how I’d be pushing him.
LI,
As a Brownlee supporter who was suffering from a very nasty 48 hour bug rather than “real world syndrome” as you put, I was sorry I was unable to make the convention.
If Brownlee was the nominee, I believe we had a chance at running the table on the Dems. Brownlee and Foster acquainted themselves well and have a future in the party.
With Ken as the nominee, there are two problems.
Before being critical, I thought Ken came across as a very good candidate. All three of our AG candidates presented themselves well.
On the tracking issue Ken is correct if what he means is that advancing technology has reduced our privacy.
Problem One. Ken’s surrogate’s didn’t do such a great job when they were in charge of the LCRC. I hope their performance was not an omen and Ken will hire the most effective staff he can find.
Problem Two. The televangelist ticket. McDonnell has been a excellent AG. He has great staff. We knew the Dems are going to try to tie him to Pat Robertson (formely John Warner’s W&L poker buddy). Ken’s presence on the ticket will give the Dems more fuel on this issue. McDonnell generally has a reputation as a moderate with most voters and I pray it will stay this way.
Great ammunition over at the Operative Word, good work LI.
RW Nova Volunteer, I hope you are a point person or front man for KC.
There is no fear in me, just pragmatic realism.
LL, I’m sure that post is going to turn the tide against Cuccinelli! Will I be blamed for it all if he loses in November? Give me a break.
Most of the peope that I knew that were voting for Ken reached their decision after much consideration, My Mom voted for Brownlee, I almost did but His Illegal Immigration rhetoric and Tancredo endorsement turned me off.
However, I would have loved to have any of those three great men on the ticket.
I think Brownlee should consider running against Boucher and Foster should take out Moran.
LI,
I think you are overestimating the demographic changes in VA. You seem to think this is a deep Warner/Webb/Obama state. However what you forget to mention is Webb and Warner and to a lesser extent Obama ran touting themselves as fiscal conservatives. Now we have in the first six months of the Obama admin a quadrupling of national spending and a debt that will reach close to 80% of the GNP. Thats double what it was under Bush! Webb and Warner have supported Obama on every one of his economic requests. This will be hard to explain to the more fiscally conservative voters in VA and will indeed cause a backlash. Not to mention Obama’s completely 180 degrees out of where he should be on energy policy. McDonnell/Bolling/Cuccinelli will be hitting hard on all these issues and will win in NOV.
PWC, Foster against Moran is a hugely appealling proposition. Foster is a good man and has great potential in a NoVA race. Moran is such a scumbag – Foster would be an incredible contradiction.
RE, I think you are over estimating the number of staunch conservatives in Virginia. You can’t really make me believe that people voted for Obama thinking he was a fiscal conservative. Like it or not, this is a Webb/Warner/Obama state. I absolutely wish it were otherwise, but that’s the plain old in your face truth. Most voters have the attention span of a gnat. Those of us who argue on these blogs are a tiny tiny proportion of the overall electorate. These inattentive voters will get hit with all sorts of stuff bashing the Rs, and much of it will work, especially the social stuff in NoVA. Again, I wish it were different but it isn’t.
The question now will be what will hardliners like you say if Cooch loses? That Cuccinelli wasn’t conservative enough? That the squishy RINOs abandoned him? This wil be the test of tests of your philosophy. Let’s see if the most conservative guy can pull it off statewide.
I agree, I don’t think Virginia is by any means a Right leaning State, nor do I think it is by any means a left leaning State. Virginia is right down the middle. You cannot argue that, not only that, our population votes on emotion, are they pissed at who is in office or not. Gilmore, pissed people off, what happened. Warner, was a spin master, didn’t piss of the majority of voters, Kaine gets in. Kaine is pissing people off, I think McDonnell will smoke whoever the competition is.
We that pay attention, consider ourselves conservative, will vote on issues. The people that ACTUALLY decide general elections have to believe you’re going to help them where it matters, and that is financially.
It is that middle that matters now, and until we realize we need to appeal to them somehow, we’ll keep losing. I’m just glad to see it seems like this may be a good year, just hope that we don’t take the wrong message from that, like the State is a REPUBLICAN/RED State, because I think it’s been proven this State has become whatever the middle leaning people decide it is.
LI-
You know I am a fan… but trust me… Cucc will do just fine in Fairfax County. The relaity is this race will be about McDonnell and how well he does… rarely has a down ticket candidate deemed “extremist” or whatever… really hurt the top of the ticket. The top has either won (Allen-Gilmore) or lost (Earley-Kilgore) on their own merits. Also… Virginians tend to vote GOP for their AG candidates despite the top of the ticket. You saw Kilgore and McDonnell win with Dems at the top. In fact… you can go back and see that many said the same things about McDonnell when he ran for AG that are now being said about Cucc.
I endorsed Cucc… I have supported him his entire career… and he is a friend… so trust me when I tell you don’t under estimate his staewide appeal and how we will do in Fairfax… all the guy does is win. Period.
Talk to you soon.
Anthony Bedell
Anthony, I respect your opinion and hope you’re right, but Cuccinelli is no Herrity or Cook. Sure they said many of the same things about McDonnell, but he wasn’t as far right as Cuccinelli, and that was a lifetime ago in Virginia politics. McDonnell barely won, and since we’ve had the Webb/Warner/Obama/ losing three Congressional seats fiascos. Times have changed.
LI, I can’t blame you for what hasn’t happened, I can only say that you have done enough damage and I hope you stand by your committment to stop trashing KC. That you are gleeful at the prospect of him losing is bad enough, but that the opposition is singing your praises for trashing KC is nothing to boast about. When you lie with pigs……..
Right Wing NoVa Volunteer pretty much summed up my thoughts about Ken Cuccinelli and the Convention, too. I’ve worked with Ken for many years and I know him to be pretty good at respecting members of both political parties and having more legislative experience than Steve Shannon. Here’s my take:
1. Ken will help McDonnell in western Fairfax, not hurt him. His name has been on the ballot 3 times there. He has more name recognition than Shannon.
2. If Dems and libs try to make Cuccinelli the issue, it helps divert the pressure off McDonnell and Bolling.
3. Ken is a great debater and great campaigner. He should not emphasize the divisive social issues that much in the campaign against Shannon. I can’t explain the Dont Tread on Me flags either, but if you attack them, you attack our Founding fathers.
4. The issues in the A.G. race are crime, illegal immigration, Real ID, gun control. If Ken keeps the focus on these issues, he can win.
5. Ken will mobilize an army of volunteers for the GOP ticket the way Bob Marshall (had be been the U.S. senate nominee last year) would have helped energize Republicans better than Gilmore, whom every delegate ignored at the Convention.
