Bill Stanley for State Senate

Bill Stanley is a rising conservative star in Virginia. He passionately believes in our core conservative principles, and will fight for them in whatever position he holds. Whether it was as Franklin Co. or 5th District Chair, or in his run for Party Chairman, Bill Stanley has a record marked by accomplishment and conviction. His hard work as Franklin Co. Chair lead to overwhelming support in his bid for 5th District Chairman. As chairman of the 5th District Bill Stanley was able to unite conservatives around Robert Hurt as Republicans took back the 5th District. In his bid for Party Chairman in 2009, Bill Stanley showed that he was willing to fight for things that looked impossible, and was not willing to be bought off.

Most importantly as a pro-lifer and a fiscal conservative, Bill Stanley will work make a pro-lifer chairman of the Senate Health and Education Committee, and will not vote to raise taxes.

Conservative State Senators Mark Obenshain, Steve Newman, Steve Martin, Ralph Smith, and Jill Vogel all endorsed Bill Stanley as they look forward to another conservative coming to the state senate. Ken Cuccinelli, Bob Marshall, The Lynchburg Tea Party, Gun Owners of America, and Bearing Drift have also endorsed Bill Stanley.

If you live in the 19th Senate District, help put a conservative majority in the state senate by voting for Bill Stanley on November 23rd.

Virginia 2010 Primary Election Results

As polls close at 7 pm in Virginia, all eyes turn to the watch the results. Everyone is saying that voter turnout is very low, so maybe there will be a surprise.

The best places to track Virginia returns are the VA State Board of Elections website, and Bearing Drift. Bearing Drift will be tracking the results in real time starting at 8 pm.

Hopefully the true conservative wins these primaries, and the party can unite quickly no matter who the nominee is. In November we have to beat the Democrats, and we have to focus on that immediately after the results are in.

To watch returns from across the country I recommend Politico 2010.

I would also like to welcome back to the blogosphere my friend Will Burton of Roanoke on the Right.

UPDATE:: Here are the results for VA's congressional primaries.

Could GOP Division Keep VA-5 Blue?

The 5th Congressional district in Virginia has definitely been a spectacle in recent election cycles. In 2008, Virgil Goode (R) lost to Tom Perriello (D) by 745 votes - and that was after Goode demanded a recount. Well, this November, the 5th district will claim the spotlight again and the entire state will watch to see which color bleeds over the south.

The Washington Post made a very accurate assessment of this district when saying that the GOP's division throughout the district could very well be it's demise. If we can't unite on a candidate, will the votes be split too many ways, therefore letting the Dem. win?

Here we get into the stickiness of third party voting, and whether it messes elections up - and whether it is ethical enough to take that risk. I personally believe you should vote for what has been called "the lesser of two evils" (but I call it voting for the person who has conservative morals AND enough votes to win), but I know many who would disagree.

Currently in the 5th district, we have 7 GOP contestors -

Educator and Republican Activist Feda Morton, private real estate investor Laurence Verga, Albemarle County Supervisor Ken Boyd, state Senator Robert Hurt, businessman Ron Ferrin, and Michael McPadden. Assembly line worker Bradley Rees, who had originally filed to run on the Republican ticket said he will run on the Conservative Party ticket instead.

There is speculation that Virgil Goode will announce candidacy, however it has not occurred yet.

The division appears in the form of state Senator Robert Hurt, who is a Republican moderate, being endorsed by the GOP because of his appeal to independents. Conservatives, however, are leery about Hurt because of his record of voting for tax increases. If Hurt wins the nomination, Conservatives are threatening a 3rd Party candidate - which might split the votes and allow Perriello to win... again. Do you follow my logic?

For now at least, according to Virginia 5th Watchdog (posted on bearingdrift), Michael McPadden seems to be the Tea Party movement's favorite, but we'll see as the primary draws nearer which candidate is able to pull themselves out of the pack and into the front runners.

So who is Steve Shannon?

Now that both parties have their candidates, it is time to begin analyzing the Democrat candidates. If you have been reading this blog at all you have a feeling for who Ken Cuccinelli, and what I think of him. Now it is time to begin to explore who his opponent is in the Attorney Generals race, Steve Shannon.

