Another Friend Joins The Cause

D.J. McGuire, the muckraking author of Right Wing Liberal and fellow unapolegetic Civil War Unionist, has announced his support of Delegate Jeff Frederick for Chairman of the RPV. The Chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus writes thusly:

The painful fact is this: the Republican Party of Virginia has lost its way. Ever since the tax hike of 2004 (when lest anyone forget, the Senate Republican caucus demanded a tax hike twice the size of what the Democratic Governor requested), we have over-relied on the nuts and bolts of campaigning, at the expense of the message that won us our victories in 1993 and 1997.

I remember the excuses the Richmond Republicans used in 2004 - it was a one-shot deal, a once-in-a-generation move. Less than two years later, the Senate Republicans were demanding another tax hike, and last year, the Bill Howell acquiesced. Thus our party’s legislative caucus has been split between one group that wanted three tax hikes in four years (the Senate GOP) and won that “held out” for only two tax hikes in four years (Howell and the House GOP leadership).

What has John Hager done in response to this during his (admittedly brief) tenure as leader? He has all but ignored it. I know organization is important; I appreciate the value of fundraising, but I don’t get any indication that Chairman Hager understands the need to shift gears on our message and return to the low-tax, limited government policies that the legislators have abandoned. This was no more painfully obvious than during the party’s Advance last December, when the RPV staff tried to rally the troops with the motto “Republican for a Reason” - without any mention of just what that reason was

I agree, of course. There is something D.J. touches on here that is important. As a party, we have spent the last few elections looking for one silver bullet, one single action that will make people wake up and say, "hey, these guys are right." Politics doesn't work that way. The problem of Transportation is proof of that. Now I supported HB 3202, and I think still there was plenty of good in that bill. To be honest, if I were a delegate or senator (one day, Mom, one day), I would have voted for it. But its fatal flaw was the bill itself. Rather, for Republicans it was a failure, even a refusal, to put together a full plan or alternative grounded in philosophy and principle. Instead, it was based on necessity. Allow me to us a baseball analogy. Instead of playing a total game--base hits, stolen bases, excellent defense, and timely hitting--we sat back and waited for a juicy fastball to come over the plate at only 80 mph to demolish. Unfortunatley, our opponents are smart enough not to throw that ball, but we have become content to swing for the fences rather than manufacturing runs through hard work and distinct philosophy. RPV's job is provide leadership on our philosophy and help build towards that hard work. Fundraising is great, but where has it gotten us? We have lost the confidence of the people because we aren't what we say we are, and when difficult questions come up we look for a quick fix instead of doing the hard work needed. We have a business model where I work -- "take care of the customers, and the profits will follow." It applies here, if we take care of the folks through sticking by our principles and give excellent service to the commonwealth, the votes will come.

I'm confident Jeff Frederick is dedicated to doing that hard work.

Comments

[Mom]

What's this about running for office, Chris?