6 If McAullife is the nominee, or Moran, it will ensure McDonnell and Bolling wins and Cuccinelli will ride their coattails.
7. Barqawi was electrifying and is the future of the GOP. How fitting he got more attention than Allen or Gilmore — neither of whom should have been speakers.
8. The RPV ran a very good convention, except for the food lines, but should have had some female speakers of prominence, like Jill Vogel. and, why Michael Steele was not there given the importance of the Virginia race was pretty sad.
Thanks
Here’s the perspective of a first timer and Brownlee supporter.
Going in to the convention, I completely discounted the points that A Voter and others have made repeatedly about the importance of prior experience running tough elections. To me, it was all about resumes. If you asked me Friday who I thought would get more votes in Northern Virginia in a general election, KC or JB or DF, I would have picked JB and DF hands down. Now, I’m not so sure.
Here are some observations.
1. KC’s organization at the convention was top notch. I also found his staff to be extremely disciplined and respectful.
2. The energy level of the KC supporters was impressive. Quite plainly, his supporters had a youth and vigor that the others simply did not. For a number of people, KC wasn’t just their preferred candidate, he was someone for whom they were willing to fight long and hard. They will be there for him this Fall. In fact, I found it contagious. I intend to volunteer to help him out too.
3. The convention takes too long. You would have thought we brought in Democrats to run the voting.
All in all, I had a good time and I’m feeling pretty good about the Fall.
what effect does Dr. Tiller’s murder & the subsequent left wing blame of all fundamentalists (which will be repeated as a truth by the media) have on our gubernatorial race, especially the AG’s race?
LI,
You know that my car has proudly sported a Brownlee sticker for months because he was my candidate. Having said that……….
First, it did not take 3 hours to tally the votes. Voting began a 1:30, maybe 1:25. We were told it might take up to TWO hours. Considering that the Fairfax delegation was nearly 1,200 voters, it was no easy feat to just their votes in. Then a total of 11,000 votes had to be counted, two hours didn’t seem to be that long. (Where you got your numbers, I have no clue, but the campaigns I spoke to all said there were close to 11,000 people at the convention, the largest in 15 years. Most people boarded buses and cars long before they knew it would be a beautiful day.) I’ve watched precinct counts that took 90 minutes, with fewer than half that number of voters. At 3:10 I knew the outcome and it was announced after another speech or two. The outcome was announced in under TWO hours, not three.
Cuccinelli definitely turned out his voters, even on a beautiful day. How can this be billed as a bad thing? The man knows how to campaign. He knows to inspire people to drive for hours to vote for him. His speech/performance at the convention was powerful. As much as I loved Brownlee, and his wife, he didn’t have the presence that Ken did. When John began speaking it struck me immediately that he knew that he would lose. I felt sad for him and his family. They have worked SO hard. He has a future in our party. He has never run before, but I hope he will run again. He is every bit as conservative as Ken, although he does have fewer children.
LI, now you are quoting the WP on the republican convention? You’ve lost your last marble.
You may not like Ken, but he is a proven winner and he’s done it again. If you are correct, and Ken won with a 14 point margin, it’s hard to argue with that kind of success. It takes more than sunny day in May to have that large a victory. The man knows what he is doing!
I am very happy with ticket of candidates and can’t wait to work for all three of them.
GOP4ME!
Kelley,
Who is Dr. Tiller? I’ve never heard of him, or his murder. Nor did I hear anyone mention him at the convention.
Very interesting thread.
In case you haven’t seen it here is some info about what put Cuccinelli over the top
http://www.thenextright.com/soren-dayton/cuccinelli-campaign-for-liberty-and-shifting-gop-party-politics
Very interesting
Regardless of what you think we have our 3 nominees. Now its up to us to bring them ALL home over the next several months
It certainly doesn’t help the cause.
If I were KC I’d put out a press release condemning the action and noting that while the issue of abortion has serious moral implication and energized advocates on both sides of the equation vigilante actions are never justified.
Right Wing NoVa Volunteer
Awesome post, #48. You’ve nailed it.
Lovettsville Lady–
I really applaud your attitude and sentiments. I supported KC but had it gone the other way, I was fully prepared to have the same attitude that you do now. You are setting a good example to LI, BPM, James and the rest of the cantkerous crowd who refuse to acknowledge that there are pluses and minuses to every candidate (and that means that yes, there are major positives with KC).
Blogging tends to breed overreacting as it is…so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised to see a nuclear bomb on here. But its all so predictable.
RWNV,
Your analysis, which I am heartened to read here, tracks precisely with mine although I claim to have absolutely no expertise whatsoever with the statistics you cite. I’ve reached your conclusions based on what I watch, listen to (you left out Mark Levin), and read.
I have voted Republican all my life except for when I voted for Ross Perot in 92 as a protest vote “to send a message to the Republican Party” that I was not happy with Bush 41’s handling of the economic situation. At that time I wasn’t politically aware and thought Bush was a shoe-in for a second term. I would guess that a lot of the Obama voters in 2008 are regretting their vote as I did mine.
When Trent Lott came out with his outrageous spending package in 1998, I quit contributing to the RNC and instead funneled my contributions to specific fiscally conservative candidates or to the Club for Growth. I have never donated to the RPV but am now seriously considering that option.
Pro-life and pro-gun issues are not “my” issues although I am both pro-life and pro-gun. For me, limited government is the over-arching issue which, once under control, it seems to me would resolve the other two in an appropriate manner.
As a first time delegate to this convention and one who was not knowledgeable to all the “insider” information which the perennial delegates seemed to be privy to, I was oblivious to the past internecine battles within VA GOP politics. And frankly, I prefer it that way.
I didn’t know before Saturday which AG candidate I would vote for although I took into consideration who my county chair supported and why (”KC…he knows how to organize grassroots”), who the candidates received endorsements from, plus the information I gathered at the Gala dinner (primarily from Brownlee supporters), the Saturday breakfast (staunch Cuccinelli supporters), and what I could gather on the floor during the convention.
All the emails and flyers I had received since February from the various campaigns didn’t help me much towards a decision, although Brownlee dropped off my radar fairly quickly as his cookie-cutter mail literature and emails gave me the impression that he was the guy the GOP machine wanted.
But I WAS impressed at the nuts-and-bolts emails coming last week from the Cuccinelli campaign–about a day or two in advance of the info coming from the RPV Convention committee–with practical info about the RPV convention!
THAT impressed me and caused me to definitely lean in his direction prior to arriving in Richmond.
Plus the obvious level of support for him on the floor at Saturday’s convention confirmed my suspicions that Brownlee was the machine’s candidate.
Might I conclude that Brownlee’s supporters were the bulk of the no-shows?
