Ken Klinge’s letter demanding Jeff Frederick resign as Chairman of the RPV (or be deposed in a putsch) has made the rounds of the blogosphere already (Jason Kenney has it over at Bearing Drift); Jim Bowden has come to Frederick’s defense.
Personally, the fact that there is so much, um, enthusiasm – yes, we’ll go with that word – for a change among the crew who saddled the party with the HB3202 debacle leaves me less than impressed. Say what you want about Frederick, he spoke out against HB6055 (the bad version) at a very critical time. Replacing him with someone more comfortable with a tax increase strikes me as unwise, especially now that the bill for the Warner spending spree has come due.
Anne Taetzsch, the head of the Staunton Republican Committee, is a bit more emphatic. She responded directly to Klinge as follows:
Kenneth,I am absolutely appalled by your email. This is typical of the representation of the culture of country club republicans which are tearing our party apart in Virginia.We have been through tremendous turmoil these past several years and now you suggest we once again go through another public battle of undermining our chair and selecting yet another representative. Basically you are saying that inconsistency is best and we must embarrass ourselves in the media to uphold your agenda, your vision of the party. You expound upon what Chairman Frederick has not done, what is YOUR vision for the future of the party?Furthermore, as a lobbyist, how intimately involved should you be with the inner workings of a political party? And, this from a gentleman who donated money to Dick Saslaw. Do you not think your money could have been better spent on republican candidates–or better yet, donated to the Republican Party of Virginia? It begs the question, who put you up to this–who are you representing?Jeff Frederick was elected only 6 months ago with an overwhelming majority, represented by thousands of citizens across the Commonwealth. How dare you suggest that these citizens voices be silenced to further your agenda. This is irresponsible and I for one sincerely hope that our party has enough commonsense to stay the course and re-evaluate that which is truly at the core of the issues with our party–redefining our message, sticking to our conservative values and putting an end to the pandering of moderates.Anne TaetzschChair, Staunton Republican Committee
