VA House of Delegate Caucus Endorses Rob Bell for Attorney General

Leading up to the Republican Advance, the first of many endorsement lists has been released.  One thing stands out.  The House of Delegate GOP Caucus overwhelmingly supports Rob Bell for Attorney General.  His list includes 36 different Delegates who have endorsed him, an overwhelming majority of the House GOP Caucus.  The list includes Speaker Bill Howell and delegates of every stripe from all over the commonwealth.  The list also includes two former delegates, Bill Carrico and Bill Janis.  Two other things that stand out about the list.  Rob Bell has the support of Congressman Rob Hurt.  He also seems to be distancing himself from Jeff Frederick (former Delegate and RPV Chairman) who recently endorsed him by leaving him off the list.  If Bell won't even acknowledge that Jeff Frederick has endorsed him, should Frederick's supporters back Bell?

Mark Obenshain's endorsement list will be interesting to see in the coming days.

The full list from the email is below.

We Endorse Rob Bell!

5^th Congressional District

Congressman Robert Hurt

Albemarle County

Sheriff Chip Harding

Honorable Ken Boyd, Chairman, Board of Supervisors

Honorable Rodney Thomas, County Supervisor

Botetourt County

Delegate Christopher Head

Campbell County

Delegate Matt Fariss

Caroline County

Delegate Robert Orrock

Jeff Sili, Republican Committee Chair

Chesapeake

Honorable Rick West, City Councilor

Chesterfield County

Delegate Roxann Robinson

Danville

Delegate Daniel Marshall III

Sandra Warren, Republican Committee Chair

Fairfax

Delegate David Albo

Delegate Thomas Rust

Honorable John Peterson, Director NOVA SWCD

Fauquier County

Honorable Jim Fisher, Commonwealth’s Attorney

Honorable Lee Sherbeyn, County Supervisor

Fluvanna County

Honorable Jeff Haislip, Commonwealth’s Attorney

Debbie Rittenhouse, Republican Committee Chair

Franklin County

Delegate Charles Poindexter

Grayson County

State Senator Bill Carrico

Greene County

Sheriff Steven Smith

Gary Lowe, Republican Committee Chair

Halifax County

Delegate James Edmunds

Hanover County

Delegate Christopher Peace

Honorable Trip Chalkley, Commonwealth’s Attorney

Sheriff Dave Hines

Honorable Wayne Hazzard, County Supervisor

Henrico County

Delegate John O’Bannon

Former Delegate Bill Janis

Sheriff Mike Wade

Isle of Wight County

Delegate Rick Morris

Bill Coburn, Republican Committee Chair

Lexington/Rockbridge County/Buena Vista

Cher McCoy, Republican Committee Chair

Loudoun County

Delegate Tag Greason

Delegate Joe May

Delegate David Ramadan

Louisa County

State Senator Tom Garrett

Lunenburg County

Delegate Thomas Wright Jr.

Madison County

Delegate Edward Scott

Honorable George Webb, Commonwealth’s Attorney

William Harvill, Republican Committee Chair

Manassas City

Steven Thomas, Republican Committee Chair

Newport News

Delegate David Yancey

Hazel Call, Hampton Roads Republican Women Chair

Orange County

Doug Rogers, Republican Committee Chair

Honorable Diana Wheeler, Commonwealth’s Attorney

Petersburg

Debra Mallory, 1^st Vice Chair Tri-City Republican Women

Pittsylvania County

Delegate Donald Merricks

Poquoson

Delegate Gordon Helsel, Jr.

Paul Keddell, Republican Committee Chair

Powhatan County

Delegate Lee Ware Jr.

Prince George County

Barbara Tabb, Republican Committee Chair

Prince William County

Delegate Richard Anderson

Delegate Jackson Miller

Richmond

Jerilynn Grigsby, Tuckahoe Republican Women Chair

Scott County

Delegate Terry Kilgore

Spotsylvania County

Delegate Mark Cole

Stafford County

Delegate Mark Dudenhefer

Delegate William Howell, Speaker, House of Delegates

Tazewell County

Delegate James W. Morefield

Virginia Beach

Delegate Salvatore Iaquinto

Delegate Barry Knight

Delegate Harry Purkey

Delegate Christopher Stolle

Delegate Ronald Villanueva

Washington County

Delegate Israel O’Quinn

Westmoreland County

Delegate Margaret Ransone

   

Jeff Frederick Campaign Kickoff

While Jeff Frederick has been knocking on doors for over a month, the campaign just announced their official campaign kickoff. Please come show your support for the campaign, and come by the campaign headquarters any time to volunteer.

Frederick for State Senate Campaign Kick-Off & HQ Opening

Saturday, July 30th at 10am

Frederick Headquarters

17934 Main Street

Dumfries, VA 22026

Jeff Frederick is Running for State Senate

The following e-mail was sent out by Jeff late this afternoon.

Willie --

I'm happy to report to you, after a lot of thought, discussion, and prayer, we've decided to run for the Senate of Virginia.