One thing I didn’t quite understand, and perhaps RWNV can explain it to me… About an hour or so after the first ballots were cast, Dave Foster came by, shook my hand, and asked if he could count on me to support him on the second round of balloting. I also noticed his wife up on the first tier of seating shaking hands of delegates there, probably posing the same request. At this point, even I the total beginner knew that if there were to be a second balloting he wasn’t going to be on it. I was a bit flabbergasted he was doing this and can’t come up with a reasonable explanation but am very curious about it.
I agree with whomever suggested it, however, that Dave Foster should run against Jim Moran here in the 8th district. He’d be great. Perhaps the KC campaign could loan some of their volunteers to help out in that endeavor.
And while I’m here, does anyone know if there exists a full video of Cadet Adnan Barqawi’s speech? I would have expected this to be posted at the RPV website but I can’t seem to find it.
I hear a lot from the GOP about the need to get “technical”. Well, the cadet’s speech should have been posted to You Tube within two hours of his appearance. Adnan was the highlight and headline of the convention.
Where is the video?
Give me a break – Loudoun Lady I am absolutely not gleeful at the prospect of Cuccinelli losing, just pessimistic at his chances. Do I take the WaPo as an authority on the GOP? Of course not, idiot, but as I said above the WaPo reaches exponentially more general election voters than this and all blogs combined. Acknowledge reality. I’ve done enough damage? Ridiculous – readership here, while high amongst political blogs is tiny compared to the voting population. Get over it.
Lovettsville Lady, feel free to hop on the bash LI bandwagon if you so desire. Do you really want to argue about how long it took to tally votes? I voted shortly after 1:00 and the announcements weren’t made until around 4:00. That’s three hours.
We’ll see what happens, and this is the ultimate test of the “only real conservatives can win” argument.
LI — weren’t you a Bob Marshall for U.S. Senate supporter? Why would you support him but bash Cuccinelli, whom Bob supported for A.G?
RR, I am not a mindless automaton. I think for myself.
Speaking of Marshall, did he ever come out and officially endorse Muldoon? All of his main people were on the Muldoon team, and many thought of Muldoon’s candidacy as payback for perceived slights from Bolling at last year’s convention. I like Bob Marshall alot, but this Muldoon mess was an absolutely unneeded distraction.
Barqawi speech on You Tube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4_0L2ZJAvQ
I’m not talking about Muldoomed, but Cuccinelli. Answer the question. How can you Like Marshall but Hate cuccinelli so much?
Rabble Rouser, It’s the same thing as a someone like me liking and respecting Joe May but gagging when I encounter Ken Reid.
LI,
No, I am not going to argue with you about the time line because everyone there knows when they voted and when the announcements were made. Most of us enjoyed the convention and can get behind our candidates. Your anger is clouding your every thought and every memory.
I am also not going to argue with you because I taught my children to not call other people names like “idiot” and not to play with those who do. I try to practice what I preach.
When you have regained your senses, let us know so that we may reengage on an even playing field.
Rabble Rouser,
Thanks for the link to Part 1. Do you have a link to Part 2?
Thanks!
RR, precisely because of electability and the stakes of each race. No Republican was going to beat Mark Warner, but Gilmore was a lost cause. Marshall would have been closer and more exciting. That was an off year election with not so much at stake. This year’s election is a huge deal and, as I’ve explained my thoughts ad infinitum, I think Cuccinelli will lose and drag down the ticket. Sure that’s not a popular notion with most of these commenters, but that’s my opinion. I don’t hate Cuccinelli, I just think he’s a zealot unsuited to be AG.
LL, I will call someone an idiot when they whip out some of the nonsense Loudoun Lady did above. I am not angry at all, I am realistic and not blind. My senses are absolutely in fine working order. Do what you must.
Of course many here thought McCain was going to win and they even liked Palin. There is almost a parallel here. Even though it is early there is no one in the Republican party at the moment that can beat Obama. If Republicans lose in Virginia from the Governor down then I would say they don’t have a chance in the next presidential race. I see this from a independent point of view as I used to lean Republican, but not since Regan. Cuccinelli is a big problem for the Republicans in Virginia just wait till the Democrats run the ads.
Leej,
I’m not sure why the opinion of a self-proclaimed independent who cannot even spell Reagan’s name correctly should hold much weight in this forum.
MaidMarion and you are correct I did spell wrong it wrong and maybe that is the point you all are grasping at anything these days in desperation.
Correcting my spelling or grammar, is meaningless as I know how bad it is.
The real problem is how out of touch Republicans are since Baby Bush almost destroyed america and our standing in the world and still defend him. And to answer your question as a Independent I don’t carry any weight at all on these blogs nor do I want to. But I do like to know what is going on so at the next election I can vote for the best person in my opinion.
RWNV #48 that was extremely well stated. Thank you. I had the same thoughts but could not have conveyed them so clearly.
My sense of both LI and the Monk is they are on the same page as me on the vast majority of “issues.” In fact, we have in all our discussions never reached a point of disagreement except with regard to specific candidates, which supports your thesis. I respect both of their opinions a great deal, but am confused by some of their candidate choices. Now, I think I have a better concept.
LI, did you really just call an election in a Presidential year an “off year election”? Your reasoning is stupid.
Independent voter going to Cooch. That flag at the convention was a damned good expression of how I feel personally after all the nonsense we have had to endure since 20 January 09. Astronomical national debt; an astronomical Federal budget with even more to follow; the guy in the White House admitting that we have “run out of money”; jabbering about a value-added tax and the taxing of job benefits; cap-and-trade guaranteed to send my electric bill sky high; our cars to be built under the wonderful tutelage of a government that can’t even balance its own checkbook; and closing Gitmo without even thinking it through first, etc., etc. etc. and so on. We need to let that rattlesnake loose. Might as well start in the Old Dominion.
Let me amend No. 84. Just finished having a family gathering. That’s a total of seven votes for Cooch.
Wolverine: You are abosultely correct in your assessment of the Obama administration and their out-of-control spending and frightening debt to other nations, most of which don’t like us. But what can a state AG with a one-issue (anti-abortion) focus do about that?
I knew Cooch was going to rally the Rush bunch but I’m afraid he will lose the general in November and we’ll be stuck with yet another Dem.
I believe we’ll regain the Governor’s Mansion however. As long as he doesn’t lean too far to the right and turn off the indys and moderates.
justin, you are the only one who responded to my Dr. Tiller/fundamentalist anti-abortion question. thank you.
i see this as a problem. especially nationally (which includes the WaPo & by extension somewhat, NoVa).
LI, Enough already.
No I won’t “get over it” and I don’t care for being called an “idiot”. If think I am one, why argue with me? I don’t waste my time with idiots and I would hope you wouldn’t either.
and justin, the big blogs (the national rt-wing blogs) are saying that all Republicans might be painted with this murderer’s whacko bomb-making, FBI watch-list, pro-life stance.
just great.
