A house divided

As you read here in the previous post, the Jeff Frederick saga is dividing Virginia Republicans every way imaginable. Most elected Republicans and those higher up in the party regime seem to favor booting the embattled chair. But, Frederick appears to have considerable support among activists, especially in local committees that have a strong contingent of right wingers (they call themselves "grassroots").

A noteworthy example - earlier this week the Augusta Republican Committee passed a resolution of support for Jeff Frederick. The vote was 10-9. The resolution says, in part, that Frederick is "doing the job he was elected to do, namely to make the state party the servant of the local unit and not its master.” 

Bill Shirley, the Augusta GOP chair, was noncommittal about the resolution and apparently didn't vote on it. He simply urged Republicans to pay attention to the issues swirling around Frederick before making up their minds. RightsideVA, in a post on the News Virginian's website, lays bare the rift:

Is it possible that we now have another level of “Party Govt” who feel that they are better at deciding what is right for the party and that the “Grassroot Citizens” should just trust their decision with disregard to any backroom deal to save their own position in the party?...

Stay tuned! The roof of this house divided is sagging under the strain. To be continued through April 4 and beyond.