But, I'm not in it for the money ($18k a year), the title, the digs, some degree of perceived power, or people making me feel important. I am running to serve the people of eastern Prince William, Fairfax, and Stafford and to change politics as usual in Richmond. There's too much polarization; too much partisanship; and not enough principled people going down there who are focused on the people that they represent -- working hard day in and day out to make our communities, commonwealth and country a better place to live, work, and raise a family. We need leaders in Richmond who aren't afraid to shake up and stand up to the status quo and keep people of any political party accountable.

Citizens of the 36th Senate District aren't unlike most folks. They work hard. They pay their taxes. They strive to build a better future for themselves and their families. Whether it is someone who was born and raised in Virginia like me or someone who came from a foreign land to seek the American dream and integrate as a naturalized citizen, like my Colombian mother -- and everyone in between -- our best days are still ahead.

Yet, the career politicians in Richmond have made a mess of our economy and have put future generations at risk. Sure, they talk about creating jobs, but in reality they vote time and time again for job-killing tax hikes, new regulations, and more wasteful government programs.

I've opposed all attempts to grow government and tax you more, and I will continue to do so. You know better how to spend your money than government does. My record is clear and needs no election-year makeover. I never forget who I work for and always keep my promises. You might not always agree with me 100% of the time, but you'll always know where I stand and I'll always welcome your thoughts and ideas.

I hope you'll join our commonsense, pro-people -- not politics -- campaign to create jobs, grow our economy, improve transportation and infrastructure, and protect our special quality of life.

And, we need your help. Click here to donate to our campaign or get involved.

This is going to be a tough race in a district that was clearly gerrymandered for someone of the opposite political party. I've got a track record of winning in these tough districts and appealing to people of all political stripes, but this one could be the most difficult one yet. Notwithstanding, the numbers tell us it is winnable, especially given that 37% of the district is my old House district. Some of the toughest precincts in this new Senate district are precincts I consistently won in my prior House races against difficult opposition.

However, our past success could not have been possible without the efforts of so many -- volunteering, contributing, and praying for us.

Please consider making a financial contribution now, and signing up to volunteer with our campaign. With your help, I know we'll have a big victory this November. God willing, we'll win this election and change politics as usual in Virginia.

Amy and I are incredibly grateful for all you've done in the past, and we're counting on you now more than ever.

Thanks again. More updates to come soon.

-JMF.

What is our priority for next year?

In a recent interview Erick Erickson made news by saying that his number one goal for 2010 is beating the Republican establishment.



Those are sentiments I definitely concur with. Some argue our end goal must be electing Republicans, and after the nomination contests are over that is definitely true, but our number one goal must be advancing conservative principles. We must run viable conservatives in primaries, run them for party office, and hold them and all Republicans accountable after we elect them. We did it this year by electing Ken Cuccinelli, and we will run him for whatever else he needs to run for, my fellow blogger and others tried to do it last spring when they fought to keep Jeff Frederick as party chair, and we must keep up the fight this coming year in the many nomination contests and district chair races across the state next spring.

It is as we advance our conservative principles and govern as conservatives that we will win elections, and if the establishment stands in our way, so be it.

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 Stanley Announces his Bid for RPV Chairman

Now that Jeff Frederick has decided not to run and the convention is only two weeks away, we now have a contest for RPV Chairman. Here is the e-mail Bill Stanley sent out announcing his candidacy.

Dear William J,

Since its founding 155 years ago, the Republican Party has amassed an impressive record of accomplishment. Republicans are bound together not by self-interest or convenience, but by the conservative principles and traditional values that have made America the greatest nation in world history. Throughout our party's history, those core beliefs have always been driven and guided by our rank-and-file, the volunteers, activists and members who comprise our grassroots.

Recent electoral setbacks have caused some to question our party's ability to succeed in the future. Disappointment has wrought doubt, and doubt has led to finger-pointing. Some have suggested that the core beliefs that underpin our party have become outmoded and obsolete. Others appear to suggest we adopt in part the tenets of the other party. But, those who would trade principle for political success damage the public's faith in representative democracy and undermine the Republican Party.

Because Republicans love America, we must not abandon or discount the core beliefs that are essential to the future success and prosperity of our nation. Conservative principles that require an adherence to fiscal responsibility and limited government will never be outmoded. Traditional values that respect the foundations of Western Civilization and faith in God will never be obsolete.

If Republicans are going to win elections, we must have the confidence of our convictions and a willingness to promote them at every level of government. And, we cannot abandon those convictions simply because they are unfashionable among those who enjoy an elite status in American society.

People do not hold conservative principles and believe in traditional values because they are fashionable. They adhere to their core convictions because they are proven, having served mankind well for thousands of years and being a way of life for a majority of our countrymen.

Now, our party is facing a challenging electoral environment. Republicans can only return to majority status by connecting our beliefs to the way people live their own lives, insisting that government reflect the values of those it is entrusted to serve.

The Republican Party of Virginia can only succeed if it wholeheartedly embraces the core beliefs of its volunteers, activists and members. Those who comprise our grassroots are proud of their beliefs, confident in their convictions, and unafraid of the future. They deserve a party that reflects and represents them, promoting their principles and values to the entire Commonwealth.

To advance these core convictions and to return control of our party to its grassroots, I am announcing today my candidacy for Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia.
As Chairman, I offer you, our party faithful, energy, experience, and leadership. It is your party. I will be your chairman.

