Congratulations to Fred Anderson for holding on to Chairman with a slim margin of 10 votes. He unselfishly gives of his time and energy and was not deserving of the smear tactics used against him.
Jim Crosby of Botetourt County lost the Chairmanship race. While more actual people were there supporting Jim, each of them didn't carry enough delegate votes and he was turned back. I doubt this will be the end of Jim and his tactics. His mission is to run against those Republicans that don't 100% agree with him. I wouldn't count anyone safe from his attack including our Congressman.
Jeff Frederick was at the Convention and didn't seem harmed by his comment that he was glad to be in the 5th Congressional District. He had a loud positive response. If this is any indication, he has a real shot at Chairman.
Bob Marshall was a no show. Now I don't really understand this. This is a very Republican District and most everyone there will be attending the Convention. I would say most lean to Gilmore but with Frederick's response, Marshall could have taken the house with a hand shake and decent speech. Maybe he was at the 7th District Convention that had more people but so was Hager and he was able to make it to Lexington. This nomination is still not in the bag for Gilmore but so far I don't see Marshall doing what it takes to be competitive.
Kurt Michael was confirmed as Augusta County Chairman. Congratulations! I was able to sit in on the credentials subcommittee on Saturday and he is an impressive and detailed man. This should be the end to this disruption in our party. Let's move on.
Well not quite so fast. What disappointed me was the argument pressed by Dr. Micheal from Augusta that those attending the 6th District Convention that were not certified in his half of the April 10th Augusta County mass meeting should not be seated as delegates. My understanding it was a total of 5 people--come on. Whether or not these 5 were handled properly in the Augusta mass meeting, it was clearly their intent to be a delegate. They were allowed to vote by provisional ballot. That means their vote doesn't matter unless the count was close enough for a challenge. Regardless of these 5 individuals reasons for being there on Saturday, what does it say about us a party? This was a great opportuntity for Dr. Micheal to take the high road and argue they be allowed to participate if they gave up their Saturday to be in attendance. It bothers me that citizens outside our difficult to understand process are given the message that we don't want them to join us. Too bad.
Lastly Don Huffman, former state party chair from Roanoke, spoke on behalf of Jim Gilmore. One of his comments struck me like a ton of bricks. He said that he has never spoken ill of another Republican. What? Radio ads and recorded telephone messages went out from Mr. Huffman last June attacking me in the nastitest of ways. He called me a liberal and not worthy of serving in office. This without providing any factual basis for making the claim. For him to make this statement one of three things have to be true. One, someone was using his name and voice to attack me. If so, as a lawyer he should sue. Second, he has no problem lying through his teeth. In that case whatever he said for Gilmore is suspect. Third, he's getting up there in age and memory of past actions is no longer his strong suit. No matter which ever is true, it's time to hang it up Don.
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7 comments:
Brandon,
Thought you'd like to know; Marshall was and the Second District Convention in Tidewater. That's why he couldn't make it out to the 6th.
DJ,
Ok granted that was a long haul. But candidates running statewide can coordinate private air travel. The 6th district convention lasted from 10:00 AM til 4:30 PM. Did he need to spend the entire day at the 2nd? Just saying a major missed opportunity.
Based on your comment about Mr. Crosby, I take it that he would not be at the top of your list of people to serve as an impartial mediator in a local party committee torn by strife.
Andrew,
I haven't known Mr. Crosby to be a consenteous builder within the party. When he was elected chairman in Botetourt there were challenges before the 6th District committee. His trail is one of pitting one side against another. He will always have a dog in the fight and an agenda of his own.
If you'd ask Del. Ben Kline, the Temporary Convention Chairman, he'd tell you that I was there speaking for Bob Marshall.
The crowd interrupted with applause each time I compared Bob's stance on the issues to Jim's. (Don Huffman, who spoke for Gilmore, acknowledged Jim's low ratings in the polls when his term as Governor ended).
Bob Marshall would have been in Lexington himself were it not for the 2nd Dist. Convention which was held at the same time.
Unfortunately, candidates can't be everywhere at once and things are happening everywhere.
It was clear the 6th District preferred Bob's pro-life stance to Jim's acquiescence to abortion during the first two months.
They applauded Bob's repudiation of the Council on Foreign Relations--which advocates globalization, open borders and the creation of a North American Union. (Jim is a member of the CFR).
The crowd clapped loudly when I mentioned Bob's insistence on strict border control (vs. Jim's earlier endorsement of comprehensive illegal amnesty).
They seemed impressed by Bob's vote supporting Southside workers who were displaced by NAFTA. (Gov. Gilmore vetoed the proposed extension of unemployment benefits for workers' families).
There was loud applause when I brought up Bob's successful legal challenge to HB 3202, a bill authorizing taxation without representation. (Neither Jim nor Mark Warner chose to contest this patently unconstitutional law. However, the Va. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Bob’s favor).
People clearly liked Bob's Marriage Amendment and his enactment of the Ban on Partial Birth Abortion.
I'm not part of his campaign but Bob Marshall is right on the issues. And I can tell you that grassroots Republicans are tired of politics as usual. Bob is coming on strong and lots of us are fighting for him.
Dick Black
P.S. Bob was endorsed by Gun Owners of America and has always had the NRA's endorsement in his past delegate races. And just today, the Family Research Council's action arm endorsed him too!
Mr Black:
I was completely unimpressed by your speech for Del Marshall. I have been a surrogate for Gov. Gilmore at two mass meetings, and my own Augusta County Committee.
When I discuss the three gentleman running for Senate, I say they are all good Conservatives, but this is why I feel Jim Gilmore is the better candidate.
Your speech attacking the Council of Foreign Relations, and Jim Gilmore was hardly a positive speech about your candidate.
btw:
HB 3202 It would seem that Gov. Gilmore led Del Marshall to Jesus on the issue of unelected taxing bodies in Virginia.
http://www.spankthatdonkey.com/spankthatdonkey2/2008/5/8/would-bob-marshall-have-sued-himself.html
Thank God Governor Gilmore was there to veto the legislation that Marshall voted for twice once in committee and then on the floor.
Only later after Gilmore's veto did Marshall vote against an override. Now who is the true Conservative in this race?
For the record, Brandon, Emmett Hanger took 18 people to the convention who were not certified, not five. We played by the rules; he did not ... again. Many of those people were seasoned in the political process and knew they had to sign up at the mass meeting. They've been down this road many times before....
The convention decided to give them provisional ballots. They were not needed but, in the case of a tie, those 18 votes would have been used.
Do we have rules that we follow or not?
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