Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Frederick to Serve as RPV Chair AND Executive Director....

Well, maybe. Again, we are just speculating here. But after calling Jeff Frederick's impending resignation from the House, we feel like we've got a decent handle on this guy.

And serving as both Chairman and ED makes sense for Frederick, and would not doubt be extremely appealing.

I've been reading with some amusement about the "transition team". My first thought--they want to make this sound a whole lot more important than it really is. But I got to thinking about campaign exploratory committees. Everyone knows that these committees are set up by the candidate. The committee then decides that the candidate should run. And imagine this, they run! The committee is just there to make it look like the candidate is running for some reason other than his own ambitions. Now back to this transition team. I think it's cover to float the idea of Jeff serving as both Chairman and ED. Jeff doesn't want to be the one to come out and say he wants to do both jobs. But if the transition team makes that recommendation, he would humbly accept.

So, why both jobs? That's an easy one. The Chairmanship is an unpaid, volunteer position that requires a lot of work. And with the bar that Jeff has set, it will be even more work than in the past. The Executive Director however, is a nicely paid position. Jeff (I mean the transition team) will argue that in order to do the work required, he needs some type of compensation since he can't really do any other jobs. He's giving up his House salary and benefits and from what I've been told, his real world job deals in political consulting--a clear conflict of interest if you're Party Chairman.

So, don't be surprised if the "transition team" recommends that Jeff serve in both roles. Former ED Charlie Judd attempted to do the same thing last year when Ed Gillespie resigned. John Hager beat him by only a handful of votes. So clearly many on State Central have no problem with the idea.

6 comments:

JTylerBallance said...

NOT TRUE!

I realize that bloggers are not all Journalists, but everyone who posts on these blogs should voluntarily adhere to at least the basic ethical standards that we all learned in kindergarten, to wit: Don't tell fibs.

If you check with the RPVA staff, they will tell you that there is NO basis for your speculation. Indeed such rumor-mongering really harms the credibility of blogs in general and specifically this blog.

Perhaps if you had opened with something like, "Here's a fantasy of mine..."

Better yet, pick up the phone and talk to the RPVA staff and get the facts.

I generally enjoy this blog, but please refrain from using sensationalist tag lines; especially those that are just invalid and based on speculation.

Zak Moore said...

I doubt "here is a fantasy of mine" would be a good way to start a post!

Look, I would never say something as fact if I didn't know for sure. But, I think it's perfectly acceptable to speculate on a blog as long as your upfront about it.

I do have basis for my speculation, which I outlined in my post. And you are certainly free to disagree. That's what's great about the blogs!

vicky said...

Me thinks ol' Tyler doth protest too much! Anybody with half a brain would choose a big fat salary over say... nothing! BUT then again we are talking about Jeff here, aren't we?

By the way, has anyone looked at this "transition team"? Up pops good ol' Kathy Terry. I wonder just how long it will take for her to turn on Jeff. Maybe after he misses a couple of Sundays in church she'll have her ammunition for him to be her latest "token victim". She always needs at least one as we can clearly see from her past. Be warned Jeff: Kathy will "bless your heart, and stab you in the back".

JTylerBallance said...

Zak: No problem with speculation, the tag line is misleading, which contributes to the rumor mill.

As for the transition team, Jeff has carefully selected people from all major factions of the GOP, so if you look at each individual, you will find some who are favorites, while others are current or past competitors.

"Vicky", one must NOT use the false security afforded by posting under pseudonyms to launch libelous attacks. It is a violation of the TOS of most blogs and site hosts as well as an act that can easily be tracked back to your computer by law enforcement.

Like Zak wrote, if someone has an issue to discuss, or new facts to offer, that is constructive.

Jeff has done the right thing to include a mix of Republicans on his transition team. History teaches that surrounding oneself with sycophants paves the way to failure. Jeff is sure to get a healthy mix of ideas and opinions from his team.

Jeff will listen to everyone, and make good decisions. If we can keep focused on the future, we can get behind Jeff and re-build the GOP into a friendly, responsive party that welcomes citizens from our traditional base, as well as new citizens from the Latino and Asian communities.

We will likely have some rough elections in the near term, but Jeff will set the Virginia GOP on course to sustained success.

In order to get there, we will have to accept that sometimes we will have to work alongside folks with whom we have disagreed on some issues, in the past. Successful politics requires the building of bridges, not walls.

JTylerBallance said...

Zak: No problem with speculation, the tag line is misleading, which contributes to the rumor mill.

As for the transition team, Jeff has carefully selected people from all major factions of the GOP, so if you look at each individual, you will find some who are favorites, while others are current or past competitors.

"Vicky", one must NOT use the false security afforded by posting under pseudonyms to launch libelous attacks. It is a violation of the TOS of most blogs and site hosts as well as an act that can easily be tracked back to your computer by law enforcement.

Like Zak wrote, if someone has an issue to discuss, or new facts to offer, that is constructive.

Jeff has done the right thing to include a mix of Republicans on his transition team. History teaches that surrounding oneself with sycophants paves the way to failure. Jeff is sure to get a healthy mix of ideas and opinions from his team.

Jeff will listen to everyone, and make good decisions. If we can keep focused on the future, we can get behind Jeff and re-build the GOP into a friendly, responsive party that welcomes citizens from our traditional base, as well as new citizens from the Latino and Asian communities.

We will likely have some rough elections in the near term, but Jeff will set the Virginia GOP on course to sustained success.

In order to get there, we will have to accept that sometimes we will have to work alongside folks with whom we have disagreed on some issues, in the past. Successful politics requires the building of bridges, not walls.

Brandon Bell said...

jtylerballance,

First of all the only thing we require is a poster register with google therefore preventing anonymous posting. Your profile is no different than many who have posted on this blog. I don't know you personally--for as far as I know you could be Jeff Frederick.

As to the thrust of Zak's post, this is no different than the prediction I made that Jeff wouldn't seek reelection to his House seek due to his chairman's race. When you see four dot's all lined up in a row it's not to hard to speculate where the fifth dot will go.

I certainly hope Jeff will be successful as Chairman for all our benefit in the GOP. He absolutely will have a tough time ahead of him. The steps he takes going forward will be big ones. Zak's post highlights how careful he needs to be in uniting our party.