Our party must be driven and guided from the grassroots up and not the top down. While we must give all those who work on our party's behalf their due, the Republican Party must not permit the judgment of the few to instruct or override the will of the many. The position of Chairman must be elected, not anointed.

The task ahead will not be easy. It will require a Chairman with a fresh perspective, one untainted by past battles, biases or affiliations. It will also require that Chairman be fully prepared for and able to fulfill the obligations of the enormous job ahead.

Although our ideas and principles offer a better future for our nation and our commonwealth, our opponents have surpassed us in applying modern technology and marketing techniques to gain an advantage. As a member of the generation that has developed and embraced this technology, I will ensure the Republican Party of Virginia marshals the tools that are now essential for victory.

My agenda is simple and straightforward, focusing on the fundamentals of grassroots party building. It puts the Republican Party of Virginia firmly in the hands of you, our volunteers, activists, and members, which is the only way to grow the Party and ensure that our nominees - from local office all the way to statewide candidates - win elections.

As Chairman, I pledge that:

· RPV will serve and answer to the Party's activist and volunteer base.

· RPV will provide the grassroots organizational structure necessary to help elect its nominees to office at every level of government.

· RPV will never be conformed to the image of any single candidate, campaign, or elected public official. Candidates, campaigns, and elected public officials come and go, but the Party has a responsibility to endure, reflecting the values and principles of its activist and volunteer base.

· RPV will ensure that Republican nomination contests are fair, open and properly conducted. RPV will never take sides or demonstrate a preference in any party nomination contests.

· RPV will reflect the values and principles of its conservative base, and will never shrink from, apologize for, discount, or diminish their positions on any given issue.

· RPV will focus its efforts on training our activists and volunteers at the Unit level, building the structure that will both foster and elect conservative candidates.

· RPV will fully incorporate the latest available technology, providing an effective and modern structure of communications with both the activist base and the public.

· RPV will never become a captive of the consulting class, but instead employ conservative management principles - competitive bidding, lean structure, customer service orientation - to ensure the Party is being both responsive to its base and responsible with contributions from its donors.

If I am elected by you, my fellow delegates, on May 30, this simple agenda - along with the voices and principles of our activists - will guide and direct my term as Chairman.

If you share my vision of a Republican Party of Virginia that is inseparable and indistinguishable from the grassroots it must represent, join with me in this campaign. With your support, we can steer our party - and its conservative principles and traditional values - on a course to victory.

Bill Stanley Franklin County Republican Chairman

Amy Frederick no longer running for Delegate

In a recent letter, Amy Frederick announced she will no longer be running to replace her husband Jeff Frederick in the VA House of Delegates. In early February she and her husband announced she was exploring a bid for the House of Delegates.

April 28, 2009

Dear Friends:

Since first beginning to explore the possibility of campaigning to represent the people of the 52nd District in the House of Delegates, I have been humbled by the support and encouragement I received from across eastern Prince William county, and indeed, beyond. Having been honored to stand by Jeff's side for the past six years as he has served, I have had the opportunity to meet and get to know many of the people of this district. They have made this job a rewarding experience for both of us, and the lasting friendships will always remain.

Today, it is with mixed emotions that I announce my withdrawal from the race to succeed Jeff in the House of Delegates.

Unfortunately, some in the leadership of the Republican Party have demonstrated a greater interest in playing politics than in advancing our conservative principles and making life better for the families and the citizens of Virginia. I'm not interested in running for office to serve under broken leadership, where the Speaker compromises principle for what he perceives as immediate political gain. What so many entrusted with leadership in our party fail to recognize is that ignoring our core principles in pursuit of titles and power without purpose is exactly the behavior that severely reduced our ranks in the House, handed the Senate to the Democrats, and has resulted in one statewide loss after another.

Although my campaign ends today, it has been a pleasure to travel around the district and introduce myself as a potential candidate to so many wonderful people.

I want to first thank my friends and family for supporting me and encouraging me to run. I also want to thank Kris Morris and my supporters, who have spent hours volunteering on my behalf. To these people, I will remain forever grateful.

I'm excited about the future, and I will be working hard to make sure that people of principle who share Jeff's and my commitment to service are elected and re-elected this year. I'm confident that in years to come, our party will have new leadership and a new direction, which will bode well for fresh, new ideas -- and ultimately, handing our children a better Commonwealth than the one we inherited.

Most sincerely,

Amy Frederick

According to a comment by Amy on facebook she believes Rafael Lopez will be the Republican nominee for that seat. As of yet there noone has filed from the Democrat Party to run for the seat.

It will be very interesting over the coming years to see what the Frederck's do in party politics. I can't imagine they are done for life.

On another note, so far it seems noone is trying to challenge Pat Mullins for RPV chairman. The vote on the matter by state central is on Saturday, and if someone decides to challenge Pat, then we will have a vote at the state convention May 30th.

McDonnell Remains Unscathed from the Frederick Situation

One thing I was worried about during the Frederick situation was that McDonnell would see his high favorables decline and his low negatives increase. He currently leads all his possible opponents by double digits in the latest Rasmussen poll, and according to the poll, "Of all four gubernatorial candidates, McDonnell has seen the biggest increase in his voter favorables since the last survey." Things continue to look good for Bob McDonnell. Hopefully the RPV State Convention will continue to build his momentum and the Democrats will have a bruiser of a primary. No matter what inter party squabbles we may have, and if you read this blog you know I think they are important, we need to win the governors mansion this year. It will help turn this state and maybe even nation around politically, and will be key to help us in the upcoming redistricting process.