I do have a question: if this ticket loses, what will be the reason?
I’m not excepting “LI” as an answer.
It’s too early for Cuccinelli or anyone else to be putting out press releases regarding Dr. Tiller’s murder. At this point, we don’t know why he was killed. Yes, it’s logical to assume it’s because of his abortion practice, but we know why, it’s too early to start that kind of an argument.
The cops arrested a guy that witnesses claim was leaving the scene, but he didn’t have a gun on him, so they’re going to have to finish their investigation to be sure they’ve got the right guy.
In any event, I can guarantee that if the Dems can link any of our candidates to any group that has advocated killing abortion doctors, you’ll see it being used in the election.
EB, if we lose, I think it will come down to three major factors. First, we may have underestimated the population shift in Virginia and the Obama election wasn’t an outlier, but the first election following a major shift in the electorates voting style. Second, we may have overestimated our ability to fundraise in the current environment and have lost that battle to the Democrats. Third, our candidates made major errors of judgment as has happened in the past that our opponents are able to capitalize on.
If any of those three things happen – and frankly, I don’t think any of them will – that could be enough for us to lose one or more of the seats.
Right now, however, I am confident that we can win the top two slots, and I’m hoping that Cuccinelli can beat Shannon. I live in Shannon’s house district but I have yet to hear or see one thing about the guy in the year I’ve lived here. If I didn’t know he was running for AG, I wouldn’t know who he was at all. And his campaign doesn’t seem to be as organized as Cuccinelli’s. Hopefully Cuccinelli can get out of convention mode and into general election mode quickly.
Joe, that commenter has no insights into my reasoning.
Loudoun Lady, that’s an old fashioned blog insult responding to your unfounded wrong headed characterizations of me.
NLS, off year was the wrong term. I’m so glad you’re here now on a regular basis correcting me!
Edmund, I’d like to know that as well. Somone somehwere has already made that particular assertion. Please see my earlier comments above about how many people actually read Virginia political blogs.
If the choice of the coliseum as the site for the convention is any indication on the decisions the party will make, then I’ll just stay home in the future. The coliseum was a dump. I was told that we were suppose to be at the new convention center across the street but someone in the party thought the coliseum would be a better venue. Bad, bad decision………it stunk!
Disgusted, the venue was originally the convention center but it was too small to handle how many people showed up.
disgusted: we had too many attendees for the convention center; therefore, it had to be moved to the coliseum.
brian, i was reading either Gateway Pundit or Ace or HotAir last night & one said that the DKos & DU was blaming all this on “Christianists”. even now that the KS police have caught someone that could be Tiller’s murderer & even if it turns out that this guy is a Muslim jihadist, the left will blame the “fundamentalists”. we don’t need any bad press!
I do have a question: if this ticket loses, what will be the reason?
I’m not excepting “LI” as an answer.
- edmundburkenator
The other side got more votes.
No shit.This Blog and his influence will have very little to do with who wins or loses. For this we are in agreement. On many issues LI is on the money. However, when it comes to the subject of KC, common sense and reason leave him based on some deep irrational dislike of Ken. I believe it to be personal in that Kens positions are in line with the vast majority of center right voters. So he either has a case of the ass against Ken, or he is not as conservative as he would have us believe. I am going with case of the ass, however I fully admit that is a guess.
i just read some comments over at a McClatchy newspaper site (yeah, i know) that called Dr. Tiller’s murderer a Christian terrorist, a Talibanist & should be subject to no-fly rules & everything else.
the news is already interviewing some of the murderer’s acquaintances who say “yeah, he thought abortion was awful”.
and that is all the press needs to hear.
this will impact sotomayor’s confirmation hearings & may paint the Republican party as extremists.
this worries me.
Stone, get off your obssession with man ass and balls! My dislike of Cuccinelli isn’t irrational, I’ve explained the reasons numerous times. We’ll see how this works out.
LI, BS, calling someone an idiot is just that. Are there any other “Old fashined blog insults” that I should know about so that I can stop being offended? That is a weird response.
Kelley, Don’t know if you read on the other convention thread but I asked why you didn’t add KC in as a fiscal conservative with McDonnell and Bolling?
I saw a comment about the RNC Chairman not being at the convention on Saturday. Please note that Michael Steele was at his daughter’s graduation and could not make it. As we are the family-friendly Party, it would only be natural for Michael Steele to be at his daughter’s high school graduation.
Thanks for clarifying Suzanne.
I don’t understand why Tillers murder (Bad as it was) is truped up so much considering this man killed thousands of infants by partial birth abortion. And how do we know it was a pro-life activist? It could have been the Father/Brother/Boyfriend of a girl that had an abortion under tiller, I wouldn’t be suprised considering the emotional and mental damage that women experience after abortion, The percentage that consider suicide is about 70%.
LI – The numbers you guys are throwing around might be terribly wrong.
I heard Cooch got nearly 66% of the vote.
That’s pretty decisive.
Also, the weather excuse is a weak excuse whenever it’s used. If you can’t fire up your supporters to come on out when it matters on a nice day in May, what are you going to do if the weather’s nice in November?
LI
All BS aside. Are you going to actively work to elect this Republican Ticket ?
The Republican slate is set. These men ALL need our support in every way. They are ALL Republicans who have served the state in one way or the other. It is now time to rally behind the ticket.
It is time to stop pontificating and go to work electing this ticket.
Will you join us ?
To all the gloom-and-doomers about Cooch, the Earl Williams crowd made the same noise about George Allen 16 years ago.
And we know how that turned out.
Where can we get definitive numbers on all the votes on Saturday? The RPV website has not been updated at all, no video links or anything.
HURRY UP!
Jason, there’s a HUGE difference between getting your supporters to their local polling place from 6AM to 7PM and getting them to drive to Richmond for an all day affair. regardless of Cooch’s margin at the convention it is just that – a miniscule hardliner proportion of the general electorate.
Stone, I said this is my last anti-Cooch post and it will be. I want the ticket to win, even if your man makes it tougher to do so. I’m on board, now quit bitching about my ass and balls!
Chris, that was an even longer lifetime ago in Virginia electoral politics. A lot has changed since then. Anyway, Cooch is more Farris than Allen.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Same tired arguements, so let’s look towards the future.
Open up your wallets and give a little time and we can roll the D’s in November.
Just saying that I’ve heard similar drivel from fraidy cat Republicans before, LI.
Cooch was on Allen’s steering committee for northern Virginia. I was, too. He and I supported Farris, too, but we worked to get Allen elected.
Cooch will inspire a similar group of committed conservatives. Put your crying towel away, already.
