Why I support Jeff Frederick for Chairman

You may notice I have placed a new banner in the right-hand column today: for Jeff Frederick’s candidacy for Republican Party Chairman.  I had decided to support Frederick some time ago, but I had decided to keep my decision private until now, largely so as not to distract attention from Delegate Marshall’s campaign for the U.S. Senate.  However, the Augusta County brouhaha, the fun over Congressman Wittman’s earmarks (which brought my mind’s eye back to the Night of the Long Dull Spoons), and the upcoming special session on transportartion have forced me to make my views known.

I want to make this abundantly clear, I have no animus toward the incumbent.  I was a precinct captain when he was elected Lieutenant Governor, and I know how much he appreciates the party volunteers for pushing him across the line.  At another time, in different circumstances, I would have supported him without stint.  However, the party needs change, and the sooner and more drastic it comes, the better.

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’m not saying Jeff Frederick is perfect.  I know many Virginians consider him a little too smooth, or even slick (as I grew up in New Jersey, this doesn’t really bother me).  However, that pales in comparison to what he can do for the party - namely, rescue us from the tax-hiking ciphers who have led us into the wilderness time and time again.

It can’t come a moment too soon.  One month from now, the special session will be on, and the most powerful Republicans will be Bill Howell and either Hager or Frederick.  We will need a Chairman who will call Howell out on his attempt to resuscitate HB3202.  We will need a Chairman who will ensure that the limited government message is heard and associated with the Republican Party once more in the minds of Virginia voters.  We will need a Chairman who will remind Messrs. McDonnell and Bolling that their support for HB3202 - however tepid it was - was a terrible mistake that cannot be repeated.

John Hager has had enough time to show us that he would not be that Chairman.  Frederick, by contrast, opposed HB3202 (Howell and Kaine versions) and thus will have the credibility needed to put the tax-hikers on notice (especially those within the GOP) that those days are over.

If we had resolute, low-tax leaders elsewhere in the party, the need for one in the RPV Chair would not be as great, and Hager’s abilities would be more valuable and appreciated.  However, it is not better organization that will reverse the tide, and contrary to what Brandon Bell seems to think (RRZ), it won’t be more money either.  It will be the message that matters, and only Frederick understands that.

I have been told that I am signing up for a lost cause.  That hasn’t stopped me before, and it won’t now.  Jeff Frederick is the right man at the right time for the Republican Party of Virginia.  That is why I will be voting for him at the convention later this month, and I hope my fellow delegates will do the same.