How State Central Voted

In case you are interested, here is how the vote went down at the state central committee meeting on April 4th on the question of whether or not to remove Jeff Frederick as RPV chairman.

Note Mickey Mixson's proxy would have voted for Jeff Frederick but was disqualified.

Also this is just being provided for the sake of full and open disclosure, and transparency, etc... Please do not use this to blackmail anyone. While we may need to remove some people from positions of party leadership, we also need to keep foccused on winning in the general election this fall. If you do not plan on at least voting for our amazing ticket in the general election, I must question why you are getting involved in the party fights of a party you don't seem to actually support.

April 4, 2009
State Central Committee
One vacancy: 77 eligible to vote
75% Votes needed to Remove Chairman
Votes cast in Motion to Remove Jeff Frederick as Chairman

Officers – 11 Voting Members
NO Jeff Frederick, State Chairman
NO David Rensin, Finance Chairman
YES Mike Thomas, Vice- Chairman
YES Paulina Campbell, Secretary
* Morton Blackwell, National Committeeman .
YES Kathy Hayden Terry, National Committeewoman
YES Kevin Gentry, Eastern Vice-Chairman - Absent - Proxy carried by Anthony
Bedell
YES Juanita Balenger, Eastern Vice-Chairwoman
_---___ Vacant, Eastern Vice-Chairman
YES Trixie Averill, Eastern Vice-Chairwoman
YES Rick Neel,Treasurer

* Note: Morton Blackwell presided as Chairman and would only vote if his vote would
make a difference. One proxy was not allowed, ,and Blackwell’s vote would not have
made a difference.

General Assembly – 4 members
NO Hon. Morgan Griffith, Majority Leader, House of Delegates
YES Hon. John Cosgrove, Member of the House of Delegates
YES Hon. Frank Ruff, State Senator
YES Hon. Emmett Hanger, State Senator—Absent - Proxy carried by Sen. Stosch

1st Congressional District – 6 Members
NO Jim Bowden
YES Carol Dawson
YES Michael Lowe
YES John Van Hoy
YES Allen Webb
YES Tom Foley, Congressional District Chairman

2nd District – 4 Members
NO Gary Byler, Congressional District Chairman
NO Roger Miles
YES David O’Kelley
YES Chester “Chuck” Smith

3rd District – 4 Members
YES Bryan Meals
YES Cortland Putbrese
YES Chris Woodfin – Absent - Proxy carried by Aaron Gulbranson
YES Mike Wade, Congressional District Chairman

4th District – 5 Members
YES Bill Flanangan
YES Irene Hurst - Absent - Proxy carried by Wayne Ozmore
YES Linas Kogelis
YES Bob Wheeler
YES Jack Wilson, Congressional District Chairman

5th District – 5 Members
NO Renee Trent Maxey
NO Chris Shores
YES Rachel Schoenewald
YES Rayburn Gene Smith
YES Tucker Watkins, Congressional District Chairman


6th Congressional District – 6 Members
NO Jim Crosby
NO Mickey Mixon – Absent - Proxy carried by Andrew Jones was challenged and
not accepted
YES Lynn Mitchell
YES Matthew Braud
YES Wendell Walker
YES Fred Anderson, Congressional District Chairman

7th District – 6 Members
YES David Fuller
YES Brian Plum
YES Marie Quinn
YES Kristi Way - Absent – Proxy carried by Davis Rennolds
YES John D. Tucker – Absent – Proxy carried by Edward Eddens
YES Linwood Cobb, Congressional District Chairman

8th District – 4 Members
NO Vellie Dietrich-Hall
NO Mike Giere
NO Mark Kelly
YES Mike Ginsberg, Congressional District Chairman

9th District – 5 Members
YES John Kilgore
YES Jerry Lester
YES Dr. Judi Lynch
YES Jack Morgan
YES Michelle Jenkins, Congressional District Chairman

10th District – 5 Members
NO Elizabeth Kay Gunter
NO JoAnn Chase
NO Howie Lind
YES Mary Gail Swenson
YES Jim Rich, Congressional District Chairman


11th District – 4 Members
NO David Ray
NO Patsy Drain
NO Keith Damon
YES Becky Stoeckel, Congressional District Chairman

Virginia Federation of Republican Women – 3 Members
YES Brenda Campbell, President
YES Carol Ford, SCC Representative – Absent - Proxy carried by Faye
Williamson
YES Angie Hall, SCC Representative

Virginia Federation of Young Republicans – 3 Members
YES Lori Ann Miller, President
YES Neil Miller, Representative
YES Andrew Vehorn – Absent – Proxy carried by Sara Rose Cavalli

Federation of College Republicans – 3 Members
YES Kate Maxwell, President
YES Matthew Wolking – Absent – Proxy carried by Dale Dye
YES Ray Boyce

Patrick (McSweeney) on Patrick (Muldoon)

The day after the state central committee removed Jeff Frederick, Patrick McSweeney issued a letter supporting Patrick Muldoon for Lieutenant Governor in what appeared to be an attempt to capitalize on the growing discontent in many conservatives. While Patrick McSweeney went to far, he definitely turned heads with his letter. Mason Conservative came out very strongly against McSweeney on this issue, and Tertium Quids agreed with McSweeney in part and disagreed with him in part.

