Will You Support Jeff Frederick?

I am.

According to Red Virginia, Delegate Frederick apparently leads incumbent Chairman John Hager in pledged delegates of those areas that have so far voted on delegates to the state convention.  Here Fairfax, we do ours next month.  Despite the fact that some may have pegged me as a creature of the status quo, I can't help but be incredibly excited at the idea of Jeff Frederick leading our party.  He's young, in touch with the base, and understands the true trials the party faces.  I have particular objection to Chairman Hager, whom I supported following the disasterous tenure of Ed Gillespie (predicted here), Chairman Hager brought a Virginia perspective and a knowledge of state affairs to the chairmanship, a deft hand if you will. 

But state central lacks the activity and the leadership in the state when it comes to the sleeves-rolled-up battles for recruitment and money in local and state races.  Frederick, a product of local politics, understands this.  The party needs a rebirth to get moving forward.  Our candidates appear as retreads or gadflys while the Democrats now claim the mantle of "responsible leadership," despite the fact that they have gone out of their way to raise taxes over and over.  Frederick will bring energy and youth to the position.   The change will be much needed.

Comments

[J. Tyler Ballance]

Yea, me too.

I have the utmost respect for our past leaders, especially those who held elected office, such as Mr. Gilmore and Mr. Hager. However, the "old guard" has been ineffective in reaching out to young voters, to new citizens, and especially to members of the Latino and Asian communities.

Our Party has failed to uphold our own Creed. We need to again become the Party that is the Champion of our Constitution, the advocates for LIMITED GOVERNMENT and MORE FREEDOM for our citizens.

Here's a hint: just say NO to national ID cards and domestic spying programs, for starters. Also, become the Party that is fighting to rebuild our strategic manufacturing base. That will get the big and small donors excited about the GOP again.

I am not sure if Jeff Frederick is the man to lead our Party, but all of the indicators are telling us that we need a change in leadership and a change in direction (back to our Constitutional roots).

You can't keep doing the same old thing while the Party continues to lose ground.

It is clearly time to pass the torch of leadership to a new generation. I am hopeful that men like Jeff Frederick and Mark Cole, are up to the challenge.

[Ghost of Alexander Hamilton]

Your analysis of what the party needs is caught in pre-majority thinking. Since the GOP took majority status in both houses, the respective individual and joint caucuses took over the fundraising and candidate recruitment. Using the majority status, the House and Senate caucuses raised the money and continue to control the release of this money to their candidates. The same is true for the statewide campaigns. RPV didn't raise the money for the Kilgore campaign, it was the campaign that raised the money. Truth is we need a state chairman who can help RPV to redefine itself based on this reality.

That being said we have to acknowlede our once outstanding voter datebases are junk. During the past year RPV started rebuilding those files, but we still have a lot to do. We have too many disfunctional units that operate in name only. And if you look at who the hard-Rs are on VoterFault, you will see a distrubing distribution of senior citizens. Our base is getting old and we are not growing with young and middle-aged voters.

[26-PT-TWO]

The mention of Voter Vault made me laugh. I was told that my entry indicated someone who leans Democratic. If someone could enlighten me as to the source of the info in Voter Vault, I'd appreciate it. If I had to describe my leanings in my own words, they are strongly Republican. But until I started seeking out and donating to Republican candidates and joining Republican clubs, I never really got literature from Republican candidates. The Democrats bombarded me when I first moved to Fairfax, so much so that I started to wonder if there were any Republicans left around here. I guess the Republicans trusted some silly database. I had agreed to go door to door for a candidate and the list I received was incorrect as to my friends and neighbors who allegedly lean in some way Republican. The list I received also had not one, but two, current Democratic office holders on it. Several of my friends and neighbors who vote Republican like clockwork in general elections (I don't know if they vote in primaries) were not on the list I got. One thing I really believe is that FCRC needs to be reenergized. I've talked to a lot of discouraged people, yet I don't see a lot of cause to be discouraged. We need to get excited again and revitalize some of the Republican clubs in the area.