Brownlee And The Myth Of A "United Ticket"

Bearing Drift has up former AG Jerry Kilgore's robocalls to Republican delegates.   The main theme being driven home by an increasingly desperate John Brownlee campaign is that of unity on the ticket.  The term is really an accusation, an accusation directed at Ken Cuccinelli based on the fallacy that he is too divisive to run statewide, that he can't win because his base is too small. 

Allow me to tear this apart as the myth it really is.  First, a bit of context.  The Brownlee campaign is being run by a combination for Bob McDonnell and Tom Davis loyalists in Northern Virginia.  Cuccinelli has never been a favorite of Davis because Cuccinelli was able to win three elections in Fairfax County on his terms, without the Grand Pubah himself telling him how to win.  And the subsequent downfall of the Davis operation has vindicated Cuccinelli.  Allow me to explain.  In 2007 we had three major Senate races in Fairfax County - Ken Cuccinelli, Jeannemarie Devolites Davis, and Jay O'Brien.  But there was really two schools of thought - Ken ran as the conservative, unafraid to express his principles on any issue, but also spending a legislative record in applying those principles to local issues and concerns of his constituents successfully.  Jeannemarie Davis emphasized her ability to work on the big issues, to consistently compromise as a way of getting these things done, and to reach out over and over to Democrats by tackling their issues instead of championing ours.  We saw how that ended up.  But the most interesting story of 2007 was highly under-reported, and it points directly to the myth that Ken is a divider in the party.  While the Davis strategy was to fudge the partisan lines, to take Democrat issues and try and prove she was good on them; she also advocated the restriction of Republican delegate candidates in her district so as to un-politicize her district and make it strictly a personality contest between herself and Chap Petersen.  Ken Cuccinelli, on the other hand, spent a great deal of time organizing Western Fairfax with candidates Hugo, Cadin, Herrity, Frey, Baise, McDade, and Frey.  They had joint mailers, cooperation on multi-campaign literature drops, and worked hard as a team to turnout the vote.  The results?  Despite her and Tom's best efforts to turn JMDD into a conservative Democrat, she lost by ten points.  Ken won reelection, along with Herrity, Frey, and Hugo while McDade and Cadin made strong showings.  Its building while losing, and its important.  Ken worked hard on a grassroots level, regardless of candidate, to unite Fairfax Republicans for all our candidates.  Many of the Tom Davis people, so behind the McDonnell effort this year, are behind the Brownlee effort to claim he is the real unity candidate. 

So with history proving otherwise, this myth nonetheless speaks to a larger problem within RPV that has nothing to do with conservatives, RINOs, Jeff Frederick, or anybody.  We are stick in a mind of thinking that "unity" means the same thing as no primary challenges.  We are denying ourselves as a party the ability to clear the air, ti really debate what we stand for, to get a head start in campaigning, and to help energize our voters by making them feel apart of the process instead of just being dictated too by the powers in the halls of Richmond and the boardrooms of Tysons Corner.  The Democrat Party spent nearly a year in one of the most contested, energized, and monumental primaries in history and their candidate still won.  We were told to get out of the way for McCain, for Romney to drop out.

Ken isn't the divisive candidate, and I don't recall anyone asking Bob McDonnell or Bill Bolling in 2005 whether they would get out of the way for the other one.  Its ridiculous and the fact that that question is even asked just shows how scared our own party is of our voters and of debating the issues within the party, of letting the grassroots be fully engaged.  Cuccinelli will bring an element to this ticket that will truly unify it - his voters are ones not always engaged in the political process, social conservatives that aren't necessarily politically active and ones that were turned off by John McCain despite Sarah Palin's precense on the ticket.  Its voters that are hard to find that McDonnell and Bolling will need to overcome the numbers game, the large swatch of Northern Virginia that will support the Democrat candidate and will have the massive Obama Campaign lists to work from.

I worry about the McDonnell campaign sometimes, that they are too caught up and obsessed about a united ticket and party behind his total control - which was evident by the Jeff Frederick affair.  That was as much about McDonnell taking total control of the party as anything else.  They are surrounded by the Tom Davis-style Republicans who obsess over Democrat issues and winning them, even if that means losing voters who care about our issues.  In a microcosm, I saw that happen here in Fairfax, a toxic combination for emphasizing "Unity" over full party participation in defining our issues and selecting our candidates for every race, and attempting to emphasis issues we don't own to win over "moderates" instead of emphasizing issues that matter to our voters, that creates a grassroots movement with the energy to bring in new voters, and win over those moderates with our ideas, our energy, and candidates fully vetted by a rigerous and engaged process within the party.  McDonnell is nowhere near as bad as what happened in 2007, but I'm starting to see it creep in and it worries me.