McSweeney made some good points about the new direction of the RPV, especially it's lack of support for social issues. However Mason Conservative very accurately pointed out that going after Bolling for these problems and with Muldoon seems rather counterproductive.

While the RPV definitely has problems, Bolling has proven himself time and again to be a true conservative, and he has a very good chance at winning in the fall. Patrick Muldoon on the other hand has never been able to win an election, and has few real accomplishments and achievements that could make him a better nominee than Bolling. Honestly I have yet to see a real reason to vote for Muldoon. The only reason I see is that someone has a nitpicky problem with Bolling, or is trying to lodge a protest vote against McDonnell. Neither of those reasons though are reasons to support Muldoon only possible reasons to oppose Bolling.

NOMINATION OF PATRICK MULDOON

I make no pretense that this is the usual nomination speech. Frankly, I’m tired of the usual political speech.

As a party, we simply must begin to talk in a very different way than we have in recent campaigns or we will continue to lose ground.

We all know that the Republican Party today has no clear brand. The choice
is whether to develop a new one or to rediscover our tradition, but abandoned
brand.

That is not the only choice. The more important choice is whether incumbents and their consultants or the grassroots should decide what our brand should be instead of the grassroots.

I nominate Patrick Muldoon for Lieutenant Governor because he is committed
to the Party’s principles; to building a grassroots party and to having the
grassroots decide the most important questions facing us.

Patrick is an exceptionally capable, intelligent and hardworking fellow. Born and raised in Southwest Virginia on a family farm, he has earned both an engineering degree and law degree. In 1996 and 1998, he ran unsuccessfully for Congress against Democrat Rick Boucher in the 9th District. It also took George Washington and Vance Wilkins three tries each to win their first elections.

Patrick’s opponent is the incumbent Lieutenant Governor, Bill Bolling, who has forgotten that having a strong grassroots party means that elected officials must be accountable to the grassroots. After the 2008 Republican State Convention, Patrick’s opponent and an elite few decided that this convention should be as closed and restricted as possible. They decided that they, not the grassroots, would decide who our standbearers would be in 2009.

During the summer of 2008, this group of elites devised a Call for the 2009 convention that would make it very difficult for any candidates to enter the field who had not already announced. They used the only meeting of the State Central committee during the 2008 campaigns between May and November to push through the Call. Instead of planning to help our 2008 candidates, the Central Committee devoted almost its entirety of its September 2008 meeting to controversial procedural issues that had nothing to do with the 2008 elections.

As a result, a great deal of the Party’s energy and focus during the closing weeks of the 2008 campaigns was diverted from the essential tasks of enhancing turnout and promoting our candidates to organizing for the 2009 nomination contests. Lining up petition drives for 2009 candidates, raising money for 2009 candidates and generally speculating about 2009 had never before been allowed to interfere with the immediate challenge of winning the elections only weeks away.

What this group of elites never acknowledged was that they were abandoning
an unspoken, but reasonable and longstanding rule that all of our energy and focus be devoted to the elections at hand. Candidates for nomination in future races generally honored that rule. Patrick’s opponent and others in this group of elites put personal ambition and other concerns ahead of the best interests of our 2008 candidates and the best interests of the Party.

What is equally troublesome is that Bill Bolling and others in the elite group do not believe that Bolling should be required to account either for his past actions and positions or for the positions he intends to take during the 2009 campaign if he is nominated. The obvious conclusion is this: Patrick’s opponent and his elite group don’t want a public discussion about what our brand should be. They and only they will decide.

I am impressed with Patrick’s background and ability. Even more, I am impressed with his commitment to our principles and his willingness to hold fast to them in the face of vigorous opposition. I am impressed that he wants to rebuild this Party as a true grassroots party.

I am greatly disturbed that Bill Bolling has decided to abandon, downplay or remain silent about the principled positions that the grassroots of this Party has repeatedly
endorsed. His consultants have advised him that he cannot win the general election by advocating our well-established positions on social issues, limited government and individual liberty.

The new Republican message, we are told, must be that Republicans are better equipped than Democrats to solve people’s everyday problems.

Please take a moment to reflect on this new message. It necessarily means that ours has become a radically different party. We are no longer committed to encouraging individuals, families, religious organizations, voluntary associations and the free market to solve our problems. We will now look first to government to solve our problems, just as Democrats do. Our new brand is that Republicans can give people better government and maybe just a little bit less government than the Democrats. No matter how it is dressed up, that means expanding government.

This new brand is not one that the grassroots of the Party has ever embraced. Why should we blindly accept the brand chosen by Party elites?

Bill Bolling has decided that Republicans should either hide or compromise their positions on social issues. He never consulted the grassroots about that. We want candidates who will unapologetically defend those positions, not act as if they are afraid of them.

President Obama has reversed executive orders issued by President Bush to protect human life. Where are the Republican leaders who should be challenging President Obama for his actions?