Sarah Palin’s response to the Tiller murder, which I agree with wholeheartedly:
“I feel sorrow for the Tiller family. I respect the sanctity of life and the tragedy that took place today in Kansas clearly violates respect for life. This murder also damages the positive message of life, for the unborn, and for those living. Ask yourself, ‘What will those who have not yet decided personally where they stand on this issue take away from today’s event in Kansas?’
Regardless of my strong objection to Dr. Tiller’s abortion practices, violence is never an answer in advancing the pro-life message.”
Governor Sarah Palin
oh. yes. KC is a fiscal conservative. sorry, didn’t mean to exclude him from that.
the tiller murder is already being blamed on “Christianists”. the shooter is being painted as rabid anti-abortion.
sure, maybe we can see the difference, but the MSM drives alot of votes–the stupid ones.
There continues to be serious issues in the national Republican party if Sarah Palin is the spokesperson. Consider the next round lost again, if this continues.
And I am not referring to her stance on social issues.
Who said Palin was the spokesperson for the party, Blackout? I posted her comments because I agree with them.
Do you have a light that goes off in your bat cave everytime Palin is mentioned here?
KC got 54, Foster got 6, Brownlee got 40.. wasn’t the blow out some of you think it was.. but it was 3 percent more then enough. That’s what matters. And, FYI, Brownlee lost because his supporters didn’t show, not because he didn’t have them. So the arrogance needs to stop, and start supporting him, he NEEDS ALL THE HELP HE CAN GET. I hear too much more about KC the Great from his supporters, and how Brownlee supporters were stupid, I will STRONGLY reconsider my help for him, and will gladly focus on the top two. You all may want to be careful, exclude 40% of the people from that convention, keep calling us whatever, you may lose us, because, honestly, we aren’t enthused, but with a couple of exceptions, I think most of us have said we are on board. You real KC supporters may want to start by not alienating us.
JP, Please point to where people are saying Brownlee’s supporters are stupid and KC is the greatest. Why can’t you advocate for your candidate without being labeled arrogant? I think Chris gave a big hahahaha to LI, but other than that it has been the same old arguments. The alienation you are feeling may be self inflicted.
I honestly did not know if the 54/40/6 stats were correct.
I was a staunch and early Cooch supporter, but that said, I was comfortable, publicly, with all three candidates. I did think Brownlee’s over-emphasis on his prosecutorial background was ill-advised (the AG doesn’t prosecute anything), and Dave Foster, whom I know and greatly admire, simply didn’t catch fire.
I’d have gladly supported either of the other 2 had they won, and I hope their supporters will now support Ken.
The numbers are irrelevant. We have a winner. Now let’s help him make it to the finish line a champion.
I have heard that most of the convention delegates that stayed home were Foster delegates. I guess they saw the writing on the wall. My unit turned out all the Brownlee and Foster delegates, there were a number of Cuccinelli supporters who didn’t make it.
I’ve found this thread quite interesting to read. Having participated in Va. GOP conventions on and off for almost 30 years, I continue to find them an unsatisfactory way to pick candidates. It is true that people don’t come if it is a nice day and they have something better to do or have children’s sports teams up and running in the spring. It’s a fact.
I didn’t back Cooch and my husband and I were motivated to go to Richmond (even though our kid was returning that afternoon from spending a semester abroad) just to vote against him. He ran a good convention effort. Congratulations to him and his supporters. I’m skeptical that he can win in the Fall, although I think our top of the ticket is far more important than AG in getting out the vote – of GOP as well as independents and conservative Democrats.
The convention was a mess, but they usually are. You’d think they could get Kings Dominion to give them advice on how to move people through registration efficiently. The vote is always a mess, but that’s because I’m the largest unit. It’s largely a volunteer effort, and you get what you pay for.
And yes, Pat Mullins does have the penchant for the verbal gaffe. Years ago we went to a FFX GOP fundraiser and volunteer recognition dinner and he actually told the large assembly to “Shut up and sit down!” in order to get the program started. My husband turned to me and said “Never ask me to attend one of these again.” And I didn’t!
To victory in November! And as of today I will stop calling him Cooch the Kook.
Wow, LI’s just become completely unhinged.
My favorite part is reading that he believes that Brownlee supporters don’t go to conventions when it’s pretty outside! If you have some polling data that shows why Brownlee supporters are less likely to go to conventions when it’s sunny, I’d LOVE to see it!
That said, I think that both Brownlee and Foster handled themselves very well and in a dignified manner. Both candidates stepped aside and encouraged the party to rally behind Senator Cuccinelli in the end, and they did it in such a way that I think caused the convention to end on a very positive note.
But with all of the attacks and negative predictions from LI… I’m starting to wonder if I should be happy to watch as he finally jumps over the edge of sanity… or if I should just be sad for him and his grip on reality that has clearly been lost.
LI, just take a moment. Wait a week or so, then come back. You might want to think about what you will do if Senator Cuccinelli wins in November as well. If you don’t start preparing yourself for it now, your delicate psyche may not be able to handle it, when it actually happens (despite your best efforts to derail him, and the entire Republican ticket, of course).
I’m from Arlington, so my delegation was heavily for Foster.
Still made the trip south.
“I continue to find them an unsatisfactory way to pick candidates”
This was my first convention, and while I understand the potential for mischief in open primaries I think we miss a tremendous opportunity by going the convention route, but perhaps not for the reasons most here have.
I’m a software engineer/data analytics geek, and it seems to me that identifying and cataloging 150K+ primary voters would be much more valuable than the 10K that showed up in Richmond. This is, in fact, a major contributing factor to Dem victories in Virginia. Using the primary system they were able to identify their support pockets and then go out and work those areas very, very hard.
I don’t know to what extent our campaigns are “data driven,” but it’s something worth thinking about for those of you working on the various campaigns. Web 2.0 is great, but don’t neglect the back office and the plumbing.
Wolverine, loved the post!
#90 edmundburke, i agree with you, but my question is the direct opposite. when Cuccinelli wins (whether the other 2 do or not), what will be the reason? i’m going to wait til november to see the moderate’s spin.
several of the Cuccinelli supporters on here have hit the nail on the head. Cuccinelli is growing the party, not just looking out for himself. all those young people running around like made in support of their man are going to be voting next Convention or in a few years beyond that. Cuccinelli’s campaign was superbly organized, as it will be in November. why? because he grows things from the ground up, with a good foundation. his people believe in him and his values and will support him all the way to the end and bring people along with them.
and for those of you who don’t get the Gadsden flags, you don’t watch/listen to Glenn Beck or attend Tea Parties, do you? Cuccinelli understands the libertarians, those who are tired of the politics on both sides. he appeals to people (independents, Constitution party, libertarians, Republicans) who still support a man of principle, and he will be our AG come November…IF he does NOT lose his conservative stand. for those of you who think he will only lose and bring down the ticket by being staunchly and unashamedly conservative, you miss HOW he’s won every election. being a conservative is who he is not just what he says and winning is what he does. why? because people WANT an unashamed conservative, bold colors as it were.