Mason Conservative describes Steve Shannon by saying,

As for Steve Shannon, none of this trio fits the term "backbencher" better than Shannon, who's spent four years in the House of Delegates just smiling away, not doing much, but being young and raising money and convincing people that he's electable. Its the kind of guy that always emerges when one party starts to really prosper - young pols who get elected on coattails and seem to convince everyone they are the future based on nothing but fluff.

RPV Chairman Pat Mullins described him similarly in his election night e-mail by saying,

“Steve Shannon is looking to leave behind his status as a back-bencher in the legislature to continue to promote his belief in higher economic burdens on working families. His record reflects full-voiced support for higher taxes and staunch opposition to tax relief. When Virginians are hurting and are in need of new and better jobs, his view of the taxpayer as an unlimited funding source is the last thing we want.

These are a couple quick summaries of who Steve Shannon is, and I'm sure that in the coming months we will delve deep into his voting record. As a member of the House of Delegates from Fairfax County, Steve Shannon shares two precincts with Cuccinelli's senate district. It is interesting to note that Democrat blogger Ben Triblett of Not Larry Sabato wrote a detailed analysis of Shannon's electoral history and doesn't believe Shannon will be able to run away with NOVA. Since Cuccinelli resonates well in southern and southwestern Virginia, has been elected in Fairfax County, and Shannon may not do well in NOVA, Ken may be in a very good electoral position.

The one major advantage Shannon has is money. At the end of the last filing period he had atleast a 10:1 money advantage over Cuccinelli. If you support limited government, lower taxes, private property, and strong families please donate to Ken Cuccinelli for Attorney General.

Ken Cuccinelli
for Attorney General of Virginia
$

If you are interested in hearing Ken's thoughts on the upcoming Attorney General primary, Ken shares them at the end of the following video.

Bearing Drift interviews Ken Cuccinelli from Beehive Video on Vimeo.

Will the attacks on Jeff Frederick never end?

I don't think I will be actively supporting either candidate for RPV Chairman. However, it doesn't encourage me to vote for the establishment candidate when his supporters continue taking potshots at Jeff Frederick whenever possible.

The newest culprits is Bearing Drift and a post authored by Jason Kenney. The comments concern Bill Stanley's supposed thoughts on who he would choose for executive director. In it he says, "Reliable sources say that former Communication Director Gerry Scimeca has said that Jeff Frederick will serve as Stanley’s Executive Director, though whether or not that is on record is TBD." Those in the know understand how someone could misconstrue something Gerry would say in that fashion. They simply heard the name Jeff as the first name for the person Stanley is considering and assumed it was Frederick. However, when Gerry took the time to deny the comments no apology of any type was ever made. Simply updates at the bottom of the post. The intention of the post was clearly to imply that Stanley was bad because he likes Jeff enough to consider him for Executive Director of the RPV. The establishment had their fun, they took Jeff out. Now, can we please leave Jeff out of this as we try to unite and move forward.

I had the opportunity to talk with both Pat Mullins and Bill Stanley about their bids for Party Chairman. One of the things I asked Pat Mullins about was how he planned on uniting the party. He said that while he does not have a point by point plan, he would not speak out against and criticize Jeff Frederick, and he would reach out to those who supported Jeff as wemove forward. No matter who becomes our next chairman, I hope this party follows Pat's advice so that we can unite and move forward towards the November elections.

(Note I am a huge fan of Bearing Drift and their contributions to covering Virginia politics. I am a big fan of Jim Hoeft and the fair and thorough coverage he gives.)

Bill Bolling for Lieutenant Governor

Recently Patrick McSweeney made the headlines by sending out an e-mail urging delegates to support Patrick Muldoon for Lieutenant Governor at the RPV State Convention. So far the entire "case" for Patrick Muldoon has been comprised of nothing but criticisms of Bill Bolling. I have repeatedly asked Muldoon supporters to tell me the reason I should vote FOR Muldoon as opposed to just why I should just vote against Bolling. The only response I have heard is a deafening silence.