Ken Cuccinelli brings those ideas, that energy, that grassroots support that could take care of the rear guard while Bob McDonnell and Bill Bolling charge forward.  That is real unity, that is truly bring all in the party together.  I beg the McDonnell people, don't fall for the lie and don't fall for the myth.  Ken Cuccinelli brings true unity to the ticket, true energy and strength, while John Brownlee will simply be a coattails candidate, going only so far as the top of the ticket while bringing nothing ourselves.

Comments

[200 Grande]

Thanks for getting the true story out.

I could not have said it better...I'll just add one thing that you have mentioned on prior occasions...

Remember 2007 and how Hishta, uh,...I mean...the Davis machine issued the edict decreeing:

no one shall run in neither the 35th nor 37th VA House Districts;

so as not to incur the wrath of Tom Davis;

so as not to turn out Shannon and Bulova voters.

Except for Purves, the whole Party was "unified" behind that one. It worked out great...for Democrats.

I cringe when I hear Bob McDonnell saying, "listen to Tom Davis, he knows how to win in Northern Virginia."

Praise be to Tom Davis for allowing us to run as many candidates as we can field this year.

[200 Grande]

Oh,...one clarification:

The 35th and 37th VA House districts are contiguous with the 34th VA Senate district, which was Devolites-Davis, now Petersen.

The edict was intended to keep Democrat turnout from Shannon and Bulova low, in order to protect Devolites-Davis.

Brilliant! Bang-up job!

[Grozet]

As someone from Hampton Roads I am always interested to hear the Tom Davis backstory. I am undecided on who I will support for AG, but your posts on Cuccinelli are persuasive.

FYI, there are a few typos you might want to fix in the post.

[Steven Osborne]

Great Post Chris!

I am already seeing Cuccinelli bumper stickers popping up in Central Virginia. Ken Cuccinelli is in the best position to bring grassroots motivation to the ticket.

[Rick S]

I also heard Tessie Wilson giving Ken credit for helping her win the Braddock School Board Seat by running joint mailers. She said that even though they aren't exactly birds of a feather that they really did help each other out.

[Chris]

Cuccienlli also put in crucial footwork in John Cook's race in Sideburn precint, which is Ken's and where Cook did very well. This man works for the party, he doesn't just preach too it.

[a]

Cuccinelli is in this for his ego alone. He will bring down the entire ticket because of his pro-Frederick agenda.

[Republican Leaner]

I know we all have a tendency to see the world from our own comfortable place and that's what blogs are pretty much about, but I am a Republican leaning voter who was disappointed with Sarah Palin and not with John McCain. I voted for McCain despite Palin being on the ticket.

I will probably vote for whomever the Republican party picks for AG, because none of the three seem like bad choices and I don't like some of Shannon's positions. Why all this rancor among Republicans? These thre candidtes seem okay, as does Shannon.

We pick on election day from whomever you pick at the convention. I disklike convention format, but that's okay, too. Pick you guy. Whatever. You pick him and the rest of us who aren't party adherents will probably choose. So pick wisely. Because we get to decide if he wins.

Most people in Virginia are independents who lean one way or the other. So once you pick someone at the convention, he'll have to be made attractive to all us Republican leaners and apparently some of the Democratic leaners, too. And we come in all flavors. Pick someone with principles and who doesn't flip flop around, but pick someone who has broader appeal than to the partisan clubhouse, too.

Also, I liked Tom Davis in the House. I have no idea what he did as far as issuing edicts or whatever. I am thankfully ignorant of both parties and their inner working machines. Davis was an election day pick that I did not regret later. I thought he was a very good rep.

[NoVA Scout]

The last comment is an important one, because it far better describes the electorate than most blog comments. This Cuccinelli/Brownlee stuff is a tempest in a teapot, particularly in a convention context. But RL is the voter everyone has to take seriously. He/She define where the election will be won or lost. It's important in the candidate selection process not to alienate these people.