Because many of our elected officials went along with higher government debt and spending while Republicans controlled the General Assembly, Congress and the White House, the Party has little credibility now when it calls for limiting government. The grassroots never endorsed this abandonment of the central principle of our Party, but we have not held our elected officials accountable for doing so.

At a time when the Democrats are further diminishing the role of the states in our federal system, where are our Republican leaders? Where is Bill Bolling? Is federal stimulus money so precious that Virginia should meekly accept any conditions that President Obama and Congress attach to the receipt of that money?

At a time when we face a serious threat of being disarmed by our government, where is Bill Bolling?

Because so few of our Republican elected officials and candidates actually understand or are willing to stand up for our principles, voters fail to appreciate the role that individuals, families, religious organizations, voluntary groups and the free market should play in solving problems. This has meant that the debate has been reduced to whether Republicans or Democrats are better suited to providing government solutions. Is it any wonder our Party is losing ground?

When we most need committed, articulate and principled candidates, too many of our candidates are listening to consultants who tell them not to tie themselves to controversial social issues or to advocate limited government because polls indicate that voters are opposed to those positions. Our candidates should be changing public opinion, not compromising our principles to placate public opinion.

The contest for the nomination for Lieutenant Governor offers a clear
choice.
· Patrick will campaign to
protect human life from conception to natural death.
· Bill Bolling has said that
Republicans must downplay their traditional positions on social issues in order
to win.
· Patrick wants to return to
traditional conservative principles of personal responsibility, community
self-help, parental control and reliance on private initiative and enterprise to
solve our everyday problems.
· Bill Bolling has a platform
that proposes new legislation to solve the citizens’ everyday problems and has
supported intrusive measures such as the human papillomavirus vaccination
legislation.
· Patrick opposes legislation,
such as the 2007 transportation statute (H.B. 3202), that provides for the
imposition of taxes by unelected bodies, abusive driver fees and billions of
tax-backed debt without voter approval.
· Bolling supported H.B. 3202 in
2007.

The grassroots should choose candidates who will change minds, not change our principles. Patrick’s opponent has already decided that he will not be that kind of candidate.

That is why I am nominating a courageous young man who is fully prepared to defend our principles, even when the public appears to oppose them. I ask you support Patrick Muldoon. Let’s restore the proper, traditional conservative Republican brand that has brought us statewide victories in the past.

Thank you.

Patrick McSweeney

Video of the Frederick Rally

This video was produced by Jason Roop of Style Weekly and covers the State Central Committee's removal of Jeff Frederick and the rally that took place out side.

Was George Allen Involved in the Effort to Remove Jeff Frederick

Ever since the call for the April 4th State Central Meeting was leaked it was apparent that Bob McDonnell was behind it. However, now that Jeff has been removed some speculate George Allen may behind this, and may even be looking at becoming the next party chair. Spank That Donkey wrote two articles that sum up most of the speculation on this subject. One article deals specifically with George Allen, while the other discusses Mike Thomas's role in ending the effort for Jeff and Bob McDonnell to reach a resolution.

Jeff Frederick Removed as Chairman

As most of y'all know by now, Jeff Frederick was removed yesterday as party chairman. We only lost by one vote. While we lost we were able to let people know who it was we supported. Over 75 activists showed up at the Marriott and peaceably demonstrated in support of Jeff Frederick. None showed up to urge for Jeff's removal. While we lost one battle we will keep pushing on to retake the party, and hopefully install a grassroots leader as chairman at the convention. Hopefully on May 30th a well known true conservative will become chairman and we can leave a united party.

A Very Well Done New York Times Article

I know you may have almost gagged after reading the title, but I thought this was a very good article.

April 4, 2009

Republicans
in Virginia Split Sharply Over Leader

By THEO EMERY

When a conservative delegate to the Virginia General Assembly was elected chairman of the state Republican Party last May, he promised fresh leadership and the revitalization of an organization that many Republicans feared had lost direction.

Instead, Republican election losses in November and high-profile missteps have plunged the Republican Party of Virginia into months of ferocious infighting between supporters and opponents of the new chairman, Jeffrey M. Frederick of Prince William County. The dispute will be resolved on Saturday, when the state party’s central committee holds its quarterly meeting on the outskirts of Richmond to decide
whether to remove Mr. Frederick 10 months into his four-year term.

Many state Republican organizations are regrouping after November, but the process has been particularly venomous in Virginia, where Mr. Frederick’s supporters are battling with moderates and also some longtime conservatives as much over the party’s direction and political center as over its chairman.

“By Virginia standards, this is a pretty ugly street brawl,” the chairman of the government department at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, John J. McGlennon, said. Fifty-eight central committee members — the number needed in the 77-member committee to oust Mr. Frederick — have called for his removal or resignation, as have many Republican state legislative leaders and all five of Virginia’s Republican members of Congress. The party’s candidate for governor, Bob McDonnell, who resigned as state attorney general to run, has also said Mr. Frederick should resign.

The basis for Saturday’s vote is 10 grievances brought by members of the party’s central committee, the most serious accusing Mr. Frederick, 33, of failing to promptly turn over contributions his Internet technology company raised on the Web for the party. Other grievances accuse him of exceeding his authority, acting without the central committee’s approval and damaging the party’s reputation.