There are two things I like to find in an ideal candidate: a commitment to conservative principles, and an ability to get elected. No case can be made that Muldoon has a better chance of being elected than Bill Bolling. Bolling has already shown he can win the Lieutenant Governorship, and has posted solid fundraising numbers (especially when compared to Muldoon). Muldoon has yet to win a single election. He lost bis bid for VA's 9th Congressional seat, lost in a race for Commonwealth Attorney, and his highest elected office is alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention.

Since Muldoon can not try to win on electability all he can try to win on is ideological purity. I am definitely an conservative who believes people should be true conservatives not just suddenly conservative during election season. That is why I have worked hard for Cuccinelli, Jeff Frederick, and Mike Huckabee among others. However Muldoon is just as ideologically impure as he claims Bolling is and does not have the long record of accomplishments that Bolling has. Earlier his connections to Barr Labs and the gambling industry were brought to light. Now Bearing Drift is reporting that Muldoon received over $10,000 from a group that has Barr Labs as a client, and has made donations to Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton and others pro-choice Democrats. If Patrick Muldoon wants to have the audacity to criticize Bill Bolling for not being ideologically pure, he needs to make sure his own house is in order first.

Bolling has a record of voting pro-life. He opposed the Warner tax increase when most Republican senators supported it. He actively opposed Tim Kaine's tax hikes and has actively supported Republicans across the commonwealth. He also had the wisdom to not step into the Jeff Frederick fight. Bolling has a proven record on the issues. He has proven his conservative credentials time and again and as a result I am proud to support him. If you are a conservative then please support one of your own, over a political unknown with huge question marks. This is our opportunity to create a strong ticket, sweep the executive offices, and increase our majority in the House of Delegates along the way.

Some Final Thoughts On the Jeff Frederick Situation

Response to:

http://bearingdrift.com/2009/04/01/where-was-jeff-frederick/

http://thecontemporaryconservative.blogspot.com/2009/04/did-jeff-frederick-enlist-rpv-staffers.html

"The anti-Jeff Frederick folks are losing their grip! I guess it’s only appropriate that the latest allegation against Chairman Frederick came out on April Fools Day! Now they are fulminating against the Chairman because he was traveling overseas, on state business, last September. And he allegedly directed the RPV staff not to publicize his absence. Let’s get real! This trip had nothing to do with our defeats last year, and not drawing attention to the trip was hardly unethical. Like so many other “charges” against the Chairman, this is no reason to abrogate the legitimate vote of our Party’s delegates at last year’s convention. It is just one more excuse, rather than a reason, to vote against the Chairman.

Many people may not know that one of Chairman Frederick’s main adversaries, Jim Rich, the 10^th District Chairman, was out of the country when the filing deadline for candidates for the 10^th district congressional nomination were due to be delivered to him. Jim was supposed to receive the primary challenger’s filing papers, but he obviously could not be reached. It created such a problem that Rich had to cut his trip short and fly back to receive the papers.

While I understand that Jim opposes Chairman Frederick, it would be the height of hypocrisy for Jim to vote to remove Jeff Frederick based on “charges” such as this. It would be more appropriate for Jim to publically disavow this new effort to tar and feather Chairman Frederick for foreign travel.

The Chairman should only be removed if it is conclusively shown that he has acted in either illegal or unethical ways. Otherwise, his opponents should respect last year’s vote of the delegates and, if they have better candidates for Chairman, run them in the next scheduled election for Chairman. Let’s move beyond this divisive diversion and get on with the business of electing Bob McDonnell and the rest our Republican candidates in this fall’s elections."

(If you will be unable to attend this important event, please follow the coverage on Bearing Drift.)

Bob McDonnell Kickoff Tour

As many of you know by now, Bob McDonnell will be kicking off his campaign with a tour of the state this weekend. If you can make any of these events, please do, and I hope you will join me in working to elect a true social conservative the next governor of Virginia in November.

Also if you are supporting Jeff Frederick as RPV chairman, you should definitely be there as well.  Here are a couple articles from Spank that Donkey, and Bearing Drift about what Frederick supporters will be trying to do at these events.


Bob Kicks-off in Virginia Beach with Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling
Date/Time
Saturday, March 28 at 5:30 P.M
Location
Princess Anne High School4400 Virginia Beach BlvdVirginia Beach, VA 23462(757) 618-9339
Form
RSVP Here!

