EPIC Takedown

I don't know who The Last Federalist is, I've never heard of the blog before.  But this is one of the most epic takedowns of a campaign I have ever seen.  Whoever this blogger is, he was a big supporter of Chris Perkins and then proceeds to waylay his campaign and has endorsed Ken Vaughn.  This might be my favorite part:

What is even more disconcerting is the lack of a ground game by the Perkins campaign. Whether it is their voter identification program or the lack of signs in the median, the Perkins campaign has been unable to prove that they have the organization and campaign strategy necessary to win in November. The fact that there is a growing concern that Ken Vaughn might actually win on June 12^th, shows how weak and inept the Perkins campaign strategy is and how the senior management of their campaign has failed to put a structure together that sufficiently demonstrates his operation has what it takes to succeed. "Team Perkins" has many failings chiefly among them is he has not hired a campaign manager, Chris has decided to give the keys to his campaign over to a corrupt consultant with a track record of running dirty campaigns. See this press report about his previous track record. This consultant named Tyler Harber has not only taken Chris a new comer to the political world to the proverbial woodshed and suckered him for all the money that he is worth they haven't developed a winning strategy. Looking at the FEC reports Prosper Group Tyler’s company and there contractors have been paid $97,850 from the Perkins Campaign. This is and unheard of amount to spend on Consulting in a primary! AND the best part is that’s only through April so since Tyler is averaging 11K a month from this candidate so I can’t wait to see what the next FEC reports show us.

There is a big problem in our local party about certain types entering party leadership who double as consultants and lobbyists.  They use their positions inside the party to steer business to their friends, and often take advantage of newcomer candidates.  These new-to-politics candidates generally don't know what they are getting into and end up getting ripped off.  It is why the grassroots conservative activists must continue to fight and be vigilant in the local party and refuse to surrender it to the professional Republican apparatchiks out there.  

Comments

[David D]

I can understand why, looking at a purely superficial level, some people think Perkins is "more electable" than Vaughn. However, Vaughn has done a much better job at managing resources; a much higher percentage of Vaughn funds have gone towards the important things like signs, lit, and mailers. Vaughn has a much better grasp of the issues, and where to target Gerry Connolly in the general. Vaughn has done a much better job of reaching out to groups (political and non-political) across the district. He's met FAR more voters in person.

Perkins is running on bio, and has fundraised better with it. I don't see how bio will beat Gerry Connolly.

The 11th is a wealthy, highly-educated district that demands substance. Putting their voting records aside, Tom Davis and Connolly are political workhorses who know their stuff. I have yet to be convinced that Perkins has what it takes. Vaughn, on the other hand, convinced me from the start.

Either man will be a big-time underdog in the general. But for Perkins to fail to blow Vaughn away despite a big crowd at his kick-off rally and a significant fundraising edge shows real problems. If Ken is given the platform and funding of the 11th district GOP, he will put those resources to work judiciously; he will land heavy, lasting blows on Connolly.

If one actually prefers Perkins' positions on the issues, okay, vote for the guy. But if you prefer Vaughn's take on the issues, don't be fooled by electability in this race. This isn't Romney vs Santorum or Castle vs O'Donnell, and being softer on the issues does not equate to "more electable".

Conservatives are constantly lamenting when Republicans are taken in by lobbyists and go along with brain-dead economic gimmicks and pork spending. The only way to stop that is to support Republicans like Ken Vaughn in primaries.

Follow the Buckley rule: support the most conservative candidate who is electable. My corrolary to that: if electability is unclear but conservatism is, go with the conservative.

Ken Vaughn.

[Dan]

Interesting post. And it makes an important point regardless of one's political persuasion.

First time candidates (especially ones who are high quality individuals) are a precious commodity. These people (and their families) make a tremendous commitment and real sacrifice in order to run for office. And when you look at the number of total ass clowns in BOTH parties who achieve elective office it is clear that we need far more good people of all political stripes to step up and run for office. This type of abusive fleecing of a first time candidate doesn't encourage others to run and it sure won't encourage Perkins to run again in the future.

This sort of thing occurs in both parties, but it is more prevalent in Republican circles. The most outrageous and most common Republican scams are the "fundraising" outfits that take over eighty percent of the money for themselves and deliver almost nothing to the candidate. And their victims are usually in districts like VA-11 that are highly unlikely to flip (at least in 2012) and are usually first time candidates who don't know any better and are happy to be directed toward this sort of "help".

The worst thing is, as you point out in your post, that the ones doing the directing are so often people holding official positions within the Republican party. I guess their attitude is that if the election can't be won in that district they might as well line their pockets at the expense of the candidate and all the suckers who donate to him.

[Brian W. Schoeneman]

Chris, can you gives us the names of any lobbyists or consultants who have used their internal party positions to steer business to their company or their friends? It would be nice for us to out them and hold them accountable. I don't know any, so it would be helpful, for me at least, to find out who they are.

[Chris]

Really Brian, you don't know any?

[Brian W. Schoeneman]

No, Chris, I don't. I know plenty of lobbyists in the party, including me, but I don't know anybody who has used their party connections to steer clients their way or to their friends.

I know plenty of consultants too, and I know a few who I think have taken advantage of our candidates, but they weren't in the party power structure, to my knowledge.

So hey - help us outsiders who aren't in the know out. Who are these insidious people using their powerful local party positions to enrich themselves to the detriment of the rest of us?

[Bearing Drift Won't Let Me Blog Anonymously]

HISHTA!!!!

[Chris]

Hishta was one, I remember a story back in '05 that when John Mason his HoD primary the Speaker basically told him if he wanted support he needed to bring in his guys. It is also a lot of the emails and feedback I was getting over who McConville was putting in FCRC. These people reach out to me and tell me things. It was also a common gripe with Becky that she was the 11th CD chair but benefited financially from all of these candidates who she did business for.

Fair or not, its what folks tell me.

[Justicelover]

On a point of clarity, thanks to BS. On the Congressional race, Ken Vaughn is the best candidate to oust Gerry Connolly. He has worked hard, shown up at events, and is knowledgeable on the issues.

Vaughn's positions are conservative, and are his own. He is real, Kudos too for his wife Julie who has been out there with him fighting for the vote. This should be an easy win.

Hope the same is true for EW Jackson, also the real deal.

[Brian W. Schoeneman]

Was Hishta in the party hierarchy? I honestly don't remember.

As for Becky, those charges are bogus. She was doing business long before she was a party activist. And she's gotten stiffed plenty of times by campaigns. It happens.

I know who you're talking about in regards to McConville and all I can say is that he's a federal lobbyist, not a state one, and he's probably spent more on party activism than he ever earned as a party employee. He wasn't getting rich off "naive" candidates.

Nobody gets into politics to get paid, at least, not unless you're running for DC City Council.