(and for the comment that Brownlee knew he was going to lose, I think he did, too. i think everyone knew it would go on one ballot, and I’m looking forward to seeing the actual numbers.)
as for the Convention, my only complaint (once they removed the fee for delegate’s children) is the attitude and conduct of the candidate’s supporters. just to name name’s, Fosters people were very kind folks both before the count and after the nomination. that speaks volumes for him. Brownlee’s people were in my opinion party insiders, elitists. but it’s not an opinion that many of them were rude after Cuccinelli had been announced the winner. most of them picked up and left immediately. the kids handing out Cuccinelli literature and bumper stickers were the target of their frustration of having lost the race. rude to kids!!! as for Bolling’s people, they put me over the edge with their undercurrent of chanting and talking during Muldoon’s 10 minutes. whether i am a supporter or not, i am certainly not going to be rude when another is given his fair turn. that infuriated me. that was the only race I hadn’t decided until I had pen to paper, for many reasons, and that put me over the top. but when all was said and done, Cuccinelli’s workers were still on the scene cleaning up. Cuccinelli has the feet, the workers to get the job done from beginning to end. did you see how many signs were still up outside? inside? all over the Coliseum? i’m going to track down if that was in the contract with the Coliseum that their employees were to clean up and take down the posters. no matter, it wasn’t right. nary a Cuccinelli sign was left up, and they were hardly any more re-usable than any of the others given the amount of tape on them so out goes the argument that the others lost and wouldn’t need them. just my 2 cents.
KC4AG!
btw, i don’t think all Brownlee supporters are the insiders/elite, just that the insiders/elite were Brownlee supporters.
Jp, i’ve not met a KC supporter that didn’t think he was great, but I’ve also not met one that thought Brownlee supporters were stupid. we wouldve voted Brownlee in November and put out the word for him had he gotten the nomination. we hope you’ll do the same.
I’m still hearing mostly “we’ll win more if we’re more conservative”. That’s music to my ears, I hope that you become as conservative as possible as it makes my job as a Democrat a lot, lot easier.
Once again, if you think they reason you’ve been losing in NoVA the last 4-5 election cycles is because of Obama (who wasn’t around when the slide started hard in 2005) and voter dislike of Bush (who had just won reelection by a wide margin in Va in 2004), please explain how Fairfax and the rest of NoVa has been trending Democratic pretty much since the late 90s. A lot of you are using events from 2006-2008 to try and wipe over the fact that you’ve been losing ground for over 10 years in NoVA, and that has a lot more with driving moderates and independent voters away than anything else.
So, by turning even further to the right, you seem to think these voters will start voting Republican again? I really don’t see any logic in that at all.
LI, I find it impossible to believe that you won’t have an unkind word or two about Crazy Cooch between now and November. There’s a zero percent chance that he won’t do/say something between now and then that won’t be painful for anyone slightly to the left of Adolf Hitler.
Finally, as to Cooch’s “strength” in Fairfax – he barely won his last election as a multi-term incumbent against a candidate who ran a very poor campaign. When he loses this year and has to think about running again in 2011, if he does he will lose that as well. There aren’t hidden pockets of ultra-conservatives in Sully/Braddock who are just waiting for the right time to vote for him. They’re either already voting or already gone, one of the other.
To victory in November! And as of today I will stop calling him Cooch the Kook.
- FFX Lady
Now there is the spirit. You too kind.
With Frederick gone now, evidently LI has chosen KC to be his new target….imagine that.
Loudoun Moderate, I don’t know if you have ever been involved in or care much about the game of football. In my experience, when you found your team down by a big deficit in the early going, a good coach always told you not to panic but just try to shrink that deficit one TD at a time. Forget the larger picture for the moment. The only thing for proper focus was the next offensive series and a concentration on total teamwork.
As a conservative independent — meaning I have never been involved in party politics (Hatch Act), never considered myself as a member of a party, or even voted in a primary election but lean mostly conservative in the polling booth — I find this Cooch controversy here and elsewhere to be very much counterproductive for Republicans.
The Republican Party is facing a big early deficit in the wake of the Obama and Dem national sweep of 2008. On a national level, the party has got to find a way to coalesce and create a viable voice of the Opposition. Moreover, they have to find a way to do this without making anyone in such a coalition feel as if they are being asked to sacrifice their most cherished principles while the other guys are not. Further, they have to stop the divisive practice of referring to people with certain principles as the “radical right” or “religious extremists” or some similar imprecation. For their part, these people have to refrain from denigrating moderates or anyone else of a different opinion on social issues. All these Republicans together have to seek out the common beliefs for the common good and win on those issues now, before everything becomes irretrievable.
That means moderates and conservatives working together, because they are all, in my opinion, in danger of falling together under the wave of fiscal irresponsibility at the very top of the national political structure. Forget 2012 for the moment. Conservative and moderate Republicans need to start making electoral inroads into both the House and the Senate…perhaps a very tough job, at least in the short term. Nevertheless, that program has got to start now. It is critical, in my view, to develop a mechanism which will help to put a lid on our growing national fiscal excesses.
A very critical part of that comeback has to be at the state level. Success there can provide impetus for success at a national level. The Dem liberals have taken Virginia for the time being. It was a fair and square fight as far as I can see. There are some who say that the Dem victory was the result of the Obama phenomenon and the general loss of popularity on the part of George Bush. I would partly agree.
However, I also feel that the Republicans bear a great deal of guilt for this loss, with the absolutely nonsensical Gilmore campaign against Warner as a prime example. I kept asking myself what had happened to Republicans in this state? In a major Senate race in a critical year, Gilmore virtually disappeared from view. Had Republicans forgotten completely how to fight political battles? I can take that back even further. George Allen, a former governor,a prominent senator, and possible contender for the presidency goes down for the count over one little unfortunate word and an apparent unwillingness to get off his duff and campaign hard during the summer months. In short, much of the Virginia Republican Party seems to have fallen on its face.
Well, it looks to me like the VA Republicans are now down by several touchdowns in the first quarter. They, as part of a national pattern, have to do their bit to get back in the game TD by TD…to rebuild their influence brick by brick. It doesn’t help much when intra-party recriminations continue even after the lineup has been posted for the next offensive series. No matter how one feels personally about Cooch, he played the game at Richmond according to rules set by the party and he won. He made the starting lineup for the next offensive series. You have to support him as much as you support McDonnell and Bolling or you risk disrupting the teamwork needed to close that deficit and hopefully put one in the win column. Some talk of distancing McDonnell and Bolling from Cooch so as not to hurt the election chances. Oh, that’s just great, form an exclusive club with the quarterback and running back and black ball the offensive tackle. That’ll bring you a win for sure!