Mr. Frederick has denied any wrongdoing, calling the accusations “totally false.” In a letter to party members, he said he would not step down and accused “party insiders” of trying to nullify his election and regain power.

In an e-mail interview, Mr. Frederick said, “It’s no accident that an overwhelming number of those spearheading and supporting the effort to remove me endorsed my competitor in last year’s contest for chairman.”

“Some have just never accepted my victory, and have discounted the reasons why the grass roots voted for me,” he added.

A former United States representative, Tom Davis, a moderate Republican who has stayed on the sidelines in the dispute, praised Mr. Frederick as a “very able” lawmaker who has been subject to highly personal attacks, but predicted he
would be ousted as “part of the bloodletting that goes on when a party loses.”

Mr. Frederick, among the most conservative General Assembly delegates, was elected at the party convention last May with the support of anti-tax and anti-abortion activists. Many conservative newcomers saw his upset victory over the more moderate incumbent, former Lt. Gov. John H. Hager, as an affirmation of their rising power.

In October during the campaign for the presidency, Mr. Frederick made headlines when he said that then Senator Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden “both had friends that bombed the Pentagon,” a reference to Mr. Obama’s acquaintance with William Ayers, a member of the Weather Underground radical group in the 1960s. The comment drew a rebuke from Mr. Obama’s Republican opponent, Senator John McCain.

The turmoil deepened after Election Day, when Mr. Obama carried Virginia, where the Republicans lost a United States Senate seat and three House seats. Some in the party began calling for Mr. Frederick’s ouster, but the party took no action at its meeting in December. His opponents have now made their efforts to remove Mr. Frederick a centerpiece of Saturday’s meeting. Debate has become so rancorous that some Republicans worry it is overshadowing the governor’s race.

In a letter to party members late in 2008, J. Kenneth Klinge, a longtime Republican activist who was the party’s executive director in the 1970s, argued for Mr. Frederick’s resignation. “Having known personally all the state chairmen we’ve had in the party since the early ’60s, he is the worst,” Mr. Klinge said, accusing Mr. Frederick of divisiveness and refusing to embrace anyone who he feels is less socially conservative than he is.

But supporters of Mr. Frederick, like Willie Deutsch, a sophomore at Patrick Henry College who writes a political blog, are equally passionate. Mr. Deutsch, 19, who began a Facebook page and an online petition supporting Mr. Frederick, said the fight had become vicious. He worries that those who elected Mr. Frederick state party chairman will abandon the party if he is unseated. “These are the people who are going to be working hard for their candidates through the summer and into the fall,” Mr. Deutsch said. “If you want to tell all those volunteers, we don’t care about your vote in the party, don’t expect them to come out and campaign for you.”

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.

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.)

State Central Committee Meeting Coverage

For those of y'all who won't beable to make it to the Marriott for the State Central Committee meeting, and the rally, Bearing Drift will be covering the story all day. I would encourage you to check out Bearing Drift throughout the day and follow these momentous events.

In case you haven't seen it yet, Jeff Schapiro did an excellent analysis of what will happen tomorrow.

Also for those who want to remove Jeff Frederick because he is and will lose us elections, please stop and think. Did Jeff cause the electoral losses this party has sustained since 2001? I sorta doubt it since he was only elected to the House of Delegates in 2003. If Jeff didn't cause those losses, maybe something more systemic lead to our 2008 losses and might lead to our losses in 2009.

Also three of the district chairs who have done the most to undermine Jeff Frederick are Mike Wade of the 3rd District, Tucker Watkins of the 5th District, and Jim Rich of the 10th District. Al three of these men have held their positions for much longer than Jeff has been RPV chair. How successful have these three men been in winning their districts for the GOP? Mike Wade is from Bobby Scott's district a very solid Democrat district, Tucker Watkins just saw his Republican congressman lose in 2008, and Jim Rich was unable to deliver his district for McCain last year. Maybe their is a deeper problem within the RPV that will not be solved by removing Jeff Frederick.

Last question, while every one has enjoyed hating on Jeff, who will replace him? If we replace him with someone worse than Jeff will we have gained anything through this debacle?

Final question is can you name me five prominent people who actively supported Jeff in 2008 who are supporting his removal now. Those trying to remove Jeff have argued that they have grassroots support for this, and some have argued the same convention who voted to install him would vote to remove him now if it could. If this is true who are the prominent 2008 Frederick supporters who are leading the charge to remove him now?

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.

Rally for Jeff Frederick

This Saturday morning Grassroots supporters for Jeff Frederick from across the Commonwealth will meet at the Marriott West Hotel in the West End of Richmond. www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/ricmw-richmond-marriott-west

The Hotel is located off Interstate 64 in the Innsbrook area. Follow the directions on the Marriott Website carefully. The Hotel is located behind a line of trees. When turning on to Dominion Dr. the Hotel is on the left.

We will be meeting in the back of the Hotel at 8:45 am Saturday morning. Coffee and doughnuts will be provided. Jeff will be addressing us at 9:15. The State Central Committee will begin their meeting at 10:00. The meeting is CLOSED. Although we do not believe a meeting of this importance should be closed, that is the rules and being the individuals that we are we will follow and respect the rules.