Bob Kicks-off in Richmond with Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling
Date/Time
Saturday, March 28 at 3:00 P.M.
Location
John Randolph Tucker High School2910 N Parham RdRichmond, VA 23294(804) 527-4600
Form
RSVP Here!

Bob Kicks-off in NOVA with Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling
Date/Time
Saturday, March 28 at 10:00 A.M
Location
Annandale Firehouse7128 Columbia PikeAnnandale, VA 22003
Form
RSVP Here!

Bob Kicks-off in Bristol
Date/Time
Monday, March 30 2009 at 5:00 PM
Location
101 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.Bristol, VA
Form
RSVP Here!

Bob Kicks-off in Cedar Bluff
Date/Time
March 30 2009 at 3:45 PM
Location
Tazewell County Airport 100 Airport Rd Cedar Bluff, VA 24609
Form
RSVP Here!

Bob Kicks-off in Charlottesville
Date/Time
Tuesday, March 31 2009 at 1:00 PM
Location
400 Emmet St SCharlottesville, VA 22903
Form
RSVP Here!

Bob Kicks-off in Lynchburg
Date/Time
Tuesday, March 31 2009 at 7:00 PM
Location
The Swann Group724 Commerce St.Lynchburg, VA 24503
Form
RSVP Here!

Bob Kicks-off in Harrisonburg
Date/Time
Tuesday, March 31 2009 at 4:15 PM
Location
James Madison UniversityTaylor Hall, Room TBD800 South Main StreetHarrisonburg, VA 22807
Form
RSVP Here!

Bob Kicks-off in Blacksburg
Date/Time
Tuesday, March 31 2009 at 10:00 PM
Location
Montgomery County GOP HQ215 Draper RdBlacksburg, VA 24060
Form
RSVP Here!

Bob Kicks-off in Petersburg
Date/Time
Tuesday, March 31 2009 at 10:45 AM
Location
Java Mio Coffeehouse322 N Sycamore StreetPetersburg, VA 23803Website: http://www.javamiocoffeehouse.com
Form
RSVP Here!

Bob Kicks-off in Fredericksburg/Mary Washington
Date/Time
Wednesday, April 1, 7:30 PM
Location
Location TBD
Form
RSVP Here!

Bob Kicks-off in Winchester
Date/Time
Wednesday, April 1 2009 at 8:00 AM
Location
Jimmy’s Restaurant (at the Quality Inn)1019 Millwood PikeWinchester, VA 22602
Form
RSVP Here!

Bob Kicks-off in Culpeper
Date/Time
Wednesday, April 1 2009 at 12:30 PM
Location
Raven’s Nest Coffee House254 E Davis StCulpeper, VA 22701
Form
RSVP Here!

Bob Kicks-off in Onley (Eastern Shore)
Date/Time
Wednesday, April 1, 5:00 PM
Location
Sunrise Restaurant Bar & Grill25345 Lankford HwyOnley, VA 23418
Form
RSVP Here!

Bob Kicks-off in Emporia
Date/Time
Thursday, April 2, 1:00 PM
Location
Location TBD
Form
RSVP Here!

If you would like to get involved in the We Support Chairman Jeff Frederick movement, please join us on facebook, or the RPVNetwork, sign the petition, and contact your state central members and theMcDonnell campaign.

Jim Hoeft of Bearing Drift Weighs in on the Frederick Controversy

While Jim Hoeft did not give his support for Jeff Frederick during this controversy, he asks a very important question in his first VPOD, is there something more endemically wrong with RPV than the party chairman, and makes a call for the party to return to core conservative principles.  Maybe the chairmanship alone was not responsible for the Republican electoral losses in Virginia last year, and maybe this position alone will not sink or insure our chances to elect Bob McDonnell in November.

Jeff Frederick, Bob McDonnell, and the Grassroots

In a podcast interview yesterday on Bearing Drift, Jim Hoeft asked Bob McDonnel what he thought about the effort by state central to remove Jeff Frederick as chairman. Before arguing for more effective leadership as we go forward in 2009, Bob McDonnell said, "I can say that I am aware of the grassroots initiated effort by the state central committee leaders to seek new leadership at RPV." (quote begins at 3:48 on the podcast)

This comment begs the question, does Bob McDonnell understand what the grassroots is? Traditionally the grassroots has been understood to be a,

"A grassroots movement (often referenced in the context of a political movement)
is one driven by the constituents of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it is natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures. Often, grassroots movements are at the local level, as many volunteers in the community give their time to support the local party, which can lead to helping the national party."