Look. Just a day or so ago, SecTreasuryTim Geitner stood in front of an audience of Chinese college students and promised them that the U.S. Dollar was strong and that China’s investment in U.S. securities was safe as ever. The students laughed out loud at that comment. We’ve got some big problems down the road, folks; and, if conservatives and moderates in the VA Republican Party do not get solidly together and started closing the electoral deficit, they are going to go down with everybody else. In my view, this country as a whole is in big trouble if we do not get our fiscal house in order. If we don’t, all those social issues, quite frankly, are not going to mean diddleysquat. And you are getting this from a guy who is pro-life, pro-2nd Amendment, and a lot of other things of that nature.
Well said Wolverine. Very good stuff.
The point of reality that everyone must IMHO come around to is far too often things are played way too much…I mean you buy into the proposition that the GOP is dead in large part because people are being sold that at the moment and yet the same thing happened years ago to the Dems. Either Party in my view is one leader away; the key being finding that voice in a leader that can deliver the message coherently to everyday people.
I firmly believe that the same editors of some papers will be eating alot of crow about the “dead and buried” spin when the GOP picks up the VA and NJ Governorships. Of course we are a very fickle voting nation and it will be interesting to see the spin after that…oh wait let me guess it will be about the revival of the Party or something along those lines just wait. The media is about as predictable as our tax bill going up under Obama.
Steven Shannon is the next Attorney General of the Commonwealth. If nothing else, we win this.
“I firmly believe that the same editors of some papers will be eating alot of crow about the “dead and buried” spin when the GOP picks up the VA and NJ Governorships.”
The Democrats won both Governorships in 2001. How did that work out for them in 2002 and 2004? State politics are completely unconnected from federal politics. I’m going to keep saying this, BTW, whether the Democrats sweep or get creamed this year. It doesn’t say anything, nothing, jack, about 2010 let alone 2012.
A Voter and other critics – i am not unhinged. Keep repeating it if it makes you sleep better at night. I’m a harsh realist. I hope they pull it out, but there will be huge challenges to deal with now.
BTW, Shannon is already announcing a slew of police and firefighter endorsements. We can talk about how the AG isn’t a prosecutor until we’re blue in the face, but this will have an impact.
Cuccinelli can attract all of the Libertarians in Virginia and not move the electoral needle one bit. Like it or not he needs to appeal to the middle. I’m not saying (as will be screamed) that he needs to abandon his principles, he simply needs to appeal to middle of the raod voters. That’s what it will take to win – 100% social conservative turnout won’t get it done.
Repub Mom
Regarding signs…it’s called MONEY. Cuccinelli can use his signs again and all those signs are expensive especially the large ones. Why should Brownlee, Foster, Muldoon and Stanley save their signs? I would hope that they were picked up later but, if not, oh well!!!
“In my view, this country as a whole is in big trouble if we do not get our fiscal house in order. If we don’t, all those social issues, quite frankly, are not going to mean diddleysquat.”
Truer words have never been spoken. I am pro-life, pro – 2A, etc, put me in the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy Camp, but our country doesn’t stand a chance if we can’t come together. So called moderates and conservatives better stop the bitching and start working.
I never took a pot shot at Brownlee or Foster, and I won’t against McDonnell or Bolling or KC. I might voice my concern with any of the 3 nominee’s stands issues, but I won’t take advantage of blunders.
I found some of the comments about Social Conservatives at the convention particularly offensive. They were meant to be cute and get a chuckle, but they were anything but funny. So far, I have not seen one swipe at “moderates” or other delegates for not being “conservative” enough (since the convention), and expressing support for a candidate is not gloating. Let’s all get a level head here and fight the fight with the real opponent – the Democrats.
LI, you are hitting one of my points in a way. Cooch ought to be a full and fully supported member of the team. However, the fiscal and economic problems this country and this state face are made to order for a staunch appeal to both the Right and the Middle on the grounds of a more sensible and less risky fiscal approach at every level of government.
You speak of police and firefighter endorsements. Take a look at Columbus, Ohio. It wasn’t too long ago that the President was out there in a blitz of hoopla about how stimulus money was being used to save the jobs of police recruits. Those same recruits, currently as full-fledged officers, are now in danger of getting pink slips because the stimulus funds have run out and the local tax base is inadequate to pick up the slack. Plenty of ammo out there for suggesting new fiscal approaches at our own state and local levels if the McDonnell-Bolling-Cooch team can find it and use it effectively.
Cooch does have a quid-pro-quo in all this. If he wants to help secure the middle, he is going to have to go easy on the social issues, no matter how hard that might be for him and for a lot of enthusiastic conservatives. By going easy I mean he has to be careful not to get lost in those social issues and hurt the overall team effort in the process. Conservatives ought to be smart enough to understand that you will get nothing at all if you don’t win the race in the first place.
I know of no Brownlee supporters who stayed home because of nice weather, or any other excuse. BUT, if that is true, I don’t want a candidate who can’t inspire his troops to get out there on a nice day and work to get him, and other republicans, elected. Sounds like a very weak candidate if his supporters aren’t fired up enough on a beautiful day to take a drive to Richmond.
Had we had the votes, and support of, those true social conservatives, Senator McCain would now be President. I’m just hoping that KC voters will help our up ticket candidates. I KNOW that they will turn out for Ken just hoping they will also vote for the rest of our slate.
Lovettesville Lady, for what it’s worth – I have heard of no KC supporter (and I know dozens) that won’t vote for McDonnell and Bolling, they are all committed to the entire ticket.
It has been said here, over and over again that the Republican Party can’t win without the moderates. So should we pander to the moderate crowd?
I just want to point out that the Republican Party can’t win without the social conservative crowd anymore than we can ditch all the moderates.
We can’t afford to alienate either group. If we do we may find the moderates joining forces with the libertarians or dems, and the social conservatives skipping over to the Constitution Party. Then the Republican Party would cease to exist.
Right now though, we do exist. We can come back strong. We must win, and it will take all of us working together under a united ticket to reach that goal.
On to victory in November, in NOVA, in Tidewater, in VIrginia!!!!!!! And then in 2010!!!!!!!
“That’s what it will take to win – 100% social conservative turnout won’t get it done.”
Agreed, now lets get working on electing this TICKET !
I was at the NOVA press event yesterday, ALL three men are talking…. Jobs, Jobs, Economic Growth, Taxes, Energy, Reducing the size of Growth of Virginia Gov’t and protecting Virginians from federal nitwittery.