Please continue to call your State Central Committee member and encourage them to NOT override the majority of our party who attended last years convention and elected Jeff as our Chairman with over 60% of the vote. In our society the majority rules not an elite few. We do not believe that any elections should be overturned because some do not like the outcome.

Please come to Richmond this Saturday to show your support for the right of every Grassroots worker in our Party to participate in the election of our State Chairman without being concerned that our choice will be overturned.

If you are planning on coming, please e-mail John Darden at jdardengop@gmail.com so we can get a feel for how many people will be coming.

And as always please continue to be respectful as we work to keep Jeff as our party chair. Being rude and offensive will only hurt our cause, and make us look bad.

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.

McDonnell Rally

So first of all, congratulations to Bob McDonnell for a very successful kick off tour on Saturday. Bringing 700 people together in Annandale to listen to a Republican is pretty impressive, and hopefully that bodes well for Bob's chances in NOVA in November.

For those of you who haven't seen it yet, the Washington Post ran a very good article on the event. The subtitle on the article was "Leadership Turmoil in GOP Threatens to Steal Spotlight." In light of this article I think those supporting Jeff Frederick were definitely successful in Annandale, and while they may not have gotten media attention, there were definitely Frederick supporters at the other events. Also I don't think Bob has seen the end of Frederick supporters at his kickoff events.

As one of Jeff's most vitriolic opponents, Loudoun Insider decried the efforts of Jeff's supporters as unsuccessful. I would have to wonder what more you could hope for than to totally color an article in the Washington Post with the event.

In other news, Mason Conservative once aagain had an amazing post in which he responded to Loudoun Insider and further explained why he supports Jeff. Another very good article is Michael Giere's letter supporting Jeff.

Another Committee Votes in Support of Jeff Frederick

On March 26th the Greene Co. Republican Committee voted in support of Jeff Frederick as RPV Chairman. The full text of the resolution is posted below.
__________________________________

Resolution in Support of RPV Chairman Jefff Frederick

March 26, 2009

Whereas, the Greene County Republican Committee believes that the
strength of the Republican Party comes from the grassroots up, not the top down.

Whereas, the Plan of Organization of the Republican Party of Virginia
essentially dissolves the party organization every two or four years and
reconstitutes all of its committees by the vote of each jurisdiction's mass
meeting or convention.

Whereas, in May 2008, the Greene County
Republicans selected Jeff Frederick as their party chairman with 100 percent of
the Greene delegation's vote.

Now, therefore, be resolved, that the Mass
Meeting of the Greene County Republican Party:

1. Fully endorses and
supports the Republican Party of Virginia Chairman Jeff Frederick.

2. We
call on Republicans across the Commonwealth to focus on the election at hand. We
believe Chairman Frederick is doing the job he was elected to do, namely to make
the state party the servant of the local unit and not its master.

3.
Unless it is proven that he committed a criminal act, we call on the State
Central Committee Committee and senatorial caucus to also fully endorse Chairman
Jeff Frederick and assist him unconditionally to retake the Commonwealth of
Virginia for the Republican Party.

Five Questions Concerning Chairman Jeff Frederick

Five good questions posted by Spank that Donkey on who it is that is trying to remove Jeff.
______________________________________________

There are several questions that we as Conservative Republicans must ask ourselves:

1. Why do we want members of our Congressional Delegation who vote to levy a 90% income tax on American citizens, because of Congressional mistakes, to decide who our Party Chairman should be?

2. Why do we want members of the State Senate who have voted to raise our taxes, spend our tax dollars recklessly and offer illegal aliens in- state college tuition benefits to decide who our Party Chairman should be?

3. Why do we want members of the House of Delegates who submit and have passed unconstitutional legislation to decide who our Party Chairman should be?

4. Why do we want members of our state legislature who refused to take a principled stand over funding for Planned Parenthood to decide who our Party Chairman should be?

5. Why do we want the same members of our Party’s State Central and Executive Committees who have brought us down in defeat numerous times since 2001 to decide who our Party Chairman should be?

And finally…

Why will our presumed nominee for Governor not stand side by side with the “Grassroots” of our Party and say “Jeff Frederick was overwhelmingly elected Chairman of our Party and his election should stand: we should only be focusing on winning in November?”

The answer to the first five questions is simple---they should not!

The answer to the last question…. You will need to send an email to Robert@bobmcdonnell.com and ask.

We have to continue to fight hard to protect our rights as the Grassroots of our Party. We sent a clear message to the party leadership last year that we were tired of failed leadership, running away from our Conservative Principles and of losing elections. That is why we gave Jeff Frederick a stunning victory with over 62% of the vote. We cannot go backwards. We need to move forward and stop the attacks against our rights as American citizens, the precious right that the majority rules, not an elite minority. If you agree with the these questions and answers please forward this email to your fellow grassroots and ask them to make the telphone calls and send the emails to our Unit & District Chairs, State Central Comittee members, our State Wide candidates (robert@bobmcdonnell.com) and their offices, our Elected Officials and to our Local Candidates. We must keep the pressure on. The work that you have been doing is having an impact on those who want to remove Jeff. Keep it going! Thank each of you for the hard work you have been doing to protect the integrity of the political process.