According to this definition, the attempt to remove Jeff Frederick from the chairmanship of the RPV has been anything but a grassroots movement. This has been an effort lead and orchestrated by the state central committee, and has only been revealed to the public by anonymous sources on blogs. Just like the state central meeting during the Republican Advance, this has been a highly secretive affair. There is little evidence that the overwhelming number of regular activists, the people that voted for Frederick at last year's state convention, want him removed. No petition with 2,000 Republican volunteers was ever filed. There was never a massive call for state central to do this by unit chairs around the state.

Last year Jeff Frederick won based on an overwhelming amount of support from party activists at the convention. The grassroots made their voice heard last year and said Virginia Republicans reject the chairman state central forced on us, and want a true fiscal and social conservative who wins elections. I hope state central considers the view of the grassroots when they make their decision in a month, or we will overturn them at the convention again, and if Bob McDonnell doesn't understand what the grassroots really is he may have a difficult time winning the governorship in November.

Amy Frederick for Delegate

After much speculation over whether or not Jeff Frederick would keep his promise and resign from the House of Delegates, we finally know the answer.  Amy Frederick is running for delegate.  

It seems that for as long as I can remember, the rumor was that Amy Frederick would replace her husband when he moved on.  Recently Hampton Roads GOP reported that Jeff Frederick would run for reelection, and Bearing Drift predicted that Amy Frederick would be the one to run for the seat.  Today a website was launched to draft Amy to run for Delegate, and Jeff Frederick is inviting people to sign the petition through RPV Network.

We now no Jeff Frederick is a man of his word, and while people argued that if he became chair we would lose the seat, I think we have a very good chance of winning the seat.  His wife is likable, smart, and knows the district well.  

For those who argue that she isn't running yet, but only being drafted, a draft campaign can be a very effective way to start off a campaign.

The Case for Patrick Muldoon

When I saw this article on Bearing Drift, I couldn't help but republish it.

Patrick Muldoon = hypocrite

By Brian Kirwin

Published December 16th, 2008

Who is Patrick Muldoon? I don’t know a lot about him, other than his strategic brilliance to make telemarketing phone calls over the Thanksgiving holiday. So off to the internet to research! According to his website, he is running for the Republican nomination for Lieutenant Governor because we need “strong leaders in Virginia who want to promote our traditional values by being committed to fight for us, 100% of the time.”

Apparently Mr. Muldoon believes gambling is a traditional value. Mr.Muldoon is an attorney at Duane Morris, a DC law firm, whose lobbying arm, according to their website, represents casinos and gambling interests such as Hilton Gaming, Keystone Gaming Alliance and Oberthur Gaming Technologies.

Is gambling a traditional conservative value? I doubt professional associations with gaming interests is hardly representative of the 100% pure conservative he claims to be.

But, wait there’s more. Muldoon and his supporters have been critical of politicians that have received donations from Barr Laboratories, a pharmaceutical company that employs hundreds of Virginians and has engineered affordable generic drugs to fight cancer, diabetes and other diseases.

Barr also created a contraceptive pill. Haven’t Muldoon and his supporters claimed that anyone who accepts money from Barr is pro-choice? On Duane Morris Consulting’s website, you’ll see Barr Labs listed a client.

From Muldoon’s definition of associations with Barr, shouldn’t we hold Muldoon to the same standard? Is that an association of a pro-lifer?

Now, I’m not making any judgments about gambling or Barr Labs. This is about campaign honesty. Before Patrick Muldoon starts attacking Republicans with his 100% litmus test, he should be ready to meet the same test, shouldn’t he?

He has lost every election he has entered and is now the Democrats’ best friend as he forces us to spend money that could be spent beating a well-funded Democrat.

If he’s going to run on the “100% conservative” banner, he better meet his own test. On first glance, Patrick Muldoon is a hypocrite.