They are solidly on message. Arguing these other issues is nothing but a wasteful distraction.
Thank you G. Stone. About time someone at least tried to end this.
JP, Are you a Loudouner?
RichDem-were you not part of the blogging crowd saying that the election cycle of 2006 was a predictor of whats was to come and low in behold you were right in 2008….now you are saying that national policies and agendas do not mean “jack” in terms of local/state cycles? Maybe so on any other issue EXCEPT taxes. People will look for officials they feel will insulate them from the federal exapnsion of powers and they will vopice that at the polls in the Fall. They know that a vote for Moran or T-Mac this time around is simply an endorsement of the agenda coming out of Washington because nioether of those two guys ahve a the guts to stand up to Washington when it must be done and will go along. An example of course could be off-shore drilling…should not Virginians be entitled to decide themselves through self-determination on that issue whehter we will drill on our coast? Just one debate that gets buried should the GOP lose in the Fall; here and in New jersey.
2006 was a Federal election cycle, so the fact that he was correct in his 2008 prediction makes sense. This year is not a Federal cycle but state/local, thus his logic is sound.
I find myself laughing at all of this “Federal Powers/Don’t Tread on Me/Teabag/Successionist” bullshit Republicans have been spouting the last couple of months. Are you guys trying to refight the civil war or something? You lost last time, do you think you would do better this time around? I may actually support that, since NoVA can split off from The Real Virginia and we can keep our money for ourselves. Hey, that’s a plan – we’ll split off and you guys in Richmond can go on acting like you’re in Alabama or Mississippi, since those are the states you want to emulate.
“Successionist (sic)movement”? Those of us who want less government and lower taxes also want to secede? I hadn’t heard that at the Tea Parties. Perhaps you could tell us more about it.
Or were you referring to the democrats in NOVA who have long resented their tax dollars going to help the poor people in the rest of the state and therefore have wanted to secede from Virginia?
#138/Lovettsville Lady,
“I’m just hoping that KC voters will help our up ticket candidates. I KNOW that they will turn out for Ken just hoping they will also vote for the rest of our slate.”
As I posted previously, I was a first time delegate at this past weekend’s Richmond Convention. I consider myself a pro-life, pro-2A, and above all, a limited government fiscal conservative.
I made my final decision for whom I would vote after hearing the candidates’ speeches and ended up casting my ballot for KC, Bob and Bill.
Your comments fascinate me as they indicate a belief that KC voters would not be inclined to vote for Bob & Bill.
Are Bob & Bill NOT conservative?
Not according to the Muldoon types.
“Are you guys trying to refight the civil war or something? ”
Republicans don’t need to we won the last time. Lincoln being a Republican and all. Pretty bad analogy there slick.
“You lost last time, do you think you would do better this time around? ”
See what happens when you skip History class.
Jefferson Davis lost last time. We were the guys in the Blue Uniforms.
That’s great Stone.
KC supporters are not (at least not the majority) deranged morons. Stop acting that way LI.
Ryan – STFU.
LI,
Are you responding to my post to LL?
If you are, what is a “Muldoon type”? Does a “Muldoon type” = a “KC type”? And since I voted for KC plus Bob & Bill, what “type” does that make me?
MM, read around on some of the reactionary far right blogs and through some comment threads here. To many of the hardliners McDonnell and Bolling are squishy liberals. Of course I say those who think that are practically out of their minds. McDonnell and Bolling are as conservative as you can be and still get elected statewide. Cuccinelli will be the big test to see if that can be pushed further rightward.
Ah Stone, as I posted here months ago, Lincoln would in no way shape or form recognize the Republican Party today, about as much as Andrew Johnson would recognize the Democratic Party. Lets put it this way, since the Republican Party is now distinctly the party of Southern whites and whites from parts of the Rockies and the Great Plains, and as the party running around having Tea Bag (which I guess means you all like to lick testicles) events, multiple southern Republican governors mentioning succession, the DTOM flags from the Crazy Cooch supporters, my question remains the same – do you dumb fucks actually want more people to vote your way, or are you content with weeding out even your own voters who don’t think your way? Here’s a big hint – independent voters I speak too think that stuff is pure, 100% crazy talk. Democrats just laugh at it, but it really worries independents since they still give you guys a chance.
LI, I fear you’re about to be banished from the Republican Party since you’re unpure and only the pure can be in the party these days. I can try and put in a good word for you with LCDC, they may accept you as a war refugee if need be.
NJSM, I’ll never be a Dem. But who knows, the days of purges just may come back to the LCRC. I welcome the fight if so.
LL, no I am not. Central VA area.
Of course I think McDonnell and Boling are conservatives! I never meant to imply otherwise. My apologies for the not writing more clearly.
I think KC will help McDonnell and Bolling because he sure as heck can get out the vote. That’s what I meant to say.
LI,
No one is surprised that you would welcome a fight, any fight.
Some of us think it’s time to move on and fight the democrats, not each other. But I’m a conservative and don’t want to tell you, or anyone else, what to do.
Sorry, LL, but having to still see people whine about how McDonnell and Bolling aren’t conservative enough makes my blood boil.
LL – It looks like LI is still fighting Republicans, doesn’t it? I wonder when/if he’ll ever get over that.
I won’t be holding my breath.
What is going on right now with Obama is what was going on under Lincoln, both are screwing the states and trying to grow the federal government. I hope this time we do not have to take up arms and can defeat this peacefully.
AV, what was my specific complaint above? People fighting the TOP of the ticket. Get over it.
Lauren, that’s going to be a popular notion with independents – armed insurrection. Brilliant!
LI – We just finished with our top of the ticket election, and in your #157 comment you seem to be anticipating/welcoming more inner-party fighting… of which no one has mentioned until you brought it up!
Also, NLS has some numbers posted on the results, showing that Senator Cuccinelli did even better than was previously reported on this blog!
Total Cuccinelli: 5,979.56 or 57%
Total Brownlee: 3,861.73 or 37%
Total Foster: 679.53 or 6%
A Voter,
Those are the weighted numbers that have been reported by shaun kenney, and others. The raw numbers – the actual voters ,you know, people, it was different, I think 52-42-6.
Either way, it was a butt kicking by KC.
The idea that less than 4000 people in a building on May 30 decided who will run for AG in a Commonwealth of over 7 million people is frightening to me.
What it means is that the folks who support Ken the most – single issue pro-life, single issue gun rights, homeschoolers – are more inclined to come to a convention than the JB folks. Foster’s campaign was doomed.
Heh, it’s a given that they were weighted numbers… although it would be interesting to see 0.56 of a person vote for a candidate!